The Sega Dreamcast was Sega's last entry into the home video game console market. The Dreamcast was the first system to be released in the sixth console generation which also included the Nintendo Gamecube, Sony Playstation 2 and Microsoft Xbox. After Sega's failure with the Saturn (its 5th generation console), and subsequent lack of support for Saturn software, the Dreamcast was up against a tough task in terms of winning back the trust of both consumers and publishers. The Dreamcast was released in Japan in late 1998 and on Septepber 9th, 1999 in North America, with a European release coming a month later in October. The Dreamcast was the first console to utilize a built-in modem for online gaming with titles like Phantasy Star Online.

At the time of its release, the Dreamcast was the most powerful home console available, with superb 3D graphics abilities as well as advanced transparency and particle effect capabilities. Sega decided to use a proprietary media format known as a GD-ROM for standard Dreamcast games, which was meant to prevent piracy on the console. However, it wasn't long before the pirates realized how to dump data off the GD-ROMs and format games to run from a burned CD-R disc, tricking the console into playing the copied title. It was this rampant piracy, along with dwindling developer support in the days leading up to the release of Sony's Playstation 2, that ultimately lead to the downfall of the Dreamcast. On January 31st, 2001, just 16 months after it had debuted in North America, Sega announced that it would discontinue production of the console, effective March 2001. In total, the Dreamcast sold just short of 11 million consoles worldwide. 

The standard Dreamcast controller featured four face buttons, a directional pad, an analog stick, and left and right trigger buttons located on the shoulders of the controller. The Dreamcast also utilized a visual memory unit (VMU) that not only acted as a memory card, but also incorporated a small grayscale LCD screen and buttons that some games used for additional mini-game content. The Dreamcast's best-selling title was Sonic Adventure, which sold 2.5 million copies. Many Sega arcade titles of the time, such as Crazy Taxi and Dead or Alive 2, received faithful Dreamcast ports thanks to the use of Sega's NAOMI platform, an arcade board heavily based on Dreamcast hardware that made conversions easy.