HeartBeat Corporation

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HeartBeat Corporation
Founded: 1988
Defunct: 1997-09-08
T-series code: T-122
Headquarters: 700 Canal Street, Stamford, Connecticut 06902-5921, United States 1717 K Street Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia 2006, United States Lansing, Michigan

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HeartBeat Corporation was a third-party American video game hardware manufacturer which developed the HeartBeat Catalyst, a Sega Mega Drive exercise peripheral with included body-mounted fitness sensors that adjusts gameplay according to the user's current level of exercise.

Company

Founded in 1988 by Adam Benjamin, Justin Hall-Tipping, and Nick Burton, and officially incorporated on on December 24, 1991, HeartBeat Corporation was headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and worked with Sega of America, Western Technologies, and Electronic Arts. The company was established with the sole intent of developing and marketing the HeartBeat Catalyst, a unique fitness-sensor accessory for the Mega Drive which adjusted gameplay to player's current level of exercise, and the HeartBeat Personal Trainer, a fitness themed system to accompany the peripheral. Additionally, HeartBeat contracted the development of two compatible games to Western Technologies, and converted two of EA's existing sports games to the hardware.

Sales of the Catalyst and Personal Trainer were notably poor, and HeartBeat encountered significant difficulties in marketing and selling the unique devices. Less than one year later, the company cancelled production of any remaining hardware and software projects while it tried to locate other sources of funding, and transferred the entirety of its tangible assets to a newly-formed sister corporation in Lansing, Michigan. The new affiliated company did not produce or develop any content, only existing to advertise and sell unsold HeartBeat products (likely only in the local Lansing area), and was later officially dissolved on September 8, 1997. After the company's dissolution, a number of internal prototypes and limited-release games would eventually make their way into the hands of Michigan video game collectors.

Softography

Mega Drive

• Outback Joey (1993)
• NHLPA Hockey (1994)
• Outworld 2375 AD (1994)
• PGA Tour Golf II (1995)

Patents

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  USRE34728E

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  US5001632A

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  US5362069A

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  CA2071993A1

Logos

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External links

• The workout game article at The Tampa Bay Times
• It's Sonic vs. the Stairmaster article by Kate Fitzgerald at Advertising Age
• The birth of the computer jock article at The Orlando Sentinel
• Fitness bike maker combines with Nintendo for Exertainment article at The Alton Telegraph
• And Now, The Aerobic Video Game article at Bloomberg
• Next: Video Games That Get Physical article at The Los Angeles Times
• When You Invest With Angels, the Portfolio Is Never Boring article by Lisa Reilly Cullen at The New York Times