What is SEGA doing releasing games on the Apple Arcade?
And why some of these are fun ideas that people have been waiting to see for years to play themselves but now they can't because its locked to the Apple Arcade?
Is there a chance for these to come out on Android?
Will people forget about Sonic Dream Team and Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop in a few months because of this?
...Well, I just woke up, so let's slow down about that and let me tell you first what is even going on with this.
The Apple Arcade is a game subscription service for Apple devices [iOS, macOS, tvOS] in the same vein as Xbox Game Pass, which is...pretty much all there is to say about it.
This means that you can get a bunch of games for a subscription, including some of the new stuff from SEGA...but obviously you need to have an Apple device and shell out the monthly 6.99 or annual 49.99.
It is obviously not in the big range of big games, so you'd probably want to check the Wikipiedia list to see if there's some games in there you'd be interested to get the subscription for...unless you are grabbing it specifically for a certain game coming from SEGA that is still exclusive to this platform...
Sonic Dream Team is still just a dream for many
The way some of the levels and even objectives, as some have you exploring a level searching for shards, reminds me a bit of a mix between the colorful and focused levels of Super Mario 3D Land, while the exploration levels give me flashbacks to Knuckles's sections in Sonic Adventure. Kinda different from his recent output.
And speaking of Adventure, it actually features several playable characters after a good while of absence, especially Rouge since Sonic 2006 and Cream since Heroes. The gameplay might look a bit simple in a few sections, but it makes sense for a "lower budget" game that's also intended to work in iOS devices, and overall does seem like a little fun romp of an official Sonic experience after how Forces seemed a bit too streamlined for most, and Frontiers is still a bit divisive with its open zone approach.
...Too bad that if you don't have the Apple Arcade and devices, this is still out of your reach.
The game has only just released 4 months ago and is presumed that Apple either sponsored/backed with money the project or even was behind a chunk of its production, so its very unlikely that the exclusivity will be lifted that soon, but considering the franchise and how people are likely going to keep asking for this game to come to other platforms with how it looks like a different taste from Forces and Frontiers, who knows if it might get lucky to at least arrive for Android or PC maybe in three years or more after the timed exclusivity, if it even does get that lucky.
Nice, a new Puyo Puyo game
There is a dedicated Puyo game for most platforms in the form of Puyo Puyo Champions released in 2018, but as you can tell, it has been quite a few years since then and even Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 from 2020, so you can guess that a brand new Puyo-only game with a story mode and stuff sounds super cool for the fans.
Especially with how the aforementioned Champions does not have a dedicated Story mode, being designed more of a multiplayer/competitive thing rather than a casual single player experience.
...If they have the Apple Arcade, that is.
It might not be as egregious as the demand for Sonic Dream Team which has a different 3D gameplay approach unseen in his modern releases in all platforms...but it is the freshest case of little cool SEGA thing that's yet exclusive to Apple. And also the latest case, as it is what made me write about this in the first place with how it released just 24 hours ago. And it sure looks neat but obviously kinda frustrating.
It reminds me of how the newest F-Zero game is a 99 player remake of the SNES game exclusive to Nintendo Switch Online, which I don't mind that much (aside from being unable to play it yet)...but it would certainly be a bittersweet feeling to have that and who-knows-when gets retired from the service to never be seen again.
And speaking of delisting games...
What if one of these disappears?
There's one game I can think of when I think cool game exclusive to the apple arcade that was withdrawn and is now unplayable.
ChuChu Rocket Universe is the one and only sequel released to the original Dreamcast and GBA title ChuChu Rocket...which released as an exclusive to Apple Arcade in 2019.
And it has been completely delisted in 2022.
This is one of those few cases that sting about "lost media" as in, its not that there isn't footage of the game, but if you didn't have your hands on the game during those three years it was available, then you're never playing this game.
At least not until someone happens to dump the game and technically there's a way to run the game in that format. But there isn't, nor any floating files of it for anyone that have asked.
