This is CERTAINLY NOT Sonic news, but I know a lot of you are still wondering about this – so I figured I’d post it and inform you guys.
Even though Bleem! has made it clear that there has been no set date for their upcoming PlayStation emulator on the Dreamcast, DCemulation.com decided to fire off an email to the company anyway, wondering what the holdup is with Bleemcast! Here below is the reply they received:
The good news is, there are something like 6 million Dreamcast consoles out there that will be able to play bleemcast! with no problems. The bad news is, (for the time being at least) bleemcast! will only run on those machines, until we can figure something out for the new units.
However, we anticipated this change when we first heard about the system being cracked and our projections have been based on the installed base of MIL-CD compatible Dreamcasts, so it doesn’t affect our product plans in the slightest. And now that the new machines have hit the streets, we’re looking to see if there’s a way to make bleemcast! work without putting the platform at risk by exposing another backdoor for the pirates to exploit. In the meantime, we’ll do what we can to help potential customers determine whether bleemcast! will work with their DC.
Frankly, we can’t blame Sega for killing support for the MIL-CD format, given the explosion in piracy in recent months. It’s a pity that the information was put out there so irresponsibly and so much piracy has sprung up so quickly – Sega made a great console at a great price, and offers some of the most creative and innovative content out there. What’s sad is that many of the same people who steal Dreamcast games will also be the first to bash Sega if they drop out of the market because they can’t make any money.
Of course, it’s good to know the reason why we haven’t seen this emulator grace our Dreamcasts yet given the fact that we were expecting it back in October. With the recent announcement that Sega will be reducing the console price to $100, smart shoppers may benefit from buying the Dreamcast and Bleemcast, getting the best of both Sega and Sony. Hopefully the Feburary or March release date will stick this time.
Source: Sega X