Support NeoGAF

[Rlan]

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAzzoU0fIxU

The new-look system is based on a bedroom of an early nineties SEGA fan with dynamic time-of-day conditions, retro SEGA paraphernalia, a shelf full of MEGA Drive games (including the ones you own) and of course a CRT TV! That’s not all, every single MEGA Drive game will now feature Steam Workshop support allowing you to share modified versions of your favourite retro SEGA titles!

In addition to these new features, the new SEGA Mega Drive hub also includes;

spot-on emulation
local co-op for games that support it
optional graphic enhancement filters
the ability to save at any point in the gameplay
full controller / keyboard support
The following games will be accessible through the new hub on release - if you already own these games, just wait for the update & press start!

Golden Axe™
Altered Beast™
Comix Zone™
Ecco the Dolphin™
Gain Ground™
Shinobi™ III: Return of the Ninja Master
Vectorman™
Crack Down™
Shadow Dancer™
Space Harrier™ II
Ecco™ Jr.
Alex Kidd™ in the Enchanted Castle
Bonanza Bros.™
Super Thunder Blade™
Kid Chameleon™
Ristar™
Galaxy Force II™
Columns™
Eternal Champions™
Fatal Labyrinth™
Bio-Hazard Battle™
Columns™ III
Sword of Vermilion™
Virtua Fighter™ 2
Ecco™: The Tides of Time
Alien Storm
Decap Attack™
Flicky™
ESWAT™: City Under Siege
Golden Axe™ II
Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole
Shining Force
Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair
Streets of Rage 2
Alien Soldier
Light Crusader
Gunstar Heroes
Streets of Rage
Shining Force II
Shining in the Darkness
Beyond Oasis
Dynamite Headdy
Golden Axe III
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Streets of Rage 3
Revenge of the Shinob
Vectorman 2
Wonder Boy in Monster World

Basically, the Megadrive / Genesis games on Steam were in kind of a crappy thing and not the best emulation. Sega are updating the catalog entirely on Steam with this new front end.

Best of all - Mod Support! As far as it sounds, things like Sonic 2 XL can actually be added to Steam under "Sonic 2 mods". Which is kind of insane and awesome. How far does it go? Not sure yet - guess we'll know next week!

 

[sixteen-bit]

How cool is that?

 

[Emperor Bohe]

That's pretty fucking dope

 

[Nabs]

Very cool.

 

[Goron2000]

This is awesome but...why?

 

[Krejlooc]

HOLY SHIT, supporting rom hacks is so fucking awesome!

Wow

 

[Card Boy]

This is pretty massive. I picked them all up for something like 5 or 7.50 from Amazon awhile ago.

 

[dity]

This is good, because the current interface for selecting games is teeny tiny and not fun to do from Big Picture Mode. Put me off from playing the games I've bought.

 

[MrCunningham]

Not bad... will it have some Retoarch styled shaders? Also Linux/ SteamOS support would be nice.

This is awesome but...why?

I guess it gives Sega of Europe something to do.

 

[Maxey]

This is asking for VR support.

 

[8-Bit Sunset]

Now this is what you call support.
None of this needed to be considered at all on their part yet here it is.

Depending on how well it is implemented, I will buy all the remaining games I don't have to show appreciation for this!

 

[DietRob]

What year is it?

 

[Krejlooc]

Seriously, this is one of the coolest, most forward thinking things Sega has done in years.

Goddamn, if people can start monetizing their rom hacks... wow

Someone should throw Sonic Megamix up there ASAP.

 

[InfiniteNine]

This is crazy cool since I wouldn't expect any company to do this. Bravo Sega!

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

YES

Now I won't feel lame buying them all over again

 

[Ginger Hail]

Got one of those huge bundles a while back, could be interesting to finally take a dive into all this.

 

[Novel Mike]

Holy shit mods for Shining Force that won't require me to play on an emulator? That's pretty fucking great, honestly.

 

[lazygecko]

Wait, so mod support in this case means actual ROM hacking/IPS patching? Legitimizing all the talent and creativity that goes into those would be a pretty big milestone for the industry. It's something I've always wanted to see.

 

[Storm360]

Already have them all, but this is great

I wonder how the workshop will work, I assume they straight up won't just give us the rom files

 

[TimmiT]

If this means rom hack support that'd be amazing, though I'm a bit concerned about how easy it'd be for someone to upload a rom hack by someone else and take credit for it.

 

[GrantDaNasty]

This is both super-weird, but also something I'd like to support, just to see what can be achieved with this.

 

[Krejlooc]

YES

Now I won't feel lame buying them all over again

The trailer seemed to indicate that they're cool with you adding additional games as well.

 

[ArjanN]

That's pretty cool, although honestly I felt the emulation of these games themselves was already pretty decent, some things like UI and options could be better though.

 

[Card Boy]

Someone should throw Sonic Megamix up there ASAP.

Isn't this Sega CD now? Sonic CD isn't part of the Genesis / Megadrive Collection. It's standalone.

