SegaSoft, originally headquartered in

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...

and later

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, was a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...

by Sega and CSK (Sega's majority stockholder at the time), created in 1995 to develop and publish games for the PC and Sega Saturn, primarily in the North American market. In 1996, SegaSoft announced that they would be publishing games for all viable platforms, not just Saturn and PC. This, however, never came to fruition, as in January 1997 SegaSoft restructured to focus on the PC and online gaming. SegaSoft disbanded in 2000 and many of the staff members were merged into Sega.com, a new company established to handle Sega's online presence in the United States. SegaSoft was responsible for, among other things, the Heat.net multiplayer game system and publishing the last few titles made by

Rocket Science Games Rocket Science Games was a video game developer and publisher that created games for consoles and personal computers from 1993 to 1997. The company released '' Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine'', '' Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cata ...

Published games

''Incomplete List'' * '' 10Six'' * '' Alien Race'' * '' Bug Too!'' * '' Cosmopolitan Virtual Makeover'' * '' Cosmopolitan Virtual Makeover 2'' * '' Da Bomb'' * '' Emperor of the Fading Suns'' * '' Essence Virtual Makeover'' * '' Fatal Abyss'' * '' Flesh Feast'' * '' Golf: The Ultimate Collection'' * ''

Lose Your Marbles ''Lose Your Marbles'' is a puzzle video game developed and published by SegaSoft and released for Microsoft Windows on August 19, 1997. A version of the game was included in Microsoft Plus! 98. Gameplay In ''Lose Your Marbles'', the player moves ...

'' * '' Grossology'' * '' Mr. Bones'' * '' Net Fighter'' * '' Obsidian'' * ''

Plane Crazy ''Plane Crazy'' is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The cartoon, released by the Walt Disney Studios, was the first Mickey Mouse film produced, and was originally a silent film. It was given a test sc ...

'' * '' Puzzle Castle'' * '' Rocket Jockey'' *Science Fiction: The Ultimate Collection * '' Scud: The Disposable Assassin'' * '' Scud: Industrial Evolution'' * ''

The Space Bar ''The Space Bar'' is a 1997 graphic adventure game developed by Boffo Games and published by Rocket Science Games and SegaSoft. A comic science fiction story, it follows detective Alias Node as he searches for a shapeshifting killer inside The ...

'' * '' Three Dirty Dwarves'' * '' Trampoline-Fractured Fairy Tales: A Frog Prince'' * '' Vigilance''

Cancelled games

*''G.I. Ant'' *''Heat Warz'' *''Ragged Earth'' * ''Sacred Pools'' * ''Skies''

Heat.net

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 is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

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 ''Quake II'' is a 1997 first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Activision. It is the second installment of the ''Quake'' series, but not a direct sequel to '' Quake''. The game's storyline is continued in its ...

'' and ''

Baldur's Gate ''Baldur's Gate'' is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms '' Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting. The game has spawned two series, known as the ''Bhaalspawn Saga'' and the ''Dark Alliance'', both taking place mostl ...

''. Much like

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tra ...

, it also allowed users to play any

IPX Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) is the network layer protocol in the IPX/SPX protocol suite. IPX is derived from Xerox Network Systems' IDP. It also has the ability to act as a transport layer protocol. The IPX/SPX protocol suite was very p ...

network-compatible game, regardless of whether or not it was designed for the Internet. Each supported game had its own chat lobby and game creation options. 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. Heat.net essentially combined the network,

client Client(s) or The Client may refer to: * Client (business) * Client (computing), hardware or software that accesses a remote service on another computer * Customer or client, a recipient of goods or services in return for monetary or other valuabl ...

, and

protocol Protocol may refer to: Sociology and politics * Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states * Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state * Etiquette, a code of personal behavior Science and technolog ...

technologies of the

MPlayer MPlayer is a free and open-source media player software application. It is available for Linux, OS X and Microsoft Windows. Versions for OS/2, Syllable, AmigaOS, MorphOS and AROS Research Operating System are also available. A port for DOS using ...

system (obtained under license) with the IPX tunneling package Kahn. 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. 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. Degrees could be spent, but only by premium members, at Heat.net's online store, the Black Market, 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. 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. Heat.net had a loyalty program, in which members, known as "Foot Soldiers", received shirts and Heat.net

dog tags Dog tag is an informal but common term for a specific type of identification tag worn by military personnel. The tags' primary use is for the identification of casualties; they have information about the individual written on them, including i ...

