Have remasters gone too far?

Good Game's Hex, NichBoy and Goose discuss video game remasters.

[CrimsonWing69]

Yes they freaking have. It wasn't really till the 360/PS3 era that we started getting remasters but at least they were compilations with added achievement/trophy support and in HD. It made sense and they were priced as such. If you look at the generations leading up "remasters" were extremely rare you didn't see a bunch of NES games on the SNES, you didn't see any SNES games on an N64, you didn't see PS1 remasters on a PS2.

Like, a gaming generation was pretty much dedicated to a new generation of gaming. If you wanted to play old games you'd need to hunt down an old system and the games you wanted.

Fast forward to now and my god there's so many games from last generation that are barely "remastered" in any sense of the word. Who asked for Sleeping Dogs, Deadpool, Prototype, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Transformers Fall of Cybertron, RE 4 - 6, God of War 3, Heavy Rain, etc. Like holy crap I can get some like REmake or RE 0 since those were a couple generations behind...but the Last of Us remastered? When that came out to purchase I literally finished the game on PS3 a month or so before.

Apply the breaks and filter out what really needs/benefits from a next-gen remaster and focus more on putting out current-gen stuff. I did not come into this generation of gaming wanting to play stuff from last-gen.

[LordMaim]

Guess what. If people didn't want them, they wouldn't make them.

You know why they keep releasing remasters? Because they sell.

[ColonelHugh]

Remasters have been around since the earliest gens, they just weren't labeled such. Think about how many people kept buying newer, more colorful versions of older Atari games on their expensive new pieces of hardware. One of my favorite remasters of all time is the Dragon Quest III port to the Super Nintendo. Same game, better graphics, and more importantly it was more readily available to new users who wanted it but never bought it. You know, the primary target of all remasters?

What are you complaining for? There might be more remasters than usual this gen, but that is the state of the industry. Video games are more popular than ever, while games are more expensive to make then ever. By releasing more older titles, fans can support developers by buying better versions of their favorite games.

Maybe some people even think these remasters are halting progress on other titles? History would show that games like Super Mario All-Stars, Link's Awakening DX, OoT Master Quest, MGS Legacy Collection, or The Last of Us Remastered to name just a few excellent titles, did not hinder progress on developing titles, because teams were either outsourced, compartmentalized in-house, or used to understand new hardware and develop games quicker or better. Then you have PC which has long had a plethora of older titles released in HD.

[CrimsonWing69]

Dude, Dragon Quest III on the Super Famicom was a remake not really a "remaster" at least not by the way this gen's remasters are. The assets were all created from the ground up. Also, super random info, but that never released outside of Japan. However, much like Resident Evil Remake on the Gamecube to Resident Evil 1 on PS1 those actual updated formats of the games with current-gen assets and in some cases even different games entirely I believe absolutely have a place in the market. Mario All-Stars was the same way all the games graphically were changed in that compilation.

Now, there's a stark difference between this gen and previous gens with "remasters" also with what is getting remastered in terms of relevance. On the PS3 many of the remasters were compilations of very strong franchises and again a "collection" of the titles rather than repurchasing them single and for damn near the same price as a new game. What collections are we getting from these remasters? How necessary are they? You said these are older titles, I'd argue they aren't old enough. And who on God's green earth asked for remasters of most of these games that have come out? Seriously who wanted Prototype, Transformers Fall of Cybertron, Heavy Rain, Resident Evil 4, 5, and 6, Dead or Alive, Borderlands, Dishonored, Injustice Gods Among Us, etc.

I see relevance for FF 12 hd, the uncharted nathan drake collection, final fantasy type 0, resident evil/resident evil 0, gravity rush or FF X/FF X-2, but those are largely due to being a collection with added features and actual noticeable differences or they were games not available on consoles. Most of what is getting remastered is a waste of resource time whether or not it is outsourced on in-house developed.

[WushuKnight19]

Funny that DmC: Definitive Edition nor DMC4: Special Edition were mentioned here. Those should be the standard of what last gen remasters should be. They not only polish the games, but tweak the gameplay, environment, enemy & boss A.I (atleast for DmC), add more cutscenes. Modes, content, characters. Overall a slight new change from the original. I played DmC:DE myself and it felt almost COMPLETELY different from the original game even on PC. DMC4:SE? Not so much, but the addition of Vergil, and Trish was very welcoming. There aren't that many last current remasters that follow the same trait.

My problem with remasters today is not only aren't they obscure. But they do nothing much outside of increase resolution and framerate. God of War 3 remaster is one of the worst offenders, and was original sold for $40. All it did was increase to 60fps (when the original was 50), and better detail which if you compare it to the original is hardly any change, but there is photo mode...yeah. Prototype remaster goes there too, but I had VERY high hopes for that remaster. Prototype remaster in Theory could have been one of the most fun gameplay experience ever created, but Activision just shat it out of nowhere and just said "Done." Making it worse compared to the console versions and didn't put any effort into it.

