These Early 1990s Video Games Tried To Help People. What Changed?

These video games were created by Raya Systems, an early 1990s gaming company that was notable for its focus on health-related video games. The company produced video games aimed at educating players about different medical conditions and promoting healthy behaviors. Their notable games included: Captain Novolin, the most well-known game from Raya Systems. It’s was an educational platform video game developed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System where the player controlled a superhero with diabetes. The goal was to defeat alien invaders while managing the hero’s blood sugar levels by eating healthy foods and taking insulin. Rex Ronan Experimental Surgeon was a video game that focused on the dangers of smoking. The player took on the role of a tiny surgeon who had been shrunk down to microscopic size in order to enter a patient’s body. The goal of the game was to remove the tar, precancerous cells and other hazards caused by smoking from the patient’s body. Through gameplay, players learned about the dangers of smoking and the harmful effects it had on different parts of the body. While these video games were innovative for their time, they received mixed reviews. The concept of “edutainment“ – education and entertainment – was relatively new and the technology of the time was limited. But Raya Systems was pioneering in its approach to use video games as a tool for health education.