Why don't they remake games like movies?

[Schadenfroh]

Unfortunately, I doubt remakes of great games like PS:T and BG2 would sell well. We are at the threshold of a new era in gaming. The mere concepts of plot, gameplay and immersion will soon become too complex for mainstream gamers. Some games will be pure action. Another type will be Flash / Java like "casual" games. The final type (by far the most complex) will be sports games like Madden NFL 21xx.

 

[TheVrolok]

Unfortunately, I doubt remakes of great games like PS:T and BG2 would sell well. We are at the threshold of a new era in gaming. The mere concepts of plot, gameplay and immersion will soon become too complex for mainstream gamers. Some games will be pure action. Another type will be Flash / Java like "casual" games. The final type (by far the most complex) will be sports games like Madden NFL 21xx.

Unfortunately, so true.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Unfortunately, so true.

No, actually, it's complete elitist nonsense.

 

[TheVrolok]

No, actually, it's complete elitist nonsense.

I'm going to have to disagree with you there.

 

[shortylickens]

No, actually, it's complete elitist nonsense.

No actually its not. Actually.
I dont think I'm better than everyone else because I prefer good video games over pretty video games. I just like to be entertained. As it happens whats currently popular does not entertain me.

Back in the NES days the popular stuff did entertain me. But I didnt care about popularity then, I just played the games that made me happy.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Unfortunately, I doubt remakes of great games like PS:T and BG2 would sell well. We are at the threshold of a new era in gaming. The mere concepts of plot, gameplay and immersion will soon become too complex for mainstream gamers. Some games will be pure action. Another type will be Flash / Java like "casual" games. The final type (by far the most complex) will be sports games like Madden NFL 21xx.

I dunno man, how many units has Civilization 4 sold? Quite a lot I think. Dragon Age is doing ok isn't it?

There's still a market for deep thinking plot driven games. In fact, as the gaming industry matures even further I think more games will be based heavily on story/plot and gameplay.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Disagree. Plenty of deep games are still selling like hotcakes, and plenty of gamers are still interested in them. The average age of gamers is steadily increasing and developers are marketing to mature gamers more and more every year.

 

[Jjoshua2]

I'm still waiting for a remake of Descent 3 which is my favorite game ever. Shattered Horizon is kind of close, but the main thing that ruins it for me is there is no dodging and strafing is not a good strategy because the guns become so inacurate.

 

[Stas]

Maybe this was already said but: ummm... maybe because movie history is 5 times richer than gaming? First movies came out in, what, early 1900's? Even today there are more movie coming out than AAA game titles. Once the ideas have been exhausted enough, they will turn to remakes more. Plus a video game is a much more engaging and long lasting activity. A decent SP game is at least 10 hours long and involves study of the new environment, controls, etc. Let alone multiplayer that can make a game last years (quake, ut, wc3, etc). It would be hard to make gamers interested in "more of the same" unless enouh time has passed and graphics/physics/animation have improved dramatically.

 

[Martimus]

Err, they do, and have. Space Quest 1 was remade with VGA graphics and voice sound (original was CGA and text). Mean Streets was remade as well, with the Under a Killing Moon engine, although I can't remember the name of the remake.

They don't do it often though, and I usually only see it when a developer has a contract to make a game, but not enough time or money to create an original game. They will take the original game plot and gameplay and update the graphics and sound. Otherwise, they might as well just create a sequel.

 

[Martimus]

Unfortunately, I doubt remakes of great games like PS:T and BG2 would sell well. We are at the threshold of a new era in gaming. The mere concepts of plot, gameplay and immersion will soon become too complex for mainstream gamers. Some games will be pure action. Another type will be Flash / Java like "casual" games. The final type (by far the most complex) will be sports games like Madden NFL 21xx.

Err, when I was growing up, nearly all games lacked depth. They were always "pure action", or something of the like. Honestly, what was the plot in Contra, or Double Dragon, Pacman or Mario Brothers? If anything, games have become far more complex, and have far more depth. Of course some will have little depth, while others have a lot, but that is the way of things. It always was too. I see games as getting more in-depth than ever. The only thing holding it back is the time it takes to make good 3D environments versus making good 2D environments, but that will continue to get easier, and more depth will continue to work its way into games.

