~ News Archives ~

News Archives

Welcome to the News Archives. Here you will find news articles written in the past where you can easily scroll through them and find the ones you missed.     Unfortunately we had a small problem when the server went down and we lost most of our articles from the past but we will try to put some of the important ones back. Curently the time gap is from June 99 to Nov 01. We appologise for any inconvienience and we'll make sure it won't happen again.

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Bleem! For Dreamcast FAQ Ok I dug up everything I could about Bleemcast! Check out this FAQ that came directly from the PR company working on behalf of Bleem. It answers most of the questions you could have about the emulator, how it works, pricing etc, however most interesting are the comments by Bleem on pirated PlayStation games. I was really surprised they would make such comments. Well anyway here it is. Read on... Q - How does bleem! for Dreamcast work? A - It's easy - you put the bleem! for Dreamcast disc into your Dreamcast console and close the lid. bleemcast! loads into local memory and then prompts you to insert a compatible PSX disc. You remove the bleemcast! disc, insert the PSX disc, close the lid and press the start button. Q - When will bleem! for Dreamcast be available? A - We do not have a definitive date for when the first bleempak will be released, but expect it to be available late this summer in the U.S. and Internationally in the fall. Q - Where can I buy bleem! for Dreamcast? A - You will be able to buy it at most gaming stores, as well as online. Q - Are you taking pre-orders? A - No. However there are a number of online retailers that are accepting pre-orders for the first bleempak, as well as the bleempod and bleempad. Q - What is bleemcast!? A - bleemcast! is our internal name for bleem! for Dreamcast! Q - When will the list of titles for the first bleempak be announced? A - We will announce the list just before bleem! for Dreamcast ships to retail. Q - Will game (insert title here) be compatible with bleem! for Dreamcast? A - Although we are in the process of extensively testing hundreds of games, there is no way to tell if a title will be fully compatible and supported in the release versions of bleem! for Dreamcast at this time. When this list is available it will be prominently posted on the front page of our website. Q - How much will bleem! for Dreamcast cost? A - The suggested retail price is $19.99 U.S. for each bleempak. International pricing has not been finalized, but we expect the paks to be comparably priced in Europe and Asia. Q - Will titles be released alphabetically? A - No. A mix of titles across the genres will be supported by each bleempak. Q - Will each bleempak feature a variety of genres or be genre specific? A - Each pak will include support for games across the different genres. Q - I've already seen a list of the 100 titles for the first bleempak, is it real? A - No. There is a rumor that we released a list of titles in alphabetical order. Unfortunately, someone wasted their time copying the titles from the back of our mock-ups at E3. If you look closely at the list, you can see it's actually the bleem! 1.5 compatibility list (in alphabetical order) that was used for the mock-ups. Q - If I buy the first bleem! for Dreamcast pak and a game isn't listed on it, will it play? A - No. Each pak will play only the 100 titles listed on the back of the package. Q - What about games that are not in any of the bleempaks, will they just not play? A - We may create more than four paks, however that is the number we have planned for the initial launch. Q - Is it possible to play back-ups of PSX games with bleem! for Dreamcast? A - We can't prevent it since the technology that verifies that a disc is an original PSX title, is patented by Sony and if we used it, we would be in violation of that. You're allowed by law to make a backup "archival" copy of any software you own. But the PlayStation hardware isn't designed to play anything but their specially-mastered CDs. So even if you make a backup, you can't use it. And since you only get a 30-day warranty, if your original CD is ever damaged, you're out of luck. For these reasons (and others that are not-so-legal), you can buy "mod chips" and "game enhancers" just about anywhere -- some require soldering 4 wires, others just plug right into the back of the console. For as little as $4.00, your PlayStation can play CD-Rs and imports, too. So if Sony can't stop people from playing CD-backups on the PlayStation HARDWARE, how can we do it in SOFTWARE? bleem! is designed to play legitimately-owned PlayStation games, and we detest piracy in all its forms. It's ridiculous to blame the makers of a program that simply PLAYS recorded media. It would make more sense to go after the devices that make the copies in the first place - the company that created the CD format (Sony), makes the recorders (Sony), and sells the media (you guessed it, Sony). It doesn't make any more sense than this: Say some criminal uses a Sony VCR to make bootleg copies of "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (a Sony release) on hundreds of Sony-manufactured video cassettes. He then sells one of these tapes to another fellow who takes it home to play on his RCA player. Sony gets wind of this activity - what do they do? If their response to bleem! is any indication, Sony would sue RCA for "contributing to piracy!" Doesn't make any sense, does it? However, we do not condone the use of our products with "pirated" copies of any PlayStation game. We firmly believe that developers deserve the royalties they are due for creating every game and piracy is both wrong and illegal. Q - Will I be able to play PAL games? A - The bleempaks will include PAL support, however in the future we may create versions specifically for Europe and Asia that support the most popular titles in each region. Q - Will bleemcast! work with the VGA-box? A - Yes. Q - The Dreamcast Controller has less buttons than the PSX one, how will I be able to play games that require those extra buttons? A - We're mapping multiple button combinations for the Dreamcast controller to make up for the fewer buttons. The bleempod, PSX to Dreamcast controller adapter will also allow you to use a PSX controller with the Dreamcast. We are also launching the bleempad, a PSX style controller that plugs directly into the Dreamcast. Q - Who is for bleemcast! primarily aimed at, PlayStation or Dreamcast owners? A - Both. Dreamcast owners that want access to more games on the system now have it, and PlayStation owners that may be on the fence waiting for the PS2 to come out now have 400 more reasons to upgrade to a Dreamcast with bleem! for Dreamcast. Q - Will support continue as PlayStation games are released? A - We are looking at possibly incorporating newer titles into later bleempaks as they are introduced. Q- How does bleemcast! compare to PlayStation 2's backwards compatibility? A - bleem! for Dreamcast uses the Dreamcast hardware's processing power, along with full-scene anti-aliasing and bi-linear filtering, to enhance the resolution of PlayStation games up to 640x480. PlayStation 2 does some filtering effects, as part of its backwards compatibility, but PlayStation games still play at 320x240 resolution, one quarter that of games running with bleem! for Dreamcast.

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