Bleem Announces PlayStation Emulator for Dreamcast

With the number of lawsuits filed against bleem!, the company responsible for software that allows you to play PlayStation games on your PC, you'd think that the scrappy Los Angeles company would have folded long ago. But the company is still here, with a collection of new products focused at allowing you to play PlayStation games on a Dreamcast.

The main product is bleem!. Unlike the current PC release, which lets you try out any PlayStation game with varying levels of success, the Dreamcast version will be split up into various "paks." Each release will allow you to play around 100 PlayStation games on the Dreamcast. While it's a given that most of those 100 will be devoted to the most popular PlayStation games, it's definitely possible that import games and other, more obscure titles could be made compatible, as well. Also, you will be able to save and load PlayStation games from your Dreamcast VMU.

Unlike the PS2, which only marginally enhances the look of PlayStation games, Bleemcast will run games at 640x480, and will execute some pretty serious texture and edge enhancements. The demos running at E3, showing side-by-side comparisons using Gran Turismo 2 and Omega Boost, are extremely impressive.

Also, bleem! will be releasing some hardware products to make Bleemcast a little more functional. The Bleempad is a Dreamcast-compatible controller with the proper button configuration to work with PlayStation games. The Bleempod is a small device that will allow you to plug in your PlayStation controllers and memory cards to the Dreamcast.

Two "bleempaks" are scheduled to be released for the Dreamcast in the third quarter of this year, with two more packs following in the fourth quarter. Bleempod is scheduled to release in July, and Bleempad is currently on target for August.

In related news the PC version of bleem! will be following suit, shifting over to pak-based releases designed to play specific games.