I don't know what sucks more: The idea that no one cared enough for it to be salvaged (or that it wasn't possible to salvage in the first place), or that since then, SEGA has not re-released the game in any form.
The single player additions and structure did make it seem like a more of an unique experience rather than just a straight CCR port which is why I think its a shame that a follow up to a beloved Dreamcast title has been relegated to obscurity because of presumed timed exclusivity and yet SEGA hasn't bothered to bring it back amidst their recent Power Surge trailers to bring back old IPs.
More thoughts on exclusivity?
There's obviously room for talking about game exclusivity as a whole when knowing about the many games that have been left stuck on the PS3 or Xbox 360, as well as how this has been one way the consoles have tried to one-up each other, but Apple Arcade exclusivity specifically gives me flashback of stuff like Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle and Super Bomberman R Online, which baffled people because they weren't keen on the idea of Stadia exclusives.
You can see how Stadia went under now and that even both games left out of it; Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle getting a re-release announced four months ago, while SBRO had got a few years later...although it got closed down in 2022 to be replaced with the full-priced Super Bomberman R2 which had most of the modes it introduced.
It is odd to think that the Stadia exclusives were designed for online multiplayer battle royale gimmicks and thus trying to justify their exclusivity, but in the case of the Apple games, they sure aren't big budget releases...but plenty of smaller games have seen the light of day in digital stores, and these are not necessarily games that NEED the touch screen to work.
But the demise of ChuChu Rocket Universe is a cautionary tale of how ephemeral these exclusives can be...and if Sonic Dream Team or Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop don't get a multiplatform release from SEGA by the time they are delisted for whatever reason, then too bad for you, they only exist in your memories now.
...Its strange to imagine that such level of control over the releases and people being able to own it is what Nintendo has dreamed for (and fought against the Yuzu emulator), but instead its SEGA paired with the exclusivity veterans at Apple that have the capacity of make games and wipe them from existence without second chances unless SEGA wishes them one.
Thanks for reading!
Spanish translation with DeepL. All screenshots were captured by myself.
-------------------- ESPAÑOL --------------------
¿Qué hace SEGA lanzando juegos en el Apple Arcade?
¿Y por qué algunos de estos son ideas divertidas que la gente ha estado esperando ver durante años para jugar ellos mismos, pero ahora no pueden porque su bloqueado para el Arcade de Apple?
¿Hay alguna posibilidad de que salgan en Android?
¿Se olvidará la gente de Sonic Dream Team y Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop dentro de unos meses por culpa de esto?
...Bueno, acabo de despertarme, así que vamos a ir más despacio y os contaré primero qué está pasando con esto.
Apple Arcade es un servicio de suscripción de juegos para dispositivos Apple [iOS, macOS, tvOS] en la misma línea que Xbox Game Pass, que es... más o menos todo lo que hay que decir al respecto.
Esto significa que puedes conseguir un montón de juegos por una suscripción, incluyendo algunas de las novedades de SEGA... pero obviamente necesitas tener un dispositivo Apple y desembolsar los 6,99€ mensuales o 49,99€ anuales.
Obviamente, no está en la gran gama de grandes juegos, por lo que probablemente querrías comprobar la lista de Wikipiedia para ver si hay algunos juegos ahí por los que te interesaría conseguir la suscripción... a menos que la cojas específicamente por un determinado juego que viene de SEGA y que todavía es exclusivo de esta plataforma...
Sonic Dream Team sigue siendo sólo un sueño para muchos
La forma en que algunos de los niveles e incluso los objetivos, ya que algunos te tienen explorando un nivel en busca de fragmentos, me recuerda un poco a una mezcla entre los niveles coloridos y enfocados de Super Mario 3D Land, mientras que los niveles de exploración me dan flashbacks a las secciones de Knuckles en Sonic Adventure. Algo diferente a su producción reciente.
