Poll: Would you buy the hd remake of a game you already own?

[Bad Jim]

There are rumours of a bioshock collection on ps4 and xbone. I'm a bit confused as to why anyone would want this.

Last gen games still look pretty good IMO. Especially the Bioshock series, which always had good art direction. So there's not much point having HD releases of those games. That said, the dev teams may have worked with significantly better textures than they released, and it may be possible to add better lighting models with just a few pages of code. So it may be a case of simply wanting to re-release the games on the new consoles, but they can put "new and improved" on the box without much extra effort.

A real HD remake is something like Serious Sam, where they take a game from the 3D dark ages and make it look like a current gen game. But in those cases there are a lot of people that were too young or not even born when the originals came out. From a marketing perspective, it's a lot easier to shout about an HD re-release than the fact that a PC game you released over a decade ago is still available.

 

[Jacob Heffner]

I don't have a clear cut off point, but the Bioshock series is just too recent for a remake, especially if the only thing being improved is the graphics. Something older, with no recent series updates would benefit from an update, but not Bioshock.

 

[Mikeybb]

Really depends on the game.

Ones I generally do buy are those which are aesthetically painful to look at now.
The kind that don't survive outside of the murky shadows of nostalgia, that suffer under the harsh glare of reality and its higher definition large screen moniters.

Even though mostly these games are well remembered for the gameplay, I do appreciate it when there are what I'd call "quality of life" adjustments to the experience.
By that I mean application of lessons learned in the genre regarding camera movement or UI implementation, etc.
Not fundamental changes to the game itself, but a little sanding of the rough edges that were only revealed in comparison to later releases.

 

[shrekfan246]

I would not.

Not because of some "ruining the industry!" or "Why are graphics that important" philosophical reasons but because I don't replay games. That's not a real sexy answer but I don't think I've EVER played a video game more than one time the full way through. Even my most favorite games are played once and then put away forever.

I don't know how you do it. Even now, practically sixteen years later, I still semi-regularly go back to play Banjo-Tooie. I've played Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City three or four times each. I can't even recall the number of Commander Shepards I've had, or how many times I've played through the vast majority of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.

I don't think I'd ever truly be able to give up going back to older games, there's just too much about them that I love and can't find in other games. Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man aren't particularly great games, but they're the only ones that have managed to get web-swinging around New York City even remotely fun. Mirror's Edge has a trash story, but it's one of the only games that's managed to make first-person platforming feel pretty good (though I know plenty of people disagree). And even with how much Grim Dawn I've played recently, no isometric ARPG has built a combat system more satisfying to me than Diablo III (I just wish DIII had controller support on PC and would remove that online requirement; Grim Dawn has pretty well proven that you don't need to fundamentally change the mechanics if you ask me, and the console versions of DIII have shown that the online requirement is pretty much pointless now).

Er, anyway, OT: Yes, but it tends to depend on the game/price point. For instance, over the years I've purchased Devil May Cry 4 three different times: once on PS3 and twice on PC (physical copy and then on Steam because I've since lost the physical copy). So I'm not about to buy the Special Edition re-release of the game until it's down to about $5 or so. I'm not going to ever buy Fable Anniversary because the original game still works perfectly on PC, albeit with a really clunky interface (of course, they've never managed to fix the interface issues with those games anyway). But I bought Okami HD and the ICO collection at full price, and I eventually caved and bought the Kingdom Hearts collections because of the updates to Birth By Sleep and wanting to have the games on a single platform.

EDIT: Oh, I did get a Wii U largely for Wind Waker HD, and I got Final Fantasy X on the Vita because I have most of the Final Fantasy games on my Vita.

And Banjo-Tooie was 2000, not 2001. Geez.

 

[bificommander]

I've already bought Homeworld HD, even though I owned HW1 and 2. I made the decision because A, I really like Homeworld, and B, HW1 especially was pretty old by now. There was a lot of room for a graphical update, especially since I couldn't get HW1 to run with the "advanced" graphic options anymore. Only the most basic display drivers worked, which left the game looking pretty ugly.

So for me it's the third answer, with the caveat that it should also not be a too recent game with too small upgrades (HW2 for instance, still looks great today, so that one hardly needed the HD rerelease for me.)

 

[Flathole]

Absolutely. Starcraft: Brood War.

-make unit sizes and explosive/concussive damage types visible on unit screen.

-Update UI, allow keyboard/hotkey customization, zooming in/out of map, changing UI scale, etc.

-Implement extra AI commands besides simply "move, attack-move, hold position, stop." such as aggressive/defensive/passive behaviors and various quick-formations shown from games like Age of Empires 2. Also allow the player to make ANY spell (even Mind Control) auto-cast, to be used the moment available (even if only on a Broodling or Zergling, a massive waste).'

-Also update AI pathfinding.

