Independence day post - A bunch of USA Games!! Oh wait... Simhealth

TODAY WE CELEBRATE... OUR INDEPENDENCE DAY!

WOOOO YEAH! USA USA! Let's DO THIS!

Umm... No, no... I thought I was going to do a list of games involving 

the US military... Or a little geography game... You know, something fun?

How about some Cruisin' USA? Good music? Fast Cars?

PLAY MEE!

Where the heck were you last time when everyone in my wagon party died?

Sigh. Okay. Alright. You want Simehealth? Let's do Simhealth. 

 But before we do, let's delay the inevitable!

Simhealth was released in 1994 for DOS. Notably, it was released during the 1994 Congressional debates involving Clinton's Healthcare plan.

Before we go too far on this and everyone reading this wants to kill me, let me just say this...

I come from a family of medical personnel. My mother is a nurse, My aunt is a nurse. My sister is a Physical Therapy Assistant and I have numerous cousins that are in medical school, nursing school and counseling.

I myself am trying to get into the field of rehabilitation ( A field of medicine.)

Never would I say figuring out a budget for medical care in this country is easy. But I do think that there is a way to do it. (Somehow... But I don't know the answer.) Please, No hatin' Be gentle.

Okay, With that out of the way. Let's get on to the game!

(Because it's going to be painfully boring, I'm not doing a video playthrough. I'll just do a picture series with highlights... Woo!)

Let's get started...

We begin our game in a horrible car accident. (I'm not kidding)

See... Told ya.

Get into an accident and run for political accident...
Okay, What's next?

Okay, here's the gist of the game. You're a politician trying to make a healthcare plan for the entire country. Sounds easy, right?

You have to do all this.

This is your "Alignment" This is how you have to behave. Your personal preferences of how you will "do" healthcare.
Supposedly you have to practice what you preach. I managed to forget what I said I wanted within about 30 seconds.

Huh? I'm actually doing good? Woo!

Oh wait, it's because I haven't actually done anything. This screen is where you make up the laws to regulate healthcare. It essentially becomes a recurring game of "What does this button do?"

So, I mess around a little bit and accidentally create "one payer healthcare."
And then this happens:

Oh shoot! I didn't mean for that to happen! Or wait, maybe I did?

Woo! 80% approval! Yes!
Let's see how main street looks.

So, this is your "health" meter. When the economy of different industries suffer, the buildings turn into ruins. Around the end of my game, all of the buildings looked bad. And what's worse, ELECTION IN NOVEMBER!

Oh shoot. It's all over now. 

What? I won? Really? The federal government, Hospitals and insurance companies are bad off and I still won?

Yeah. Okay. 

So, that was Simhealth. A strange and... Strange look at what game developers thought insurance could or would be in the future.

Anyways. Have a safe and sane 4th of July!!

Video game Staycation - Oregon Trail

So, recently I decided to go on a little trip. Not a road trip to a far off place or another country. (That costs money and a lot of time.)

It was a trip through history. (Again, not in the literal sense. I don't have a time machine. (Again, that costs money and time to make))

No, I went on a trip through history using that good ol' classic piece of edutainment, The Oregon Trail!

Spoilers: There are no survivors!!

I first played this back in middle school. I don't recall getting far before having my entire group killed by drowning. We'll see how I do this time (Oh wait, I already spoiled it...)

 Anyways, Let's meet the wagon party!

A fine looking group of travelers!

Alright, We're on our way! Let's Go!

Oh, wait, gotta buy some stuff. Alright, some oxen... food... BULLETS!... OK. NOW WE GO!

Our first hold up. Mega Man gets lost. Not sure where he went but he showed up two days later muttering something about seeing his own diarrhea laden death.

Anyways...

A few days pass with nothing of interest. And then we hit a river that needs to be crossed. It's 3 feet deep... I think we can ford that sucker!

In 3 feet of water? How do you lose wooden wagon tongues and oxen in 3 feet of water??

Okay, so... Bad idea. We've lost Mario and Zelda in the river. My bad! But the rest of us will be fine, right?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH CRAP!

We'll be fine. This is just a minor setback. Just a day of rest and we'll...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. OH. 

Okay, take a deep breath. We're gonna be fine. We just lost 3 party members in under 10 minutes... We got this! STOP PANICKING FIO! I SAID WE GOT THIS! 

Even I'm shocked at seeing this...

The next few weeks go somewhat uneventful, save for Fio's incompetence and wacky antics.

Such a kidder!
I actually looked up what cholera does too.
Of course, the inevitable happens.

I'm all alone. Well... Alright. I can do this.

Might as well start getting drunk.

MY LEG!

Just another setback. I'll be fine.

Okay, just gotta find a cowbell... Does ox bell count?

Obviously not...

Well, still dead, I'm at least further than I had made it all those years ago.

Thanks to Spriter's Resource website and - "Mister Man" "Ville 10" & Kevin Huff

Mr. CC's Low Tech Weekend - Radio shack 12 in 1 arcade

Another weekend, another video going over an old piece of technology.
This time around I've got a "Fun" and "Neato" toy from the past... 70s? 80s? Who cares, I managed to break the stupid thing... Ah well, enjoy!