Y hablando de Adventure, presenta a varios personajes jugables tras un buen tiempo de ausencia, especialmente Rouge desde Sonic 2006 y Cream desde Heroes. La jugabilidad puede parecer un poco simple en algunas secciones, pero tiene sentido para un juego de "bajo presupuesto" que también está pensado para funcionar en dispositivos iOS, y en general parece una experiencia oficial de Sonic un poco divertida, después de que Forces pareciera demasiado simplificado para la mayoría, y Frontiers siga siendo un poco controvertido con su enfoque de zonas abiertas.
...Lástima que si no tienes el Arcade y los dispositivos de Apple, esto siga estando fuera de tu alcance.
El juego acaba de salir hace 4 meses y se presume que Apple patrocinó/apoyó con dinero el proyecto o incluso estuvo detrás de una parte de su producción, por lo que es muy poco probable que la exclusividad se levante tan pronto, pero teniendo en cuenta la franquicia y cómo la gente probablemente va a seguir pidiendo que este juego llegue a otras plataformas con lo diferente que parece a Forces y Frontiers, quién sabe si podría tener suerte y llegar al menos para Android o PC tal vez dentro de tres años o más después de la exclusividad temporal, si es que llega a tener esa suerte.
Nice, a new Puyo Puyo game
Hay un juego dedicado a Puyo para la mayoría de plataformas en la forma de Puyo Puyo Champions lanzado en 2018, pero como se puede deducir, han pasado bastantes años desde entonces e incluso Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 de 2020, por lo que se puede adivinar que un juego completamente nuevo solo para Puyo con un modo historia y esas cosas suena súper genial para los fanáticos.
Sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que el mencionado Champions no tiene un modo Historia dedicado, ya que está diseñado más como un juego multijugador/competitivo que como una experiencia casual para un jugador.
...Si tienen el Arcade de Apple, claro.
Puede que no sea tan atroz como la demanda de Sonic Dream Team, que tiene un enfoque de juego en 3D diferente que no se ha visto en sus lanzamientos modernos en todas las plataformas... pero es el caso más reciente de cosita guay de SEGA que aún es exclusiva de Apple. Y también el caso más reciente, ya que es lo que me hizo escribir sobre esto en el primer lugar con la forma en que lanzó hace apenas 24 horas. Y sí que se ve limpio, pero, obviamente, un poco frustrante.
Me recuerda a cómo el último juego de F-Zero es un remake para 99 jugadores del juego de SNES exclusivo de Nintendo Switch Online, lo cual no me importa mucho (aparte de no poder jugarlo todavía)... pero sin duda sería una sensación agridulce que eso y quién sabe cuándo se retirase del servicio para no volver a verse nunca más.
Y hablando de retirar juegos de la lista...
¿Qué pasa si uno de estos desaparece?
Hay un juego que se me ocurre cuando pienso en juego guay exclusivo de la recreativa de apple que fue retirado y ahora es injugable.
ChuChu Rocket Universe es la única secuela lanzada del título original de Dreamcast y GBA ChuChu Rocket...que salió como exclusiva de Apple Arcade en 2019.
Y ha sido completamente retirado de la lista en 2022.
Este es uno de esos pocos casos en los que si pega como "lost media", y no es que no haya imágenes del juego, sino que si no tuviste el juego en tus manos durante esos tres años en los que estuvo disponible, entonces nunca jugarás a este juego.
Al menos no hasta que a alguien se le ocurra descargar el juego y técnicamente haya una forma de ejecutar el juego en ese formato. ***Pero no lo hay, ni ningún archivo flotante de él para cualquiera que haya preguntado.
No sé qué apesta más: La idea de que a nadie le importara lo suficiente como para rescatarlo (o que no fuera posible rescatarlo en primer lugar), o que desde entonces SEGA no haya reeditado el juego de ninguna forma.
Los añadidos y la estructura para un jugador lo hacían parecer una experiencia única en lugar de un simple port de CCR, por lo que creo que es una pena que la continuación de un título tan querido de Dreamcast haya sido relegado al olvido debido a una supuesta exclusividad temporal y que SEGA no se haya molestado en recuperarlo en medio de sus recientes tráilers de Power Surge para recuperar viejas IP.
¿Más reflexiones sobre la exclusividad?
