Is there an import adapter available for the Dreamcast?

[Clownzilla]

The Saturn had many choices, but I can't seem to find one for Dreamcast (I'm sure the cart port on the Saturn has something to do with that).

[Kitsune Sniper]

Can't you get an Action Replay or Gameshark or whatever disc and use that? I remember they were supposed to help you play imports too.

Also, if you have a CD-R drive, you can download a boot disk image, burn it to CD, and use that to start your game. It doesn't always work, but it's free.

[kaedesdisciple]

When I had a DC, I just used a Utopia boot disc that I burned from an ISO I found online in like 5 minutes.

[XxHennersXx]

theres utopia you can download, there's dcrc that you can download, you can use a gameshark,or DC-X

[Oobgarm]

Doesn't the DC have to be manufactured before a certain date to read CDRs? I thought I read that somewhere.

[XxHennersXx]

Doesn't the DC have to be manufactured before a certain date to read CDRs? I thought I read that somewhere.

yes. which is why if your dc doesn't read CD-R's, you can just use a gameshark or DC-X

[InsaneDavid]

Doesn't the DC have to be manufactured before a certain date to read CDRs? I thought I read that somewhere.

yes. which is why if your dc doesn't read CD-R's, you can just use a gameshark or DC-X

No, this is the biggest subject of Dreamcast misinformation. All Dreamcast systems that you'll ever see have MIL-CD support. There are a handful of Dreamcast consoles that were released to a very small Asian market share that have not been confirmed as booting CD-R's - but you'll never come across one of those. I've taken out brand new, factory sealed, end of production Dreamcasts to confirm this and they load CD-R data with no problem what so ever. Heck, one of these is the system I did my NESterDC compatability databasing with.

[omnedon]

The DC can also be chipped, to boot import games directly, making a completely universal DreamCast, with no disc swapping.

[Poofta!]

so david, youre saying all us dreamcasts read cdrs? i couldve sworn i had one that didnt, althoug hte two i have now both run cdrs. one is a sega sports model teh other is regular.

[InsaneDavid]

so david, youre saying all us dreamcasts read cdrs? i couldve sworn i had one that didnt, althoug hte two i have now both run cdrs. one is a sega sports model teh other is regular.

Yes I am, with the exception I noted in my previous post. Every instance of a Dreamcast not reading a CD-R I've bared witness to was either due to defective hardware or bad burns using low grade CD media. Most of the time it's due to the later - no matter how many times I say it one can't expect to get consistant results out of penny-a-pound Memorex CD-R's burned at 40x.

Manufacture date being the basis for MIL-CD support is almost as bad a Dreamcast rumor as the "Sega stuffed the last Dreamcast console with $10,000" BS that someone was ranting about when I was on the retail side of the industry.

[MarioMania]

So your saying my black dreamcast could read CD-R's

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

If, by "black Dreamcasts," you mean Sega Sports Dreamcasts, then yes. If by "black Dreamcasts," you mean LE R7 Dreamcasts, then yes. If for some reason by "black Dreamcasts," you mean the pink Sakura Taisen LE Dreamcast, then no that one won't work. Aside from those, there's a very small number of regular white Dreamcasts that won't work with CDRs either, but it's a small number like David said, there's very little chance that you'll come across one (I suppose the should be listed separately on the DP Dreamcats list and if they were, I'd say they're at least R7...not to be confused with the black LE Dreamcasts I mentioned above which were sold as "R7" Dreamcasts).

I also agree with David that, this is one of the most annoying rumors concerning Dreamcasts. Because it just sticks like dirt, no matter how much people try to set the record straight, there's still this illusion that Drreamcasts manufactured or sold or looked at after October 2000 won't play CDRs. It's not true.

Also, if you want to download a free Dreamcast bootdisc, the Action Replay CDX Demo is a better choice than the Utopia disc. Get it here:

http://dreamcast.dcemu.co.uk/cgi-bin....cgi?0,0,0,0,8

Personally, I like DCHakker even better since you can do so much more with (like booting stuff from multisession CDRs), but it is more complicated to use, especially for booting imports. The PAR Demo is easier.


...word is bondage...

[ProgrammingAce]

The irony of this is that i recall Sega themselves saying that you can boot CD-R's off of all dreamcast when they were telling people to import Shenmue II

[MarioMania]

The Sega Sports Model..I like the Color Black, I don't call it sega sport

[XxHennersXx]

No, this is the biggest subject of Dreamcast misinformation. All Dreamcast systems that you'll ever see have MIL-CD support. There are a handful of Dreamcast consoles that were released to a very small Asian market share that have not been confirmed as booting CD-R's - but you'll never come across one of those. I've taken out brand new, factory sealed, end of production Dreamcasts to confirm this and they load CD-R data with no problem what so ever. Heck, one of these is the system I did my NESterDC compatability databasing with.

thanks for that, I never tested it myself. All the dreamcasts I've come into using (mine, friends, work, etc) all boot CD-R's but they were all before that end of the production date too. But i'll keep that in mind. thanks!

[segagamer]

Utopia is very unreliable; better off with Gameshark or DC-X (which I use personally). Not sure if anyone out there still offers the chip-mod on the DC, though.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

I think NCS still offers the service, I'm not sure how much tey charge though and I don't think you'd have any trouble finding someone on these forums or one of the better Dreamcast-specific forums that would do the job for you. The modchip only requires four solderpoints, so it's not very complicated to do. At least, i don't think it is, I haven't done one myself because I'm too cheap to pay for anything if the swapdiscs are free even though a modchip would be a lot nicer.


...word is bondage...

[XxHennersXx]

I think NCS still offers the service, I'm not sure how much tey charge though and I don't think you'd have any trouble finding someone on these forums or one of the better Dreamcast-specific forums that would do the job for you. The modchip only requires four solderpoints, so it's not very complicated to do. At least, i don't think it is, I haven't done one myself because I'm too cheap to pay for anything if the swapdiscs are free even though a modchip would be a lot nicer.


...word is bondage...

they want 40 bucks for it.

[CosmicMonkey]

Don't bother with a mod chip. Use Dreamcast Region Changer 1.5

Check the Tech forum. There's a thread in there about it with all the info

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

they want 40 bucks for it.

Yikes, that's a lot. even though I assume it includes the return since that's standard for NCS. You could get it done much cheaper. The modchips themselves were only like $10-12 last time I noticed.

Don't bother with a mod chip. Use Dreamcast Region Changer 1.5

Check the Tech forum. There's a thread in there about it with all the info

Hm, that's pretty cool, I've never heard of this before.

However, I don't see how it's better than a modchip. If you're going to open up your DC and take a hot soldering iron to it, you might as well fully mod the system and not have to worry about swap discs or region changer discs are anything. In fact, unless you know you're going to play Japanese and only Japanese (or PAL and only PAL or North American and only North American) games on your Dreamcast for a certain period of time, this sounds even more complicated than just using a swap disc to boot your imports.

Still interesting, though.


...word is bondage...