*insert witty banner here*
Editing Bleem!
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then publish the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
| Latest revision | Your text | ||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
'''Bleem!''' (styled as '''bleem!''') was a [[PlayStation]] emulator released by the Bleem Company in 1999 for [[Microsoft Windows]] and [[Dreamcast]]. It gained notoriety for being one of the few commercial emulators to be marketed during the [[PlayStation]]'s lifetime, earning the ire of [[Sony]] and thus becoming the subject of a lawsuit. | '''Bleem!''' (styled as '''bleem!''') was a [[PlayStation]] emulator released by the Bleem Company in 1999 for [[Microsoft Windows]] and [[Dreamcast]]. It gained notoriety for being one of the few commercial emulators to be marketed during the [[PlayStation]]'s lifetime, earning the ire of [[Sony]] and thus becoming the subject of a lawsuit. | ||
First released in 1999, Bleem! was initially developed by David Herpolsheimer (president) and Randy Linden,<ref name="company">{{cite web|title=Best Little Emulator Ever Made!|work=Best Little Emulator Ever Made!|first=Tom|last= Rhodes|publisher=Escapist Magazine|url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_117/2295-Best-Little-Emulator-Ever-Made|accessdate=2015-01-02}}</ref> with Will Kempe, Scott Karol, Sean Kauppinen, Bryan Stokes, and Paul Chen, later of Rovio Entertainment, joining the team following its commercial release. The emulator's name was said to have stood for "'''B'''est '''L'''ittle '''E'''mulator '''E'''ver '''M'''ade!", perhaps in reference to its ability to run PS1 games at full speed even on low-end computers, though the bleem! website claims only Randy Linden knows the actual meaning. | First released in 1999, Bleem! was initially developed by David Herpolsheimer (president) and Randy Linden,<ref name="company">{{cite web|title=Best Little Emulator Ever Made!|work=Best Little Emulator Ever Made!|first=Tom|last= Rhodes|publisher=Escapist Magazine|url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_117/2295-Best-Little-Emulator-Ever-Made|accessdate=2015-01-02}}</ref> with Will Kempe, Scott Karol, Sean Kauppinen, Bryan Stokes, and Paul Chen, later of Rovio Entertainment, joining the team following its commercial release. The emulator's name was said to have stood for "'''B'''est '''L'''ittle '''E'''mulator '''E'''ver '''M'''ade!", perhaps in reference to its ability to run PS1 games at full speed even on low-end computers, though the bleem! website claims only Randy Linden knows the actual meaning. | ||
| Line 11: | Line 10: | ||
Ultimately, three boot disks were released, though a beta has since surfaced on the Internet. Intrepid hackers were able to create Bleemed games — discs of a PlayStation title with the Bleemcast! emulator built in. ISOs for many of these discs circulate on file sharing networks. | Ultimately, three boot disks were released, though a beta has since surfaced on the Internet. Intrepid hackers were able to create Bleemed games — discs of a PlayStation title with the Bleemcast! emulator built in. ISOs for many of these discs circulate on file sharing networks. | ||
==Controversy== | |||
Two days after Bleem! started taking | Two days after Bleem! started taking preorders for their emulator, Sony took umbrage and sued the company for unfair competition and copyright infringement. Bleem! won the suit on all counts, in that their way of reverse-engineering the PS1's inner workings was done lawfully, and the use of PlayStation game screenshots were deemed fair use. A protective order was issued to "protect David from Goliath". | ||
This ended in a Pyrrhic victory however, as the lawsuit forced Bleem! out of business due to legal fees. Despite this, the case established a precedent legitimising console and computer system emulation - no emulator author has since been sued for copyright infringement, though at least some emulator authors have been given cease-and-desist notices by the likes of Nintendo for their inclusion of copyrighted ROMs in their software, a practice normally frowned upon | This ended in a Pyrrhic victory however, as the lawsuit forced Bleem! out of business due to legal fees. Despite this, the case established a precedent legitimising console and computer system emulation - no emulator author has since been sued for copyright infringement, though at least some emulator authors have been given cease-and-desist notices by the likes of Nintendo for their inclusion of copyrighted ROMs in their software, a practice normally frowned upon the community. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||