Do you know that your PC’s hardware that allows you to play Path of Exile, War of Warcraft, or Black Desert doesn’t differ greatly from the hardware of home video game consoles? So, if you were dreaming of running retro games on your computer but wasn’t sure your PC could cope with such a responsible mission, it’s about time you changed your opinion. PC’s software can emulate the work of vintage consoles you used to play on back in the day. Lots of retro gamers successfully emulate Nintendo and Sony consoles.
As for Sega Dreamcast, which was a result of Sega’s half-hearted attempt to stay afloat on the video game market, you may find it difficult to emulate its games on your modern PC. The point is that numerous attempts to create a worthwhile emulator for Sega’s short-lived console weren’t quite successful. Only one emulator, NullDC, managed to survive the test of both time and demanding users.
Currently, it’s the only reliable tool you can use to emulate most popular Sega Dreamcast games on your computer. Notwithstanding freezes, possible crashes, hangs, and lags which can be commonplace during the gameplay, many users opt exactly for NullDC when it comes to emulating Dreamcast titles. If you want to play timeless classics too, go on reading our tutorial.
Downloading the Emulator
Open your browser and go search for NullDC on the Internet. Though the web is teeming with resources offering Dreamcast emulators for download, we highly recommend that you visited NullDC official website. You can download the emulator from there.
To download the emulator, click on the most recently updated version. You’ll find the new software in your default Downloads folder.
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Installing the Emulator
Go to your Download folder and locate the file containing the emulator. You’ll notice that the downloaded program is in .zip format, which is commonplace for all emulation programs. Of course, you’ll need to unzip it by means of any unarchiver you have on your computer. If don’t have any, we recommend that you install 7-Zip. This tool allows opening archived files merely by double-clicking on them.
Just like many other emulators, NullDC won’t work without a special file called BIOS. Currently, there are two files for NullDC distributed online – dc_boot.bin and dc_flash.bin. You can find the necessary BIOS file on the Internet, as well. Take care to download BIOS for your NullDC from a reliable resource. Scanning the obtained files with an antivirus program also will not hurt (jut to be on the safe side).
The first step you need to take is to decompress the file containing the emulator, as the majority of all emulators come in archives. Then, place the BIOS file into a data directory.
Once BIOS is put into a proper folder, head to the File menu and select the “Normal Boot” option from there. At this point, your emulator should prompt you to choose an ISO, or a game you’ll need to download to start playing.
Getting Dreamcast Games
The aforementioned ISO your emulator prompts you to select is nothing but an image of a specific Dreamcast game that once was written to an optical disc. At this moment you don’t have any games in your emulator.
But you can download it, since the Internet is always at your service. The web is replete with countless websites offering Dreamcast ISOs for download. But be selective. Use only reliable resources whose reputation and safety can be verified. Such resources as RomsMode, RomsMania, EmuParadise, and Coolroms are among the top websites offering a variety of retro games. If you’re in search of cool Dreamcast games, don’t hesitate to check the vast game library on those websites.
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Playing Games with the Emulator
To start playing the game you have downloaded, go to the “File Menu” and navigate to the “NullDC Games” folder. Select the ISO you want to try out and click “Open.”
That’s all! Your NullDC should start opening the selected game immediately. Shortly, you’ll be enjoying Dreamcast retro classics on your computer.
