Bleem closes its doors

Los Angeles-based Bleem, which released PlayStation hardware emulation products for the PC and Sega Dreamcast platforms, has closed its doors. The company has been involved in a lengthy litigation process with Sony Computer Entertainment America, which claimed that Bleem's Bleemcast product infringed on its audio and video patents for its PlayStation games. According to David Herpolsheimer, president of Bleem, the constant barrage of legal action on the part of Sony ultimately exhausted the financial resources of the small company, leading to its closure. Sony has reportedly spent more than $10 million dollars to date in litigation involving the Bleem for PC and Bleemcast products and has pressured retailers to remove related products from their shelves.

The original proprietors of Bleem have no current plans to reorganize its business. During its existence, Bleem released Bleemcast products that were compatible with PlayStation games such as Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo 2, and Tekken 3. Rather than programming a software clone of the PlayStation hardware, Bleem looks at the actual game code and analyzes the optimal way of processing that data.