You know, HD remasters, ports, remixes...whatever the hell other names for them there are (I know those are all technically different things, but they're close enough that we can bundle them together for this topic). Anyone who has even a minor interest in console and PC gaming these days is probably no stranger to these things. Indeed, they seem to be becoming more and more common as the earlier 3D consoles become older and older. But are they good for gamers or not? Personally, I'm completely ambivalent towards them, I constantly flip-flop back and forth on whether I like the idea or not. So today I decided I'd go over some of the plusses and minuses in my mind of these HD remakes.
First I'll go over the reasons I'm not such a big fan of HD remakes, just to get the negative stuff out of the way. The main issue I have with them is that they're quite simply the least creative thing that a studio could put out. And if you didn't already know, I'm a bit of a fan of creativity. I mean, you're just literally putting out a game that already exists...again. I mean, I know that it doesn't take as much time or effort to put out a re-release than to make an actual game, but I still can't help but feel like it would be cooler if these teams were working on something new instead.
Though I guess sometimes you get extra features and additions in these re-releases, but that's not necessarily a positive thing for everyone. If you already own and love a game, but then it gets released again with bonus content, you might not want to pay full price again just to get the new content. But if you don't, you'd be missing out. That's definitely an annoyance that I can understand. I mean, you can always wait for the re-release to inevitably go on sale, but something like that could still put a bad taste in your mouth, which is kind of sad when we're talking about beloved classic games.
There's one re-release coming up that I feel particularly cynical about. I'm talking about The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. When I heard about this game, I actually laughed out loud. Why? Well, back when Wind Waker was first being previewed, I was one in the crowd that was not thrilled with the art style. I mean, I can appreciate that it's a unique style and that they tried something new, but it's just not for me - I prefer the more 'realistic' style of Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess.
The devs were aware of this outcry from some of the more vocal fans, and obviously went to defend themselves. One of their main arguments in favour of the new art style was that it would be timeless. They said that games like Ocarina of Time looked great for their time, but nowadays the graphics just look really dated, and though I love that game, it's a hard point to argue. But, they said, Wind Waker's cartoony graphics would always look unique and never dated like that, which is one of the reasons they went with that style. I will always remember that, so when the HD remake was announced, I was just like, wow...really? Bah.
Anyway, as I said, there's also an upside to (most of) these remakes for me. And that is that they allow players to play games that they didn't get a chance to play the first time they were released. The idea to write about this today came from the announcement that the original Fable is getting an HD remake on Xbox 360. Personally, I loved Fable 2 and Fable 3 was pretty alright, but I've never played the original, so this would be a good chance for me to play it with updated graphics and features.
It can also be nice when older games are released on new platforms, like the old Metal Gear Solid games being released on Xbox - I don't have access to the PSN, so to play those I'd have to track down old PS1/2 copies, which would probably be difficult and/or expensive. And then there's remakes coming to handhelds, like the Ocarina of Time remake for 3DS - I like the idea of being able to take one of my favourite games of all time on the go and play it anywhere. And then, of course, there's the updated graphics and, sometimes, features. Nice graphics are nice!
So, that's about it, really. Once again I don't really have a solution to suggest, nor do I even really know if a solution is necessary. I guess the main thing is, HD remakes can be great for gamers if they're done right. Like, have a reason for doing it (updating features, putting it on a new platform for a new audience), price it reasonably, and treat the games/players with respect, and you've got a thumbs up from me.
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