[YouTube] Dreamcast 20th Anniversary: Press Materials

For the 4th day of Dreamcast 20th anniversary coverage I'm going to focus on a bunch of press materials. That may sound boring but it really isn't! Okay, maybe the press releases are even if I find them interesting to look back at. However, there are a variety of other items to show. In 1998 I was a freelance writer for All Game Guide and in 1999 was made the Dreamcast Editor. While I was still working offsite, my role was to assign all Dreamcast games to other writers to get reviewed so I kept up on every release and did review a few myself. I was hired as a full-time employee in 2000, at which time I moved to Ann Arbor, MI and got my hands on all the games and press items coming through the office. Unfortunately, over time many of the video game press materials got tossed and some were taken by other employees, though I was able to save some good Dreamcast stuff.

https://youtu.be/45JjRRz2A7c

I didn't scan all the press releases as that would have been too time consuming and this post is already going to be very long with images. Instead I selected a few that I thought were worth looking at and I won't say too much about them here since you can read them below or watch me peruse them in the video. Today I don't know if any companies still send out physical releases since just about everything is online digitally and simply emailed to all the press outlets. Sega went all out on this too with some very nice holders for all the paperwork. The first page of most of the press releases has a great design too.

Press Releases - The People

Press Releases - Launch

Press Releases - Tech & Network

Press Releases - Sales

Notebook & Cases

The next two items are press books of games. One is for 1st-party titles and the other for 3rd-party games. There are a few half pages mixed in the first-party book. I'm leaving out the copyright pages full of tiny text. Also, as the back of the books note, the people that appear in them are Sega employees. 

1st-Party Game Book

Black & White is the only game in this book not to release. 

3rd-Party Game Book

Games in this book that did not release for the U.S. Dreamcast: Test Drive Cycles, Test Drive Off-Road 3, Independence War 2, Virtual Pool 3, Messiah, Galleon, ESPN Baseball Tonight, Dark Angel, Armada 2, Tyco R/C Racing, Hot Wheels, Gorkamorka, Spec Ops M.O.U.T., Legend of the Blade Masters (listed twice actually under its other name Quest of the Blade Masters), SWAT 3, Arcatera, The Road to El Dorado, Peacemakers, Monster Breeder (this could be an early version of Seventh Cross Evolution), System Shock 2, and Sea-Doo Hydrocross.

Post Cards

Being a family friendly blog I did hesitate to show the Seaman post card because it contains adult humor, though I expect it would go straight over a kid's head. Anyway, I wanted to at least provide a warning in case parents are reading this with their children. Some of the post card backs are blank so they weren't worth scanning while others I did scan.

Shenmue

Aside from the post cards directly above I'm giving Shenmue its own spot here. I didn't want to scan all the game press releases and instead am using Shenmue as an example for a standard game press release and a more detailed flyer. There is also a t-shirt, trading cards, and a Sega timeline. The timeline says "Road to Shenmue" but it's not about the development of the game but rather Sega's history and innovations.

Other
Just some random items here: Crazy Taxi 2 air freshener, Powerstone t-shirt, Space Channel 5 music sampler, and press disc with Space Channel 5 artwork (disc contains 3rd-party game screenshots).