The lights are on
Lately the game industry has been deluged with a nonstop stream of remakes. It seems that game developers are rather fond of redoing their old titles in high definition and some small improvements.
Classic last-gen titles like Sly Cooper, Shadow of the Colossus/Ico, and Halo 1 have all received their moment in the sun (again) with a shiny new coat of high definition graphics. These remakes have generally sold well to a generally positive audience. Gamers welcome the chance to play classics from years past with modern graphics.
Yet for all this enthusiasm, I for one am a tad leery of the remake train. Is it cool to be able to play some of my favorite childhood games in HD? Yes, definitely. I have so many fond memories of Halo 1's co-op campaign. Paying a little to experience it again seems great.
Yet even with my enthusiasm for replaying the classics, there remains a nagging worry that cannot be dismissed. What if HD remakes are hurting the game industry?
Look at the very inherent concept of a remake. Publishers take an old, outdated game that probably isn't selling much and translate that game onto a new console. Remakes tend to offer vastly improved high definition graphics or alternate controls while keeping the core experience unchanged. Although there is a new veneer on it, you are still playing the same game.
That's what bugs me, really. Viewed in a cynical light, HD remakes are game publishers releasing a game that's already sold millions of copies onto a new console so it can sell millions more. Even better for the publisher, a remake is a totally safe investment as the game has already proven that it can sell. The rest is a matter of engineering: rebuilding the graphics system around the same game. Everything else stays the same.
Doesn't that sound sort of sleazy? In essence, game developers are making money on our fond memories. Some of you may be content to hand over those dollar bills in order to get that blast of nostalgia, but there are some cases where remakes are visibly hurting the industry.
Look at Square Enix. Back in the '90s they published Chrono Trigger, an absolutely phenomenal game that is still considered one of the best RPGs ever made. Fans loved it. Unfortunately, the series fell victim to Firefly-it is and was cancelled after only one sequel. That sucks. I'm not saying there should be a new Chrono game every year like Call of Duty, but some new content would have been nice. But what does that have to do with remakes?
If there's one thing Square Enix is very good at, it's rem-releasing old games. Over the course of the last fifteen years after the original release of Chrono Trigger on the SNES, it has been remade for PSone, Nintendo DS, Wii Virtual Console, PSN, iPhone and Android. There have been more remakes of Chrono Trigger than actual entries in the series.
That's ridiculous. There's plenty of demand for a sequel, too. The fans want one so bad that some tech-savvy fans tried to program their own. Square Enix shut them down.
That is a case where the endless train of remakes is actively interfering with the chance of a sequel. Much as I like Chrono Trigger for the second time on my iPod Touch, I'd like a sequel even more. Seriously, it would be great if Square Enix could stop the remakes for five seconds and focus on making new content.
What I'm afraid of is that Square Enix's infuriating behavior will become the industry standard. Imagine if Valve announced an HD remake of Half-Life 2. Their fans would be furious because they don't want a remake. They want Half-Life 3. New content always, always trumps old stuff re-released with spruced up graphics.
Whatever. In the meantime, I'll pay for every Chrono Trigger remake that comes out just to show Square Enix that there is still money in that franchise. For the love of Thor, make a sequel. Please.
What do you think? Are HD remakes good for the industry?
I think you hit the nail on the head with your last point. I think a big reason publishers like HD remakes is to guage interest in a franchise. They want to see if people will buy the remakes. You make it sound like the development of an HD remake ties up people who would normally be making a sequel or new entry in the franchise. I don't think that's the case. I think for the most part these are small teams bringing these games over to new systems and they don't take nearly as much time. I don't really see the harm, it's not like they can really rely on this for too long since there's really a finite amount of franchises worth bringing back.
I also hope this doesn't become the trend in the industry. I think developers should most definitely concentrate on creating new IPs or new sequels to favorites, but as far as developers and publishers being "sleazy" or such for making a "safe" decision to rerelease a game that has already sold millions, I don't really think that is wrong or unrealistic. Developers and Publishers, for lack of a better phrase, care MUCH less about us (gamers) and much much more about making money, which is smart and the right thing to do from a business standpoint. It's what keeps them running, but everyone knows that so I digress.
