
Sega releasing every console game for free with ads on mobile - yincrash
http://forever.sega.com
======
apapli
Having a 4 year old son I am the first person to put my hand up and say I
absolutely HATE ads and general in-app purchases for games that he likes to
play on my iPhone. In some cases the way these are implemented it is almost
akin to being in a casino which is not a skill I really want my son picking up
(watch this ad to see what prize you can WIN etc).

I welcome Sega's announcement and will be delighted to hand over $1.99 to
disable all ads - I know their games are of a known quality, and will come
without suprise violence included etc.

By way of example I have one simple game he loves to play that randomly brings
up images of a guy holding a girl in a headlock with a gun pointed at her
head.... and the same ad comes up repeatedly. I can't even disable it via an
in-app purchase (trust me, I tried).

As an aside, I'd welcome some suggestions of games he can play, and if anyone
reading this is a game developer I'll be happy to provide any imnput to
something you are dreaming up.

EDITS: just for clarity of reading

~~~
huhtenberg
Set up a DNS proxy, point your son's iPad at it, tail the log and then
blacklist domains that serve these ads.

Bonus, this can also be used to remove YouTube and other kinds of ads as well
as all the phone-home "analytics" if that's your thing.

    
    
      -- Edit --
    

Some options:

[http://www.thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/doc.html](http://www.thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/doc.html)
\+ ToDo's via Google

[https://github.com/apankrat/dnswhisperer](https://github.com/apankrat/dnswhisperer)
or more generally
[https://github.com/search?utf8=&q=ad+blocking+dns](https://github.com/search?utf8=&q=ad+blocking+dns)

There are also 3rd party services that provide this function. They have
obvious privacy issues, but for a kid's iPad it might be an option.

~~~
intoverflow2
Another alternative is buy him a Nintendo handheld instead of an iPad. No ads,
no dodgy content, quality games.

~~~
ekianjo
what if you dont like Nintendo games ?

~~~
lanius
The console is supposedly for the kid, not you. I've never met a 4-year-old
who didn't like Nintendo games.

~~~
ekianjo
Does not really answer my question. I don't feel that culturally these games
bring much on the table. Why do you have to make 4-years old play games made
for 4-years old? When I was 5 I wanted to play the games my 15 years old
brother was playing.

------
monster2control
I think this is awesome, and I wish Nintendo would do it too, but I was hoping
for an Emulator style application, a single app, where new games can be added
as they come out. Being separate apps, it's fine, but it's going to make it a
PITA when you have over 100 games you'd love to play. Thank god for iOS
searching.

~~~
bitJericho
I think nintendo has it right. I'd rather pay for the games and not be the
product.

~~~
accountyaccount
Except that Nintendo doesn't offer the vast majority of their back catalog in
any shape or form.

~~~
chongli
Nintendo is clearly motivated by something other than profit. They release the
NES Classic Mini, a license to print money if there ever was one, and it's
impossible to buy one without hammering Walmart's private APIs with a script.
Then, after a little over one season, they cancel the product entirely.

Perhaps Nintendo feeds on nostalgia brainwaves or something.

~~~
accountyaccount
Rumor is that the NES Mini was just a way to burn through left over hardware
stock.

~~~
triangleman
"I think we could have done a better job communicating that was gonna be a
limited run," Scibetta told Ars. "It was supposed to be for that holiday. We
extended it actually because demand was so much, then we stopped producing
it."

[https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/06/nintendo-switch-
short...](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/06/nintendo-switch-shortages-
are-definitely-not-intentional/)

------
system16
I think this is great, but 121 MB download for a game whose ROM file is 316
KB? I mean, of course I expect overhead but the cynic in me suspects most of
that is analytics, tracking, and advertising libraries.

~~~
striking
It's also built in Unity, which explains the terrible performance and
emulation.

~~~
fenwick67
It really boggles my mind that they did this... performance is absolutely
critical for emulation.

This is like using Javascript to run a car.

~~~
moduspol
Please don't give the Javascript community any ideas.

~~~
jfktrey
node-opencv + johnny-five = profit?

------
minimaxir
Sega games with poorly-coded emulators/ads aside, the Sonic 1 fully-native
port is still incredible from a gameplay standpoint, and contains a few
surprises even for those very familiar with the game. It's worth it to pay for
ad-free. (and it also works on the new Apple TV too, but I recommend having a
MFi controller if you want to play it like that)

~~~
SimonPStevens
As an aside, the same guys that did the Sonic native ports are now working on
a new Sonic game in the classic style. It's the most excited I've been about a
new game in years -
[http://store.steampowered.com/app/584400/Sonic_Mania/](http://store.steampowered.com/app/584400/Sonic_Mania/)

------
tdiggity
The Sonic game uses the most vile type of in-app ad. The ad requires you to
play Game of War for some indeterminate amount of time. You are made to play
it after every stage. I hope Sega changes this, it basically makes their game
unplayable.

