Jolt Country

I've started compiling a list of retro games available for iOS (iPod, iPhone, iPad). If you know of any to add to the list, let me know. Once I get a solid list going I'll go back and add all the prices, links, and (if available) YouTube videos:

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{EMULATORS} (Most require Jailbreaking)

iDOS (DOSBox) (Free)
Frotz (plays Text Adventures) (Free)
... a bunch of other emulators.

{COMPILATIONS}

Atari's Greatest Hits (100 Atari 2600 and Arcade games) ($14.99 for all games)
C64 for iPhone ($4.99, contains multiple games including Uridium and Paradroid)
Capcom Arcade
Elite Game Collection (Paradroid, Choplifter, many more)
Sarien.net (Sierra game ports for iOS)
TurboGrafx-16 Gamebox

{GAMES}

7th Guest
Abuse
AirFox (River Raid) ($0.99)
Archon ($2.99)
Atlantis Invaders (Atlantis) ($0.99)
Another World / Out of this World
Arkanoid
Beneath a Steel Sky: Remastered ($2.99)
Bomberman ($7.99)
Boulderdash ($4.99)
ChuChu Rocket
Civilization ($4.99)
Defender of the Crown
Dig Dug
Doom I/II
Double Dragon (Remake)
Duke Nukem 3D
Dragon's Lair
Earthworm Jim ($4.99)
Flashback ($4.99)
Flight of the Amazon Queen
Final Fantasy 1/2/3
Frogger
Galaga
Gobliiins 1 and 2
Golden Axe
Gunstar Heroes ($2.99)
Karate Champ
LED Football
Miner 2049'er
Monkey Island 2
Ms. Pac-Man
Myst ($4.99)
NBA Jam
Oregon Trail ($2.99)
Pac-Man
Paperboy: Special Delivery (Paperboy) ($0.99)
Phantasy Star II ($2.99)
Pinball Dreams
Pinball Fantasies
Prince of Persia Retro ($0.99)
Q*Bert
Rick Dangerous
Rogue (Free)
R-Type ($0.99)
Secret of Monkey Island
Shinobi III
Sim City Deluxe ($6.99)
Simon the Sorcerer
Sonic the Hedgehog 1/2
Space Ace
Space Invaders
SpaceBlast (Asteroids Clone) ($1.99)
Spectre 3D
Speedball 2 (Amiga)
Street Fighter IV
Streets of Rage 1/2
Super Bit Dash (RPG) ($0.99)
Super Breakout
Sword of Fargoal
Tetris (Multiple)
Wolfenstein 3D
Worms ($4.99)
X-Men (Arcade) ($2.99)

Flack wrote:{EMULATORS} (Most require Jailbreaking)

What's the possible penalty for Jailbreaking this device? I know you can use a compromised savegame and a particular game with a bug in it to jailbreak the original XBOX in order to run Linux, the break simply loses the dashboard while you have it in place but it is fully reversible.

I understand jailbreaking, if Apple issued an upgrade, sometimes caused some older iDevice to turn into an iBrick, rendering it useless. (I don't know which one, if it was the iPhone or iPad or some other iWhatever.)

Referring specifically to iOS (iPod/iPhone/iPad) devices:

The possible penalty would be that the device would be blocked from Apple services. Apple is not currently doing this, but if (a) jailbreaking changes something in the OS on the device and (b) the device connects to Apple services like iTunes, then (c) it stands to reason that Apple can detect those jailbroken devices and, theoretically, (d) could block them from connecting. Again, to date, Apple has not done this to iOS users -- but you said "possible", and that's possible.

Currently, the only real world penalty jailbreakers receive is voiding their warranties, and thus losing technical support from Apple. This doesn't dissuade most jailbreakers from jailbreaking, since jailbreaking is software-based, and can "easily" be undone by resetting your device.

The world of video game consoles is completely different. take the Xbox 360, for example. None of the new consoles operate in a vacuum any more -- they all connect regularly back to "the mother ship" and run reports. Microsoft gathers information from consoles and, from time to time, bans large numbers of jailbroken machines, like they did in 2009 when they banned 1 million Xbox 360 users from Xbox Live. When they do that, your machine can not go online and access Xbox Live ever again, which means no more online gaming for you. One unique market that has come out of this is I know lots of people that own two Xbox 360 consoles -- one that's jailbroken for playing pirated games, and one that's not that they use online (and only buy a few games for).

Sony has taken a slightly different route with the PlayStation 3. Jailbreaks on the PS3 require specific system formware versions. If you have, say, 3.55, then there are security holes that will allow you to play pirated games. Sony's defense is to (a) patch the holes, and then (b) push those patches out to all users. While users are not "required" to install those updates, they will be blocked from online services until they do. Additionally, newer games often require newer firmwares, which are included on the game discs and must be installed before the game can be played. My son recently bought the new Call of Duty game, which comes with firmware 3.72 on the disc. You cannot play the game without upgrading to that firmware. It's a dirty trick on their part.