-In single-player campaigns, make hero units immune to instant-kill abilities (The Queen's Spawn Parasite, and the Dark Archon's Mind control. enemy AI will not even attempt to hit heroes with these.) This way players won't feel terrified of 300hp/300shield 1 base armor Fenix getting hit by a Queen and instantly losing the scenario.

-Give single-player heroes unique sprites, and possibly unique abilities/stats (See: Infested Kerrigan, who is an entirely unique unit and not just a "Battlecruiser with double damage and HP".

-Add extra music.

-Obligatory graphical overhaul

-No changes to any units or gamplay except the above.

-Also buy me a Jacuzzi.

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

Only if I somehow couldn't play the original copy again, because of a damaged disc or console. OR if they removed a fun-hampering feature in the original (ie Persona 3 Portable, for letting me control my otherwise-braindead teammates).

Still waiting on Blizzard to put out Warcraft 2...

 

[ghalleon0915]

I think I'd only buy an HD remake of a game that I wanted to play but for some reason had never played, like Shadow of the Colossus. Otherwise, I see no reason to buy it; then again, as I've gotten older I tend to not replay games much anymore. I think the only games I've replayed after finishing them ( recent ones) are Dark Souls and oddly enough Terraria.

I should mention, I mostly like story driven games so that explains why I don't replay games.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I have, multiple times.

I'm a sucker for shinies. Re-release a game I like with a nice graphical upgrade and I'm all over that shit.

This includes, but is not limited to The Last of Us, Wind Waker HD, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, God of War HD Collection, Metal Gear Solid Collection, Zone of the Enders Collection, Okami, Ratchet and Clank Collection, and yes, even Twilight Princess HD. I caved for that one, too. And I'm anticipating Resident Evil 4 on PS4 with glee. Heck, I'm still hoping to see Infamous 1 and 2 get a PS4 upgrade.

 

[Tanis]

Only if they don't screw it up.
SEE: DMC HD and Silent Hill HD

Or seem pointless/barely 'HD'/missing content:
SEE: Dragon Ball Butokai

 

[Strazdas]

I would buy a remake on one condition: There is something preventing me from playing the original, for example a game engine not playing nice with new windows.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

I have on occasion bought an HD remake, yes.

Like Okami or Valkyria Chronicles[footnote]Granted, the PC rerelease wasn't an HD remake, but running it at 1080p & 60fps might as well be.[/footnote]. Never regretted it. They look motherfucking GORGEOUS in HD.

 

[Kaymish]

Probably not unless it was VTMB if it was VTMB there would be no question i would get it but i have 225 games in my steam libary right now most of them never played so i want to decrease my back log before i buy new versions of what i already have

 

[Kyrian007]

Yes. Easily. I've bought non-HD remakes of games I already owned. I bought the Gamecube version of Metal Gear Solid, the PC versions of Final Fantasy 7 and 8... remake or HD has nothing to do with game purchases for me. I buy QUALITY games. If a remake is a GOOD GAME, I'll buy it.

 

[Kotaro]

That depends. If it's a game from the PS2/GCN/XBox generation, then yes, since the resolution of those consoles looks like ass on my current TV.
If it's from a more recent generation, then I wouldn't, unless it's a bundle of multiple games in one package (and even then, only for the added convenience of having them all in one place).

This is, of course, assuming it's just an HD upscale. If it's a full, from-scratch remake, then hell yeah, I'll buy it if I liked the original.

 

[LordBaztion]

I may buy Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect remasters because I love those series. Also I would buy Reach to complete MCC.
Otherwise, I preffer developers to support backwards compatibility.

 

[happyninja42]

Seeing as I've done it on at least 2 occasions, yes I would do it.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Depends on the game really. I for instance bought the HD remake for Shadow of the Colossus + Ico but I did that because I love those games and they're games that have good visuals.

 

[hermes]

I have, specially when I can't play the original or it adds things. For example, I bought the HD version of the God of War PSP and PS2 games and Okami HD because I no longer have a PSP or PS2, and it was in HD. I bought the Sly Cooper Collection because I didn't play the originals and 3 games in 1 was a good value. I bought the Mass Effect collection because it has ME 1 (not available on PS3), and all the DLC...

Having the chance of playing the game, and being already in HD makes me not interested in a remake. Since they are pretty much the same games with the same graphics fidelity, I don't understand the appeal of PS3 games on the PS4 unless you don't have a PS3...

 

[laggyteabag]

Depends on the quality of the remake. If it is a "We're just gonna bump up the resolution and FPS and call it a day" remake (especially with games from last gen), then probably not, but if it is a proper Halo Anniversary-style remake, where they redo a lot of the assets, and actually put some effort into it, then I am fine with it, and will probably drop some money on it.

Of course, as someone that plays primarily on my PC, the existence of the HD remakes as I first described them, is mostly non-existent.