Bleem!
reviewed by Falcon (webmaster)

For those current owners of a Playstation, you might think why bother with the software when you already own the console and the games.

-1600x1200 Resolutions @ 32 Bit colour: Unlike a PSX, which can only run games at up to 320x200 res, with a recent 3D accelerated graphics card, bleem! can run at extremely high resolutions with great detail, clarity and smooth gameplay.

-Convenience: Play it on your laptop in a car or plane, at a friends place, anywhere with access to a PC. No need to lug a console and TV along with you to play your favorite PSX games.

- For those that do not own a PSX, you will now be able to play many PSX games that have never before been ported to the PC. Classics like Tekken3 and Gran Turismo are now playable on your PC with amazing graphics. The memory card option is also emulated, giving the ability to save your games on your HD.

One thing I found very convenient about bleem! is the amount that you can customize the game through the options.

The Graphics settings include the option to play full screen or windowed, at resolutions from 320x200 up to 1600x1200 in 16 and 32 bit colors. You can also enable or disable 3D acceleration, and choose which options you would like enabled, such as Antialiasing, Filtering Polygons and Sprites to match your graphic card’s capability. The movies can be played in B+W only in case your system does not have the power to process them in color.

The controls are also fully customizable to match your preferences, and the keyboard, game pad; joystick and mouse are all supported.

But that’s not all, you can customize the sound to enable Audio for movies and streamed CD music, and change the sound quality between Mono to Stereo, 8 bit and 16 bit samples, and change the rate from anywhere between 11025Hz to 44110 Hz.

This huge range of customizability is more than you would get with most PC games, and will allow you to match the settings with your computer systems optimal capability. The performance depends largely on the CPU, Graphics and sound hardware, and the complexity of the games being played. Older PCs can run simpler titles, while more recent, richly textured games require faster machines. Movie playback and be changed to B+W, and sound sample rates can be lowered to allow the game to work with lower end processors.

The obvious major flaw with bleem! is the glitches that occur, from the inability to play the Opening MDEC to stuttery speech. bleem! is different from usual “emulators” in the sense that it replicates the functionality of the PSX, not the circuitry. This was in fact necessary to avoid a legal injunction by Sony.

bleem! currently supports over 300 games. A complete listing of PSX games is available with your copy of the game, showing both games that are and aren’t supported as well as further comments, including known bugs are shown. You can also check the website to see if the game you want is currently supported. Bleem! is continuously being upgraded, and free updates are available through the website to enable the growing list of supported games.

(Note from shiva: I also have bleem, and though bleem! is a fine product, I'm less impressed than Falcon. Even though bleem! themselves has a list of "supported" games, I have found a few of the games on the list are actually to glitchy to play, and others cause system crashes. If you do not have the money for a proper unit, then bleem is a good choice, but I would recommend instead buying the PlayStation, even if it's still over priced. There is another commercial emulator released, called Virtual Contectix, which has been availabe for about 6 months for the WinX systems. I have heard that it is a more capable emulator, and hopefully soon, we will have a review.)