3 ms·

As the console continued on, if we assume it lived a full five years or something, piracy would have gotten worse as more and more CD burners became commonplace

by MBCook 3y ago

As the console continued on, if we assume it lived a full five years or something, piracy would have gotten worse as more and more CD burners became commonplace. Didn’t they have to pay MS a small license fee for each unit? I’m assuming that was a drag too. Not one that killed it, but just another little kick.

SpecialistK 3y ago
The MilCD exploit was already patched in the last hardware revisions (VA2) so I imagine it would be a bit like the Switch (IIRC) where early models are vulnerable to exploits and more desirable on the second-hand market. I'm not sure what the agreement with Microsoft was, but it was probably on a per-game basis if the developers wanted to use Windows CE.
- MBCook 3y ago
  Oh I didn’t know it was patched in hardware. I knew it was per game whether the software actually used the windows CE stuff. I’m really not sure it was ever used much at all. I know the first version of Sega rally used it but it performed so poorly they had an updated version that didn’t that they put out later to fix the issues. And I’m not sure the bad version even came to the states.
  - SpecialistK 3y ago
    Technically I misspoke. Some VA2 DCs used the older BIOS with the exploit still there, but most did have it patched. One Reddit thread I see claims that Microsoft actually paid Sega for the Windows CE logo on the front of the system. But as you said, not many games used it.
486sx33 3y ago
You COULD d/l a game on 56k, worked best if you had a dedicated phone line. It believe it was just under 48hrs for a large game… I had almost every game! I loved DC Railroad tycoon for the win as a WinCE game I also didn’t mind the web browser and some of the online stuff - I only had dial up on the Dreamcast - broadband adapters were extremely rare! Plus I didn’t have broadband anyway. Crazy taxi was a real favorite as well. I worked all summer in high school and my first purchase was a Dreamcast. I was the first person I knew in town that got the utopia boot disc, and then on from there. Discjuggler burns for self boots, manual patching - unlocked Japanese games. What a fun time!
- SpecialistK 3y ago
  I also love DC - enough to be typing this with an arm with 2 DC tattoos :D But I've never taken it online. I'll be getting a DreamPi at some stage, but sadly shipping to where I am takes it out of "impulse buy" territory.

by MBCook 3y ago

SpecialistK 3y ago

The MilCD exploit was already patched in the last hardware revisions (VA2) so I imagine it would be a bit like the Switch (IIRC) where early models are vulnerable to exploits and more desirable on the second-hand market. I'm not sure what the agreement with Microsoft was, but it was probably on a per-game basis if the developers wanted to use Windows CE.

MBCook 3y ago
Oh I didn’t know it was patched in hardware. I knew it was per game whether the software actually used the windows CE stuff. I’m really not sure it was ever used much at all. I know the first version of Sega rally used it but it performed so poorly they had an updated version that didn’t that they put out later to fix the issues. And I’m not sure the bad version even came to the states.
- SpecialistK 3y ago
  Technically I misspoke. Some VA2 DCs used the older BIOS with the exploit still there, but most did have it patched. One Reddit thread I see claims that Microsoft actually paid Sega for the Windows CE logo on the front of the system. But as you said, not many games used it.

486sx33 3y ago

You COULD d/l a game on 56k, worked best if you had a dedicated phone line. It believe it was just under 48hrs for a large game… I had almost every game! I loved DC Railroad tycoon for the win as a WinCE game I also didn’t mind the web browser and some of the online stuff - I only had dial up on the Dreamcast - broadband adapters were extremely rare! Plus I didn’t have broadband anyway. Crazy taxi was a real favorite as well. I worked all summer in high school and my first purchase was a Dreamcast. I was the first person I knew in town that got the utopia boot disc, and then on from there. Discjuggler burns for self boots, manual patching - unlocked Japanese games. What a fun time!

SpecialistK 3y ago
I also love DC - enough to be typing this with an arm with 2 DC tattoos :D But I've never taken it online. I'll be getting a DreamPi at some stage, but sadly shipping to where I am takes it out of "impulse buy" territory.