Microsoft WebTV Connection Kit
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| Microsoft WebTV Connection Kit | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System(s): Dreamcast | |||||||||||||||
| Publisher: N/A | |||||||||||||||
| Developer: WebTV Networks | |||||||||||||||
| Peripherals supported: Dreamcast Keyboard, Dreamcast Modem, Dreamcast VGA Box | |||||||||||||||
| Genre: Network (ネットワーク), ETC | |||||||||||||||
| Number of players: 1 | |||||||||||||||
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WebTV for Dreamcast, known officially as Microsoft WebTV Connection Kit (マイクロソフト ウェブ・ティービー接続キット), is a Japanese-only disc that allowed users of Microsoft's WebTV service to access the Internet from their Sega Dreamcast. The disc used the Windows CE capabilities of the Dreamcast to run a port of the WebTV client technology, with the browser engine assumed to be based off of Internet Explorer 2.0. The complementing service for the software is believed to have debuted in Spring 1999. At the time of its release, the WebTV browser was an improvement over Sega's bundled Dream Passport software. By the release of Dream Passport 3, however, the Sega browser became more capable than WebTV.
As the software requires the Japanese WebTV service to work, which has been defunct for several years by now (possibly by or before the September 2013 shutdown of the American WebTV/MSN TV service), WebTV for Dreamcast can no longer be used for the time being.
Contents
Releases
There were only ever two major releases of WebTV for Dreamcast. The one released at launch, which was simply titled Microsoft WebTV Connection Kit (マイクロソフト ウェブ・ティービー接続キット), and a later revision released in December of 1999 that added 128-bit SSL capabilities not present in the launch disc, aptly named Microsoft WebTV Connection Kit 128bit SSL Compatible Version (マイクロソフト ウェブ・ティービー接続キット 128bit SSL対応版). The currently known methods of officially obtaining the WebTV for Dreamcast disc that were available back in the day were mailing a special postcard that came with Japanese Dreamcast units, or e-mailing an address operated by WebTV with a specific subject line.[1]. The launch disc has a yellow label with black and silver elements, while the 128-bit SSL upgrade disc is almost entirely silver with black elements. Both releases have since been dumped in GDI format.
In total, there are believed to be four known WebTV for Dreamcast prints, each with their own user agent:
- WebTV/1.0 (Compatible; MSIE 2.0)
- WebTV/1.2 (compatible; MSIE 2.0)
- WebTV/2.2.3 (Compatible; MSIE 2.0)
- WebTV/2.2.4.1 (Compatible; MSIE 2.0)
Three prints also have known catalog codes, which will be listed down below with the corresponding release they were manufactured for:
- 610-7117 (Launch)
- 610-7390 (128-bit SSL)
- 610-7391 (128-bit SSL)
The 610-7117 and 610-7391 prints have thick, but standard size jewel cases, while 610-7390 just has a standard CD jewel case (like most Dreamcast games used) to house the disc. The 610-7390 print also doesn't include an instruction manual like the 610-7117 print does (and the 610-7391 print might have). This might hint that the 610-7390 print was intended to be shipped to those already subscribed to the WebTV service in Japan before the 128-bit SSL upgrade was published.
Magazine articles
- Main article: Microsoft WebTV Connection Kit/Magazine articles.
Physical scans
| Dreamcast, JP (non-SSL) |
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  Cover
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 Disc |
| Dreamcast, JP (SSL) |
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 Cover
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| Dreamcast, JP (SSL; 610-7391) |
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  Cover
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 Disc |
"Luck'n Luck WebTV"
The postcards for requesting the WebTV for Dreamcast connection kit that were bundled with Japanese Dreamcast units came attached with a small comic titled "Luck'n Luck WebTV" (らくらくウェブティービー). Currently what the comic is about isn't entirely known yet to those who don't understand Japanese but it has something to do with WebTV and is most likely meant as a way to introduce newcomers to what WebTV is. It can also be determined that it centers around a family, consisting of the mother, father, and possibly two brothers. Images of the pages from this comic have recently been found from a Yahoo! Auctions Japan listing and have since been uploaded here to preserve the contents of this otherwise-unknown comic.
Technical information
Software
In the high density area of the WebTV for Dreamcast disc is a file named WEBTV.ROM, which contain files used by the software stored in a proprietary format specific to WebTV called ROMFS. Most of these files pertain to the user interface of WebTV for Dreamcast, which mainly consist of HTML files and images, but also includes proprietary .dat string files. WEBTV.ROM also contains numerous files either made for WebTV for Dreamcast that are unused, or in the case of the 128-bit SSL version, include files that belong to other versions of the WebTV technology entirely. The WEBTV.ROM file uses no compression or encryption and ignoring proper extraction tools, can be somewhat easily analyzed with a hex editor. It's believed that this file is used by the WEBTV.EXE program on the disc when it starts up.
All text used by WebTV for Dreamcast has so far been observed to be encoded in either Shift-JIS or ISO-2022-JP format.
Protocol
Believe it or not, WebTV for Dreamcast uses its own protocol to communicate with the WebTV service and even query HTTP websites. This protocol is known as the WebTV Protocol, or WTVP, which is the same protocol used by dedicated WebTV/MSN TV hardware to communicate with the standard WebTV/MSN TV service. Information on this protocol in general and the content it served is extremely scarce, and next to no information on how the Japanese WebTV service differed on a technical level compared to its American counterpart is readily available as of writing. There have been efforts to document this protocol in as much detail and clarity as possible, although it isn't much to decently recreate the service at the moment.
External Links
References
- ↑ WebTV for Dreamcast (Japanese) (Wayback Machine: 1999-05-08 21:55)