Obviamente, se puede hablar de la exclusividad de los juegos en su conjunto cuando se conocen los muchos juegos que se han quedado estancados en PS3 o Xbox 360, así como la forma en que las consolas han intentado superarse unas a otras, pero la exclusividad de Apple Arcade en concreto me hace recordar cosas como Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle y Super Bomberman R Online, que desconcertaron a la gente porque no les entusiasmaba la idea de las exclusivas de Stadia.
Ahora se puede ver cómo Stadia se hundió y que incluso ambos juegos se quedaron fuera; Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle tuvo una reedición anunciada hace cuatro meses, mientras que SBRO la tuvo unos años más tarde... aunque se cerró en 2022 para ser sustituido por el Super Bomberman R2 a precio completo que tenía la mayoría de los modos que introdujo.
Es curioso pensar que las exclusivas de Stadia se diseñaron para los trucos de battle royale multijugador online y así intentar justificar su exclusividad, pero en el caso de los juegos de Apple, seguro que no son lanzamientos de gran presupuesto... pero muchos juegos más pequeños han visto la luz en las tiendas digitales, y no son necesariamente juegos que NECESITAN la pantalla táctil para funcionar.
Pero la desaparición de ChuChu Rocket Universe es un ejemplo de lo efímeras que pueden llegar a ser estas exclusivas... y si Sonic Dream Team o Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop no reciben un lanzamiento multiplataforma de SEGA en el momento en que sean retirados de la lista por el motivo que sea, entonces qué pena por ti, ahora sólo existen en tus recuerdos.
...Resulta extraño imaginar que Nintendo haya soñado (y luchado contra el emulador Yuzu) con semejante nivel de control sobre los lanzamientos y la posibilidad de que la gente los posea, pero en cambio sea SEGA junto con los veteranos de la exclusividad de Apple quienes tengan la capacidad de crear juegos y borrarlos de la existencia sin segundas oportunidades, a menos que SEGA les dé una.
¡Gracias por leer!
Traducción al español hecha con DeepL. Todas las fotos capturadas por mí.
I always found 3rd party exclusivity to be so dumb. Then again I'm sure some of these developers and publishers are getting a huge deal they just can't turn down to release their games on specific platforms. Hard to blame them. Money talks.
I still remember the ruckus there was for stuff like Rocket League and Borderlands 3 being exclusive to Epic Games, and I can't tell you about many cases with Sony exclusivity like it were the back of my palm...but I sure remember many times hearing about news regarding timed exclusives for Sony consoles out of nowhere.
With how its presumed that Apple put their money for most of these games in the first place, yeah, it makes sense, but I guess that there's still only chance in hoping that the new releases eventually get re-released outside of these devices when the exclusivity runs out. Its still crazy to think that years after their releases, even when Microsoft also owns Windows, we would finally get Halo MCC and Killer Instinct in PC.
Although the biggest surprise to this day is that Sony actually let God of War and Spiderman run free on PC too years later- I would have expected that to stay exclusive to PS4 forever 😅
Thanks for reading and for your comment!
Two days ago I was finally done with something that had me by the neck these past months that was university related, so it was great to finally be able to sit down and run a mile with writing again :)
It seems that right now there is a whole issue and battle both internally and between companies over the issue of exclusivity. However, I think that the Arcade strategy always works well for companies and especially when they mix the classic and renew to bring back the "arcade sense" now unfortunately many sins by rehashing what already was and always ends the original game or other versions being better, things burn, and companies don't understand that.
Something similar happened to the Simpsons (the series) they had a golden age of comedy, with spectacular scripts and a development of the narrative that is truly worthy of admiration, then they fell into a problem "IT WAS SO GOOD" that they thought that being already "The Simpsons" could do whatever they wanted and since it is "The Simpsons" everyone would see it, but the truth is that they screwed up. It happens in music too much too. I think that right now the industry with many companies is facing it, Assassin's Creed for example, it was so good that they thought that any saga that has the name will be good and that is not the case.
Thanks for sharing.