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'''Bleem!''' (styled as '''bleem!''') was a [[PlayStation]] emulator released by the Bleem Company in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and [[Dreamcast]]. It gained notoriety for being one of the few commercial emulators to be marketed during the PlayStation's lifetime, earning the ire of Sony and thus becoming the subject of a lawsuit.
First released in 1999, Bleem! was initially developed by David Herpolsheimer (president) and Randy Linden,<ref name="company">{{cite web|title=Best Little Emulator Ever Made!|work=Best Little Emulator Ever Made!|first=Tom|last= Rhodes|publisher=Escapist Magazine|url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_117/2295-Best-Little-Emulator-Ever-Made|accessdate=2015-01-02}}</ref> with Will Kempe, Scott Karol, Sean Kauppinen, Bryan Stokes, and Paul Chen, later of Rovio Entertainment, joining the team following its commercial release. The emulator's name was said to have stood for "'''B'''est '''L'''ittle '''E'''mulator '''E'''ver '''M'''ade!", perhaps in reference to its ability to run PS1 games at full speed even on low-end computers, though the bleem! website claims only Randy Linden knows the actual meaning.
Bleem! was written in X86 assembly, allowing them to incorporate precise optimisations, with low-level and real-mode routines besides the use of the host PC's graphics hardware. While this allowed the emulator to run most if not all titles on a modest system of the day, this came at the cost of long-term compatibility with newer operating systems. At the time, Windows NT kernel-based operating systems were usually marketed towards enterprises and servers, and as most home computers ran on Windows 98, Bleem! felt that there was no need to support NT.
