When Sega of America's fiscal year 1997 brand review documents hit the Internet on Monday morning, the secrets they revealed sent shockwaves throughout the retro gaming community. But after eluding public release for nearly 30 years, how did they get out in the first place?
The person who uploaded them to the Internet Archive, GoldenDreamcast, joined the Shiro Discord server this week and told us the story.
It all started when GoldenDreamcast was doing some "late night scrolling" on eBay in late 2021 looking for old Sega development hardware. That's when a listing titled "Vintage Sega Game Development Brand Review binder From Former Employee" caught his eye.
"Had to snatch them up before someone else did and have it disappear into the ether," GoldenDreamcast said.
Rather than an auction, the documents were listed at a single "buy it now" price. GoldenDreamcast described that price as "more than Saturn, but less then what they projected Pluto to be" — so somewhere between US$400 and $550.
To spend that much money then turn around and release the documents to the world for free is certainly a generous contribution to video game history.
"Just had to make sure it didn't escape," he said.