~~~
beefsack
I'm starting to get to the point where I wish people weren't allowed to call
advertising supported products "free." I don't know what other term would be
better, but I feel like users are paying some non-monetary cost.

~~~
fnayr
Apple changed apps with In App Purchases from being able to say "Free" to
"Get." Maybe they'll do the same with ad supported apps as well.

~~~
ClassyJacket
Just noting that they changed that for all apps, even truly free ones with no
ads or purchases.

------
phjesusthatguy3
I'm holding out for Dreamcast games, since it's one of the few Sega systems I
didn't own (and at one point I did own the Master System, Genesis, Sega CD,
Game Gear, Nomad, Saturn) and there are games for the DC I would really like
to play. Too bad Sega can't/won't get their third-party licensees to release
stuff through this program.

~~~
portal_narlish
Crazy Taxi is already out and it's surprisingly good.

~~~
phjesusthatguy3
Cool! I just went and looked at WP's list of Dreamcast games[0] and honestly,
besides Ecco, Seaman and Shenmue there's nothing from Sega I want to play. I'm
hoping they do as good a job at bringing third-parties along for the ride as
the JP PSN did for PS1 games.

[0][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dreamcast_games](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dreamcast_games)

~~~
josu
Chu chu rocket is a pretty good game and it's available on Android and iOS.

------
codezero
Touch Arcade isn't impressed so far :/
[http://toucharcade.com/2017/06/23/musgravian-musings-sega-
fo...](http://toucharcade.com/2017/06/23/musgravian-musings-sega-forevers-
launch-is-a-disaster/)

~~~
semi-extrinsic
> Somehow, someway, SEGA is using an emulator that is worse than the one they
> were using in the 2009 iOS releases. That emulator wasn't very good to begin
> with either.

Ouch. Releasing an emulator that runs slower on modern hardware than their old
emulator did on old hardware? Sounds like they used whatever the iOS
equivalent of Electron is called.

~~~
BigJono
Stealthily sledging Javascript in unrelated threads seems to be becoming a
sport in these parts

------
yincrash
Details:

SEGA® Forever™ is a free and growing classic games collection of nearly every
SEGA game ever released from every console era – Master System, Genesis/Mega
Drive, Dreamcast, and more. Available on iOS and Android mobile devices.

-Play free

-Save your game progress

-Leaderboard -- compete with the world for high scores

-Controller support -- fully integrated wireless Bluetooth controller support

-Offline play

-Games released every month; download them all!

------
chenster
It's not free. Every game has "in-app purchase".

~~~
paulcole
You can play without paying money, right? That's much one definition of free,
isn't it?

Edit: Why the downvoted? I thought free = no money?

~~~
taneq
Not if they force you to do work for them in order to use it. They're
basically employing you to look at ads, and paying you in game time.

~~~
Accacin
And what about Google? They basically employ you to look at ads and then pay
you in being able to check your emails?

~~~
mrisoli
You can't really compare some classic games to Google's product offering,
there's a huge difference in the scale of value here.

~~~
intoverflow2
Wheres the tipping point for when the product offering is enough for it to be
ok to be supported by ads and data?

~~~
Spivak
I wouldn't attach a value judgment in this situation. If you're making money
off of ads and data then your product isn't free, regardless of whether you
think the business model is good or bad.

------
makecheck
* With an in-App purchase of $1.99 to remove “non-SEGA ads”, at least in the ones so far (like Altered Beast).

Also, at the current rate of release, it will take years to reach “nearly all”
titles so I would take this with cautious optimism. Your favorite games may
show up tomorrow or 3 years from now.

------
djhworld
Can anyone verify how "good" it feels to play these games? I can't fathom the
idea of playing Mega Drive games without a physical controller, my experiences
of touchscreen controls for games designed for a controller are not good.

~~~
blux
For me, not good at all. I tried Sonic on an iPad, and it was terrible,
control was not accurate. Played the first two stages and then gave up.

~~~
tangue
I second that Sonic is terrible even more modern games like Jet Set Radio are
unplayable. The only enjoyable ports I found on the App Store are Secret of
Mana and Rtype.

------
iaskwhy
One thing missing from this discussion: people who in the past bought the game
are now required to pay for it again in order to have it ad-free! That's the
reason for the big influx of 1 star ratings in the AppStore.

~~~
setq
Apparently this isn't actually the case entirely. You can do a restore
purchases on the old version now. I haven't tried it myself though.

Edit: remove unrelated edit!

~~~
iaskwhy
You are correct, it seems a new update was released to allow the restoring of
old purchases.

------
cdevs
Was excited until I download comix zone and heard the choppy audio and the
game was lagging out - worked fine over 20 years ago. Just read a article and
they ported these games into unity blah blah blah that doesn't excuse that you
should test your product to see the final quality before porting everything
over. This is unplayable garbage guys...

