Domain: virtualgamestation.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to virtualgamestation.com.
Comments · 8
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Re:The mind boggles
From the website: Works with over 300 games (and growing!).
You can also try Virtual Game Station which does about 200 games plus some PAL games (the Mac version does a lot more, but it came out almost a year ago). -
Re:Dreamcast isn't competition.Another thing about backward compatibility, now that Bleem! and Virtual Game Station are "in the clear" how big a feature can it be? It's not really a reason to buy a console if you have a PC or Mac that can play the same games, and while I'll admit compatibility is an issue, I expect eventually (especially after PSX is moribund) these two programs will reach an acceptably high level of compatibility.
Sony can basically only use Nintendo style intimidation tactics on vendors to keep them from developing for the Dreamcast, if the Dreamcast is a success. Which is something I certainly expect them to do, if they think they can get away with it. I don't know if they can, smart developers will develop for as many platforms as possible to keep conditions attractive for themselves. Otherwise, a hardware vendor can dictate terms to the third parties and no one wants that (except the dominant hardware vendor).
Feels Cheap? My brother's Gameboy looks, feels and is cheap compared to my Handy^H^H^H^HLynx, but the Lynx is no more and the Gameboy rules the handheld market, "handely."
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A Theory?
OK, I've put together a theory on how this rumor ballooned so wildly out of proportion, so read below if you want my idea.
;-)
Slashdot posted an article that mixed up Connectix's plan to bundle Redhat with their emulator Virtual PC (VPC) with Connectix's Macintosh-only Virtual Game Station (VGS). Before an update could be posted to explain the confusion, MOSR's prestigious Ryan Meader saw the post. Using his common tactics for obtaining information for MOSR, he stole the incorrect information and embellished it with his own lies. (If anyone is feeling like I personally don't believe anything MOSR says, you're right. Please check the archives at http://www.mosr.net/ (the site is now defunct, but as I said, check the archives) if you want to see some very good rebuttals of pure crap/stolen news Ryan has posted.) Anyway, a Slashdot reader who read MOSR saw the story, which corroborated the incorrect story he saw earlier (perhaps he had not reloaded Slashdot to see the update yet) and so he submitted it. It was picked up as a story again at Slashdot because it appeared to lend credence to that same story that was (mistakenly) posted the day before.
Sadly people have submitted MOSR topics before to Slashdot. I would recommend that people don't submit MOSR topics, as well as advising Slashdot that they shouldn't pick up stories like that. ;) Hopefully this will be avoided in the future!
Oh yeah, remember that this is merely a theory, although from my point of view it does seem very likely. :) -
I doubt itTake a look at the Legal section of the Virtual Game Station FAQ. VGS impliments several copy-protection schemes that seem to emulate the Playstation's copy-protection schemes.
Also, look at the "international" section of the FAQ (right below the "legal" section), which talks about the geographic-region encoding.
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Re:Silver Bullet
You can see the Connectix summary which also has a link to the 25 page finding.
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It Doesn't Matter if It's LegalPeople here have put forth many (good) arguments explaining why emulators can, in fact, be legal. But here's the scary thing: it doesn't matter. The mere threat is enough. (Witness Nintendo's success in shutting down SNES9x.)
Free software authors, unlike a company such as Connectix, can't afford to defend themselves in court even against spurious copyright charges like this. With patents (even bad ones), it's even harder to prove innocence.
This sort of thing is a huge threat to free software in general. The only solutions I can think of don't seem likely to happen any time soon: (1) clear laws (or court decisions) eliminating software patents and upholding emulation and reverse-engineering and (2) a legal defense fund for free software (only a partial solution).
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Re:quality?
Gimme a break!
Bleem! is $20 less, requires only a Pentium 166 (not a G3), 3D accelerated, AND LEGAL!
VGS, if you'll recall, was outlawed as of 4-21-99 .
and macs suck. 8P -
IT'S A MOOT POINT NOW. VGS 1.1 IS OUT
And you can order a copy here.
SteveM