Outback Joey
From Sega Retro
| Outback Joey | ||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Mega Drive, HeartBeat Personal Trainer | ||||||||||
| Publisher: HeartBeat Corporation | ||||||||||
| Developer: Western Technologies | ||||||||||
| Genre: Action | ||||||||||
| Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||
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Outback Joey is a Sega Mega Drive platform game developed by Western Technologies and published by HeartBeat Corporation. Specifically designed to utilize the fitness sensor-integrated Mega Drive variant HeartBeat Personal Trainer, it was released exclusively in the United States in 1993 and only available as a pack-in with the Personal Trainer itself; as the system only had a production run of 1,000 units, it is assumed only 1,000 copies of Outback Joey exist as well. As such, both are considered some of the rarest pieces of Mega Drive history in existence.[1]
Contents
Plot
Gameplay
Outback Joey is a standard platform game with minor action platform elements. The titular Joey must traverse a series of X levels, and uses his species' developed jumping ability to avoid enemies and obstacles. In certain areas, Joey can acquire boxing gloves and become a boxing kangaroo, gaining the ability to defeat enemies (as opposed to simply avoiding them.)
Hardware
Outback Joey is the only Sega Mega Drive game which utilizes the unique fitness hardware of the HeartBeat Personal Trainer; the Personal Trainer comes included with body-mounted fitness sensor hardware which reads the user's heart rate, motion, and skin salinity levels for in-game feedback, which Outback Joey uses to control the running speed of its player character (motivating users to maintain a consistent heart rate by exercising while playing.) Though not a requirement, the Personal Trainer is intended for use with fitness machines such as treadmills and ellipticals, and Outback Joey was generally marketed as being best played with a dedicated exercise bike.
History
The game, alongside the HeartBeat Personal Trainer, appeared at Winter CES 1994[2][3], and was used to demonstrate how the Personal Trainer's specialized fitness sensors could be utilized alongside a traditional video game.
Production credits
- Developed for Heartbeat by: Western Technologies Inc
- Executive Producers: Jay Smith, Justin Hall-Tipping
- Produced By: George deGolian
- Programmed By: Mark Guidas, John Bojorquez, Alan Wise, Jimmy Gros, Chris Longpre
- Characters Designed By: Mike D'Isa
- Art & Design By: Mike D'Isa, Charlie Morales, Bruce Straley, Eric Iwasaki, Tate Mosesian, Bill Dubay, Sam Kjellman
- Music & Sounds By: Fletcher Beasley
- Special Thanks: Adam Benjamin
Uncredited
- Cover artwork: Phil Winslade
Magazine articles
- Main article: Outback Joey/Magazine articles.
Physical scans
| Mega Drive, US |
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 Cart |
Technical information
ROM dump status
| System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments | |||||||||
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1MB | 1993-07 | Cartridge (US) |