[Bismarn]

Maybe, but the real question is:

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[LordMaim]

One small trick to make N4G users click through to your site.

[Pancit_Canton]

Yes, Both Indies and Remasters. It's more Quantity now rather than Quality.

[Night99]

A real problem it that Remasters devalue your old games you collected despite not even bring real advantages the moment a game gets a Remasterd the old version is worth nothing anymore and they interfere progress of new games you can say what you want but we have after 3 years this generation way less original new games than we had last console generation but instead we have a shitload more old rehashed remasterd games. And what is next generation? will the Remasters of this generation become worthless again and they will release already remasterd games and other games again just in 4K, so you get Remasters of Remasters on Playstation 5?

[Clown_Syndr0me]

You're a bit wrong. Conkers was remastered for Xbox Ones Rare Replay, however the original is worth £70-80 cartrdige only.
I dont think it affects value at all. Reprints of old comics dont devalue the originals. Its the same here.
If yourr talking about remasters of last gen, well thats just because the majority last gen games are worthless and will be for a while yet.

[Night99]

This applys not to all games especially when there is a difference like the one is on a disc and the other is on a cartridge as it is in this case, I was talking about your ordinary game nowadays when all your games are on the same disc format. For example try to sell your Bioshock games on PS3 or 360 now after the Bioshock Collection or try to sell your God of War PS2, Ratchet and Clank PS2 Uncharted PS3 games after the collections now you will get next to nothing. I could not even sell my Uncharted PS3 games to gamestop they did not even thake it, thats how the vallue is of this games after a remaster or collection.

[rainslacker]

Well...that's really only a problem for collectors. Being a collector myself, I do agree that most of the time, games that get remasters do tend to have their originals decrease in value, but honestly, digital re-releases of the stock game usually cause this to happen long before a remaster comes along.

Being a gamer though, I don't mind if some of the games I really like get new life through remasters, and at times, I'd prefer to play a remastered version and keep my originals sealed....which is one reason I'll also buy some digital copies of games when available. If those remasters do well, the chance that new games in the series increase, and for the most part, really old games which have more value, tend to not get remastered, but rather remade.

[Night99]

I would not mind it to if only some selected games would get a remaster but we are now to the point where almost every game gets a remaster to the point where i question myself if it even still makes sense to buy this new generation of games now or if I should wiat with most games to buy them in their real best version next generation with the inevitable 4K remasters. You basically always buy nowadys at release just an incomplete later worthless little tiny piece of the actual full game which will only years later be sold complete with all DLCs and the whole content and better graphics and It becomes more and more pointless to have a collection of this new games, I really hate this development.

[rainslacker]

I tend to consider many remasters of more recent games from as soon as last gen to be nothing more than late cross-gen ports. A lot of them don't even include much more than what you'd see from what has been industry standard for generation changes since the 2nd generation came in way back in the day.

I assumed your original post was more about older titles from PS2 days or before.

I don't really think about a games value when collecting or purchasing new games. If I want to play it, I'll buy it, and if it comes at a later time, so be it. When collecting, I will consider value based on what it's currently priced, but usually only for much older games, but not really think on how much it'll be devalued due to a digital or remaster. I don't personally collect as an investment, and just wish to have the games themselves, so I have to weigh the purchase costs compared to what I would actually value the game at myself.

[Clown_Syndr0me]

Im guilty of buying these. I love the remasters on disc as theyre rare in the UK. I have all the Resi remasters on disc, I have Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2 disc copies ordered too.

I would prefer if they just did collection discs though like Bioshock and Uncharted.

I also got The Last of Us as I never played it on PS3, and Borderlands collection as I missed that before too.

[Tetsujin]

I don't mind remasters IF they are made with the original intent to be made with todays technology. There's a thin line between "We made this game with existing tech back then, and now the tech is here to make what we really want" and just a quick cash-in because a company ran out of ideas.

[esmittystud101]

If you didn't own a PS3/xbox 360...............the remastered have been great.

My first playthrough for Uncharted series was Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection in 1080p 60fps on PS4. Masterpiece. My first playthrough for The Last of Us was the remastered version on PS4 in 1080p 60fps. Masterpiece.

9 times out of 10, if you owned these games on previous consoles........you don't care for Remasters..............if it's your first rodeo you love them.

It's really that simple.

[BlaqMagiq1]

Nope. I've said this before and I'll say it again. Keep releasing them.There is no issue with it.

[stalepie]

I like the idea of being able to play old games on your current console or service, but I don't care about them being remastered or spruced up in any way. I usually prefer them "warts and all" (like PS1 classics on PS3/PSP/Vita).

[Redx165]

Some of the supposed remastered games are nothing but ports of last gen games with hardly any work done to them.

If you're going to remaster a game then do it at 1080p 60 FPS or 1080p 30 FPS with improved textures that are noticeable like gta v...