Comment by ddingus | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ddingus | Hacker News Reader

From the article:

Forty-five years after Rawitsch, Heinemann, and Dillenberger sat down and created the original game in two weeks, The Oregon Trail is still a cultural landmark for any school kid who came of age in the 1980s or after. Even now, there remains a constant pressure to revive the series, so that nostalgic Gen Xers and Millennials can amble westward with a dysentery-riddled party once again.

...well, I've got a nice Apple computer setup and ready to entertain and educate some young people in my life. They like the machine. These programs still work as intended.

For me, it's surreal to hear those sounds, see those sights and watch them process the experiences. Recommended, if you've got a little space and time. Doing this kind of thing is going to get increasingly expensive from here though.

Interestingly, one 5 year old has already noted the CRT. "Papa, I want to play some games on that TV."

Of course! Might as well let her experience the CRT. I think they are cool. Many of us do, and it's going to be an increasingly rare treat. Why not?

Do you have any recommendations for a game for children who cannot yet read? My 3yo loves Putt Putt (we play the Steam version) because the car talks to him. But in the early 80s computers did not yet have speech synthesis or enough storage for audio. I would love for him to enjoy Oregon Trail some day, but I don't think he's ready for it. Did MECC make any games targeted at younger children?

This might be overkill, but here's a MECC catalog for 1984-5. https://archive.org/details/MECCEducationalComputingCatalog8...

There is a Peppa Pig game for consoles and Windows coming out on Oct. 22nd. If it ends up being good, that might be the first game I try to play with my 3-year-old.

I do not, but will look. I will say, back in the 80's someone asked me that and owned an Atari 800 XL and so did I.

I took a weekend and made this big BASIC program that did something cool for everything they did. Press one key and a smile face. Press another, and the colors change, etc... And some were random, like a set of lines drawn differently each time, or a big smile and a little one.

The little guy loved it. Would press the keys, watch, and repeat.

Later I found his Dad sitting with him, saying the letter of each key while responding to the action.

I did not introduce old computing, until the one I am raising got some basic skill. She is doing letters, numbers and can use a joystick. She asked.

Surprisingly, she loves to play Drol! Weird, but pretty game. It has clear, cute graphics and so there you go. She is 5, and became aware enough to play with me later in her 4th year.

Before that, I loved watching her play touch games on an iPad. Sadly, I do not have it handy and can't remember the name, but it has shapes one can drag into matching color holes. Anything like that works at 3.

At 4, I also did ABC Mouse and she loves it. Bought a year. She will ask for mouse and do it for a few hours at a time. I may buy another.

I was going to wait on the Apple, but she saw me using it and asked. (I am making a retro assembly language game and doing some electronics with that old computer for fun)

I brought up a few games on the Total Replay and she seems to really like that computer. It was unexpected. So, I decided to get some MECC stuff setup and will probably have her write programs as soon as she can handle it.

Another friend grew up with the Color Computer and has kids a few years older and expressed interest when I shared these experiences. I have a nice one all setup, and it is going to their house to see if the same thing happens. I will just not have the time for it. I want to, because sweet 6809... maybe his kids will jam on that machine and love it more than the box it is in does.

We think some young people will get that spark same as we did, so why not give them a go on the old machines when it's fun?

I remember being 2 years old and first banging my head against a VCR. I really wanted to get Toy Story working again.

Even if they can't read, a lot of educational games w/ reading can still be interesting. The bright lights and colors encourage exploration and discovery, and when you figure out what the game is trying to say (even if you only know a couple words) it's an epiphany.

Just let them play around in Putt-Putt without your supervision. Or Spy Fox / Lemonade Stand. Zoo Tycoon is also a really good one. They all require reading, but a kid can just bang themselves against it and learn on their own. (If you leave the room).

If we're sticking with nostalgiaware, these were hands down my favorite games when I was a toddler.

https://www.myabandonware.com/game/fisher-price-little-peopl... https://www.myabandonware.com/game/fisher-price-school-bus-d...

I don't think Pajama Sam requires reading, I definitely played it before I could read at least, and probably around the same age as when I was playing putt putt.

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