. Heat.net was also the home a collegiate gaming league called HeatCIGL (College Internet Game League). Students from 1,100 registered schools would play ''Quake II'' or ''

Unreal Tournament ''Unreal Tournament'' is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. The second installment in the '' Unreal'' series, it was first published by GT Interactive in 1999 for Microsoft Windows, and late ...

'' 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. 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.

Partial list of games supported on Heat.Net

* Sega-published titles ** 10SIX ** Fatal Abyss ** Flesh Feast **

Flying Heroes ''Flying Heroes'' is a fantasy action game produced by Take 2 Interactive, Illusion Softworks, and Pterodon. Gameplay Flying Heroes is an arena based shooter game that takes place on various flying creatures. There are four clans to choose f ...

** Net Fighter **

** Scud: Industrial Evolution ** Vigilance * Third-Party Titles ** Age of Empires ** Age of Empires II **

Age of Wonders ''Age of Wonders'' is a 1999 turn-based strategy game co-developed by Triumph Studios and Epic MegaGames, and published by Gathering of Developers. ''Age of Wonders'' underwent a long production cycle, and was originally developed under the n ...

** Army Men ** Army Men II **

** Battlezone **

Blood (video game) ''Blood'' is a 3D first-person shooter video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by GT Interactive and it was developed using Ken Silverman’s ''Build (game engine), Build engine''. The shareware version was released for MS-DOS ...

** Blood II: The Chosen ** Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines ** Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty **

Darkstone ''Darkstone: Evil Reigns'' (''Darkstone'' in North America) is an action role-playing video game developed by Delphine Software International for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation. In 2014, the French publisher Anuman Interactive launched a remak ...

** DeathDrome **

Descent Descent may refer to: As a noun Genealogy and inheritance * Common descent, concept in evolutionary biology * Kinship, one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology **Pedigree chart or family tree ** Ancestry ** Lineal descendant **Heritag ...

** Diablo **

Duke Nukem 3D ''Duke Nukem 3D'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by 3D Realms. It is a sequel to the platform games ''Duke Nukem (video game), Duke Nukem'' and ''Duke Nukem II'', published by 3D Realms. ''Duke Nukem 3D'' features the adventures ...

** Get Medieval **

Grand Theft Auto ''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is primarily d ...

** Grand Theft Auto II **

Heroes of Might and Magic III ''Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia'' (commonly referred to as ''Heroes of Might & Magic 3'', or ''Heroes 3'', or abbreviated HoMM 3) is a turn-based strategy game developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Comput ...

Hexen II ''Hexen II'' is a dark fantasy first-person shooter (FPS) video game developed by Raven Software and published by id Software. It is the third game in the '' Hexen''/''Heretic'' series, and the last in the ''Serpent Riders'' trilogy. Using a modi ...

** Kingpin: Life of Crime ** MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat ** NAM ** Postal ** Quake **

** Quake III: Arena ** Railroad Tycoon II ** Red Alert **

Redneck Rampage ''Redneck Rampage'' is a 1997 first-person shooter game developed by Xatrix Entertainment and published by Interplay Entertainment, Interplay. The game is a first-person shooter with a variety of weapons and levels, and has a hillbilly theme, pr ...

** Redline ** Requiem: Avenging Angel **

Sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

** Star Trek: Starfleet Academy **

Take No Prisoners The phrase no quarter was generally used during military conflict to imply combatants would not be taken prisoner, but killed. According to some modern American dictionaries, a person who is given no quarter is "not treated kindly" or "treated ...

Total Annihilation ''Total Annihilation'' is a real-time strategy video game created by Cavedog Entertainment, a sub-division of Humongous Entertainment, and was released on September 26, 1997 by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. Two expansion packs ...

** Total Annihilation: Kingdoms **

** Uprising: Join or Die ** Uprising 2: Lead and Destroy **

Warbreeds ''WarBreeds'' is a real-time strategy video game developed and published by Red Orb Entertainment and Broderbund. The game is set in a far off galaxy where the humanoid amphibian race called the Yedda have died out due to famine, disease and ci ...

** Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness ** Warlords III: Reign of Heroes ** WWII GI

References

External links

Official Website (ARCHIVED)

at GameFAQs
SegaSoft
at MobyGames
SegaSoft
at

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

Photos of the SegaSoft team
at E3
More information about HeatCIGL
{{Authority control Sega divisions and subsidiaries Defunct companies based in California Video game companies established in 1995 Internet properties established in 1995 Video game companies disestablished in 2000 Defunct websites Online video game services Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game development companies 1995 establishments in California 2000 disestablishments in California