Remasters & Re-releases?

[Smokey]

What are your thoughts on Remasters & Re-releases of games? Do you like them? Do you see them as a cash grab? For me, I enjoy them to an extent, especially if their game was originally on a console I no longer have access to. 

[Empire]

I mean, it depends. I'd say it's a matter of preference and quality of the remaster/remake. I always prefer the newer version of the game as it usually introduces some QoL improvements. If it doesn't and it is only a cosmetic change like a bit better resolution, it's just a waste of everyone's time.

[GeppyX]

It depends. I do like re-releases and sometimes remotes. It depends how they are made. With Blu Rays, they re-release old movies, so why not with games? There are so many games throughout history that many have never played. It makes sense to remaster some of them.

[Kane99]

Yeah it depends. In some cases I am so for it, like a game that is 10-20 years old and hasn't seen the light of day for a long time. Like Alan Wake for example, that remaster was really well done and made sense since Alan Wake was like 10 years old at the time of the remaster. 

But, I am not a fan of it when they remaster games like The Last Of Us, twice over. That game did not need another remaster. I get why they do it, money, but come on, the first remaster is more than enough imo. It's like these studios have to make it look as close to their newer games as possible. 

They should be remaking games that are old, haven't had a sequel in forever, and so on. 

[aerodynamik]

I don't mind remasters. Most of the time they were brilliantly developed games. So I enjoy playing remasters like Call of Duty. I'm hoping they release a MW3 remaster soon. That would really be awesome. Nowadays developers don't put much thinking in their games like they used to.

[Shortie]

It really depends for me if I am honest on what the game is and whether I liked it or not when it was first released. Some games really do well when they are remastered or re-released and I find they do well if they were super popular on their first release. Unfortunately, there are some games I would love to see remastered, and it doesn't seem like they ever will any time soon and that is Simpsons Road Rage and Simpsons Hit and Run. These would be games I would jump on in a heartbeat if they were remastered.

[Player1Wins]

I spend a lot of time playing remasters/remakes. I think they are a good way to extent the life of a game by making it available on modern platforms. I'm currently writing my dissertation on video game preservation, with a specific focus on remasters and remakes.

As part of my research, I am conducting a user survey. If you have experience playing video game remasters and/or remakes, I would greatly appreciate it if you could spare 5-10 minutes to participate in the survey.

Moderator Edit: Link to survey removed.

Thank you!

 

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Shagger

[Shagger]

These types of games have thier place and I do thing people have a tendency to thing rather selfishly when they generate thier opinions on them. They can give a younger generation of gamers as well as nostalgic fans a chance to experience these games without having deal with the headaches of relying on older hardware. If you don't feel like you need to play the new game because you have the original, nobody is forcing you to.

 

Having said that, I do think game developers and publisher's are developing an unwelcome habit of re-relecing games to cash in. It's far easier to make modern consoles backwards compatible now than it has been in the past because the cast couple of generation of consoles (And modern gaming PC's) use pretty much the same technology, but upgraded versions of it, so it's hardy to justify this on games from the PS3/XBox 360 era and younger. I will accept even those if the new version does something to justify it, Like adding new content or modernising/improving the gameplay, but if it's nothing than the same package with some spit shine, that is not cool. And it really isn't cool to charge for DLC on a remaster, that should always be included for. Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning may have been a horrible remaster, but at least they tried to do the right thing with it with a massive new expantion as well as all the original DLC at no extra cost.

[The Blackangel]

Typically, I don't care if they remaster and/or rerelease a game for obvious reasons. But there's one instance I hope they do. Anyone who has played RDR1 knows how buggy it was. Also the graphics, while awesome at the time, could definitely use some better realism. If they were to remaster it with graphics like on RDR2, I honestly believe that people would be wanting to play it. Being a sequel to RDR2, a lot of people want to finish the saga, but are turned off by the graphics. Yet that goes for countless games. Nintendo remastered Zelda OoT for the 3DS.

If it's just a cash grab for the developers, then I say they can piss off. They should work on finishing the games they have in the line to make sure they are actually ready to hit the market with as few bugs as possible.

So there's sometimes it can be beneficial to the gamer to have a remaster in the works. Other times, it only ruins the game in question.
And pisses a hell of a lot of gamers in the process.

Edited July 17, 2023 by The Blackangel

[CoryAR]

I like when they remaster old games from old systems to newer systems. For example, I wish they would remaster the original The Lord of The Rings games, particularly if they were available on PC.

[Ravenfreak]

I like when older games get remasters or remakes if they're done right. I am not really a fan of the Final Fantasy VII remake, it's way too different from the original game and it completely throws the story of the original game out the window. Not to mention that I am more of a fan of turned based RPGs and wish Final Fantasy would go back to that mechanic rather than hack n slash. I'm happy that I'll be able to play all three Gex games on my PS5 soon thanks to Limited Run games remastering the series.

[Shortie]

On 8/2/2023 at 12:55 AM, Ravenfreak said:

I like when older games get remasters or remakes if they're done right. I am not really a fan of the Final Fantasy VII remake, it's way too different from the original game and it completely throws the story of the original game out the window. Not to mention that I am more of a fan of turned based RPGs and wish Final Fantasy would go back to that mechanic rather than hack n slash. I'm happy that I'll be able to play all three Gex games on my PS5 soon thanks to Limited Run games remastering the series.

I have to agree with you, being able to have remakes is nice if they are done right. Unfortunately, some developers tend to change some things which results in it not feeling the same as we remember and that can put us off the game or even game series in question. 

I am a firm believer that if you are creating a remake it should be a direct remake and if you are doing a remaster it should be a direct remaster. If you are looking to change things up, maybe make a new game with those changes instead of ruining older games. 

[Reverie]

I love the remaster of Kingdom Hearts. At first I wasn't glad that it'd be available on other consoles other than Playstation, since it was a Playstation only game for quite some time. I'm over that now at least. The game is the same just possibly more better graphic quality for our newer TVs in my opinions. Gave me more reason to play through them again! 

[Debashis]

Remasters and re-releases can be great for introducing older games to new audiences or improving their graphics and performance. However, sometimes they can feel like a cash grab if not done with care or if the changes are minimal. It ultimately depends on the quality and effort put into the remaster or re-release.

[Scorpion]

I like them if they improve gameplay or graphics, but too many feel like cash grabs without significant upgrades.