Ian Bogost - Water Cooler Games - Two new medical sims for DS

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Water Cooler Games served as the web's primary forum for "videogames with an agenda" — coverage of the uses of video games in advertising, politics, education, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment.

The site was maintained at watercoolergames.org from 2003-2009, where it was edited by myself and Gonzalo Frasca. It is now archived here in full.

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Two new medical sims for DS

by Ian Bogost May 16, 2005

categories: Console & PC Games , Health & Medicine Games

The E3 chatter has begun. Among the more interesting, two new medical sims for Nintendo DS, Caduceus from Atlus Tendo Dokuta from Spike.

I find it interesting that so much early coverage has remarked on the novelty of this game... doesn't anyone remember Life & Death from back in 1992? Great idea to use the touch screen of the DS for surgery, but it's funny to see how things come around again.

Comments (3)

It has come around from even the apple II where there was a game that let you play surgeon. there are also other games on the pc. a whole series were created like Emergency room which were like a computer version of er.

Michael Rand on May 18, 2005 8:39 PM

Michael, I think you're referring to the many games by Legacy Interactive. You're absolutely right to point out these precedents. I think these were all more about role-playing and treatment than surgery with the scalpel though? That's the precedent I was thinking of for these DS games.

Ian Bogost on May 19, 2005 3:52 PM

Not to metion 'The Sims' & 'Little green computer ppl and this new molynuex game and 'Alter Ego'.

I think the games journalism industry has a hole where it's memory should be.

Factory on May 20, 2005 2:29 PM