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Grift Store Cleans Up (some of) Its Act

It's 2026, and something I had observed in the Securus Media Store since the removal of CD Baby and DistroKid amused me so:

In late 2024, I did a post about Super Gunstar Heroes, a Nintendo Game Boy Advance title sold to us in our Store at $5.98.
It was mostly for amusement, because I know that Nintendo are litigious as all get out, and would love to Cease and Desist the emulation world.
Jump cut, 8-9 months later: we all noticed there was a strange lack of new-to-us GBA titles hitting the Grift Store. Instead, we had been fed a strange and eclectic mix of older Gameloft, PebblePlay, and Ogre Pixel titles mixed in with a bit of shovelware. The comic releases had dried up months prior (and nothing of value was lost™), and the game releases cadence had dropped from thrice weekly to once a week on Fridays at best. We even went a few weeks without an update in the games store!

I had also observed that their "Vintage Games" section (where all the GBA, GBC, and the rare SNES title or two would go) had disappeared.

This gave me a clue that something was going to happen... and happen, it did.
Some of the GBA titles began to disappear out of the store. New users could not locate titles such as Final Fantasy I&II: Dawn of Souls, Pokémon Crystal, or Breath of Fire. Those of us who have purchased these emulated titles still can download and reinstall them, but I fear the clock may be ticking on even that, and the wads of cash we've spent will be unfairly lost.

Yes, the titles were not cheap.

An excerpt of what I spent so far in my time:

  • Super Gunstar Heroes, $5.98
  • Sword of Mana, $7.48
  • Pokémon Fire Red Version, $7.48
  • Final Fantasy I and II: Dawn of Souls, $5.48
  • Final Fantasy V Advance, $7.48
  • Final Fantasy VI Advance, $7.48
  • F-Zero GP Legend, $4.48
  • Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, $7.48

That's actually not all of the titles I've paid for, amusingly, but that is still $53.34 right there that I now fear can disappear at any time.

But why did you buy them?

Simple. In prison, we are in the Twilight Zone.
Securus, FDC, and a multitude of other businesses control the horizontal, control their vertical. I do not have the privilege or luxury of accessing the Google Play Store, or projects I trust on GitHub or GitLab, or third party app stores like F-Droid and downloading free, sometimes ad supported shovelware to entertain myself during and between counts.
I can't casually download RetroArch, the MAME core, and emulate arcade machines from 40 years ago.
I do not have access to Spotify, Pandora, or any of the music streaming services.
I do not have access to YouTube, Netflix, Hulu+, or any other video streaming platforms.

What I do have, though, is the Securus Media Store. What they offer us is what we get.

Don't get me wrong, there are other things I can (and DO) do on my tablet, like complete courses in Edovo or read from our miniscule supply of eBooks in the eBook app. But, I also like to play games for a form of relaxation and entertainment. Games with engaging stories are my pastime, more so than a 48 hour, $7.99+tax movie rental (like TRON: Ares, now available to us).

In short, when spending someone else's money, I try to maximize the value I get for every red cent of it. Music and games make the best use of it. Movies and TV shows are the worst use, due to their ephemeral nature.

So now, I must worry about what's on the docket for the games I purchased. How long will I get to keep these? Are you going to try to force shovelware down my throat in exchange for the titles? Or will you just take them, say "mea culpa", and walk with my cash?
I mean, it says right there in page 3 of the Securus Terms and Conditions that Securus can do just that.

Ah well. The world is the world.