HD Remakes on PS4 - Good or Bad?

[senor_flojo]

I think part of the issue isn't just that people think new games would magically pop up, if there weren't an HD remake. But, that resources are being spent to reproduce games instead of going into new product, which in turn will only delay the time until we see anything new from that developer.

I know what you're getting at, but wouldn't freshening up code and improving graphics help fund the next endeavor? That's why I supported Tomb Raider and probably why I'll support The Last of Us. If that makes any sense.

 

[Matt_Senpai]

Depends on the game. The only games I want on PS4 are The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto Online (Because it doesn't support DS4 on PS3 and the DS3 is terrible after using the DS4 so much), Metro 2033 series and Mass Effect. Don't really care whether or not other companies follow suit because I know I won't buy any other "Definitive" editions besides these 4.

 

[wolfehound22]

I think part of the issue isn't just that people think new games would magically pop up, if there weren't an HD remake. But, that resources are being spent to reproduce games instead of going into new product, which in turn will only delay the time until we see anything new from that developer.

Agreed, although you could also argue that with game development being so expensive, these relatively easy upgrades isv helping to bring in extra money to help fund these new products.

 

[Chandler Wood]

Agreed, although you could also argue that with game development being so expensive, these relatively easy upgrades isv helping to bring in extra money to help fund these new products.

The issue here is that we can never really know. We run into the same problem when you look at multiplayer being added to games and possibly taking away from funds or development of the main game. If we had a Tardis, or some other crazy method of being able to explore both paths, then we could definitively say which is the better option, but we have no way of knowing what would happen if HD remasters weren't being produced. Perhaps the lack of HD remasters stimulates developers to a stronger desire to push new content and we do actually get it? Maybe it just means that the new generation fails miserably without them? I'd love to have feedback on that alternate universe.

 

[wolfehound22]

Well lets just say, if I had a Tardis I'd be busy doing other stuff

 

[Dan Oravasaari]

I know what you're getting at, but wouldn't freshening up code and improving graphics help fund the next endeavor? That's why I supported Tomb Raider and probably why I'll support The Last of Us. If that makes any sense.

Agreed, although you could also argue that with game development being so expensive, these relatively easy upgrades isv helping to bring in extra money to help fund these new products.

For some products, I could totally see this being a benefit. But, when it comes to things like Mass Effect, Tomb Raider or The Last of Us, I hardly believe any of those companies are in dire need of cash to develop a game. But, even if that was the case, it isn't up to the public to get double dipped just so they can fund a developer whose product isn't able to support itself.

To me, I am more annoyed by the price point than anything.

 

[SightfulRage]

If developers feel they need to justify the cost of game development by re-releasing the same title, what ever floats your boat. Depending on how they do it, it's mostly beneficial to gamers:

-If the re-release is a few years off from the original (God of War/Ratchet and Clank), it gives gamers an option to rediscover the titles when their perspective might be a little different from when they originally played.

-If the re-release is a recent release that is jumping into a new console generation (The Last of Us), It gives gamers who skipped the ps3 generation a chance to play one of the best games available for the console.

-If the re-release is the Mass Effect Trilogy, this is mainly geared towards people who don't like money. If you haven't played Mass Effect yet, you must have skipped the entire last generation of consoles and if that is the case, wait for the Viva Pinata re-release. If the re-release rumors are true on this one, this is the only one I am against.

Resources might be pulled to "make" these re-releases happen but I doubt developers are going all out with their entire teams to get these going. Aside from the teams that dev's allocate to making the re-releases happen, I could see Sony hurting due to these. The more major titles are brought back, the less willing gamers are going to be to buy into the PS Now service. At the start of this new generation, I was thrilled with the PS Now service. Now that I have a PS3 and access to any title I would want from prior generations, I couldn't care less about PS Now.

 

[ward09]

I like HD remakes. For example, I think it's great that I can pick up all the Sly games for a current system, rather than having to hunt down PS2 copies on eBay. I mainly pick up HD collections for games I missed. It's very convenient. But a day may come when they remake one of my all time faves, and I might jump on it, just like I repurchased many of my favorite movies when BluRay came out.

 

[Lifewish]

This is what a certain someone had to say to me on Twitter after I retweeted Chandler's main page article.

From @WillJPowers

"@Cameron_PSLS new content takes a while to develop. I'd rather have games to play right now. #DevilsAdvocate"

 

[Dan Oravasaari]

This is what a certain someone had to say to me on Twitter after I retweeted Chandler's main page article.

From @WillJPowers

"@Cameron_PSLS new content takes a while to develop. I'd rather have games to play right now. #DevilsAdvocate"

Did you happen to tell Will that old games are still playable, even if they don't get an HD remake?

