Dream On

The Dream On series is a set of demo discs for the Sega Dreamcast, distributed in parts of Europe. They can be seen as a successor to the Sega Flash series for the Sega Saturn, as like the Sega Flash series, each disc contains a number of playable demos and watchable videos of upcoming video games.

The Dream On series lasted throughout the Dreamcast's lifespan in Europe. The Dream On Volume discs came from Sega themselves, and were distributed montly via the Official Dreamcast Magazine in the UK, Dreamcast: Le Magazine Officiel in France, Revista Oficial Dreamcast in Spain and a mixture of Dreamcast: Das Offizielle Magazin and Dreamcast Kult in Germany. Dream On Volume 1 was initially bundled with Dreamcast consoles, but was later replaced by entries under the Dream On Collection name (starting with Dream On Collection 2), which usually contained more content than their Volume counterparts.

When the Dreamcast ceased production in 2001, the UK's Official Dreamcast Magazine had planned to keep printing issues for as long as new games were being released. However, difficulties arose when trying to print Dream On demo discs. New demos were almost non-existent, with Dream On Volume 22 merely being a compilation of demos seen in previous editions of the magazine. Finding it difficult to justify the price of the magazine without a demo disc, the magazine was halted despite claiming new issues would be released. France played catch-up throughout the series' run, as although discs were pressed specifically for a French audience, the country missed Volume 7 and Volume 8, instead going for the unusual choice of printing a Dream On Volume 7 & 8 disc.

In Germany Dream On discs were carried by Dreamcast: Das Offizielle Magazin, but when the publication folded discs began appearing in Dreamcast Kult instead. The country did not receive Dream On Volume 21 and Dream On Volume 22. Spain is not thought to have received Dream On Volume 2 and Dream On Volume 3, with Revista Oficial Dreamcast instead starting with Dream On Volume 4.

Though the DreamOn discs usually contained just demos and videos, there are a few exceptions. Dream On Volume 8 included the full game Sega Swirl (which was not available in European stores). Christmas and summer themed Toy Commander missions were exclusive to the series. Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future was released as a slideshow in Dream On Volume 6, and Metropolis Street Racer was marked as a "rolling demo" (an unplayable demo rendered in real-time) in Dream On Volume 7 .

As is perhaps to be expected, some demos are largely identical to those found in similar demo disc runs in North America and Japan.

Releases

Dream On demo discs

Collection 2 (2000) | Collection 3 (2000) | Collection 4 (2000)

Dream On

From Sega Retro

Releases