Outworld 2375 AD

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Outworld 2375 AD
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: HeartBeat Corporation
Developer: Western Technologies Inc.
Peripherals supported: HeartBeat Catalyst
Genre: Driving
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code US 1994

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Outworld 2375 AD is a Sega Mega Drive fitness science fiction driving game published by HeartBeat Corporation. Specifically designed to utilize the fitness sensor-integrated Mega Drive peripheral HeartBeat Catalyst, it was released exclusively in the United States in late 1994 in an extremely-limited run, and is one of the single-rarest commercially-released Sega Genesis games in existence.

Blurb

“	Kidnapped by intergalactic criminals, you have been pitted in the race for the ultimate prize - your freedom. Race through a planet which began as an experiment in artificial development. Using your heavily armed space hovercraft, you must outmaneuver environmental mutations as well as the deadly inhabitants in a fight for your survival. Go too slow and your aircraft will crash...too fast and it will burn up. Close the hatch, buckle up and hit the turbos.	„
— Promotional blurb from the Heartbeat Personal Trainer's brochure.

Gameplay

Outworld 2375 AD is described in a February 1994 Chicago Tribune article as allowing players to "choose from five drastic environmental conditions on a planet wracked by natural disasters". The faster the user exercises, the faster the player ship travels. Exercise too fast and the ship will overheat and explode, and exercise too slowly and it will lose momentum and crash.

History

One of the game's only known appearances, published in Sega Visions, issue 15.

Outworld 2375 AD was advertised alongside NHLPA Hockey as "the second wave of HeartBeat games". Preview copies of the game were sent to a number of video game magazines for review, with most articles commenting on it's unique fitness capabilities; namely, the relation of the player's heart rate to the speed of actual gameplay.

Availability

As one of the least-known Sega Mega Drive games, Outworld 2375 AD 's release status remained unclear for decades; however, modern research (particularly the efforts of Reddit user BadUsername25) has uncovered new evidence indicating a very likely official release. It is now assumed to have received an extremely-small production run sometime in late 1994. Sold in three Target stores in the state of Michigan, it was also available for mail-order directly from HeartBeat Corporation themselves. Additionally, fitness retailers like NordicTrack who had previously stocked HeartBeat products were also likely to have access to the company's limited-run games, if they so chose.

Preservation

Owing to a previous misunderstanding that Outworld 2375 AD had been left unreleased, extremely little of the title has been preserved. The ROM is undumped, the actual developer is unknown, and while the game was sold in a box and with a manual, no images of either the artwork, manual, or cartridge are believed to publicly exist.

Multiple collectors in Lansing, Michigan (where HeartBeat Catalyst games were locally distributed post-1994) own copies of the game, with one collector confirming Outworld 2375 AD received a standard boxed release with a manual and cartridge; another collector from the same city claims to own a prototype copy of the game.

Development

During development, Outworld 2375 AD was known under the working tile Outworld.

Images

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  One of the game's only known appearances, published in Sega Visions, issue 15.

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  Promotional films distributed to game magazines for capturing screenshots.

Magazine articles

Main article: Outworld 2375 AD/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Outworld 2375 AD/Promotional material.

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1			Cartridge (US)

External links

• Technology adds new thrills to boring exercise equipment article by Bob Condor at The Chicago Tribune
• Investigatory thread by BadUsername25 at Reddit (Wayback Machine)
• Investigatory thread 2 by BadUsername25 at Reddit (Wayback Machine)
• Investigatory thread 3 by BadUsername25 at Reddit