Topic: Too much time spent remaking old games!

@Ralizah It's the claim of a "remastered version" that is gross, and people believed it. It's the same game that runs better on more powerful hardware. Remaster inherently means new assets, improved rendering engine, etc. It's literally just turning the resolution higher on a faster box, and that's it.

I say it's shameless because I don't believe it had anything to do with segmenting Switch and instead had to do with convincing PS4 owners it was a better version to double dip on. It may run better on better hardware, but it's not a different version of the actual game - it's exploiting Sony's lack of BC for PS3 as a marketing angle. Which I'd expect from Level 5.

You say that in a way that makes it seem outrageous, but I don't see the issue. It wasn't Level-5's decision to give the PS3 some weird processor that disallows backwards compatibility with its games in future consoles.

What's the difference between this and, say, some of the almost identical ports of Wii U games to Switch for full price? Aside from the use of the word "remaster," that is, which is generally a buzzword that can be used for a variety of different types of re-releases anyway.

@Ralizah It's precisely word remaster. Twilight Princess on WiiU is a remaster of a Wii/GCN game. Xenoblade Chronicles is a remaster of a Wii game. New assets, new engine. Nintendo has every right ot market it as such.

Nintendo never tried to claim NSMBU or Toad's Treasure Tracker or Bayo 2 was a remaster. They were just selling the game again on new hardware.

It was just a cheap angle for them to sell it that way, and kind of pathetic that the PS fanbase predictably ate it up. I have no qualm with them re-releasing the game. But I take exception to them advertising it as something it isn't.

I personally love remakes and remasters. I hadn't played Link's Awakening since the OG game. So 95% of the remake was like new to me. And i never owned a system that Wind Walker was on and would love a remaster on Switch. So the long answer is they make them for people who never got to play the originals, don't really remember the originals, do remember the originals but want to play them again on a new system or many other reasons. The short answer is they sell because a lot of people want them.

@NEStalgia I've seen the word "remaster" apply to wildly different efforts, so I'm willing to bet two things.

1) There's no accepted definition for what constitutes a "remaster" when it comes to video games, beyond the word vaguely suggesting that the game in question runs better than versions on older hardware.

2) There are probably a lot of "remastered" ports out there that don't make significant improvements to the texture work, etc.

You can call the use of the word "remastered" marketing spin, and... you'd be right. It's safe to assume that, outside of specific, falsifiable claims, 90% of what companies say about games is designed to separate your money from your wallet. You can call that shameless... I call that capitalism.

I'm not sure it's fair or nice to call people "pathetic" for being excited that a classic PS3 game is seeing an enhanced re-release on a newer console, though.

@Ralizah to be a remaster the game should at least be touched up... Better lighting or physics in engine... Textures. This is an unaltered product. "Remastered"is simply false.

No it wasn't pathetic to want the game on the platform...i did too. It was pathetic to buy the "remastered"marketing spin and run with it as another example of how Sony platforms are so powerful.

@NEStalgia I mean, it kind of is an example of the power of Sony's system, because the additional hardware resources mean the game can run at a higher resolution than the original (up to 4K on the Pro) and double the framerate. Which should come as a surprise to nobody, as the Switch is, at its core, a mobile device.

Is the game really that depressing, by the way? I've not played it. I don't really get into total downers (like the film Precious, which is almost unbearable to watch), but this didn't strike me as being any sadder than something like Dragon Quest VIII.

@Ralizah I'm not really factoring switch into it... Really just the ps part of selling a "remaster" that's the exact same game in the box running at higher settings. It would be like releasing Doom 2 locked at 640x480, then selling it as a "remaster" when Pentiums came out and you can now run it at 800x600.

I'm not 100% sure how depressing it is. Someone pointed out out, and i did a quick check, and found out the premise (not a spoiler, it's in the intro) is that his mother is killed and it's kind of his fault, and the fantasy world is his minds escape from trauma and guilt, with the main fantasy companion being the plush his mother gave him earlier..... It seems ambiguous from there if it's really just a mental escape or if the evil witch really is real somehow and there's actual hope of saving his mother.... But after finding out that's the setup i figured, of all the games in my pile, being depressed in that atmosphere (and it's Ghibli, sooo.....) Probably isn't the funnest of times. That said the fantasy part does look whimsy and i may cave at some point. Maybe it's not as bad as it sounds.

I did start part of 2 and it is quite nice but i shelved it last year to wait for 1.

@Woomy_NNYes I mean all ports or remakes of a previously released game. However I see that there will always be things that will interest me, I can't tell you how many times I have spent money on Snes mario kart. This is why I was interested how people felt about it as a whole, I knew everyone would have a good reason as to why it is a good thing due to a particular game, but does it develop the games industry with the benefit of working on these projects, or does the income help with future projects anyway.

@link3710 I think this is a very good point, but part of my thinking is that these old practices may 'hold back' staff from being creative in new ways. My main love for Nintendo is innovation, I want the industry to bring new ideas into games, and console design.

Nice to read the comments thanks, In truth I would be happy if the only benefit to the industry is the income. However I do feel a sense of 'cash grab' when I read about some of the games getting remade.

@dew12333 Oh I agree they certainly aren't always a good thing. But my point was more that I think you have to look at both what the remake/remaster offers to consumers and to the devs in terms of benefits beyond just cash to make that decision. When a franchise has lost its direction and is struggling, or for breaking in a new team to an existing IP, they're a good place to start. Or, if it's something like most of the Wii U ports, it offers far greater access to the games to the public at minimal Dev time.

To counter my own point, let's look at the recent Mario & Luigi remakes. Given today's news, AlphaDream clearly made them to get a quick cash injection, though the opposite happened. They didn't offer much value to the consumer (both games are still widely available and were already playable on modern consoles, and the other improvements were minimal) and didn't offer any learning experience to the devs. So there are certainly unnecessary remakes out there.

I'm all for ports or remasters most of the time. The gaming industry is huge and there is room for both new games and ports/remasters. The only time I don't think we need it, is if the actual, original game is playable on the same device. Like remaking a DS game on 3DS.

I don't have a problem with ports, remasters and remakes. I like being able to experience both classics I love and those I never got to experience, and I love when they improve on things so that hopefully new generations can understand why those of us that were there the first time around (or leave them scratching their heads on why it was ever popular...looking at you, Halo and its remasters).

Sometimes I do wish they'd leave a good thing alone like FF7, but I'm open to seeing what they'll do differently.But sometimes I wish they'd remake a lesser known game. Link's Awakening? Great! But I would sure love a version of StarTropics with that new 3D hotness.

Of course sometimes remasters are complete botch jobs like Silent Hill HD collection and the Mobile/PC ports of Final Fantasy V and VI.