February 2001

Thursday, February 8

Genesis on the Dreamcast

Yes, finally, a genesis emulator on the dreamcast! I'm really not sure why this hasn't been posted on news sites like Retrogames & Emusphere (zophar did have a small post), perhaps because of this "emulator" is really just a warez group's hack of Sega's Smash Pack. It was released a few days ago, but I didn't get it working until today. It works fantastic, and I have a CD with nearly 500 roms on it. Yes, the sound isn't perfect (but still ok), and it's full speed, which is what matters most.

You can expect to make several coasters if you try to burn this emulator. But, here are a few tips that may help:

  • Follow this tutorial. You can use killakows tutorial, but I didn't like it. The burning program that comes with the selfboot program works just fine.. no need to bother with CDRWin or any other extra programs.

  • If the selfboot program seems to crash between step 2 and 3, shut down then restart your computer right after you finish step 2. Restart selboot.exe, and don't do the no CDDA recording step, just press "next".

  • When you press the get info button and receive "11702" instead of "11700" like the tutorials expect, you will need to download the LBA 11702 patch. This was the major problem of why I couldn't get it to work the last few days. But it worked fine after I got it.

  • Start out with a CD with only 10 or so roms. That way, making your ISO and burning it will take a lot less time. When you get to the point where it works, then you can dump several hundred roms into the rom directory and make the CD. You may be able to sort the roms into several folders. It takes a long time to scroll through 500 roms, so that is a good idea. This will be the next thing I'm going to try.

  • If you can't get it working, try the forums on DCemulation.com

    Head over to dcemulation.com for everything you need!

    Finally, if you are against warez, do not use this emulator. But since people who already have a dreamcast can't buy the smash pack in the store without buying another dreamcast, I do not think this is wrong.

    Posted by brian

    Thursday, February 1

    Linux Based Console

    Oh yeah, I keep forgetting to mention this. That linux based console in the poll that I forgot the name to is named Indrema:

    http://www.indrema.com
    http://idn.indrema.com

    Posted by brian

    Dreamcast

    Ok, with the death of the dreamcast not too far off, I'm sure prices will be coming down. I picked up a copy of Shenmue on sale for $20 at target today. I've never seen it that cheap, and couldn't resist... It is supposed to be one of the best games for the dreamcast. I would go pick up a copy if you like RPGs, and even if you don't. I'm sure they will sell out fast.

    Also, pick up a dreamcast while the prices are coming down, and while they are sill available. The emulation scene on the dreamcast is really starting to pick up now. A full speed MSX emulator was recently released, Neo Rage X is supposedly being ported, along with ICQ, Linux, NetBSD, Quake, Doom, Snes9X, Bleem, DGEN, MP3 & VCD players, and more. I don't see anything like this coming out on PS2, do you? Also, sega is removing compatability with CDRs in new units, so if you don't pick one up now, one you buy later on may not work with the emulators. Seriously, if you don't pick a dreamcast up, you will regret it. This is the best thing since UltraHLE.

    dcemulation.com

    Posted by brian