Dreamcast Magazine Issue 5

Released on 27th January 2000, Dreamcast Magazine issue 5 really marked the point that the magazine got into its stride. The releases were coming thick and fast by that point in the Dreamcast's life and the various sections of the magazine had taken the shape that would remain for the remainder of the publication's run. While the 'unreleased' games are thin on the ground in this issue, there are plenty of previews for games that did see the light of day. The cover, as discussed in the video below is very much of the era, and features the scantily-clad female protagonists of Tecmo's Dead or Alive 2. On this subject, the magazine also has a slightly cringeworthy 'Top 10 Girls on Dreamcast' later on, but the less the said about that the better.

Games previewed include Resident Evil Code Veronica, Soul Reaver, Shenmue and Rayman 2. Jambo! Safari is also showcased, but as previously noted Dreamcast Magazine had a tendency to jump the gun and preview arcade games and state that they were heading to the home...but without much in the way of proof. That is evident here. The only interesting news items as far as 'unreleased' stuff goes are a couple of stories about Konami developing a football game for the Dreamcast, and another regarding Universal Interactive's PlayStation properties Crash Bandicot and Spyro the Dragon potentially coming to Sega's system (see above).

Reviews are plentiful in issue 5, and include Crazy Taxi, Virtual On, Virtua Striker 2, Resident Evil 2, Armada, Evolution, Zombie Revenge, Tee Off Golf and Death Crimson 2. Elsewhere there is a guide to Toy Commander and a look at a digital camera boasting an incredible 1.5 megapixels. Enough from me though - here's the video:

6 comments:

Joe said...

These articles really make me wish I'd kept my copies of these mags. Does anyone know if there is anywhere out there you can download PDF versions of these?

Tom Charnock said...

Try this place Joe: http://oldgamemags.tumblr.com

RJAY63 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
RJAY63 said...

Hi Tom, thank for this video. I'd just like to make the following points:

* Jambo Safari: all these "arcade reviews" took place at the old Bournemouth Sega Park arcade. The mags offices were in the same town. One of the members of the public featured there was actually a member of the arcade staff. Check the NASCAR Arcade feature (in a later issue) which was a coin-op collaboration between Sega and EA; the whole tone is very negative and taking a swipe at EA about not developing for the DC.

* Street Fighter W Impact Review: there was a big backlash against 2D fighters at the time. 2D was very much out of fashion. Think this originated from the Playstation magazines.

* I stopped buying a lot of UK mags due to this "lad content". It was just filler and put there as that type of cross-promoting was successful in the Playstation mag scene.

PS If you review issue 6, my high scores are featured in the Daytona USA 2 article. My initials are DMX and USA. I have my winners letter from Sega Amusements should you wish to see it.

PPS I know who the "man in the pub" photo was and I hope they didn't use it deliberately. I can tell you more (don't worry the guy himself did nothing wrong) but it's probably better done by PM/email

Tom Charnock said...

RJAY63 - Thanks for the comment! Yeah, I knew the mag was based in Bournemouth, but I'm intrigued about how you know the old man in the pub! Also, when I do the issue 6 video, I'll pay special attention to the high scores section!

RJAY63 said...

Tom, check your email