Poll: What's wrong with remaking a favorite game?

[Terramax]

Like games that people tell me are great but I never played, but now i wont play them, the graphics are just too outdated, great examples are Final Fantasy 7 and the older MGS games, maybe just a revamp in graphics and a release onto next-gen systems.

I can relate to that. There are all these old LucasArt games like Monkey Island, Sam & Max and Day of the Tentacle that I just can't get into because of the graphics. BLAH! I didn't find any of them funny either.

Still, I don't see FF7 and MGS that dated. That being said, in terms of the former, I have a serious fetish with pre-rendered graphics. I really should go see someone about it.

To answer the original question, I voted 'bad' because I've never personally come across a game remake that's satisfied me more than the original. Resident Evil on the GC was really good, but it just doesn't have the charm of the original. To me, the 1st Resident Evil on the PSX is the equivalent of the best B-movie around.

Someone mentioned re-releasing with updated graphics. I theory this could work but it doesn't. Ever seen the re-released Sega classics? Some like Panzer Dragoon had smoother graphics but it just made them look more bland.

Personally, I'd way prefer these giant companies invest money on great writers to create original stories that take games where they're never been before, or programming new series' altogether. When your game company is as big as Capcom and Konami, there really is no excuse.

 

[Katana314]

Remakes are bad because there are plenty of new ideas that deserve more development time. Go onto any forum's "come up with a game" thread. There you go.

 

[Cousin_IT]

Remakes of really old games that pleanty of younger gamers may not have even been alive when made I think can be a good thing. That said, if remade games are part of an ongoing franchise the sequals of which havent been out all that long (Tomb Raider springs to mind) I personally dont see the point in a remake. If, for example, Bull Frog's Syndicate was remade, id rush to buy it because the origional sounds so good even now. But if The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall was remade, I personally dont think id get an experience any different to 3 & 4, & indeed may conclude that it doesnt warrent the holy grail status fans give it: So its better left as one of those games Ill never play.

Simularly leaving remaking a game in the hands of its dedicated fanbase is, imo, not a sure way to sucess. Fans, being fans, will imo be conservative in their approach to remaking a game because they will do their best to not change a single thing they liked about its origional, even if doing so would result in a better game experience for the general consumer. Either theyll produce the exact same game, or change it so much that it cannot be said to be the game theyre supposed to have remade. Leave the fanbase to making mods to improve on games & not the games themselves I say

Finally, slapping on a new graphics engine imo is not a sure way to make a good remake. For example, for me the best of the GTA games has been GTA 2. If it was remade in full 3D glory, I think it would lose all the immature charm that its origional had (one of the few things I dislike about the 3D sequels is that theyve lost the anarchistic sillyness of 1 & 2, instead seemingly getting more "serious"). I think alot of the games we nostaligcly look back to as bastions of greatness would have the pedestal pulled from under them if rereleased with nothing but a new graphics engine, ignoring the changes to gameplay style etc that a graphics upgrade brings.