Sega Genesis Collection in the works

If you want specifics, there are 4 reasons I bought a PSP.

1) The games that were out at or around launch (LOVE Wipeout Pure and Lumines).

2) The games that are coming (Landstalker, Myst, Earthworm Jim, Sonic Rivals, Crisis Core).

3) MP3 playback and video playback (screw paying $400 for a video iPod that can't do anything else.)

4) The ability to play homebrew - not just emulated games, but programs like the text file reader.

I knew from Day One that there would come a time when a game was released that I'd have to update to play, or the firmware updates would make it worth updating (2.80 losing the stupid MP4 naming convention, for example), and thus losing the ability to play homebrew software in the process. There was never a doubt in my mind that that would happen, and it looks like it just has. If it weren't for the homebrew, I probably would have waited until those games I've been waiting for came out before making my purchase, so Sony certainly haven't lost any revenue from me in the meantime.



As I said, I have no problems with playing emulated games. If you've bought and paid for the games you're emulating, by all means, knock yourself out - you've made your contribution to the developers who made the games, and thus you've earned the right to play them.

Take the Sonic series, for example. I've probably paid for each of those titles 3 or 4 times over (the originals, Sonic Jam for the Saturn, Sonic Mega Collection and Sonic Gems for the GameCube, etc).

But your first statement came across as though you were saying that you didn't need to pay for this collection in order to play these games, and that's something I strongly disagree with. If people play these games on emulators, and then refuse to buy them when they're released, that's a serious problem.

All I'm saying is that if you CAN pay for something, then you should pay for it. I'm personally glad that emulators and roms exist, because, otherwise, it's entirely possible that some games would simply disappear. Licensing issues can prevent companies from releasing certain titles on new systems, and if a company goes under, they could well be taking their games with them. I hate the thought that a game with a short print run, with only a few dusty cartridges left in existence could simply be left to decay, taking with it all vestiges of creativity and wonder that it once contained.

I've had the honour of playing through all three scenarios of Shining Force 3 on the Saturn - possibly the best tactical RPG of all time - the second and third disc of which were only available in Japanese (there's a translation online, painstakingly created by fans of the game). I had to play a copy of it, since the game was never released here, but I'll be damned if I feel guilty about it. And if Sega were ever able to sort out their problems with Camelot, and have the game re-released on one of the current or next-gen systems, you can bet your ass I'll be first in line to buy it.

Miggz: I can accept that. And I apologize if I took your comment out of context.

For my own part, there are a number of games in that list that I consider excellent titles (Sonic 1 and 2, Ecco 1 and 2, Phantasy Star), but if those particular titles don't interest you, then that's a perfectly reasonable reason not to buy the title.

There are certainly a number of other games that I'd love to see on the list (Truxton, Subterrania, Flashback, etc), but you can't have everything. Licensing issues aside, it wouldn't be smart for Sega to release a single disc with all that content. Each and every one of the games on that list is better than a lot of GBA games, so getting 30 or so of them for the price of 1 is certainly not bad value, by any stretch of the imagination.

Games aside, the wireless multiplayer and developer interviews are a big bonus, even if you already own the games, and there are supposedly some Sega arcade games on the disc as well... Which ones, I can't imagine, but perfect conversions Outrun, Space Harrier and After Burner would definitely be cool.