I think that remakes (as long as they don't go too far, like you stated) are a great idea that allow new/younger gamers a chance to play classics they may not have gotten to (I feel the same about older games being released on PSN and XBLA), and for older gamers to keep their favorites with them, since consoles do get old and wither, as do older generation copies. Games from the PSOne/N64/Dreamcast era and before can now be enjoyed through current generations thanks to remakes and rereleases.
As I've said a few times, I do agree with you on not wanting the video game industry to focus too much on remakes to where it hurts plans to make new games. However, for now, I am very happy with how the remakes are going and do hope they continue.
You got it right here. Publishers mainly do these just make an extra buck out of the game. While I myself don't mind the rare remake of a game that I loved in a new light, constant remakes such as Chrono Trigger make me wonder what the publishers are really doing. Not only video games do this though, just look at Star Wars. Now they are bringing the whole series back for a theater run in 3D. Also look at Avatar. first it was in theaters, then on Blu-Ray + DVD, then back in theaters for the extended cut, and finally laid down that on Blu-Ray + DVD.
While it is great to relive classics in a modern taste, too much of something good is always bad.
Personally, I like HD remakes (I own both the GOW collection and the Iphone version of Chrono Trigger), and I don't believe that they harm the industry. I disagree with your point that HD remakes hurt the game industry because I don't think that developers release them instead of sequels. For example, even though Halo Aniversary was recently released, 343 is still making Halo 4. I believe that remakes help people remember the classics of yesterday, without hurting the giants of tomorrow.
Well, I have missed out on titles that were very popular some time ago and I guess that it may be a good thing if they polish up some old ones that people missed out on or even if they want to play them again. But I do understand that if it becomes too much of a good thing and they start making it a trend.
With all the new renovations in technology, it's understandable if the publishers want to bring out all the displays that may have been missed when the game first came out. However there aren't many titles that they can bring back. Some games should be left alone as they are.
But it does make me wonder...Since there was a mostly negative backlash to the new DmC that's coming out, are the publishers making the HD collection to warm people up the idea of at least giving the game a try, or is it simply for nostalgia..or even to make a buck? Whatever the case may be, I don't think that they will continue making these remakes, so enjoy them while you can.
This is the one thing that worried me when the trend started. Why make a new game when you can just re-sale the old one with a new coat of paint?
It's the same way with movies - why foster a great new idea when you can make sequel after prequel after remake after reboot?
Sadly, in both cases, it's "safe money." People will continue to go see whatever crap Hollywood churns out, as long as they keep putting it on screens. With the HD game remakes, at least we're getting good games re-relased. Silent Hill, Shadow of the Colossus, Resident Evil 4... they could have done a lot worse in choosing games to remake.
They're games that traditionally sold well, so it's likely they'll bring in decent revenue compared to the cost of a HD remakes, and not the full development cost of a new game.
I like the idea of putting all the games in one collection (Sly Cooper, Tomb Raider, etc) giving it the fresh HD paint and selling it for thirty or fourty bucks. But the way they did Halo Anniversary was silly. I don't wanna pay the amount of a new game for a game I can easily just plug in my old Xbox and play, even if it has fresh visuals and achievements.
I dislike the idea of shoehorning in a remaster as a "remake". We have services like Virtual Console and the recently added "ps2 classics" that allow devs to dump roms of their classic games for easy and cheap access to them, yet they go unused.
Nice blog, I like HD collections and Remakes because they allow me to play games that I may not be able to get or play otherwise or are a little too outdated, and collections provide a convenient way to keep several games together at once. I also don't mind them because there were enough squeals and new IP's in 2011 to match the amount of HD remakes. But you are still right sometimes it is a little much and when it gets to the point like you said with Chrono Trigger where they have more remakes (HD ports) than main titles then that's a little ridiculous. I would rather them spend time and money on a sequel for some games than remakes of the older titles.
While I see where you are coming from, I think HD remakes are great for people who missed out on them before.