With my usual browsing of the web for information on Dreamcast related info, I came across 2 very interesting links regarding to the history of the Dreamcast and its design.
Hideki Sato in an interview upon reflection had waned the Dreamcast to be a more cube-shaped design; something similar to the Nintendo Gamecube. He made multiple prototypes which utilised a front loading disc drive which puts the design closer to the Panasonic DVD GameCube than Nintendo's own system.