Dream Passport 3

Dream Passport (ドリームパスポート) is a disc designed for use with Japanese Sega Dreamcast consoles to give users basic internet functions (i.e. surfing the web and checking email). This initial version, Ver. 1.01, was released in 1998 early in the console’s lifespan, and is missing compatibility with various common filetypes of the day.

Dream Passport discs were bundled with consoles and not sold separately. As time progressed, the pack-in was replaced with newer versions of the software, i.e. Dream Passport 2 and Dream Passport 3.

On March 30, 2000, Sega announced that Dream Passport 3, which was due for release on April 29, would include an online rental service called Dream Library, where users could download and play emulated Mega Drive and PC Engine games; a small fee was charged daily throughout the rental period of each title. Initially scheduled to launch with the browser, Sega delayed it to May 30, then delayed it again for two days due to “final testing”; the service went live at 18:00 JST on June 1 with 17 Mega Drive and 13 PC Engine titles available. Five Mega Drive titles were added to the service the same month along with 15 PC Engine titles. The service was temporarily suspended from January 27, 2001, to March 2001 due to Sega implementing compatibility with the Broadband Adapter through server modifications.