Dreamcast-to-GBC barcode scanner/TV adapter

[Proletar666]

Another unreleased accessory with functionality hidden in game's code:

https://segabits.com/blog/2022/08/18/the-story-of-the-cancelled-game-boy-color-to-dreamcast-official-connectivity-solution/

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ilaJUOr8Knk

A barcode scanner that connected to the GBC link cable port. Scanning codes from the game on your TV unlocked stuff in the GBC game. Practical use would probably involve some game ROM patching via a Hex editor or cooperation with the author(s) of a Dreamcast emulator author (Flycast fits the bill, it's on GitHub as well) for connectivity.

Just for cataloguing the request.

[shonumi]

Thanks to the ROM patchers, the code for Sakura Taisen GB has been thoroughly examined, so it shouldn't be too hard to convert the barcodes into actual digits or some other data that users can select as IR input. It would be possible to import GIFs of the flashing barcode, but that seems a bit too much.

As an aside, this one is pretty weird. Although it's a Link Cable accessory, the device probably would have connected to Pin 4 of the GBC's Serial Port. Pin 4 is (for whatever reason) connected to the same memory location the GBC accesses for IR data. Pin 4 has its own data (a single bit) that's separate from IR stuff. This feature was never used by any official accessory, however.