A strange little side quest
Even a quick game like Fall Boys Coloring Book sits on top of decades — and sometimes centuries — of ideas. The Oregon Trail began in 1971 when three student teachers created a computer simulation to help Minnesota schoolchildren learn American history. A second detail makes the picture even better: Midway's Gun Fight from 1975 was the first arcade video game to use a microprocessor. The screen is modern; the urge to test skill, pattern and timing definitely is not.