Bleem!
Developer(s) | Bleem! Company |
---|---|
Initial release | March 1999 |
Final release | 1.6b
/ August 16, 2001 |
Operating system | Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast |
Type | Video game console emulator |
License | Proprietary |
Website | www.bleem.com at the Wayback Machine (archived May 15, 2001)) |
Bleem! (styled as bleem!) is a commercial PlayStation emulator released by the Bleem! Company in 1999 for IBM-compatible PCs and Dreamcast. It is notable for being one of the few commercial software emulators to be aggressively marketed during the emulated console's lifetime, and was the center of multiple controversial lawsuits.
History
Bleem! was a PlayStation emulator designed to allow people to play original PlayStation games on their
Context
To allow for full-speed emulation on even lower-end computers of what was at the time a current generation console, the authors coded Bleem! in
Bleem! used low-level memory emulation and other real-mode technology. It did not function on operating systems using the Windows NT kernel, including Windows 2000. In fact, Bleem!'s statement at the time was that Bleem! would never support running on Windows NT-based systems, as Windows 98 was the dominant operating system at the time.
Sony, despite having lost its case with Connectix, continued to pursue legal action against Bleem!. Bleem!, financially unable to defend itself, was forced to go out of business.
As of 2005, two members of the team were working for Sony: Randy Linden was working for
Copy protection
To combat
Further updates to the emulator were free until the company ceased operation several years later.
Bleemcast!
Bleemcast! is an
History
Originally, Bleem! was planning to have the disc able to run any PlayStation game on the Dreamcast, but due to technical difficulties, they developed the concept of the "Bleempak", in which the software would boot only 100 specific games each. New Bleempaks would have to be purchased if one game was not available to boot in a Bleempak. Due to the Dreamcast controller's fewer buttons compared to the PlayStation, there were plans to release a Bleem! controller somewhat similarly designed to the PlayStation controller, and a PlayStation-to-Dreamcast controller adapter, which would allow one to use a PlayStation controller on the Dreamcast. As technical difficulties grew further, all these ideas were scrapped, with no "Bleempak" and no hardware releases.
However, they managed to release individual Bleemcast! bootdiscs for three popular games:
Sony lawsuit
Two days after Bleem! started taking preorders for their emulator, Sony filed suit over
In spite of the loss, the release of the Bleemcast! caused Sony to file another lawsuit accusing them of
The legal fees forced the company out of business and eBay auctions of some of the company's possessions were held soon after – including a huge library of worldwide game releases used for compatibility testing.
Closure of Bleem!
Although Sony ultimately did not win any of its lawsuits against them, Bleem! had to shut down when the huge court costs became too much for the small company to handle. Bleem! shut down in November 2001,[8] the same year Sega announced that they would discontinue the Dreamcast in North America. Bleem! closed their website, with only an image on their front page showing Sonic the Hedgehog tearfully holding a flower next to a Bleem! gravestone. The image was later altered and Sonic was removed, ironically to avoid a lawsuit from Sega.[9] Sega themselves had also been indirectly involved in the obstruction of Bleemcast! by the way of the removal of support for the unpopular (for Sega's intended use) MIL-CD format on later Dreamcast models.[4]
Beta leak
A beta build of Bleemcast! was eventually leaked. Even though it was buggy and incomplete, it would run some PlayStation games, though not all the games it ran would be playable.[citation needed] Using this beta, hackers were able to create "Bleemed games" – discs of a PlayStation title with the Bleemcast! emulator built in. ISO images of many of these discs were known to circulate on file-sharing networks.
After the leak, Rod Maher, one of the developers of Bleemcast!, made a public statement regarding the beta, providing some insight into the development process. He revealed that the leaked beta predated the beta that had been shown at E3 and that the leaked beta was 30% complete.[10] The commercial Bleemcast! release was notable as the only release on the Dreamcast that had not been pirated, as it had a complex copy-protection scheme. All three Bleempaks were finally cracked and made available online in December 2009, eight years after their introduction.[citation needed]
Bleem Powered
On January 4, 2021, Piko Interactive announced that they had acquired the Bleem! brand name, with plans to start a retrogaming-focused online storefront titled Bleem Powered,[11] which as of late 2022 still seems to be under development.[12]
References
- ^ Rhodes, Tom. "Best Little Emulator Ever Made!". Escapist Magazine. Archived from the original on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
- ^ "RF Generation: Bleem! for Gran Turismo 2 (Sega Dreamcast)". www.rfgeneration.com. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
- ^ Dragon¥en. "Interview with bleem author". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ a b digitaltaco. "Bleemcast Releases". PlanetDreamcast. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
- ^ Sony Computer Entertainment America v. Bleem, vol. 214, February 14, 2000, p. 1022, retrieved November 3, 2021
- ^ Hosie, Ewen (2017-12-11). "The history of bleem!". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
- ^ Aldershoff, Jan Willem (2001-06-10). "Sony is trying to stop the bleemcast! PSX emulator discs for the". Myce.com. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
- ^ Bramwell, Tom (19 November 2001). "Game Over for bleem". Eurogamer. Bath: Future plc. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
- ^ "Whatever happened to 'Bleemcast'? | SEGA Nerds". 19 May 2015.
- ^ Maher, Rod. "A few words about the beta." DCEmulation. Accessed May 29, 2017.
- ^ "Bleem! Making Return as a Digital Games Marketplace". Piko Interactive. January 4, 2021. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ^ @Pikointeractive (December 14, 2022). "Would greatly appreciate if you guys can fill out this survey which would help us develop a better version Bleem Platform we are working on" (Tweet) – via Twitter.