Dreamcast Zip Drive
From Sega Retro
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| Dreamcast Zip Drive |
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| Made for: Sega Dreamcast |
| Manufacturer: Sega, Iomega |
The Dreamcast Zip Drive is an unreleased add-on for the Sega Dreamcast, allowing for data to be saved to Zip disks. It was designed by Sega in conjunction with Iomega, creator of the storage format.
The drive was conceived after there was a strong demand for more storage space than Sega servers were offering to save email and web pages onto. The drive could also save game-updata data so all those extra quake maps could be played at home. The 100MB storage disk drive is essentially the same as the ones made for PC's with slight modifications made to make it compatible with the Dreamcast.
The device was made to fit under the Dreamcast, using the slot the modem plugs into on the console. The modem then plugged into the side of the Zip drive. Also included is a front-mounted USB port, which would have allowed the connection of all kinds of new peripherals, to help promote the console as a home entertainment/information system.
The Dreamcast formatted Zip disks were not set to be compatible with the PC Zip drives, but it was suggested that software for the PC would eventually be released to solve this issue.
The Zip drive reportedly made it to a late stage of development, being priced at $199 USD and being set for release during the third quarter of 2000. The reason for its cancellation is unclear, though the Zip disk format was already in decline by mid-1999, and it was likely an expensive add-on to manufacture.
A prototype of the unit is known to exist, and was last spotted on eBay in autumn 2007.