GD-ROM

Template:Short description Template:Infobox storage medium Template:Optical disc authoring The GD-ROM (gigabyte disc read-only memory) is a proprietary optical disc format developed as a collaboration between Sega and Yamaha for the Dreamcast and other Sega systems.<ref name="Unified">Template:Cite journal</ref>

SpecificationEdit

A double-density format based on the CD-ROM<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> that could hold up to Template:Val, it consists of a single-density track near the disc's center surrounded by a double-density track comprising much of the disc's capacity.<ref name="Unified" /> The GD-ROM was created in response to developers exceeding the typical Template:Val storage capacity of the CD-ROM; while DVD-ROM would have addressed this limitation, implementing its then-new technology would have made console production cost prohibitive.<ref name="Unified" /> Along with the format's general novelty, the extra capacity also had the theoretical benefit of curbing video game piracy,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a major concern of CD-based consoles that was validated by its rampancy on the PlayStation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Dreamcast consoleEdit

The Dreamcast was considered by the video game industry as one of the most secure consoles on the market with its use of the GD-ROM,<ref name="Wired">Template:Cite magazine</ref> but this was nullified by a flaw in the Dreamcast's support for the MIL-CD format, a Mixed Mode CD first released on June 25, 1999, that incorporates interactive visual data similarly to CD+G.<ref name="Kohler">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="MIL-CD release - IGN">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn Template:Efn A hacker group self-named Utopia released their exploit in June 2000, having discovered that they could replace the visual data with Dreamcast code, enabling games burned onto CD-Rs to run on the console without any modding;<ref name="Kohler" /><ref name="Hackers">Template:Cite news</ref> boot discs were initially used to facilitate this effort, but hackers subsequently discovered the ability to have burned games self-boot without the need for a boot disc.<ref name="Hackers" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> While copying Dreamcast games onto a CD-ROM sometimes required the removal of certain game features, this did not affect their playability; such games were typically distributed on file sharing networks such as Internet Relay Chat.<ref name="Hackers" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Sega initially responded by aggressively pursuing cease and desist orders against online marketplaces selling pirated games, announcing the effort a month after the exploit's release;<ref name="Wired" /> the company eventually released a new revision of the Dreamcast hardware that removed MIL-CD support towards the end of 2000, closing the loophole.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Games released around that time also began to incorporate a more robust copy protection system to thwart illegitimate use.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Before the Dreamcast was released, Sega "confirmed that Dreamcast owners will one day be able to upgrade the GD-ROM drive to DVD" as part of its general expansion system to keep it competitive against more powerful contemporaries.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In June 1999, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on the development of a DVD distribution system by Sega alongside Hitachi, Nippon Columbia, and an additional partner; one known planned use for it involved encrypted multi-title releases that were to be accessed via downloadable product keys.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite displaying a Dreamcast DVD display unit at E3 2000,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the plans for a DVD add-on or fully separate unit never materialized during the short production run of the Dreamcast, rendering it the only sixth generation console to not adopt the format.

Arcade systemsEdit

GD-ROM was also made available as an upgrade for the Dreamcast's arcade cousin, Sega NAOMI and the later Sega NAOMI 2, providing alternate media to its cartridge-based software.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It is also used as an option on both the Sega Chihiro and Triforce, respectively based on the Xbox and GameCube consoles.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The GD-ROM drive in the Dreamcast reads data in constant angular velocity (CAV) mode at up to 12× speed.<ref name="Unified" />

File:Triforce hardware (2).png

GD-ROM drive as an option on Triforce