August 1993: MPC2

MPC2 was a confusing concept for both gamers and retail employees. In 1993 games with a little MPC2 logo on the box started pouring out. "What the heck was MPC2? Is it a certification, an operating system, software, a new game system?" We were asked all these and never really had a good answer. MPC2 was in reality a set of hardware & software specifications published by Microsoft (see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;106055 slightly mobile-friendly) to try and create a standard definition for a "multimedia PC". Hardware and software manufacturers would then certify their products met this standard. It could loosely be considered a precursor to DirectX.

Games carrying the MPC2 label flooded the store and sold especially well. As long as there have been computers there have been computer owners who wanted to show-off what their machine was capable of. Sierra became well known for releasing MPC2 versions of their franchise titles like King's Quest VI, Space Quest V, and Leisure Suit Larry VI.

Along with games came a deluge of reference and "edutainment" titles. I always hated the phrase "edutainment"; actually I can't stand any time two words are mashed together into a new, meaningless one. Anyway, "edutainment" was a silly way of saying "a game that's educational". A spate of interactive stories and educational games carried the MPC2 tag and sold reasonably well to parents looking for a way to introduce their kids to the PC. Despite the relative success of "edutainment", the entire category would be dropped from the Elbo lineup in a couple years.

Finally there were stacks of reference programs carrying the MPC2 label. Dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, bibles, you name it. These barely sold on their own and were frequently bundled with CD-ROM drives.

During this time we starting carrying CD-ROM drives. The prices of course were staggering compared to today. A 2x CD drive easily went for $150, a quick check on Pricewatch.com reveals that a total of six 16x DVD/40x CDs can be purchased for the same price today. We also carried a massive upgrade kit for $500. "Massive" refers more to the size of the box than the contents; it was roughly the size of a Fiat. It contained a 2x CD drive, sound card, speakers, and a host of those crappy reference programs.

In August 1993 I started taking classes at the College of Lake County (CLC), a junior college that was nearby. I took a few morning classes and then went to work at Elbo, it was an easy schedule. I majored in "computer information systems" which, at the time, was taught using FORTRAN 77 (despite there being a FORTRAN 90 and better languages like C++). All the programming I'd done prior to then was in some flavor of BASIC but it wasn't a huge adjustment.

I was never a good student. I cut class a lot figuring I could improvise on the exams. I got through four years of high school with roughly the same mentality. The difference is, if a high school teacher fails you they'll probably be stuck with you again. If a college professor, even one at a junior college, fails you they know it puts you on track to get kicked out. They have no real motivation for making sure someone passes their class. If you screw-off and don't go to class they aren't going to give you a 'C-' just so you pass on to the next grade.

Mercifully, August 1993 would see the release of Street Fighter II Special Championship Edition for the Sega Genesis. The release date for this game was pushed back countless times. We had a hard date at one point in the summer only to have Capcom change it at the last second. I had one irate customer threaten to sue us because we had this date advertised in a flyer. I explained that without the benefit of time travel we couldn't update the flyers, it didn't help.

We received at least a dozen phone calls per day asking when it would come out, as though we had a red-phone connected to the Capcom developers. Some customers grew tired of waiting and bought a Super Nintendo just to play it. When it finally came out it was a tremendous relief. Well, except it originally carried a $70 price tag which irritated even the most patient customers.