HeartBeat Personal Trainer
From Sega Retro
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| HeartBeat Personal Trainer | ||||||||||
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| Manufacturer: HeartBeat Corporation | ||||||||||
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The HeartBeat Personal Trainer is a Sega Mega Drive variant with included body-mounted fitness sensor hardware which reads the user's heart rate, motion, and skin salinity levels for in-game feedback. Manufactured by American video game hardware developer HeartBeat Corporation, it was released exclusively in the United States in late 1993, and is notable for having a production run of only 1000 units. Sold with the included pack-in game Outback Joey (which was specifically developed to utilize the system's fitness sensors, and not available for purchase separately), both are considered some of the rarest pieces of Mega Drive history in existence.[2]
Contents
Hardware
The HeartBeat Personal Trainer is compatible with any NTSC Sega Genesis cartridge, and additionally came bundled with body-mounted fitness sensor hardware which reads the user's heart rate, motion, and skin salinity levels for in-game feedback. The only game developed to utilize this hardware, Outback Joey, uses this feeback to control the running speed of its player character, and encourages maintaining a consistent heart rate through exercise. Though not a requirement, the Personal Trainer is intended for use with fitness machines such as exercise bikes and treadmills, and also saves past exercise history for later study.
Fitness sensors
List of games
The hardware's manufacturer, HeartBeat Corporation, claimed that a number of upcoming Sega Mega Drive games were planned to be compatible with the Heartbeat Personal Trainer. However, the only title which ever utilized the hardware's unique capabilities was the HeartBeat Corporation-produced Outback Joey (the system's pack-in game), with a second title planned but ultimately unreleased, Outworld 2375 AD.
- Outback Joey (1993)
- Outworld 2375 AD (unreleased)
History
The system, alongside its dedicated software Outback Joey, appeared at Winter CES 1994[1][3] and was used to demonstrate how the Personal Trainer's specialized fitness sensors could be utilized with a traditional video game.
An updated revision of the system was supposedly scheduled to be released sometime in 1994, but it appears HeartBeat Corporation had gone out of business before such a revision could be released.
In addition to Outback Joey, the likes of NHLPA Hockey '93, PGA Tour Golf, Earthworm Jim, and the unreleased Outworld 2375 AD were mentioned as possibly including support for the system's unique features, but were ultimately left unrealized. Notably, some of these games had finished development before the Personal Trainer was even released; the original source of this claim is known.
Images
The HeartBeat Personal Trainer with Outback Joey.
The HeartBeat Personal Trainer, controllers, sensors, and cables.
The HeartBeat Personal Trainer.
The exercise bike controllers.
The controller adapter.
The power adapter, fitness sensors, and attachment clip.
The fitness sensor cables. (?)
- OJHPT 5.jpg
The RF and video adapters.
The instruction manuals and fitness guide.
Brochures, safety warning, and registration card.
Physical scans
| Mega Drive, US |
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   Cover
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References