Post by solidbatman on Jul 8, 2011 13:13:53 GMT -5
Developers have always enjoyed, or seemed to enjoy, remaking their library of games to sell on newer consoles. For the most part, these games receive a "remastering" where the coloring and sound are upgraded and bugs are fixed. Square Enix began doing this right as the PS1 was released. Final Fantasy Origins, Anthology, and Chronicles, are all remakes of older NES/SNES Final Fantasy games. But, those remakes can't be remakes for the US (or in some cases, Europe). While Japan received every Final Fantasy, North America received a scattering of games meaning FFVI in Japan was only FFIII in North America. So for the NA region, some of these games were brand new.
This is where gaming remakes can be good. Games that have never been released in one region can be remastered and re-released in their native country and in new markets (Persona series anyone?). These remakes can bring new fans to an ongoing series, give a sense of nostalgia to older gamers, and fix many of the issues found in the original release of the game. Today, the PSN does a great job of bringing older games back to life be re- releasing them. The PSP and Nintendo DS have both also become great platforms to find older remade games such as Dragon Quest and Ys.
Remakes can be bad though. sometimes, ancient gameplay and graphics can work against a remake. Old RPG's all suffered from similar gameplay in large part because of the limitations of the day. This kills many re- releases. Remakes can also be destroyed by hype. How high would the expectations be for a remake of Final Fantasy VII? Without massive gameplay overhauls, the game would feel old and dated, but with massive overhauls, the fans of the original may be turned off.
For game developers, there is a fine line to walk for re- releases and remakes. On the one hand, changes to the original formula are often done to make the game appeal to a wider audience. On the other hand, those very changes could easily alienate the original fans of the game. And then some games should never be re- released or remade (like ET).
This is where gaming remakes can be good. Games that have never been released in one region can be remastered and re-released in their native country and in new markets (Persona series anyone?). These remakes can bring new fans to an ongoing series, give a sense of nostalgia to older gamers, and fix many of the issues found in the original release of the game. Today, the PSN does a great job of bringing older games back to life be re- releasing them. The PSP and Nintendo DS have both also become great platforms to find older remade games such as Dragon Quest and Ys.
Remakes can be bad though. sometimes, ancient gameplay and graphics can work against a remake. Old RPG's all suffered from similar gameplay in large part because of the limitations of the day. This kills many re- releases. Remakes can also be destroyed by hype. How high would the expectations be for a remake of Final Fantasy VII? Without massive gameplay overhauls, the game would feel old and dated, but with massive overhauls, the fans of the original may be turned off.
For game developers, there is a fine line to walk for re- releases and remakes. On the one hand, changes to the original formula are often done to make the game appeal to a wider audience. On the other hand, those very changes could easily alienate the original fans of the game. And then some games should never be re- released or remade (like ET).
