A second emulation company is threatening to launch software to enable PCs to run Sony Playstation applications, despite opposition from Sony Corp. Los Angeles-based Bleem LLC is now ready to send its Bleem! product to the retail channel. Sony has already filed suit against the company, accusing it of copyright infringement and violation of trade secrets. Bleem says the product has been legally reverse engineered.
Sony has a similar action in place against Connectix Corp, which announced a temporary suspension of shipments of its Virtual Game Station product in April, after a San Francisco Federal District Court decision went against it. Connectix says it is continuing to develop the current Mac version, along with a new Windows version, however.
Sony has voiced concern about piracy issues that emulators might encourage. But it also faces lost sales of Playstation consoles from users who already own a PC, if emulation tools become popular. The emulators argue that they are increasing the potential hardware base for software developers to sell games to. Nintendo Ltd has also been threatening potential emulators with legal action.
