How are game remasters affecting the industry?
While this is a start I don't believe it fully encompasses what I ultimately want the achieve. I want to delve more into how re-releases (remasters and remakes) are affecting the current industry, the pros and cons of this and then show that not all re-releases are a bad thing. That they do in fact further game design, the industry as a whole and are not stifling creativity / progression. Or alternatively, if the opposite becomes apparent, then Why?
Then finally through my research attempt a small scale remaster of my own to demonstrate what I have learnt.
Initially prior to doing much research, I do believe that most re-releases are a good thing, not all but most. Some re-releases are just a plain cash grab, some try to stay faithful and others re-imagine the title for new audiences. While I like a good faithful remaster or even remake, I expect it to be built upon to such an extent that it's basically the same game but if it was created in today's market.
Not only that, but I believe there are many unique, lost and forgotten game mechanics / design elements lost in modern games. whereas classic games drove creativity, modern games mostly reiterate the same things for fear of risk. A great example of this fear in recent years is Konami. Due to current industry trends, they have shifted their focus from AAA to other revenues. Their highly anticipated 'Silent Hills' demo was praised by millions, but due to the risk of developing another AAA game in today's market, they opted to cancel the project without much or any reason.
To scrutinise Konami again, they have themselves released a remaster of 2 of their classic games; Silent Hill 2 & 3 into a HD bundle. Which was mostly negatively received compared to their original releases, as they don't particularly fix anything and only seem to upscale the games resolution slightly.
Personally, I never played 2 or 3 on their respective platforms. So I took advantage of this and played the HD remaster on a modern console and enjoyed them. Which is another point to take into consideration and discuss in relation to my degree. While is its obvious it is a plain cash grab, it does also have the added benefit that it allows other / newer generations experience the same game they otherwise might not be able to.
So taking all this into consideration I think my initial question is almost on point, maybe I could expand upon slightly like so:
Are re-releases a bad thing? Or can they further design?
So taking all this into consideration I think my initial question is almost on point, maybe I could expand upon slightly like so:
Are re-releases a bad thing? Or can they further design?
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