Classic Sega, Atari and Nintendo games get crypto makeovers: Web3 Gamer

Feeling nostalgic for the good old days of gaming? Well, Code of Joker: Evolutions, Sega’s classic trading card game, is making a comeback — this time on the Sui blockchain.

“Some gamers feel that the “golden age” of traditional gaming that occurred over a decade ago has yet to be matched, leaving them wanting more,” Anthony Palma, head of gaming partnerships at Mysten Labs, tells Web3 Gamer.

“With the current market of games, gamers are increasingly returning to nostalgic titles,” he says.

Palma says there are other advantages to combining classic titles with digital assets rather than designing new Web3 games from scratch — people already know the game, so there’s less friction getting them on board.

“If a game, game company, or IP already resonates with players, they’re more open to exploring how digital ownership enhances their experience,” he says.

Code of Joker: Evolutions will be released on iOS, Android and PC at the end of the summer of 2025.

It’s part of a growing trend of nostalgic games making their way onto the blockchain.

In July, AtariX, the Web3 initiative of video game pioneer Atari, announced it would bring classic titles to the blockchain through a collaboration with Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 scaling blockchain.

The collaboration started with the classic arcade game Asteroids, a space-themed multidirectional shooter released in 1979. A few months before that, in January 2024, developers at the Bitcoin Ordinals portfolio tracker Ninjalerts inscribed their Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) emulator into the blockchain.

It’s not just the oldies who want these nostalgic games back. A 2023 Kellogg’s survey found that 24% of Gen Z UK-based participants own a retro gaming console, with growing interest in cassettes and DVD players as well.

Do gamers actually care about digital ownership?

Blockchain games love to push “owning your assets,” but one gaming exec thinks gamers couldn’t care less.

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“I don’t think player ownership matters,” Moku co-founder and content creator Hantao Yuan said at the leaders roundtables initiative at the YGG Play Summit 2024, which was publicly released on March 13.

“Pokémon is not making $6 million a day because people care about ownership. They care about the IP and the brand and having a good experience,” Yuan said.

Yuan claimed that Web3 gaming is not doing as well as it could be because people are using crypto tokens “for the wrong type of marketing.”

“If you look at Pump.fun, they have a business. They’re making real revenue. In Web3, the majority of the games are not building a game. They’re building a product for TGE [token generating events]. They are not building for live ops.”

Confiction co-founder Arief Widhiyasa believes blockchain games are limiting themselves by focusing on attracting crypto enthusiasts when they should be exploring ways to get everyday gamers interested in the concept of digital ownership.

“I think, at the end of the day, it’s about how we can give the red pill to gamers to make them realize the value of Web3 gaming,” Widhiyasa said.

“All the attention now is on memecoins. One of the biggest challenges is competing with them. I don’t think games can compete in terms of upside,” he added.

According to the Blockchain Game Alliance’s 2024 report, 71% of industry professionals still see asset ownership as the biggest perk of blockchain gaming. But the message isn’t necessarily filtering out to traditional gamers.

CCP Games CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson said a big problem is that most gamers already assume they own their games and items, so digital ownership isn’t exactly a game-changer for them:

“I don’t think it is appealing to a lot because I think it is a reasonable expectation from gamers to think they already own an item, but they don’t.”

Pétursson said blockchain gaming companies are, therefore, trying to sell gamers something they think they already have.

Gamers are confused about digital ownership

But does buying the right to play a title mean that you own it?

“People used to buy games in boxes; you could give them or sell them and buy another box,” he added.

Hot take: Coinfish

Coinfish is one of the weirdest Telegram games I’ve played in a while — but surprisingly, I liked it, and I absolutely hate fishing in real life.

I had to check it out since it’s been getting a fair bit of hype since launching in October.

Made by blockchain lab MEETLabs, Coinfish puts you in the role of… some kind of bear?

Your goal is to fish on behalf of your four stray cats, who sit next to you, looking perpetually hangry.

There are way more fish (and sharks) than I’ve ever seen when fishing in real life — maybe that’s why it’s actually fun. The bigger the fish, the better the rewards. But there’s a catch (literally): you have to buy your own bait, and the good stuff isn’t cheap.

This is a classic case of “money makes money.”

This game won’t change your life by any means. You’ll probably play for 20-30 minutes and be done. But somehow, I’ve kept it in my weekly game rotation — just a quick fish, feed the angry cats, and move on.

If you ever had a Tamagotchi as a kid, this might scratch that itch…low-effort daily upkeep with some fishing thrown in.

The best part is no seasickness, boats, or wasting hours stuck out at sea.

Other News

— Games For A Living is rolling out the beta for Diamond Dreams on March 18.

— Another Web3 game is joining Xbox’s lineup this year — this time, it’s the horror FPS The Bornless.

— Mojo AI has launched the WorldWide AI Gaming platform, where AI agents battle it out against each other.

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Ciaran Lyons

Ciaran Lyons is an Australian crypto journalist. He's also a standup comedian and has been a radio and TV presenter on Triple J, SBS and The Project.