Is the Dreamcast broadband adapter worth it these days?

[rwilloug]

I'm a new Dreamcast owner and I'm wondering if there's any value to buying the Broadband Adapter these days, considering its cost. Using my DC as web browser doesn't particularly interest me, so I wanted to find out what games it would actually be useful for at this point?

Thanks in advance,

rwilloug

[Mozgus]

If you have a TON of legit Dreamcast games, and you want to make backup isos of them for use with Dreamcast emulators, this device is your only option to do such. (The coder cable is way too slow.) DC emulation still makes a little progress now and then, and who knows? Years from now, your Dreamcast may die, and spares on ebay may cost a lot (though not as much as the broadband adaptor does right now, lol). It's a good way to invest in a little insurance towards your collections, but honestly, it's not worth the $150+ asking price, no matter how large your game collection is. If Sega or a third party would just manufacture more, for $50 or so, I'd buy one instantly.

Keep in mind that most Dreamcast games you download have had content removed or downsampled in order to fit on a CD. It's pretty much impossible to find 1:1 original copies for download online, of all the titles which required shrinking. Someone really needs to start a site or network or some sort, which holds isos of these 1:1 copies, just for the sake of preservation.

[racketboy]

If you have a TON of legit Dreamcast games, and you want to make backup isos of them for use with Dreamcast emulators, this device is your only option to do such. (The coder cable is way too slow.) DC emulation still makes a little progress now and then, and who knows? Years from now, your Dreamcast may die, and spares on ebay may cost a lot (though not as much as the broadband adaptor does right now, lol). It's a good way to invest in a little insurance towards your collections, but honestly, it's not worth the $150+ asking price, no matter how large your game collection is. If Sega or a third party would just manufacture more, for $50 or so, I'd buy one instantly.

Keep in mind that most Dreamcast games you download have had content removed or downsampled in order to fit on a CD. It's pretty much impossible to find 1:1 original copies for download online, of all the titles which required shrinking. Someone really needs to start a site or network or some sort, which holds isos of these 1:1 copies, just for the sake of preservation.

If anybody has some, I'd be glad to torrent them.

[lordofduct]

Times like this are when I debate going into electrical engineering.

But then I remind myself of how much I hate engineers and I throw the idea out. All the kids in my math courses are dreaming of the day they become mechanical, electrical and the dreaded 'civil' engineer. I ask myself, "do they not know a masters in math could get them so many other jobs then these drab employment oppurtunities?"

But then I am reminded of the high demand for them (a civil engineer in south florida is almost guaranteed a job... with atleast a 50K starting gross salary)... money turns my tongue red with hatred. I will laugh when they get burned like the amazing Network Administrator boom that recently faded here in South Florida (and probably else where), even my family was pushing me to go into that profession when everyone was yammering about it. I laughed and explained what a dog eat dog world it was and that this balloon will very quickly pop and crush all these people under its weight!

----

off topic? OH I was just rambling about how with such knowledge one could build there own means of hooking up possibly HDDs (which actually has been done) and ethernet cards to the DC. It would be really cool to have a DC that could boot games off of it's own HDD, DVD or other storage medium larger then a CD.

But it would be cool to be able to mount certain directories off the HDD on a whim through some interface to emulate the GD-ROM.

[metaleggman]

off topic? OH I was just rambling about how with such knowledge one could build there own means of hooking up possibly HDDs (which actually has been done) and ethernet cards to the DC. It would be really cool to have a DC that could boot games off of it's own HDD, DVD or other storage medium larger then a CD.

But it would be cool to be able to mount certain directories off the HDD on a whim through some interface to emulate the GD-ROM.

Couldn't someone make a hacked version of a DC OS, like winCE or linux or sumpin, and make it so if you had a HDD attached however, it could load the games like normal. Unless of course the HDDs are used through the optical drive connector or w/e, which then renders my idea useless

Also, is the broadband adaptor required for online games on most of the games, or can you pretty much just use the modem adaptor for all of it?

[Mozgus]

off topic? OH I was just rambling about how with such knowledge one could build there own means of hooking up possibly HDDs (which actually has been done)

Show linkage of it being done.

[Zalphier]

You don't need the broadband adapter to play online. Of course, most all the games are not supported anyhow.(though there are still a few) And also, there are PSO hack servers like sctchserver, which has a steady amount of players. Keep note though, there are alot of hackers. I've never heard of the broadband adapter used to rip DC games.

[Mozgus]

You don't need the broadband adapter to play online. Of course, most all the games are not supported anyhow.(though there are still a few) And also, there are PSO hack servers like sctchserver, which has a steady amount of players. Keep note though, there are alot of hackers. I've never heard of the broadband adapter used to rip DC games.

Actually, even when all online DC games still functioned, most did not work properly on the broadband adaptor. The 56k modem was far more compatible.

And if you haven't heard of the broadband adaptor being used for ripping games, then I've got a surprise for you. The vast majority of all pirated DC games were ripped using it. There are only two other methods known.

One was to use the coder's cable and spend 12+ hours per disc, ripping it through your COM port. You Dreamcast had to be running the homebrew software during the entire process, so it was a bit of a strenuous task for the poor DC.

The second method is EXTREMELY rare. There have been less than a dozen specific models of PC disc drives which have been confirmed hackable to read GD-ROMs. The hacking required some solder work and firmware patch. It was very risky, and few people had any success. There was a gigantic thread about the process on EmuTalk a long time ago. It may not even be on there anymore.

[metaleggman]

You don't need the broadband adapter to play online. Of course, most all the games are not supported anyhow.(though there are still a few) And also, there are PSO hack servers like sctchserver, which has a steady amount of players. Keep note though, there are alot of hackers. I've never heard of the broadband adapter used to rip DC games.

Actually, even when all online DC games still functioned, most did not work properly on the broadband adaptor. The 56k modem was far more compatible.

And if you haven't heard of the broadband adaptor being used for ripping games, then I've got a surprise for you. The vast majority of all pirated DC games were ripped using it. There are only two other methods known.

One was to use the coder's cable and spend 12+ hours per disc, ripping it through your COM port. You Dreamcast had to be running the homebrew software during the entire process, so it was a bit of a strenuous task for the poor DC.

The second method is EXTREMELY rare. There have been less than a dozen specific models of PC disc drives which have been confirmed hackable to read GD-ROMs. The hacking required some solder work and firmware patch. It was very risky, and few people had any success. There was a gigantic thread about the process on EmuTalk a long time ago. It may not even be on there anymore.

hmm...I'm suprised a few pirates didn't use old DEV GD-Rom Drives. That is, I'm assuming those exist as well.

[Mozgus]

hmm...I'm suprised a few pirates didn't use old DEV GD-Rom Drives. That is, I'm assuming those exist as well.

Link to info.