/vr/ - Retro Games

>Here’s some extremely startling news that affects all users of mnemo’s USB-GDROM (Dreamcast *ODE) and USB Host (3DO *ODE) products: The firmware will eventually “expire” and the device will be bricked.

>Seriously.

>This was first posted by Dreamcast fan @pcwzrd13 last August while watching a live stream from William Nash. During the stream at about the 8 minute mark (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuCaFn3RgH8)), William received a message when trying to launch a game that gave him the “Firmware Is Obsolete” error you see in the picture above. He was able to update the firmware and get it working again, but that means:

>Once the firmware “expires”, USB-GDROM is UNUSABLE!!! That means you’re not “purchasing a product”, you’re “renting” it for the duration of time mnemo supports the firmware. Also, there’s no indication on how the device expires. Does it use the Dreamcast’s internal clock? Does that mean if a current user changes the date to 2020, will their USB-GDROM stop working? What happens if someone then changes it back – Is it permanently bricked until after a “2020 firmware”?

https://www.retrorgb.com/usb-gdrom-self-brick-timer.html