The Nintendo Wii is so riddled with exploits that now all you need to jailbreak it is an SD card and some downloaded programs. The Wii has never had a strong online presence, which means there's no real reason not to do so. There are actually some pretty cool features you can enable on the Wii after jailbreaking, like DVD playback and the ability to store your games on an external USB drive and play them in ISO format.

Everybody says jailbreaking is all about having the legal ability to modify your own hardware, but for the most part it's about piracy. It's kind of like when your dad told you he bought Playboy to read the articles.

Also, regarding those emulators:

Apple does not allow emulators to be sold on iTunes*, and iTunes is the only authorized way to get software installed onto an iOS device. So, that's why you have to jailbreak your device to install those.

(Not 100% true, but true enough for this conversation. In reality, they do not allow programs to download and run other external programs. That's why they pulled DOSPad (the port of DOSBox) from iTunes -- because you could download PC .EXE files and run them on the iPad. A new version of DOSPad that had that feature disabled was re-released but ... who wants that?)

Flack wrote:Referring specifically to iOS (iPod/iPhone/iPad) devices:

The possible penalty would be that the device would be blocked from Apple services.

Currently, the only real world penalty jailbreakers receive is voiding their warranties, and thus losing technical support from Apple. This doesn't dissuade most jailbreakers from jailbreaking, since jailbreaking is software-based, and can "easily" be undone by resetting your device.

Yeah, if it wasn't for the fact the Copyright Office has already ruled that hacking your own phone to allow you to be able to choose carriers is legal I dare say some companies might claim they can sue as either infringement or a DMCA violation, or potentially try to prosecute egregious "violators" (as in, what they consider to be violations).

Some of the warranty voiding schemes some companies use are clear and flagrant violations of the Moss-Magnuson Warranty Act of 1975. A change made by a non-manufacturer repair outlet (or the consumer) only voids the warranty on the part or system so modified, not to the whole object. And if the item is user-serviceable and the replacement part is at least equivalent to the manufacturer's specifications the manufacturer cannot deny warranty coverage, e.g. as long as you consistently use 10W40 oil and an equivalent filter at least at prescribed intervals, Ford, GM or Chrysler can't deny coverage if the engine fails because of oil problems. Now, if you're supposed to use 10W and you use 5 W, that's a different matter...

For example, if you want more performance from a sportscar, and you put a nitrous-oxide booster on your engine or just the air intake system , you void the warranty on the engine (or just the subsystem affected if less than the whole engine). This does not mean you have voided the warranty on the power train, the tires, the brakes or anything not affected by the change.

I would also argue - especially where a change is in a system is on the nature of a software patch, and where such software changes are fully reversible - that if a device can be restored to factory settings and no permanent damage occurs that the warranty is not voided. And the warranty on anything not affected by the change is unaffected, e.g. if you jailbreak a device and the manufacturer supplied batteries or disc player overheat and damage it, you're still entitled to warranty coverage.

What most companies do is require you to agree to a terms of service (TOS) before connecting to their online service. Microsoft's TOS says that you will not modify your console, and if you do, you will be denied access to Xbox Live.

Sony's last TOS, which again is required for you to accept if you plan on playing any new games you have purchased, required users to opt out of any class action lawsuits against the company regarding the removal of OtherOS and other features. We're talking pretty dirty politics here.

Apple's policy is closer to Microsoft's. Their public stance is, "we don't want to take chance of hurting your non-standard device," which roughly translates to "get the fuck off our lawn, jailbreaker".

Shining Force
Shining Force II
Ecco the Dolphin

Was a bit surreal playing Ecco on my ipod: at one point, a friend noticed that I was playing Ecco and watched me for about half an hour until we began to hand off the device between us (until the charge died). Quite a lovely experience and more than a little nostalgia for the both of us.

Flack wrote:Sony's last TOS, which again is required for you to accept if you plan on playing any new games you have purchased, required users to opt out of any class action lawsuits against the company regarding the removal of OtherOS and other features. We're talking pretty dirty politics here.

This is all the fault of the gaming press. Let me explain.

When the Dreamcast was released, magazines like Next Generation trumpeted the, "It's good, but look at these Playstation 2 specs." Which was fucking sickening. The Playstation 2 was released over a year later. The games didn't stop looking like abominations until much later than that. There was absolutely nothing stopping people from having fun IMMEDIATELY with the Dreamcast, but the gaming press (which -- while a joke, hadn't been completely dismissed by everyone as a joke) had way too much influence.

Their short-sighted stupidity caused the Dreamcast to fail to overwhelm people and get inside the homes of consumers.

It has a happy ending, of course: Sega then drops out of the console race and is replaced with Microsoft, who is incredibly consumer-friendly and not anti-competitive. In fact, I am going to boot my 360 right now and in two days I'll be finished navigating the dashboard past all the advertisements and find the spot where I can actually play a game.

Fuck the gaming press.