Chances are, if you attended school in the 1980s, you died of dysentery. Developed by MECC, educational computer game The Oregon Trail showed children the historic migration route that earlier settlers used when moving West during the 19th century. MECC wasn't just any old developer, but rather, it was formed by the Minnesota government with legislative support. (MECC stands for Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium). The Oregon Trail was such a hit that MECC decided to sell the game for profit. Website SiliconUser has a nice write up about MECC, which tracks the company's conception right up to when the company was sold off to another dev — which is, in this industry, sometimes worse than dysentery! Brian Ashcraft

MECC Story [SiliconUser via Slashdot]