On Revivals

Remakes and re-releases seem to be all the rage with publishers these days. Within the last few years we’ve seen a large number of popular games being re-released. The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto V, Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs, Borderlands 2 and the Pre-Sequel, and 4 Halo titles (5 counting Halo 3: ODST) were all polished up and resold on newer consoles. This trend doesn’t appear to be slowing down either. Gears of War: Ultimate Edition and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection are coming soon. Big deal right? Publishers have been re-releasing old games for decades! There have always been big releases made to capitalize on nostalgia. Or collections of a franchise in a convenient package. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen games polished up and re-released whose first runs were so recent. Besides Halo, the oldest games on that list released in 2012. What does this say about publishers and video game players that we will get excited about polished up 3 year old titles?

I think there are 2 particular camps people who buy these titles fall into…

A, people who didn’t play the games when they were first released due to lack of interest, necessary hardware, funds, etc. I don’t always buy games at release. Instead I opt to get the “game of the year” or “definitive editions” later to get all the extra content (and sometimes lower price tag). B, people who genuinely enjoy the titles so much that they’re willing to buy in again to experience the game on different hardware. (looking at you Sleeping Dogs: Definitive and Metro Redux). I wonder what the ratio of Camp A and B is for these games. I’d love to be a fly on the wall during publisher meetings where these kinds of decisions get made. Is it a difficult decision for them when a lot of the work is already done? How do they decide what kind of features they want included in the re-release or is that going to be up to the developer?

I love the recent trend of old genres brought to life by new titles. I’m talking specifically about Kickstarter games like Yooka-Laylee, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Divinity: Original Sin, and Broken Age. Old developers creating new games in genres they used to be kings of for their fans. It’s interesting to see how much money these developers are receiving backing for based off of nostalgia and good will. I didn’t hesitate to back Yooka-Laylee when I saw that key members of the original Rareware teams were making a new 3D platformer. Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64 were some of the first games I owned and loved. Besides Nintendo, not too many 3D platformers are in development these days. Will publishers breathe life into old franchises after seeing this interest?

Granted stuff gets remade all the time, but it usually is in a way that makes sense. Old school fast paced shooters like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom are two interesting examples. Wolfenstein: The New Order and The Old Blood kept the aesthetic and run and gun aspect of the original games. They also adding a compelling narrative and intuitive stealth mode to the title to freshen things up. Doom also looks to have that aesthetic and run and gun gameplay. It’s also making it look new and going for that feel of the original that made you go “whoa, that was disgusting! Let’s do it again!” But in no way is Bethesda putting out new sprite based first person shooters. So maybe it depends on the genre and what makes sense in the current gaming scheme, but it’s exciting no matter what!

Happy gaming!