Dreamcast CD Loader
From Sega Retro
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| Dreamcast CD Loader | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Dreamcast | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Developer: Wildlight, Utopia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre: ETC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Dreamcast CD Loader was the first "boot CD" for the Sega Dreamcast, created by the groups Wildlight and Utopia and released in June 2000. It exploits a vulnerability in the Mil-CD format, which the Dreamcast (up until November 2000) supported natively, allowing users to run software burnt onto CD-R discs.
This disc is infamous for opening the door to mass-market Dreamcast piracy; the user simply has to insert this disc, and when prompted, switch over to a CD-R, bypassing the console's security. It is notable for featuring a rotating 3D reindeer, supposedly created from example code from a Dreamcast development kit (of which a pirated version was used to create the disc in the first place).
While official Dreamcast games shipped on GD-ROMs, many could happily fit on the lower capacity CD-ROM format (or could be made to run with some modifications); with this disc in hand, dumping the contents of a GD-ROM and burning it onto a CD-R became a viable means to bootleg Dreamcast games.
The Dreamcast CD Loader (and similar discs) would become obsolete in the coming months with the introduction of "self boot" discs. Its success in Sega's key markets is also unclear, as by the time the concept gained traction, official Dreamcast games were starting to be heavily discounted, particularly after the console's discontinuation in early 2001. In developing markets without an official Dreamcast distribution chain, however, discs were wildly popular and gave birth to active Dreamcast communities, albeit ones dependant on imoprted consoles and unofficial bootleggers rather than Sega themselves.
This Dreamcast CD Loader was initially made available as a free download, however was packaged and sold by bootleggers in a physical format later in the year. A second version (1.2) attempts to address this with an added warning, suggesting those who bought the disc had been "cheated".
Physical scans
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| Dreamcast, RU (Kudos; V1.1) |
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| Dreamcast, RU (Kudos; V1.2) |
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