~~~
draw_down
Looks like this is just another ploy to shovel a bunch of junk onto the App
Store and collect the ad revenue. They had this IP just sitting around and not
making any money, so what do they care. It doesn't actually need to be any
good.

~~~
computerex
That kills the brand.

------
jypepin
this is actually awesome. Altered Beast is one of my favorite game of all
time. Really looking forward to see Aladin and Jurassic Park becoming
available.

It would be cool if they could release those on a more portable format so it
could get put inside a raspberry pie or something!

~~~
Pigo
Altered Beast was the one game I was willing to admit jealousy to the Sega
guys for, still not sure I'd trade Excite bike for it though.

------
yincrash
I wonder if VMU minigames will be ported with the associated Dreamcast games.

------
jancsika
In other news, Hasbro is releasing Monopoly for _free_ in exchange for
listening to a timeshare pitch on every 10th roll.

------
akhilcacharya
The possibility of playing Shenmue on an iPhone is interesting..

------
lpa22
I can't fathom free ads from Sega, I will gladly pay the handful of George
Washingtons to keep my kids away from the onslaught of unregulated ads that
this storied franchise is about to endure

------
jackvalentine
Very slow ports, pay money and still get advertised to, launch titles are a
yawnfest.

It's time to forget about the company that Sega once was and ignore anything
that comes from the company it has become.

------
DonHopkins
I sure hope that includes Seaman!

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaman_(video_game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaman_\(video_game\))

~~~
DerekL
Apparently, the developer of Seaman is making a sequel. I don't know if it
will be published by Sega or someone else.

[http://seaman.ai/](http://seaman.ai/)

[https://www.polygon.com/2017/5/25/15690876/new-seaman-
yoot-s...](https://www.polygon.com/2017/5/25/15690876/new-seaman-yoot-saito-
teaser)

------
iamflimflam1
They only seem to be available on the US App Store.

------
trimbo
I look forward to Herzog Zwei being available!

~~~
jamesgeck0
SEGA owns the rights [1], so it's a possibility. They haven't released it in
any recent Genesis game collections I know about, though.

1\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technosoft#Closure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technosoft#Closure)

------
nihonde
They didn't make these available in the Japan iOS App Store. It sounds like
we're not missing much, though.

------
adamas
Wait, I don't get it, it's "every console game" or juste those 5 ? Where is my
Street of Rage ? :(

------
INTPenis
I've seen so much malware spread through ads on Android that I'm more than
willing to pay the 1.99 charge.

------
nerflad
This is amazing and unexpected. I hope this sets a precedent for other
developers to follow with their old titles.

------
clubm8
So there's no option to pay a small fee and get an ad free experience? :(

------
Overtonwindow
Sort of on topic: Check out the book "Console Wars" by Blake Harris, about the
battle between Nintendo and Sega. A really awesome book, in my humble opinion.

------
imron
This is incredible. Please let me pay to remove ads though.

~~~
chipperyman573
They do. It's $2/game

------
CurrencyDigest
Dear Sega, you won't probably read this comment. If you do this for saturn
Dragon Force.... I... I don't even know how to express the feelings if this
happens. I know it won't be a reality but I guy can dream. My favorite game
growing up. (only finished it through an emulator because I didn't understand
english when I was a kid. The memories of non sleep till I finally finished
the game.

------
helpmate
Some of them are in the Dutch store. Not Sonic though. I did see the Dreamcast
version of crazy taxi!

------
kakarot
Serious kudos to Sega.

This is how old games should be handled throughout the industry when possible.
The likelihood of someone not already familiar with a title or franchise to
play it is a function of A) its cost and B) how dated it is. Once a game is
seeing marginal returns, it's kind of a very corporate mindset to try and suck
it dry of every last penny. Especially when you view games as a form of art.

I fear for so many incredible titles, especially as we possibly enter a real
VR age.

Unless I force it on them (I probably will), my children may never give a
second glance to the titles I grew up with and consider masterpieces, when
they could sensually immerse themselves in a modern AAA or VR title.

So many great soundtracks, assets, feats of code, all deserving to be in a
museum somewhere, lost in the ever-growing sea of content. Eventually only
treasure-hunters like myself seek to experience and appreciate them.

Not only that, Sega can much more accurately determine what franchises might
see profitable continuations, given a large enough sample size.

Having not played any of these titles on mobile myself, I can only imagine
that Sega has ruined this very noble idea with intrusive ads and a payment
scheme for removing them.

~~~
LeoNatan25
They should be handled by a visibly and audibly slow emulator? No thanks.

~~~
kakarot
Well like I said, I haven't played them. Is the shipped emulator not good?

~~~
KVFinn
>Well like I said, I haven't played them. Is the shipped emulator not good?

Sounds like no:

[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-06-21-sega-
releases-c...](http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-06-21-sega-releases-
classic-games-on-mobile-for-free-but-at-what-cost)