 

[Dullshimmer]

I guess it just depends. Right now all we have confirmed is Tomb Raider (which are already out) and The Last of Us. There is rumor of Mass Effect being re-released as well, but even if that comes to pass that's only three games. If all of a sudden we get a massive landslide of PS4 remakes then I'll call foul, but I'm not sure it is too worth looking at in a negative light at this point.

I mean Tomb Raider and The Last of Us were both recent releases, so they're basically just adding versions to the PS4 like Assassin's Creed 4 did, only with a decent delay. Admittedly, Mass Effect is a bit stranger and I don't quite get the reasoning for a PS4 port, other than they want it playable on everything. Personally, I don't think doing PS4 remakes will be quite as popular as they were for the PS3. At least I'd say that I probably wouldn't invest unless I had not purchased the game for the PS3 or if it was a game remake that added trophies for a game that didn't have them on the PS3. These would be my only reasons for thinking about buying it.

So is it hurting anything? With only two confirmed titles and one rumored I'd say no. I doubt they're taking away from the identity of the PS4, which to be honest won't probably be developed completely until a couple years from now, similar to the PS3. I don't want to see only HD remakes being put out, but we aren't and having 1 out of the ~23 games that have been released for retail so far isn't too bad in my eyes.

However, I'd say that seeing the indie games cross over from the PS3 or PC, is to me a completely positive move in my mind. But this post seems focused on the HD remakes, so I won't go on about that.

 

[Dan Oravasaari]

There is also a rumor of GoW: Ascension getting a PS4 remake as well.

 

[Arthur Sataine]

I guess it just depends. Right now all we have confirmed is Tomb Raider (which are already out) and The Last of Us. There is rumor of Mass Effect being re-released as well, but even if that comes to pass that's only three games. If all of a sudden we get a massive landslide of PS4 remakes then I'll call foul, but I'm not sure it is too worth looking at in a negative light at this point.

I mean Tomb Raider and The Last of Us were both recent releases, so they're basically just adding versions to the PS4 like Assassin's Creed 4 did, only with a decent delay. Admittedly, Mass Effect is a bit stranger and I don't quite get the reasoning for a PS4 port, other than they want it playable on everything. Personally, I don't think doing PS4 remakes will be quite as popular as they were for the PS3. At least I'd say that I probably wouldn't invest unless I had not purchased the game for the PS3 or if it was a game remake that added trophies for a game that didn't have them on the PS3. These would be my only reasons for thinking about buying it.

So is it hurting anything? With only two confirmed titles and one rumored I'd say no. I doubt they're taking away from the identity of the PS4, which to be honest won't probably be developed completely until a couple years from now, similar to the PS3. I don't want to see only HD remakes being put out, but we aren't and having 1 out of the ~23 games that have been released for retail so far isn't too bad in my eyes.

However, I'd say that seeing the indie games cross over from the PS3 or PC, is to me a completely positive move in my mind. But this post seems focused on the HD remakes, so I won't go on about that.

It's the precedent these may set that sparks the worrying and concern. 2-3, cool. But will those 2-3 set alight a fiery whirlwind of remakes? Or worse yet, re-remakes? My concern is that developers will become even lazier than they are now and fall back on titles that have been out already and were sure-fire hits. I, for one, didn't get my PS4 to relive the PS3 with more polygons.

 

[Dullshimmer]

It's the precedent these may set that sparks the worrying and concern. 2-3, cool. But will those 2-3 set alight a fiery whirlwind of remakes? Or worse yet, re-remakes? My concern is that developers will become even lazier than they are now and fall back on titles that have been out already and were sure-fire hits. I, for one, didn't get my PS4 to relive the PS3 with more polygons.

I granted as much. However, let's not yell fire when nothing has caught ablaze yet. As I said there are around 23 games out for retail now and only one is a remake in the form meant here. One more is confirmed for sometime this summer(TLOU) and two are rumored (Mass Effect Trilogy and GoW: Ascension). That's hardly a fiery whirlwind of remakes.

Looking at the upcoming releases, even if those two rumored ones do come out this year, there are far more new games coming out than remakes. There are even more new IPs than remakes if all four come out this year. So to me it's not a big deal. Something to be wary of? Yeah sure, as I said I'm not planning on getting any remakes unless I don't have them on PS3 or they happen to add trophies to a game I really enjoyed and wished had trophies. Something to denounce so thoroughly? Eh I just don't see it.

 

[Chandler Wood]

I granted as much. However, let's not yell fire when nothing has caught ablaze yet. As I said there are around 23 games out for retail now and only one is a remake in the form meant here. One more is confirmed for sometime this summer(TLOU) and two are rumored (Mass Effect Trilogy and GoW: Ascension). That's hardly a fiery whirlwind of remakes.

Looking at the upcoming releases, even if those two rumored ones do come out this year, there are far more new games coming out than remakes. There are even more new IPs than remakes if all four come out this year. So to me it's not a big deal. Something to be wary of? Yeah sure, as I said I'm not planning on getting any remakes unless I don't have them on PS3 or they happen to add trophies to a game I really enjoyed and wished had trophies. Something to denounce so thoroughly? Eh I just don't see it.

