Press release: 1999-09-19: Sega Dreamcast Provides Portable and Enhanced Game Play With Visual Memory Unit

This is an unaltered copy of a press release, for use as a primary source on Sega Retro. Please do not edit the contents below. Language: English Original source: The Free Library

Sega Dreamcast Provides Portable and Enhanced Game Play With Visual Memory Unit; Sega Dreamcast First Console to Offer Hand Held Gaming and Internet Functionality.

 SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 19, 1999--

Sega(R) of America will bring gamers more ways to play their favorite videogames on 9-9-99 with the launch of Sega Dreamcast(tm), the 128-bit superconsole with a built-in 56K modem that brings the most realistic and advanced game play ever achieved in a videogame system.

With Sega's Visual Memory Unit(tm) (VMU) -- a portable gaming device that allows for hand held gaming -- gamers can save games, play mini-games on the road, trade games with friends and even download special characters and plays for use on Sega Dreamcast from the Internet. The VMU will be sold separately for an SRP of $24.99.

Sega Dreamcast's VMU is an 128K memory card with a built-in LCD screen that plugs into the Sega Dreamcast control pad and works as both a memory device to save games and a game-enhancing peripheral. Using the LCD screen on the VMU gamers have a strategic advantage by being able to call sports plays without their opponent knowing what they are doing and view vital information, that usually appears on the Television screen, on the VMU.

"In creating Sega Dreamcast we found that gamers wanted more ways to play their games and didn't want to feel confined by any limits," said Greg Thomas, vice president of product development, Sega of America. "With the VMU, players can enjoy not only Sega Dreamcast games away from the home, but they can expand gameplay on Sega Dreamcast, experiencing a new level of strategy and raising the level of competition."

Sega Dreamcast VMU allows games to take on a life of their own and exist away from the Sega Dreamcast unit. Following are some first and third party games that will utilize the VMU: -0-


"Sonic Adventure(tm)" -- Watch as Sonic the Hedgehog(tm) races onto the Sega Dreamcast at unprecedented speeds! The VMU extends gameplay with a special "virtual pet" feature in which gamers can download characters (AKA "Chao") directly from the game into their VMU. From there, gamers must nurture, feed and care for them in order for them engage in head-to-head "Chao" battles and mini games.

"Sega Sports(tm) NFL 2K(tm)" -- The VMU will provide gamers with strategic options they have never had before for in sports games. Using the VMU, gamers will be able to surprise their opponent with secret attacks by allowing them to enter their plays on the VMU's LCD screen instead of on the television screen where their opponent could see what they had planned.

"Power Stone(tm)" (Capcom) - Power Stone is the first fantasy fighting game to allow full interactivity with a 3D environment. The game features eight mysterious new characters with varied fighting styles. Once gamers have completed Arcade Mode, using different characters, secret mini-games will be unlocked. These games can then be downloaded into the VMU. The mini-games include a mini-airplane shooter and a Vegas-style slot machine. As gamers play through the mini-games, they will receive gold coins. These gold coins can be used to unlock special features including an art gallery mode and a collection of music and sounds from the game.

"Ready 2 Rumble(tm) Boxing" (Midway) - Featuring Michael Buffer, The Voice of Champions(tm), this hyper-realistic 3D boxing game gives gamers the opportunity to compete as one of 16 boxers, each with their own fighting style. Gamers can track their health meter, punches thrown and the percentage of accuracy on their VMU which will give them a competitive advantage by clearing up the gameplay screen and helping them focus on the action of the game.

"TrickStyle(tm)" (Acclaim) - "TrickStyle" features one mini-game called TrickStyle Jr. In this game, futuristic hover-boarders attempt to ride over pickups that increase the length of the colorful streak of light trailing behind their boards in the actual game. However, the longer the streak, the harder gamers find it to traverse the area as their tail gets in the way. Gamers will then be able to upload their light streaks into the visually-stunning Dreamcast game.



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The Sega Dreamcast VMU will be available at the launch of Sega Dreamcast on September 9, 1999.

About Sega Dreamcast

Sega Dreamcast will be available in the US at a suggested retail price of $199, with the built in 56K modem. The system will have 16 titles available at launch, with the number growing to 30 by the end of the year. Third-party titles now in the works will bring the total Sega Dreamcast game library count to more than 100 in the year 2000.

Along with its low price point, Sega Dreamcast will achieve other industry firsts at launch. Its advanced 128-bit architecture makes it the first console with evolutionary capabilities, allowing it to grow and change to match advances in technology and the needs and desires of the consumer. Sega Dreamcast is also the most powerful video game console ever created. It is 15 times more powerful than a Sony PlayStation, ten times more powerful than a Nintendo 64 and has four times the graphics processing power of the fastest Pentium II processor. In addition, Sega Dreamcast is the first console to utilize hand-held gaming through its Visual Memory Unit (VMU), which allows players to swap games with friends in the home, arcade or head-to-head using two VMUs.

About Sega

Sega of America is the arm of Tokyo, Japan-based Sega Enterprises, Ltd. responsible for the development, marketing and distribution of Sega videogame systems and videogames in the Americas. Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Is a nearly $2.5 billion company recognized as the industry leader in interactive digital entertainment media, and is the only company that offers interactive entertainment experiences both inside and outside the home. Sega of America's World Wide Web site is located at www.sega.com.

Power Stone is a trademark of Capcom Co., Ltd.
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