Sega Forever Games Are Being Delisted From iOS And Android

I remember being a few complaints about emulation quality, with new emulators using Unity.
The unity situation probably isn't to blame (the twitter account being silent is older than that), but that probably didn't help in the long run.

The app was attrocious and an insult to the limited selection of games available on there. Real missed opportunity as with actually good emulation and covering some systems and arcade titles other than only Genesis ones could have made it something special. No advertising plus good emulation and growing selection of Sega titles over the gamut of systems (even just Master System, Mega CD, 32X and some Sega 16 arcade titles if the newer stuff was too hard/demanding) and I'd have happily paid a subscription. As it was though, it actively left a sour taste in the mouth of many fans, from what reactions I saw. Wasted opportunity kinda thing.

However the twitter account and social media stuff shifted into a really nice direction promoting their history and showcasing some really cool stuff. It will be a shame if they don't continue with it or something similar, Sega have such a rich history to dig through and I love that there are people on their staff who know and care about this stuff. The recent video of the restoration of the Trocadéro Sega World Sonic statue was truly heart warming. I can't wait to take a picture with him next time I'm at their offices.

These were terrible ports that should’ve been paid from the start with how unplayable they were with the onslaught of ads, not to mention the lineup of games was pathetic as well. Not losing any sleep over this because similar to the sega ages releases on switch there’s no reason to play these versions of the games instead of the ogs via actual hardware or pc emulation.

The problem with ios gaming is with every os update you won't know if it will broke the game or not, and if the developer of the game still want to update the game or not (usually because there's no money to be made).

Unlike console (and pc) gaming, if you bought (offline) games for ps4/ps5/switch/xbox on year one, it will work forever until the console broke.

Android is a bit better than ios but in the end, your games will be more safe if you bought it on console or especially pc.

And don't ever care about cloud gaming, just looks at the games at stadia games, lol.

I still think it would make sense for MS to buy Sega. Sega has done a poor job of fully utilizing its vast library of IP, especially on the arcade side. They've done a few moves I thought would have helped a sell to go through, like dropping their physical arcade division, but nothing was ever announced.

I expect this is part of streamlining their business. Or, they realize the maintenance costs out pace the rev from ads. The audience is narrow and most people don't spend a lot of time playing these games. I assume the majority fire it up for 20min, relive a few memories, and uninstall. Maybe a few fans of specific titles might try to play to the end, but that's pretty small numbers.

If not MS buying Sega, just someone with deeper pockets and more ideas of how to make some money off a wealth of classic and influential IP. I would have thought the Forever brand would have been a slam-dunk with the growing movement of video game preservation. But, their model didn't align with that kind of branding message. That should have been an easy win.

This is the problem with games as a service and anything tied down to an online availability status. Especially on mobile, where support goes away with updates.

@Daggot

why would you hope for more monopolization of our industry? 🤔

SEGA needs better management, not corporate consolidation. ✌️

@-wc- The sentiment is just someone with deep pockets to do something more with the IP. Not necessarily MS for consolidation.

@Daggot if anyone were to buy Sega, I’d hope most for Nintendo. They’re in a healthier financial place now with Switch and I think their IP fits well on Nintendo consoles.

Now, if they could just stop releasing a sonic game every fall, that’d be a nice pattern to break…

@Daggot

i feel you 👍

PS -

"That should have been an easy win."

put that on SEGA's tombstone. 💀

@Blast16

maybe short of full ownership, the two could collaborate more deeply in a way that compliments both parties. though, i do think that sega would make an amazing 2nd party for Nintendo.

though, lately i Wonder if nintendo hasnt missed a beat slightly.

@-wc- that all sounds good to me! 👍

@Blast16 Agreed on them breaking that pattern. They have so many IP to work with, not just Sonic.

@Daggot yes it’s very frustrating knowing that we could have new entries in so many series lol