Sega recently released Super Monkey Ball 2 for iPhone and iPod touch, a sequel to what I think was one of the best early games for the platform. Sega began a 50% off sale for the game today, so I decided to pick it up to see how they did with the new version.

Upon downloading the game and attempting to play it, I was greeted by the splash intro screen followed by a flashing, garbled mess. The game never progressed past that point, so I deleted the whole app and re-downloaded it, hoping that would solve the problem. It did not.

A look at the reviews page for the game is revealing: it seems that anyone running a jailbroken iPhone (jailbreaking is the method which allows users to modify their iPhones in ways that Apple doesn’t authorize) is locked out of the game. Further research reveals that an extra bit of unauthorized code needs to be installed on the phone in question before the game will work.

It is possible that this was an intentional move on Sega’s part to block those who would attempt to play a pirated version of their game. While there are some users out there who jailbreak their iPhones for nefarious reasons, there are many jailbreakers whose intentions are completely innocuous (modifying sounds and themes on the phone, and running apps in the background are two of the main benefits). These users who want to purchase and play Sega’s new game will be met with an immediately frustrating experience.

There are two possible explanations for this situation. Either Sega released this game without testing it on a jailbroken iPhone (which many users will try to play it on), or they purposely prevented those users from playing it, knowing they’d be wasting the money to purchase it in the first place. Either way, it was a bad move on Sega’s part.

The wave of negative reviews in the App Store citing a “black screen” seem to have forced Sega to react. The game’s description now includes a line explaining that an update has been submitted to Apple, which “fixes compatibility issues”. Apple’s approval process can take anywhere from a couple days to a couple months, so it’s hard to say when the problem will be resolved.