Platform: PC (Microsoft Windows)
Beyond Good & Evil
Gubble Buggy Racer
Double Dragon Neon
The Flintstones: Bedrock Bowling
Goosebumps: Attack of the Mutant
Titanfall
Tom Clancy's The Division
Wolfenstein 3D
Kerbal Space Program
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Disneyland Adventures
Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections
Moon
Balan Wonderworld
The King of Fighters 2003
Clock Tower
Assassin's Creed: Codename Red
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
Shantae and the Seven Sirens
Thomas and Friends - Trouble on the Tracks
Sam & Max Hit the Road
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
Metro 2033
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
Hunters of Ralk
Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures
Super Dark Deception
LEGO Racers
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
Monty on the Run
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
Hogs of War
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Sea of Thieves
Goddess of Victory: Nikke
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Sonic Mega Collection
Hugo II, Whodunit?
Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland
Grandia II
Ayano's Lovesick Labyrinth
Portal
SkiFree
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut
Chicken Run
Quake
Duke Nukem Forever
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Pac-Man: Adventures in Time
subdirectory_arrow_right Tekken 3 (Game), One (Game), Metal Gear Solid (Game), Gran Turismo 2 (Game), PlayStation (Platform), Xbox (Platform), Dreamcast (Platform), Sony Interactive Entertainment (Company)
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Bleem! was a PlayStation emulator released for Microsoft Windows 98 and the Sega Dreamcast. Unlike the vast majority of emulators before and since, it was released as a paid product on store shelves. Bleem!, although very impressive for the time and capable of running on low-end PCs, had many compatability issues, with the only game that ran perfectly on Windows Bleem! being the US version of One, while the only games that could be run at all on Dreamcast were Tekken 3, Metal Gear Solid, and Gran Turismo 2, all with specialised emulators released on their own "Bleemcast" discs.
Sony would sue Bleem! twice over alleged copyright infringement, and despite all odds, Sony lost due to Bleem!'s use of screenshots in promo material and the PS1 BIOS being protected by fair use. However, a mix of legal fees and Sony threatening retailers stocking Bleem! products with subpoenas would force Bleem! off of shelves anyway, and its website would be replaced with an image of Sonic the Hedgehog mourning at a grave with the Bleem! logo carved on it. Bleem! would countersue Sony for anti-competitive activity.
The popularity of Bleem! would lead both Sega and Microsoft to attempt to work with Bleem! officially to make PS1 games run on Dreamcast and Xbox, though these plans fell through due to Sega being afraid of Sony's litigation, while the developers of Bleem! simply felt Microsoft wasn't paying high enough for the license for Bleem! (something they had come to regret in the years since).
Sony would sue Bleem! twice over alleged copyright infringement, and despite all odds, Sony lost due to Bleem!'s use of screenshots in promo material and the PS1 BIOS being protected by fair use. However, a mix of legal fees and Sony threatening retailers stocking Bleem! products with subpoenas would force Bleem! off of shelves anyway, and its website would be replaced with an image of Sonic the Hedgehog mourning at a grave with the Bleem! logo carved on it. Bleem! would countersue Sony for anti-competitive activity.
The popularity of Bleem! would lead both Sega and Microsoft to attempt to work with Bleem! officially to make PS1 games run on Dreamcast and Xbox, though these plans fell through due to Sega being afraid of Sony's litigation, while the developers of Bleem! simply felt Microsoft wasn't paying high enough for the license for Bleem! (something they had come to regret in the years since).
Video on Bleem! history:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGHul1PrXCE
Source of Bleem! collection photo:
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/dvf1ow/bleem_the_playstation_emulator_for_pcs_and/
Bleem! article:
https://www.eurogamer.net/the-history-of-bleem
Archived Bleem! page for One:
https://web.archive.org/web/20001109112400if_/http://bleem.com:80/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGHul1PrXCE
Source of Bleem! collection photo:
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/dvf1ow/bleem_the_playstation_emulator_for_pcs_and/
Bleem! article:
https://www.eurogamer.net/the-history-of-bleem
Archived Bleem! page for One:
https://web.archive.org/web/20001109112400if_/http://bleem.com:80/
subdirectory_arrow_right Windows Solitaire (Game)
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Solitaire was included on Windows hardware to soothe users unfamiliar with computers by using something familiar that could also introduce them to the functions of a mouse.
subdirectory_arrow_right Cheese Terminator (Game)
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Cheese Terminator was a game given away for users who answered a survey included in the box with Microsoft Windows 3.1 in Eastern European countries. When a player decided to send the survey in in 2016 out of curiousity, they received a floppy disc and USB floppy drive containing the original game, packaged in a box advertising a limited-time free remake, Cheese Terminator: Reloaded, that would be released soon after.
subdirectory_arrow_right Reversi (Game)
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subdirectory_arrow_right 3D Pinball: Space Cadet (Game)
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At an unknown point after 3D Pinball: Space Cadet's removal from Windows hardware starting with Vista, there was an attempt within Microsoft Garage (Microsoft's program for experimental, non-profitable employee projects) to revive the game with compatibility for current Windows operating systems. While the port was finished, it could not be publicly released due to the 1994 contract with Cinematronics (now merged into THQ Nordic) stipulating that the game could not be released as an independent entity, only bundled with Windows hardware.
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The NJS-3D1 was a PC flight stick made by Laral Group LLC - unusually, the flight stick bears the name and official quality seal of Nintendo on its packaging, along with a Nintendo 64 logo on the controller itself, despite not being compatible with any of Nintendo's hardware. The controller was made in a short-lived deal to manufacture PC accessories with Nintendo branding, with the only other product to come out of the line being a set of headphones.
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The "Glorious PC Master Race" is a term coined by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of The Escapist in a review of The Witcher, used frequently in the 2010s by fans of PC gaming. Despite being used as a term of endearment by PC gamers, its origins were ironic and intended at the expense of the common gatekeeping against casual gamers in the PC gaming community at the time. Croshaw explained in a 2013 Extra Punctuation article:
"It was intended to be ironic, to illustrate what I perceived at the time to be an elitist attitude among a certain kind of PC gamer. People who invest in expensive gaming PCs and continually spend money to make sure the tech in their brightly-lit tower cases is up to date. Who actually prefer games that are temperamental to get running and that have complicated keyboard interfaces, just because it discourages new or 'casual' players who will in some way taint the entire community with their presence. I meant it as a dig."
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The KFConsole was a satirical computer announced in 2020 by Intel, Cooler Master, and Kentucky Fried Chicken that would have been shaped like a chicken bucket and have an oven for reheating KFC chicken. Despite Mark Walton of Intel claiming it to be a real product, the computer having a page on Cooler Master's website, official stats being available for the hardware, and similarly outlandish KFC marketing stunts eventually being released as products, it has not emerged in the years since and is believed to be vaporware.
KFConsole reveal article:
https://collider.com/kfconsole-real-specs-price-release-date-details/
Mark Walton tweet:
https://twitter.com/markalexwalton/status/1341430877356765185
https://collider.com/kfconsole-real-specs-price-release-date-details/
Mark Walton tweet:
https://twitter.com/markalexwalton/status/1341430877356765185
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Some of the prototypes Steam Controller redesigns had customizable touch screens that would later be replaced by Back, Start, and Steam Buttons. The A, B, X, and Y Buttons of the prototypes were moved to the bottom of the controller along with new Arrow Buttons. The Arrow Buttons were later replaced with an Analog Stick, and a D-Pad symbol was placed on the Left Touchpad.