I'm not one to yell fire when nothing is ablaze, but I'm also not one to sit around while I see a clear fire danger without saying something about it. Sure there aren't a ton of HD remakes, but holy shit, look at the number of ports up, which are technically even lazier.

 

[Dullshimmer]

Yes, but even there it's a mixed bag. It is all bad that some games are being released? No, is it all good? I don't think so either. I'll give a couple examples.

Dead Nation, was there any need for a port of this game? It's published by Sony itself so probably didn't have any trouble with updates and patches like other indie PSN games would. It's almost like it was developed to be a playstation plus game so they weren't giving away anything too new. That's perhaps a lazy port job, even if they did incorporate new things, but nothing vastly different from my understanding.

On the other hand you have Awesomenauts. Another game released on the PS3, but became woefully outdated compared to the PC version because of the price of applying a patch or updates on the PS3. From what I understand that has changed with the PS4 so they've released it there and have it somewhat on par with the PC version. This re-release to me was almost needed if you were a fan of the game. Also it seems to me that the porting of indie games like this does reflect well on the identity of the PS4 as a console that is much more friendly to indie publishing and updating of games through content patches.

It's a lot more nuanced in my mind than simply all bad or good or lazy or not. Is it a crisis? Hardly. Is it a trend we'll see throughout? Probably to some degree. To me it's a concession on the impact of HD remakes when we have to toss in the smaller ports as added defense because they're slightly different, ally with the indie positive model of the PS4, and are usually put out by much smaller teams, and with much less fanfare, than the HD remakes.

 

[stolenxnametag]

Yes, but even there it's a mixed bag. It is all bad that some games are being released? No, is it all good? I don't think so either. I'll give a couple examples.

Dead Nation, was there any need for a port of this game? It's published by Sony itself so probably didn't have any trouble with updates and patches like other indie PSN games would. It's almost like it was developed to be a playstation plus game so they weren't giving away anything too new. That's perhaps a lazy port job, even if they did incorporate new things, but nothing vastly different from my understanding.

On the other hand you have Awesomenauts. Another game released on the PS3, but became woefully outdated compared to the PC version because of the price of applying a patch or updates on the PS3. From what I understand that has changed with the PS4 so they've released it there and have it somewhat on par with the PC version. This re-release to me was almost needed if you were a fan of the game. Also it seems to me that the porting of indie games like this does reflect well on the identity of the PS4 as a console that is much more friendly to indie publishing and updating of games through content patches.

It's a lot more nuanced in my mind than simply all bad or good or lazy or not. Is it a crisis? Hardly. Is it a trend we'll see throughout? Probably to some degree. To me it's a concession on the impact of HD remakes when we have to toss in the smaller ports as added defense because they're slightly different, ally with the indie positive model of the PS4, and are usually put out by much smaller teams, and with much less fanfare, than the HD remakes.

I was initially bummed to see flOw and Flower on PS4, and then I played Flower. It's seriously just beautiful. I feel like that was the developer's original vision, so I'm hoping some of these indie ports live up to that.

 

[Dullshimmer]

I was initially bummed to see flOw and Flower on PS4, and then I played Flower. It's seriously just beautiful. I feel like that was the developer's original vision, so I'm hoping some of these indie ports live up to that.

Also with flOw and Flower didn't they offer cross buy so that if you already owned it you had it automatically for the PS4? Hard to call that lazy or a cash grab when they're offering it to you at no extra cost if you own it on another platform. A few other games seem to be following that model too, Hotline Miami comes to mind. I think treating the Playstation brand as one ecosystem when porting games is a pretty awesome thing from a consumer standpoint. I admit I kind of wondered why they were there, but also have a hard time saying it's a bad thing.

 

[stolenxnametag]

Also with flOw and Flower didn't they offer cross buy so that if you already owned it you had it automatically for the PS4? Hard to call that lazy or a cash grab when they're offering it to you at no extra cost if you own it on another platform.

That was my point. The games are awesome on PS4, so I feel like those cases were good ones. If you haven't played Flower on PS4, I recommend it to pieces. The Last of Us and Tomb Raider (or the upcoming Halo Collection on Xbox One) are on the opposite of this spectrum.

 

[Dullshimmer]

That was my point. The games are awesome on PS4, so I feel like those cases were good ones. If you haven't played Flower on PS4, I recommend it to pieces. The Last of Us and Tomb Raider (or the upcoming Halo Collection on Xbox One) are on the opposite of this spectrum.

Sorry I wasn't trying to say that you thought they were bad, but more just that I find it hard to call all the ports and everything bad in any kind of uniform fashion. I may have to try Flower on the PS4, I enjoyed it on the PS3 quite a bit but I kind of figured that it wouldn't be much different.