Echelon is a

warez Warez is a common computing and broader cultural term referring to pirated software (i.e. illegally copied, often after deactivation of anti-piracy measures) that is distributed via the Internet. Warez is used most commonly as a noun, a plural ...

group which specializes in the illegal release and distribution of copyrighted console games, such as

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

and

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

ISO image An optical disc image (or ISO image, from the ISO 9660 file system used with CD-ROM media) is a disk image that contains everything that would be written to an optical disc, disk sector by disc sector, including the optical disc file system. IS ...

s. They also created

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

on both platforms. Between September 4, 2000 to April 30, 2002, Echelon's Dreamcast division released 188 game titles and 34 other various fixes, tutorials,

trainers Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used f ...

, and loaders. On December 19, 2001, Echelon released ''

Final Fantasy X is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square as the tenth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Originally released in 2001 for PlayStation 2, the game was re-released as ''Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster'' for PlayStat ...

'' as their first of several hundred PlayStation 2 titles. As of 2007, Echelon continues to release games for the PS2 platform. In 2004, Echelon was named as one of six groups targeted as part of

Operation Fastlink Operation Fastlink is a coordination of four separate, simultaneous undercover investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cyber Division, the Department of Justice, the Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) o ...

by the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

. On November 15, 2005, Echelon's ''

Dragon Quest VIII A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often ...

'' USA PS2 nfo file stated that Echelon was indeed Kalisto: ''We errr Kalisto released it on November 2nd 2001 as Dragon_Warrior_VII_USA_PS1-KALISTO'', referring to the previous game in the series and the nfo ended with ''-- the dragon warrior of KALiSTO''.

Sega Smash Pack ROM Loader

The Sega Smash Pack ROM Loader is a front-end loader program released by the

group Echelon, allowing a user to load their own ROMs into the

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

emulator In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run so ...

built into

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

's ''

Sega Smash Pack ''Sega Smash Pack'' (''Sega Archives from USA'' in Japan) is a series of game compilations featuring mostly Sega Genesis games. Pack 1 (Windows) The first pack titled ''Sega Smash Pack'' (''Sega Archives from USA Vol. 1'' in Japan) featured eigh ...

Volume 1'' game for the

. Provided in the release are the emulation software, tools, and instructions on burning a CD with custom ROMs. The legality of such a loader is dubious, even if one owns the original title. As it runs in full speed with very few issues (the most prominent being its poor sound), the emulator, being dubbed "Segagen" to avoid legal issues, was originally embraced in the Dreamcast homebrew community. However, after much controversy, most Dreamcast web sites soon stopped hosting the ROM loader. Due to the loader's small text and poor controls,

Obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...

later released their own version of the Sega Smash Pack ROM Loader, called "Lemec." It featured larger, easier-to-read text, quick scrolling through files, additional VMU functionality, and added stability. Obsidian's release did not include the Smash Pack emulator software for legal reasons. As such, the user requires the original Echelon release in order to build a disk using the Lemec loader. Gary Lake, the programmer of the ''Sega Smash Pack Volume 1'', had himself deliberately left a documentation of the built-in emulator on the original game disc, with the documentation seemingly intended at them due to the filename (ECHELON.TXT).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Echelon (Warez) Warez groups

Sega Smash Pack ROM Loader

See also

References