Are there too many video game remakes and remasters?
This week on the Eurogamer Newscast, we discuss this year's various video game remakes and remasters, including the rec…
Yes.
We have so much technology and innovation and a line of millions of people with ideas who want to make games.
Yet we spend our billions in the video game industry to zhuzh up ps2 games made by a studio of 35 people including support and sales.
Why? Because it’s slightly easier to market, despite again the billions available to spend making new and exciting games.
And honestly the example you gave is rather a good example of a remake. The PS2 is 20 years old at this point. If the game was well made and the remake/ remaster is well-executed? Why would anyone object to this?
New and exciting games exist. This isn't an issue. In most cases I'd even say that while money surely is important, in most cases it's not a lack of money preventing a good game, but rather another issue that might lead to funds running out. If that makes sense.
The current situation is way better than say 25-30 years ago, and those games weren't exactly trash.
Would be a good one, yes. But currently the trend is getting closer from 1.5 to 1 generation ago
Worst offenders to me are cod, despite a bigger time gap. Force bundling a remake into another live service game that STILL GETS SHUT DOWN AFTER A FEW YEARS FOR THE NEXT LIVE SERVICE.
Yes. Especially when it’s only like 2 or 3 years after first release. It’s just double dipping at that point.
@Thalestr @chloyster on the SAME SYSTEM. Crazy
Yes. It's like "let's not pursue new ideas, it's too risky. Let's repeat what worked once" - like in the movie industry as well. It's boring and uninspired.
This is why I’m not happy with there being so many remakes. Remakes are awesome, if it also means we are getting a totally new game as well. Nintendo seems to do this the best. New Mario’s, remakes of Zelda games, new Zelda games, etc.
I do wish they would make a sequel to Mario RPG or make an actual Paper Mario RPG like the first two were.
Same for the music industry, just pick some random 90s hit and make it 10 times worse.
Yeah, I definitely agree that it's kind of a systemic problem, and pretty much how things are right now. I don't really care for that mindset of focusing so much on older games and not prioritizing new ideas or IPs. At the same time, I'm honestly a total sucker for nostalgia, I grew up playing games from like late 90s to mid 2000s, and I would be so stoked if they remade or remastered all those games I grew up on. I would throw money at whoever remastered the Need For Speed games from '98 to '06, as good as those games were for the time, they could look so amazing with modern technology. I wanna relive my teenage years but in 4k :D
Remakes: Yes Remasters: No
I don't like when they remake a game I loved but they add a bunch to it like new gameplay mechanics, or make changes to stories or characters. That being said not all remakes are bad, probably most are just fine, but really not my cup of tea.
I greatly prefer a straight remaster. Just update the graphics, remaster the sound, maybe add a little more details to the game world, and I'm a happy dude.
And fix annoying game behaviors like game logic being tied to FPS and zoom being tied to resolution.
what about Mafia Definitive Edition? I'd say that is probably the one good example of a remake.
For older games that are difficult to install or run by modern means., I think remakes and remasters are completely justified. Upgrades for older games to support newer technologies is nice, but something like TLoU Part 1 getting two remasters on a platform that has no issue running the first remaster already seems more exploitative and a waste of resources than conservational. If it sells like hotcakes, though, who am I to judge?
Nah, there's just not enough of actual old titles that could do with a remake or remaster.
Until I get my Legend Of Dragoon remake, there aren't too many, no. After that ya'll can do what you want
Taps foot for MegaMan legends 1 & 2.
I so want remakes of these two games.
Those need some serious rework. They manage to look beautiful even today with clever stylization, but the gameplay is ROUGH.
half of all remakes are worse than their originals. all we need are modern ports of older games so i don't have to emulate
TLoU2 didn't need remastering. At least not this soon!
It seems more like a PS5 Upgrade which it never got before. AFAIK you can even upgrade for $10 if you have the original.
Yes but I'll still take a Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2 remake.
I hope remasters continue for games that are from the era where they relied on specific OS library hacks to get the game running. Those games are hard to run on modern OSs.
Had high hopes after the smashing success of red alert and command and conquer remastered :(
Same. I will be depressed until I get the Tiberian Sun announcement.
I don't like remasters, especially those which are usually just re-release with hi-res textures. They are charging like $30 and above for hi-res texture, and some of them has unstable framerates. At certain point of time, using emulator yields better graphics & performance than some of those remasters, especially for PS1/PS2 games.
On the other hand, I actually like remakes way more. ::: spoiler First of all FF7R shouldn't be considered as remake, it should be considered as its own spinoff / sequel :::
Remake not only exploits that nostalgia, but also tend to make game plays better with added QoL functions, sometimes with new gameplay mechanics. Some of the remakes that I really like:
Remake is great when there's a significant technology and time gaps between the games, which is why TLOU remakes drew some ires.
First of all FF7R shouldn't be considered as remake, it should be considered as its own spinoff / sequel
Fucking finally someone gets it!
I'd argue that video games need remakes and remasters far more than movies do. Video game technologies change a lot in 10-15 years, so a remake/remaster is an opportunity to improve controls and fix issues with running the game on hardware that hadn't been concieved at the time of the game's release. Plenty of old games have severe bugs, outdated controls or general issues with newer hardware (can't handle widescreen monitors, buttons don't scale for high resolutions, etc.) which can make replaying them a pain.
You sit down to watch a 25 year old movie and it's pretty easy to watch, but you sit down to play a 25 year old game and it's going to vary wildly if you can even get it to run in the first place, let alone if it'll run well
@chloyster we can't get a remake of KOTOR but somehow we are getting this piece of crap on THE EXACT SAME SYSTEM it was released on.
The last one was PS4 though. I agree it's unnecessary, but it's not the exact same system.
Yes. One hundred percent yes without exception- YES.
I feel publishers are doing small stabs at originals while doing full milk-yo-wallet efforts with remakes/remasters. Pretty conservative approach, imo.
I'm reminded of AlphaDream, which died as a company shortly after releasing a remake of a game where the original was still playable on the same console.
I just wish the games that are remade/remastered are basically just graphic updates, with some bug fixes and minor qol additions. That's it. Not like what they did to ff7.
Hell, diablo 2 Remaster was good. The addition of being able to swap between new and old graphics on the fly is amazing tbh.
My only problem with the remakes and remasters is that they keep censoring shit that wasn't even controversial or offensive in the first place.
Heck, with patches these days, you don't even have to wait for the remaster for censorship CoughSkullGirlsSuperHotVRcough
Yes, if it meant that Sony made PlayStation exclusive games available on PC immediately, rather than upon remastering.
No if it meant I'd just never get to play any of thos games.
The only remakes that were worth it are the RE:makes
No
Ok is this eurogamer cookie request a fucking joke? They care about privacy and they will share information with their 756 partners?
Yes. Just move on and make new games worth playing, instead of rehashing the past. And more often than not, fucking it up in the process. Only our modern society would accept and accommodate a remade game that's 100% worse than the original.
Plenty of new stuff is still coming out so I can see no reason to be upset about remakes and remasters.
Yes
I’m fine with remasters that allow us to play old games on modern hardware. I’m somewhat ok with remakes to an extent. I’m not ok with the constant remakes of games that aren’t old enough to need a remake or the original game still holds up. Most recent remakes aren’t needed and feel like cash grabs