54 lost clickwheel-era games are preserved by iPod fans

Fans of the original Apple likely recall a period when the company released a large selection of games made for late-model clickwheel iPods, shortly before the iPhone established itself as a major gaming platform in its own right. Even though those clickwheel-controlled games didn’t exactly blow the gaming community away, they are a significant historical milestone in Apple’s lengthy history in the game business.

However, these clickwheel iPod games are now in danger of becoming lost media since they can’t be purchased or downloaded again from iTunes and are shielded from current devices by the extremely powerful Apple DRM. Now, the community of people who love the original iPod is working to preserve these games so that fans can continue to play them on actual hardware for years to come.

Too well protected, maybe.

From late 2006 to early 2009, Apple collaborated with major studios such as Sega, sq\. Enix, and Electronic Arts to release 54 different games for $7.49 each, marking the brief peak of iPod clickwheel gaming. Years before the iconic iPod line was permanently discontinued in 2014, however, Apple removed these clickwheel iPod games from the iTunes store entirely by 2011 due to the popularity of iOS gaming.

All of the compressed IPG files for these clickwheel games have been backed up and gathered in different archives in the years since that delisting. But for the most part, the same stringent Fairplay DRM that protected iTunes music and video downloads renders those IPG files essentially worthless to owners of vintage iPods. Each unique IPG file is linked by that DRM to both a specific hardware identifier of the desktop iTunes installation that was used to sync it and a specific iTunes account that was created at the time the game file was purchased.

Games that have been synced to iPods and iTunes libraries for years will continue to function flawlessly. However, in order to sync any of these outdated games to a new iPod (and/or a new iTunes installation), you must pair the authorised iTunes account that made the initial purchase with the original IPG file that Apple supplied years ago.

You’re out of luck, I’m afraid, because you failed to backup that decades-old file.

After some time, a set of 20 clickwheel iPod games was patched to run on specific iPod Video devices that have their own firmware flashed. The vast majority of owners of vintage iPods, however, are still unable to play most of these games.

A virtual solution.

Fortunately for the large number of people who love the old iPod, there is a workaround for this legacy DRM problem. Clickwheel iPod users can still re-authorize their account through Apple’s servers to sync with a secondary installation of iTunes if they have functional copies of any of these games on their iPod or in their iTunes library.

When several iPod owners reauthorize their accounts to the same iTunes installation, that copy of iTunes essentially turns into a “master library” with authorized copies of the games from each of those accounts (the iTunes installation has a five-account limit, but this can be gotten around by manually copying the files). After that, the iTunes installation turns into a distribution hub that can permanently share those approved games with an arbitrary number of iPods without requiring any online check-ins with Apple.

Using this workaround, a Reddit user with the handle Quix gathered a local library of 19 clickwheel iPod games in recent years and made a public promise to distribute “copies of these games onto as many iPods as I can.”. However, Quix’s endeavor encountered a major physical access bottleneck—in order to sync his game collection to a new iPod, he had to pay for and wait for the device to be shipped so that Quix could connect it to his real computer before returning it to its original owner.

This month, Reddit user Olsro launched the aptly named iPod Clickwheel Games Preservation Project. Olsro wanted to “build a communitarian virtual machine that anyone can use to sync auth[orized] clickwheel games into their iPod,” as opposed to building his master library of authorized iTunes games on a local computer in his home country of France. Shipping is not required for this process, but there are some steps you must take to get the Qemu Virtual Machine to run on your local computer.

Olsro has been collaborating with other iPod fans for the past three weeks to get official copies of forty-five clickwheel iPod games synchronized with his library and prepared for distribution. Olsro wrote that the Virtual Machine “should work fully offline to sync the clickwheel games forever to any amount of different iPods,” thereby ensuring their perpetual preservation.

For future generations.

During a Discord conversation, Olsro informed Ars that he was motivated to begin the project because he had happy childhood memories of playing games like Asphalt 4 and Reversi on his iPod Nano 3G. When he recently bought a vintage iPod 7G, he re-entered the world of vintage iPods and expressed his frustration at not being able to transfer those long-lost game files to his new devices.

Olsro told Ars, “I also realized that I wasn’t the only one who was annoyed by that one clickwheel game that reminded me of my early years.”. “I observed that people frequently only had one or two extra games because those were highly costly. “,”.

Olsro acknowledges that “only a few of [the clickwheel iPod games] are really very interesting compared to multiplatform equivalents,” despite the nostalgic appeal. The round clickwheel interface of the iPod, which only has one “action” button in the middle, is not the best for most action-packed games, and Olsro stated that the long-term worth of “games” like SAT PREP 2008 is “very debatable.”.

Nevertheless, there are some gems in the old iPod library. Olsro pointed out that the iPod version of Peggle had the same features as the PC version and made “really good use of the clickwheel controls” for its directional aiming. Phase is a rhythm game that was never ported to other platforms and uses your own iPod music library to create dynamic tracks. “Very addictive, simple, but fun and challenging,” Olsro said. “..”.

Olsro contended that even the horrible clickwheel iPod games, such as Sega’s almost uncontrollable Sonic the Hedgehog port, could find a peculiar following among gaming subcommunities. Since one [person] used DK bongos to beat Dark Souls, I wouldn’t be shocked if the speedrun community tried speedrunning some of those strange games. “.

Olsro stated that there is a lot of historical value to be gleaned from this peculiar pre-iPhone era in Apple’s gaming history, in addition to entertainment value. Olsro claimed that the clickwheel games were a reflection of the premium gaming era. Without microtransactions, advertisements, or bullshit, and completely playable offline. After cheaper premium games like Angry Birds first appeared on the iOS market, the market was overrun by aggressive monetization and ubiquitous advertisements. “.”.

Olsro claimed that although he is pleased with the 42 games he has saved (and is particularly delighted to be able to play Asphalt 4 once more), he won’t be completely content until all 54 clickwheel games are backed up for future generations in his iTunes Virtual Machine. He likened the endeavor to entire collections of vintage game console ROMs “that you can archive somewhere to be sure to be able to play any game you want in the future (or research on it).”. As with other collectibles, acquiring the entire set is also captivating in terms of collecting. “..”.

But there may be a time limit on Olsro’s preservation effort. He will be unable to add new games to his master library of Clickwheel iPods if Apple ever disables the iTunes re-authorization servers for Clickwheel iPods. Olsro stated, “Apple has a reputation for not caring about announcing the closure of servers for outdated products.”. “This preservation effort will come to an end if that version of iTunes dies tomorrow. We won’t ever add any more games. “.”.

“There isn’t any time to waste because we don’t know how long we have left to complete this,” Olsro wrote on Reddit. He can be reached via his Discord account, inurayama, by iPod gamers who would like to assist.