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SegaSoft

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SegaSoft
Company typeJoint venture
IndustryVideo games
Founded1995; 29 years ago (1995)
FounderSega Enterprises
CSK Corporation
FateInactive
Headquarters
Redwood City, California
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Bernie Stolar
Isao Okawa
Jerry Markota
ProductsVideo game publishing
ServicesContent delivery
Owner

SegaSoft, originally headquartered in Redwood City, California and later San Francisco, was a joint venture by Sega and CSK (Sega's majority stockholder at the time[1]), created in 1995 to develop and publish games for the PC and Sega Saturn,[2][3] primarily in the North American market.

SegaSoft was responsible for, among other things, the Heat.net multiplayer game system and publishing the last few titles made by Rocket Science Games.

History

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In 1996, SegaSoft announced that they would be publishing games for all viable platforms, not just Saturn and PC.[4] This, however, never came to fruition, as in January 1997 SegaSoft restructured to focus on the PC and online gaming.[5]

SegaSoft disbanded in 2000 with staff layoffs.[6] Many of them were reassigned to Sega.com, a new company established to handle Sega's online presence in the United States.

Published games

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Incomplete List

Cancelled games

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Heat.net

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Unreal Tournament's game page and a private chat window

Heat.net, stylized HEAT.NET, was an online PC gaming system produced by SegaSoft and launched in 1997 during Bernie Stolar's tenure as SEGA of America president. Heat.net hosted both Sega-published first- and second-party games, as well as popular third-party games of the era, such as Quake II and Baldur's Gate. Much like Kali, it also allowed users to play any IPX network-compatible game, regardless of whether or not it was designed for the Internet.[16] Each supported game had its own chat lobby and game creation options.[16] In addition, players could add friends and chat privately with them. Heat.net and its sister service, SEGANet, are considered ahead of their time and precursors to both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.[17]

Heat.net essentially combined the network, client, and protocol technologies of the MPlayer system (obtained under license) with the IPX tunneling package Kahn.[18] However, the client software eliminated the Voxware voice features, as SegaSoft's engineers found that most bugs in the MPlayer software were in the voice module.[18] Heat.net branded itself as a peaceful alternative to real-world violence with advertising slogans such as "Total peace through cyberviolence" and "Kill pixels not people."

It featured a currency system where the player earned "degrees" through playing games, trivia contests (both game-related and general), viewing ads, or other actions.[16][18] Degrees could be spent, but only by premium members, at Heat.net's online store, the Black Market,[19] which had computer games and related merchandise. On May 6, 1999, SEGA announced it had partnered with Chips & Bits' online game superstore which allowed players a vast selection of games, hardware and even magazine subscriptions.[20]

The degree system was highly flawed and non-active players could leave their PCs logged into servers and earn degrees. Rooms were established for idle players to sit and earn degrees. Heat.net established "parking police" to discover these servers but players discovered other ways to falsely earn points.

Other features included tracking of user rankings on individual profile pages.[18] Heat.net had a loyalty program, in which members, known as "Foot Soldiers", received shirts and Heat.net dog tags.

Heat.net was also the home of a collegiate gaming league called HeatCIGL (College Internet Game League). Students from 1,100 registered schools would play Quake III: Arena or Unreal Tournament in teams representing their colleges, with play-offs at the end of the season. The championship team received $5,000. The league also gave away a $5,000 "Excellence in Gaming" College Scholarship.[21]

In September 2000, it was announced that Heat.net and HeatCIGL would be shutting down on October 31, 2000.

In June 2008, CNET hailed Heat.net as one of the greatest defunct websites in history.[22]

Partial list of games supported on Heat.Net

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References

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  1. ^ "Sega to Publish Games on PlayStation". Next Generation. No. 19. Imagine Media. July 1996. pp. 14–15.
  2. ^ "Sega's Bold Leap to PC". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 78. Sendai Publishing. January 1996. p. 22.
  3. ^ "Trailing Sony, Sega Restructures". GamePro. No. 89. IDG. February 1996. p. 16.
  4. ^ "Sega Soft Plans PlayStation Titles". GamePro. No. 95. IDG. August 1996. p. 16.
  5. ^ "In the Studio". Next Generation. No. 28. Imagine Media. April 1997. p. 19.
  6. ^ "SegaSoft Shake-Up".
  7. ^ "Alien Race". Sega Soft. Archived from the original on February 3, 1999. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  8. ^ a b c "Virtual Makeover". Virtual Makeover. Archived from the original on February 8, 1999. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Da Bomb". SegaSoft. Archived from the original on February 3, 1999. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  10. ^ "SegaSoft Goes Golfing". Gamespot.
  11. ^ "Puzzle Castle". Adventure Legends. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  12. ^ "G.I. Ant (SegaSoft) [PC – Cancelled]". Unseen 64. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  13. ^ a b "SegaSoft Preps for E3". Gamespot. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  14. ^ "Interactive Movies Are Back!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 10. Emap International Limited. August 1996. p. 10.
  15. ^ "Skies [PC Dreamcast – Cancelled]". Unseen 64. 15 January 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  16. ^ a b c d Dan Elektro (September 1997). "NetPro: Turning Up the Heat". GamePro. No. 108. IDG. p. 24.
  17. ^ "The greatest defunct Web sites and dotcom disasters - Crave at CNET.co.uk". crave.cnet.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  18. ^ a b c d Svensson, Christian (June 1997). "Joyriding". Next Generation. No. 30. Imagine Media. p. 26.
  19. ^ "HEAT.NET Celebrates First Anniversary With 12-Hour Online Bash". SegaSoft. Archived from the original on 11 December 2000. Retrieved 29 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  20. ^ "Teen Gamers Can Now Purchase Online Without Credit Cards: HEAT.NET Frequent Player Points are as Good as Cash at Partner sites". SegaSoft. Archived from the original on 11 December 2000. Retrieved 29 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  21. ^ "GAME YOUR WAY THROUGH COLLEGE! HEATCIGL KICKS OFF SCHOOL YEAR WITH MORE CASH, CONTENT AND PRIZES THAN EVER BEFORE". SegaSoft. Archived from the original on 7 December 2000. Retrieved 29 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. ^ "The greatest defunct Web sites and dotcom disasters". CNET. 2008-06-05. Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  23. ^ "10six". 10six. Archived from the original on February 25, 1999. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  24. ^ a b "NG Alphas: Heat". Next Generation. No. 30. Imagine Media. June 1997. pp. 91–93.
  25. ^ "Web Illustration, Heat.net Trophy for Age of Empires II". RODWIN. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  26. ^ "Army Men™ II Storms Its Way Onto HEAT.NET". SegaSoft. Archived from the original on 11 December 2000. Retrieved 29 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  27. ^ "ANGELIC POWERS BATTLE HELL'S DEMONS ON HEAT.NET". SegaSoft. Archived from the original on 11 December 2000. Retrieved 29 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  28. ^ "HEAT.NET Strengthens Relationship With 3DO - Features Four Highly-Anticipated Games For 1999". SegaSoft. Archived from the original on 11 December 2000. Retrieved 29 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  29. ^ "SegaSoftTM Brings Seven Red-Hot New Titles to HEATTM". SegaSoft. Archived from the original on 11 December 2000. Retrieved 29 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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