SimHealth
Encyclopedia
SimHealth: The National Health Care Simulation, released by Maxis
in 1994
, is a management simulation of the U.S.
Healthcare system produced with assistance from the Markle Foundation
.
, and is difficult to locate on the market today, let alone play on a modern operating system
. The game was released during Congressional debates on the Clinton health care plan
.
An incredibly complex simulation, it was generally regarded as difficult. Armed with none of the tongue-in-cheek
humor that Maxis' prior games were known for, the only real link to the franchise was the SimCity 2000
-inspired user interface
. Noel Fritzinger, who with Lyman Orton first conceptualized CommunityViz
, says that his inspiration came from seeing SimHealth and wondering if the same concepts could be applied to real-world land-use planning.
Maxis
Maxis is an American company founded as an independent video game developer in 1987. It is currently a subsidiary of Electronic Arts . Maxis is the creator of one of the best-selling computer games of all time, The Sims and its first sequel, The Sims 2...
in 1994
1994 in video gaming
-Events:*Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.*"Project...
, is a management simulation of the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Healthcare system produced with assistance from the Markle Foundation
Markle Foundation
The Markle Foundation is an organization concerned with technology, health care, and national security.Emerging communications media and information technology create unprecedented opportunity to improve people's lives. The Markle Foundation works to realize this potential and promotes the use of...
.
Summary
It was produced only for DOSDOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, and is difficult to locate on the market today, let alone play on a modern operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
. The game was released during Congressional debates on the Clinton health care plan
Clinton health care plan
The Clinton health care plan was a 1993 healthcare reform package proposed by the administration of President Bill Clinton and closely associated with the chair of the task force devising the plan, First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton....
.
An incredibly complex simulation, it was generally regarded as difficult. Armed with none of the tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
humor that Maxis' prior games were known for, the only real link to the franchise was the SimCity 2000
SimCity 2000
SimCity 2000 is a simulation/city building video game and the second installment in the SimCity series. SimCity 2000 was first released by Maxis in 1994 for computers running Apple Macintosh Operating System...
-inspired user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
. Noel Fritzinger, who with Lyman Orton first conceptualized CommunityViz
CommunityViz
CommunityViz is the name of a group of extensions to ArcGIS Geographic Information System software. CommunityViz is an analysis tool used for, among other applications, urban planning, land use planning, geodesign, transportation planning and resource management applications. It also provides...
, says that his inspiration came from seeing SimHealth and wondering if the same concepts could be applied to real-world land-use planning.
External links
- SimHealth at GameFAQsGameFAQsGameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by CBS Interactive. The site has a database of video game information, cheat codes, reviews, game saves,...
- Screen Grabs of SimHealth