Ripping Dreamcast Games - Regulation 7 Black - all regions?

Post by **ImportBoy** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:58 pm

I'm planning on starting up a new Dreamcast project that will involve ripping a bunch of original games. As such I'll be buyng a BBA soon.

Given the prices of the BBAs I was considerng buying a Japanese R7 black Dreamcast which includes the BBA already.

Have a few questions regarding it perhaps some people here know the answers to.

-Can these read CD-Rs?
-Will I be able to rip non-Japanese Dreamcast games with the included BBA?

Post by **vlame** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 8:20 pm

i think you can take the bba off and put it on an american dreamcast to rip usa games. im not sure, we need to figure out the manu date, and if japanese systems were made with revision 2 parts (non-mil-CD).

Post by **Caboose** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 11:15 pm

BBAs are region free so you can preserve the R7 and rip your games with a regular Dreamcast. I am fairly sure the ripping software will allow you to rip any disc of any region, although I've never done it myself.

Post by **Doctor Fugue** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 5:44 am

Be very careful...not all R7s have the BBA. In fact, most do not!

I bought a new R7 (I wasn't concerned about a BBA) and I can confirm for you that mine does not have it, and it was not intended to be packaged with it. For extra confirmation, on the modem it says LINE (just like normal DCs) instead of LAN and the port is obviously a regular phone port. I have seen several other R7s and they are the same way.

There is, however, a limited version of the R7 that apparently did come with a BBA...but it comes in a separate box and also includes some keychains and other little things. Check out pictures 8 and 9 here:

http://www.dreamcastgallery.com/dc/gall ... sole_id=15

That is the "full" limited edition...and would probably be very expensive. And I said "apparently" earlier because I have never seen one of these in person and so I cannot even confirm that those have the BBA.

So, don't go for the R7 just for the BBA. Most times when I see the R7 for sale, it says "broadband DC" but it just isn't true. It is certainly broadband ready (just like any DC), but no adapter is included. If anybody wants to confirm what I've said, please do so that he can get another opinion.

Post by **ImportBoy** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:26 am

Yes, I figured I could just use the BBA on my regular Dreamcast in worse case.

Thanks for the info - I will contact the seller and specifically ask if the set I was looking at includes a broadband adapter.

Post by **Doctor Fugue** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 7:36 pm

I would be interested in how this turns out since I've never actually seen an R7 that had a broadband adapter, even though sellers and websites seem to claim that it does.

Maybe ask the seller for a picture of the BBA in the R7 before you buy (if you don't trust him), unless it is still new and you don't want to have him take it out of the box.

Post by **ImportBoy** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 10:01 am

Well he responded to me and it is a regular dial-up modem. He is also selling a Hello Kitty Dreamcast (for the same price) also marked "broadband" but you can clearly see a the modem with "line" in the picture.

Seems silly why these are marked broadband. Are the actual models named "broadband ready" or something in Japanese?

Oh well, back to finding a sanely priced BBA. I'm rather curious as to what most people who purchase them today actually do with them. Do that many still go online? For ripping or just for collectings sake?

Post by **vlame** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 5:42 pm

ImportBoy wrote:Oh well, back to finding a sanely priced BBA.

when raztat gets his dc wave ask him.

Post by **Doctor Fugue** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:39 pm

ImportBoy wrote:Well he responded to me and it is a regular dial-up modem. He is also selling a Hello Kitty Dreamcast (for the same price) also marked "broadband" but you can clearly see a the modem with "line" in the picture.

Seems silly why these are marked broadband. Are the actual models named "broadband ready" or something in Japanese?

Oh well, back to finding a sanely priced BBA. I'm rather curious as to what most people who purchase them today actually do with them. Do that many still go online? For ripping or just for collectings sake?

Thanks for letting us know. I think something must have got lost in the translation because those newer DCs all say broadband but in english it's not clear that there isn't a BBA.