No surprises as pirates crack the GD-ROM

Recent reports from Hong Kong suggest that pirates have already managed to crack Dreamcast games and are preparing to deliver them for mass-market consumption.

Up until now it was believed that the pirates’ attempts would be thwarted by Sega’s use of the GD-ROM format. As with the PlayStation, a modchip will be required in order to play a copied disc. These are already being advertised on various websites for around 150 Hong Kong Dollars (that’s about £15), with the average game going for 50 HKD (about a fiver).

Sega have not made a public comment as of yet, although you can be sure that they are taking the matter very seriously and will probably have a few plans in the pipeline. It is highly likely that they will upgrade the BIOS in time for the US and European releases, with a built in ‘tamper-check’ or some such device.

However, Sony still haven’t managed to stop PlayStations being ‘chipped’, so it doesn’t bode too well for Sega – why don’t they just pool their resources in a bid to find a solution? It would benefit both parties equally.

Well, Sega’s loss is the hardcore gamers’ gain – we’ll be able to play all the latest import games on the ‘chipped’ Dreamcast.