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Dreamcast Magazine Issue 20

Issue 20 of Paragon Publishing's unofficial Dreamcast Magazine was released on the 22nd March 2001. By this point, the news of Sega's 'restructure' and shift to becoming a software-only developer and publisher had already broken and as such, the seismic ripples had spread throughout the gaming industry. Dreamcast games were being cancelled at an unprecedented rate, and in an effort to shift units the console's price point was slashed dramatically in all territories.

This was actually quite a bold and positive move by Sega, as reports in issue 20 reveal that the price drop actually helped to increase sales of the ailing Dreamcast. Other positive news reported that the Dreamcast won several awards at the Electronics Boutique annual awards, even bagging a 'console of the year' award for 2000. Sadly though, this was all academic because as we now know, the console didn't really have much longer to live.
Even in light of such moribund developments though, Dreamcast Magazine continued for quite some time and as referenced in the editor's intro March 2001 heralded the closure of the only other unofficial Dreamcast magazine on sale in the UK (which I'm guessing was DC-UK, although don't quote me on that). What this meant was, after March 2001 the only magazines flying the blue swirl on newsstands in the UK (and possibly mainland Europe, too) were Dreamcast Magazine and the Official Dreamcast Magazine; a publication which itself went down the drain not too long later...

That said, Dreamcast Magazine issue 20 is still pretty full of previews, reviews and news. Some highlights include the launch of the Dreamcast karaoke unit in Japan, the continued hype surrounding Shenmue 2 and Crazy Taxi 2, and news of the hotly anticipated Soldier of Fortune port. Not so good news included reports of widespread redundancies at Sega of Japan, where some 300 job posts were lost. Previews included Outtrigger, Headhunter, Evil Twin, Pro Pinball Trilogy, Coaster works, Charge N Blast, Iron Aces and Evil Dead; while some interesting unreleased games were also featured. These include Commandoes 2 and Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 3.Arcade releases Planet harriers and Virtua Fighter 4 are also given an airing; and these are especially poignant as (in my opinion) if the Dreamcast had survived for longer than two years, we probably would have seen home ports of these two for Sega's system (with some corners being cut, in the former's case no doubt).
Elsewhere there is news about the partnership between Sega and set top box manufacturer Pace (a subject we covered a while back in this article), a war of words between EA and Sega is reported, and Sega's showing at the AOU Arcade Operator's Union expo are detailed.
The reviews section is pretty full too, with the releases showing no sign of slowing down. Reviews include Fighting Vipers 2, Skies of Arcadia, Daytona USA 2001, Giant Killers, Typing of the Dead, NBA Hoopz and those two classics ECW Arachy Rulz and Ducati World - both of which featured in our own 'Top 10 Worst Dreamcast Games' article.

Anyway, I've typed enough now - here's the video walkthrough:


If you enjoyed this article and want more Dreamcast Magazine walkthroughs, we've covered all previous 19 issues here. If you'd like to join our Facebook group you can find it here; and if you'd like to follow us on Twitter then go here. Patreon is here, but no pressure. Cheers.

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