Sega Delisting Classic Games From Steam
Sega has put dozens of its Master System, Genesis, Saturn, and other console titles onto modern game stores over the years. But, like that Dreamcast controller stashed in your childhood garage, they’re about to disappear—and getting them back will cost you a nostalgia tax.
Those who have purchased any of the more than 60 games listed by Sega from Steam, Xbox, Nintendo’s Switch store, and the PlayStation store will still have them after 11:59 pm Pacific time on Dec. 26. But after that, for reasons that Sega does not make explicit, they will be “delisted and unavailable.”
[The] delistings are notable for a few reasons, including the fact that these are some of the only legally purchasable classic game ROMs you’ll find anywhere on the internet.
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But the real reason to buy these games is that once you install them, you can just browse to that install filter and find a ROM file to use any way you like - no encrypted files to datamine or DRM to bypass. Just raw ROM files that you’ve legally purchased. That means you can drop those ROMs into your emulator of choice and play them however you want, totally legally.
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We know Sega has big plans for old IP with revivals of plenty of classic games in the works, and it’s possible the company is planning some sort of new classic collection that would replace this one in the near future.
Books fall apart. VHS tapes eventually degrade. DVDs will scratch and die, but our society has done a much better job at preserving movies and literature than we have with gaming. Part of that is how games are tied to their original format and individual consoles. Video game preservationists have cited emulation as one of the few ways our society has been able to preserve the art form. That’s important because a Video Game History Foundation study found that 87% of games from before 2010 are not commercially available anywhere.
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The fact that emulators have to exist points to an existential failure of the games industry to preserve its most beloved titles. Emulator developers spend years creating and perfecting their software. Some emulators are slightly janky to use, but others, like Delta, Dolphin, or PS1 emulator Gamma, make the process of playing relatively seamless. The community is strong and growing all the time. As much as the license holders say they’re trying to expand the classics market, they’ve obviously failed to meet demand.
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So, my theory is, if I bought a game from you, I'm going to use it on the hardware of my choice. For instance, Capcom sold a Street Fighter collection, so I bought the collection but then downloaded the ROMs to use on my emulator of choice. I've never even downloaded the game I purchased. While it's nice some of these games Sega provides are naked ROMs under the hood, it's not like I'm going to bother buying them again and again unless there's a good reason to do so. I've own Sonic CD so many freaking ways, do I really need to buy it again, for instance…
What I say is this, if you have a way to support your favorite game company, sure go ahead and buy content, but don't feel the need to abide by the letter of the licens… Does Sega really care if I bought the Panzer Dragoon remake and I only play the original on a Saturn emulator??? Because that's exactly what I did.
