On October 14th, 1999, Sega launched the Dreamcast in Europe.
Back by around 12 games and supported by a £50 million promotional spend – which included sponsoring football clubs Arsenal, Saint-Étienne, Sampdoria and Deportivo de La Coruña – the console would shift 500,000 units in the region by Christmas.
Sega notably changed the console’s iconic orange swirl to a blue one and also put together an advertising campaign which called upon Robbie Williams and a barber (subsequently found to be Pierre Santino) to illustrate the amazing potential of online gaming. The commercial famously stated that the machine offered “up to 6 billion players”, referencing the population of the Earth rather than its actual install base.
Europe was traditionally a Sega stronghold during the ’90s, but sales weren’t sustained in 2000 and the decision was made to drop the price to £149.99 in the UK from September 8th. Total European sales were around 800,000 at this point.
At the beginning of 2001, Sega announced it was exiting the console market, and Dreamcast would be its final home system. In total, Sega sold around 1 million units in Europe.
What are your memories of the European Dreamcast launch? Let us know with a comment.
Go on.... treat yourself to a new game.