 

[VariantX]

I can't even wrap my mind around how insanely cool this is. They just pretty much legitimized all of those awesome rom hacks of sonic games and the communities that grew up around them.

 

[Krejlooc]

Even better - people could start selling rom translations.

Isn't this Sega CD now?

The emulator itself is also apart of workshop, so someone could add in Sega CD support.

Sonic CD isn't part of the Genesis / Megadrive Collection.

The Sega CD port of Sonic Megamix isn't built off of Sonic CD. Stealth actually ported Sonic 1 to the Sega CD and built megamix off of it.

 

[Htown]

Goddamn, if people can start monetizing their rom hacks... wow

slow down there, let's not get silly

 

[Nanashrew]

This is so coool! All the rom hacks I could ever want!

 

[Whiteblade999]

Shining Force. With Official Mod Support. I never thought I would live to see the day. So cool.

 

[MrCunningham]

Even better - people could start selling rom translations.



The emulator itself is also apart of workshop, so someone could add in Sega CD support.



The Sega CD port of Sonic Megamix isn't built off of Sonic CD. Stealth actually ported Sonic 1 to the Sega CD and built megamix off of it.

Some of those re-colour hacks would sound great as workshop downloads.

 

[TimmiT]

Goddamn, if people can start monetizing their rom hacks... wow

I really, really doubt that that'd be possible.

 

[Ricerocket]

Shining Force. With Official Mod Support. I never thought I would live to see the day. So cool.

I was just thinking this. Shining Force 2 and Phantasy Stars 3/4 were my childhood favorites.

 

[Cody_D165]

this is fucking awesome

 

[johancruijff]

.

 

[Krejlooc]

Shining Force. With Official Mod Support. I never thought I would live to see the day. So cool.

First thing people should do is bring all the Sega Ages changes made to Phantasy Star II-IV to Steam. Things like fast battle, low encounter rate + higher EXP per battle, fast travel, etc.

Those versions have always been my recommendation because of those improvements, while all the other ports were just bare emulation. Now, it sounds like it is possible to bring all those additions to steam.

 

[Syril]

Wow, I've never seen a company openly support romhacks like that before.

 

[Piston Hyundai]

Man, this could be cool as fuck depending on how much they support it.

 

[Krejlooc]

I really, really doubt that that'd be possible.

monetization of steam workshop is inevitable. If it extends to things like this... damn, it'd be an entirely new market.

That's such a big if though. It pretty much would be up to Sega. Perhaps if Sega could take a small cut of mod sales or something.

 

[FFFanatic]

I'm curious how the mod support is going to be implemented. I'm assuming it would be submitting some patch format for the rom?

 

[rrs]

now I'm quite tempted to rebuy these games on steam

 

[The Power Of Snap]

Imagine playing Sonic 2 with the lost zones added.

 

[dity]

monetization of steam workshop is inevitable. If it extends to things like this... damn, it'd be an entirely new market.

That's such a big if though. It pretty much would be up to Sega. Perhaps if Sega could take a small cut of mod sales or something.

Didn't they already try to monetize the Steam Workshop with Skyrim and receive huge backlash?

Not happening.

 

[andrerobot]

Wow Sega, when did you start being this cool?

 

[Krejlooc]

Didn't they already try to monetize the Steam Workshop with Skyrim and receive huge backlash?

Not happening.

It absolutely will happen eventually. What was learned from that was that suddenly dropping paid mod support into an existing game's modding ecosystem generates backlash. It'll happen eventually.

 

[MrCunningham]

monetization of steam workshop is inevitable. If it extends to things like this... damn, it'd be an entirely new market.

That's such a big if though. It pretty much would be up to Sega. Perhaps if Sega could take a small cut of mod sales or something.

It makes me wonder if the copyright holders to some of these Genesis/ Mega Drive games could upload their ROMs through the Steam Workshop to resell? That would be pretty bad ass.

 

[stan423321]

Huh, are Sonic titles not listed?

Also huh, these cannot be full rom hacks or else what prevents us from hacking one game into another, huh?

 

[sixteen-bit]

Wow Sega, when did you start being this cool?

Maybe they took the fan survey to heart.

 

[Cynn]

Someone please tell me there's a shot at this coming to console.

 

[CrAzY FiNgErS]

I own this but barely played it due to the shoddy emulation and shoddy way you accessed the games. Glad Sega is taking a forward thinking approach to emulation and modding. I wish other companies would follow suit. I guess baby steps are better than no steps at all.

 

[Storm360]

monetization of steam workshop is inevitable. If it extends to things like this... damn, it'd be an entirely new market.

That's such a big if though. It pretty much would be up to Sega. Perhaps if Sega could take a small cut of mod sales or something.

Rock Band 4 having RBN support through Steam Workshop (had it been funded) proved that paid mods aren't off the table completely, I don't see them selling "mods", but maybe homebrew and what not through the workshop would be fair game