Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,733
39,680



Sega today announced a new mobile gaming initiative that will see a vast collection of the company's classic games launch monthly on iOS and Android devices for free, although in-app purchases will be available so users can get rid of ads. Called "Sega Forever," the program will let iOS gamers play "nearly every Sega game ever," from all of Sega's previous console generations, including Master System, Genesis/Mega Drive, Game Gear, Dreamcast, and Saturn (via GamesIndustry.biz).

The games will be available as individual apps, with the first five appearing at launch including Sonic The Hedgehog [Direct Link], Comix Zone [Direct Link], Phantasy Star II [Direct Link], Kid Chameleon [Direct Link], and Altered Beast [Direct Link]. At the time of writing, none of the apps had yet to appear on the iOS App Store, but their launch should be imminent. After that, Sega plans to debut between two and three games from its classic library every month under the Sega Forever initiative.

sega-forever.jpg

All of the games will be supported by advertisements with an optional $1.99 in-app purchase to remove them. But Sega Network chief marketing officer Mike Evans promised that the integration of ads has been executed so as to not interrupt gameplay.
With the back catalogue Sega has available, the publisher is confident it will be able to continue bringing more classics to mobile for years to come. There are 15 classic Sega titles already available through the App Store that will also be brought into the Forever fold.

"It's a very easy conversion to take those games to free," Sega Network's chief marketing officer Mike Evans tells GamesIndustry.biz. "We're just bolting in the advertising support model and a single in-app purchase that can disable those ads."

"The games were never designed for ads or in-app purchases, which is why we've maintained this faithful emulation experience," he says. "We've spent a lot of time looking at the analytics from the soft launch in the Philippines to understand how we can get this model to be the best for the game experience itself whilst balancing the commercial needs we have."
Enhancements to Sega's old games include Messages sticker packs, leaderboards, achievements, cloud saves, touch screen controls, Bluetooth controller support, and an offline play option. Looking toward the future, Evans said that the company will hold user polls to gauge which classic games that its fans want to see most come to mobile.


The first five Sega Forever titles should begin populating on the iOS App Store soon. Users can go to Sega's website to sign up for email alerts that will notify them when new games are announced for the collection. For even more information about the new mobile initiative from Sega, check out Mike Evans' interview with GamesIndustry.biz.

Article Link: 'Sega Forever' Plans to Debut Free Classic Sega Games on iOS Each Month
 
  • Like
Reactions: keysofanxiety
Why no Android version. :(

Edit: It is coming to Android as well. Once again Macrumors spouts it's bias news to make iOS look better then it actually is.
 
Why no Android version. :(

Edit: It is coming to Android as well. Once again Macrumors spouts it's bias news to make iOS look better then it actually is.
You've been a member of this site for 13 years, you post as soon as the article went live, and yet you're surprised that MacRumors favors iOS news?

There are no words.

Also—they did mention Android. Again, no words.
 
Please, please, please tell me that people who have already paid for The sonic games won't need to pay again . I know they allowed it for Sonic CD but they better do the same for Sonic 1 and 2. These are still the best versions of the games with the exception of touch controls.

Really wish they would add these enhanced versions to Steam...
 
If this means that they'll finally bring Sonic 3 to iOS then I am super stoked!! Even more so if they give it the remastered treatment like the other mobile sonic games.
 
Sega Forever they call it as they launch games on a platform that has just yet again proven how little it cares about keeping your applications working as the OS moves on.

Pretty freaking ironic if you ask me and dare I say - especially compared to my trusty and still working (DRM-free too) consoles that would warrant the "forever" label a little more.

Everything breaks eventually, but I'm pretty confident that for quite a long time I'll be able to fix or replace whatever breaks.

But whatever right, these days if it works for the short hype period that "everyone" cares about something it's good enough, after that your complaint is niche and people got used to sucking it up.

Glassed Silver:mac
 
Why no Android version. :(

Edit: It is coming to Android as well. Once again Macrumors spouts it's bias news to make iOS look better then it actually is.
Site that specializes in Apple coverage focuses on Apple OS. Of course their news is going to bias toward talking about Apple. That's literally what the site is all about. Calling it Macrumors instead of something like Techrumors really ought to make that pretty clear.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheAppleFairy
You've been a member of this site for 13 years, you post as soon as the article went live, and yet you're surprised that MacRumors favors iOS news?

There are no words.

Not just that, but this is the iOS blog section of the website.

===

Sounds interesting. Maybe I'll download some of these games once they're available.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CarlJ
Sega Forever they call it as they launch games on a platform that has just yet again proven how little it cares about keeping your applications working as the OS moves on.

Pretty freaking ironic if you ask me and dare I say - especially compared to my trusty and still working (DRM-free too) consoles that would warrant the "forever" label a little more.

Everything breaks eventually, but I'm pretty confident that for quite a long time I'll be able to fix or replace whatever breaks.

But whatever right, these days if it works for the short hype period that "everyone" cares about something it's good enough, after that your complaint is niche and people got used to sucking it up.

Glassed Silver:mac

Oh please. The platform doesn't have to hold back for (more) years to cater to lazy devs who refuse to update their product. They, and you, had PLENTY of notice. Besides, exactly how many decades of support do you think you deserve for a $2.00 app? And if you paid a lot for an app, why aren't you demanding devs provide updates based on the premium price?

Also, unless your PlayStation discs work in an Xbox, or all PlayStation 4 consoles play PS2 discs, calling that "DRM free" is a lie.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CarlJ
Oh please. The platform doesn't have to hold back for (more) years to cater to lazy devs who refuse to update their product. They, and you, had PLENTY of notice. Besides, exactly how many decades of support do you think you deserve for a $2.00 app? And if you paid a lot for an app, why aren't you demanding devs provide updates based on the premium price?
You just described why I don't look at iOS as a serious platform for anything I want to last.

Everything I do on iOS is "look, do and send and go".

My productivity ends up stored on my Mac, my messages and mails and not only on my iPhone or iPad, my games - stopped buying them for iOS, for mobiles games the few I want I keep Android and apks around.

And hmm, well I do expect from an OS that I deem worthy of becoming a main OS to be installable and downgradable at my discretion and to yes - support frameworks and code compatibility for a long long time.

It can be done, Microsoft and others have been showing that for a long time now and that's why I don't feel too guilty about asking for that.

Until then I still USE iOS, but very differently and that is okay I guess, but not compatible with Apple's goal of making iPad a PC replacement for example. (personal opinion, ymmv, don't expect anyone to follow me, just felt like answering your comment)

Glassed Silver:mac

PS: no need to hold back at all, you can support old AND new code. It works, Apple just has a long history of forgetting quickly in favor of change, albeit in code compatibility I don't think this is a good approach - again - for my taste. Never felt a need to change my thinking here, because everyone comes to their own conclusions.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.