From Shady to Legal: How Bleem & VGS Battled Sony

Back in 1999, two emulators were released commercially that let gamers play Playstation games on their computer: The Connectix Virtual Game Station and Bleem! Sony sued both companies, and their legal battle set a precedent for the legality of emulation. Learn the history behind it all!

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[LGR]

Always wondered about the full stories behind these two! I remember reading about them in magazines in the late '90s, and I downloaded both of them back then too, but it was always a mystery to me where they went. I researched a little bit into Bleem a few years back when I did an Oddware episode on it, but had no idea what really happened to Connectix. In short, AWESOME video man.

[SuspenduAuGaffa]

11:35 "What did bleem stand for? That remains a mystery". If you flip the name "bleem" vertically, you get "p166w", or Pentium 166 Windows, which, as you explain at 11:52, were the minimum requirements for the emulator to run. I remember a friend telling me this at the time, though I've never heard it verified since.

[brickman]

It's trippy as hell seeing Steve Jobs on stage officially supporting an emulator

[LoganoPiano]

1998: *Apple announces a paid emulator*

2019: *Apple keeps revoking emulators on my phone*

[vie]

This is why almost all emulators today are free and open-source.

[JaesadaSrisuk]

WOW. That clip of Steve Jobs showcasing a PlayStation emulator at a Mac event was crazy. Could you image if some soft wear company released a product that emulated Apple software? The litigation would be swift.

[GamingHistorian]

This was a Patreon-voted topic. Initially it was only going to be about Bleem! But while researching, I learned about the Connectix Virtual Game Station and just had to include that story as well.

The impact these emulators had on the industry and the law is huge. Hope you enjoy hearing about their stories.

Also, I got a haircut. Have a good weekend!

[ThisDoesNotCompute]

When doing research for my own video about VGS, I learned that some Connectix employees ended up working for Sony after the acquisition of the product (which ended up working well for them, as Connectix went out of business shortly afterward -- while it had won the legal battle, litigation costs devastated the company). While Sony immediately killed VGS, it kept the source code, and the employees ended up putting it to use in newer PlayStation consoles for PS1 backward compatibility.

[MrVarhansen]

Damn that bleem! Logo is so 90s lol. I want a tshirt

[autumnsorchard]

Bleem: Although we've been battling copyright lawsuits for years, looks like they finally got us.
Also Bleem: let's add Sonic next to a picture of our gravestone!

[Larry]

You should check out Sega's Genesis collection for the Dreamcast, they were so cool about it, they even hid a TXT file on the disc teaching people how to put their own ROMs on the disc.

[TheHandlebarGamer]

I beta tested for bleem! back in the day. if you go to the about information on the PC version, "Ron Nicotine Dean" is me. I loved that emulator. great crew too.

[GameSack]

Great episode as always! I never got to play Bleemcast but have always wanted to try it. And not only has the industry embraced emulation, but companies are downloading random ROMs from the internet to include in their products rather than ripping the game themselves. A good example is Super Mario Bros included with the NES Classic Edition. The header information of the ROM reveals that it was, in fact, downloaded from the internet.

[GothicKin]

Steve Jobs proudly introducing an emulator at a conference is mindblowing

[hathorliderc]

I would honestly LOVE to see you do a video on SNK. Whether it be their 3 lesser-known consoles, 2 handhelds, or their overall rise, fall, and slow progressive rebirth.

[mutecommercials]

Emulation was a poor kid's best friend back in the day, if it wasn't for zsnes I'd never know the joy that is chrono trigger.

[punchabunchabuttons]

MAME ZSNES/SNES9X EPSXE/PCSX PPSSPP DESMUME VISUALBOYADVANCE-M PROJECT64 and a few others...

I cant thank enough the people behind these emulators.

Now that i know about them, i should also be thankful to Bleem and Connectix

[Sonikkua]

Ha! I used to be a beta tester and support board admin back in the day for bleem! Was also part of the 2001 e3 booth.

[hotpateita]

1998 Sony: **sues company for an emulator and loses**
2018 Sony: **uses emulator for the PlayStation classic**

[murderdoggg]

Turns out Bleem saved the Playstation Classic. Thank you guys from the past.