 

[Sureshot324]

I think this question can be divided into two parts.
1. Does the thought of a remake appeal to me and make me want to play it?
2. If I actually was playing it, would I be enjoying it?

Most gamers want the next big thing, the latest in technology and game play. Anything 'old' is a turnoff. Even if you remake a classic like BG2 or Resident Evil with the latest cutting edge technology, that fact that the game itself is old means it's not going to generate much excitement. This is only true to a much smaller extent in the movie industry.

Enjoyment wise, the gameplay in a lot of old classics is obsolete by today's standards. After playing Dragon Age I wouldn't want to go back to BG2's clunky interface and ruleset. D&D rules aren't ideal for a video game and years later Bioware finally realized this. I suppose they could do it with Dragon Age rules, but changing the gameplay that much it could hardly be called a remake anymore. Old action games like Doom, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider differ from today's games in more ways than just graphics. They couldn't pass for a modern game just by updating the graphics. However, the remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre could easily qualify for a modern horror film even if it wasn't a remake.

Games are a much larger time investment than movies. A fan of the original Friday the 13th might spend 90 minutes watching the remake, but is a fan of BG2 really going to spend 50+ hours replaying the entire game?

 

[rchiu]

I wouldn't mind spending 1 1/2 hour to watch a remade movie, but speding 30+ hrs to play something I already know the storyline? I don't think I would do that.

But taking the newest technology and making sequals to classic games like BG2, I'd be all for it. Come on game studios, it's not that tough to come up new stories with some existing characters and lore.

 

[dmxlite]

Erm...

Anyone remember when Westwood remade Dune 2? Dune 2000 was an abomination of a game.

I was going to bring this up! lol. I loved Dune 2, but Dune 2000 and Emperor: Battle for Dune didn't live up to the name.

Dune was redone as well, but I heard it sucks as well.

 

[CZroe]

Games get remade so often I'm 100% sure it happens more often than movies. OP fail.

And that's just considering how MANY games get remade as opposed to how OFTEN the same game gets remade. Think of how many times the original Super Mario Bros. has been "remade." Think of how many times the original Final Fantasy has been remade... on everything from the Wonder Swan to the PSX, GBA, and PSP. And what about emulated re-releases ("now in progressive scan!")? Anniversary compilations (Street Fighter, Megaman, Megaman X, etc)? 3D updates (Bionic Commando, Maverick Hunter X, Real Myst, etc)? Besides the obvious (Nintendo), yes, Capcom figures prominently... Heck, they've been making "Director's Cut" remakes on the PSX and PC since the mid '90s and just HOW many times did they rehash SFII?! SSFIV is on the way soon. Expect a SSFIV Turbo after that and an SSFIVT UD ("Ultra-Def") in another 10-15 years.

 

[CZroe]

No actually its not. Actually.
I dont think I'm better than everyone else because I prefer good video games over pretty video games. I just like to be entertained. As it happens whats currently popular does not entertain me.

Back in the NES days the popular stuff did entertain me. But I didnt care about popularity then, I just played the games that made me happy.

Or, rather, it is.

 

[minmaster]

battlefield 1942... drool
maybe some of the old adventure games... like indiana jones fate of atlantis in photo realistic graphics.

 

[Maximilian]

I was going to bring this up! lol. I loved Dune 2, but Dune 2000 and Emperor: Battle for Dune didn't live up to the name.

Dune was redone as well, but I heard it sucks as well.

How? I bought it back in 01 i think as it had a free water filled mouse mat with it Pretty decent game imo although i dunno how it relates to the previous games as i never played them so ive nothing to compare it against.

 

[Sureshot324]

Games get remade so often I'm 100% sure it happens more often than movies. OP fail.

And that's just considering how MANY games get remade as opposed to how OFTEN the same game gets remade. Think of how many times the original Super Mario Bros. has been "remade." Think of how many times the original Final Fantasy has been remade... on everything from the Wonder Swan to the PSX, GBA, and PSP. And what about emulated re-releases ("now in progressive scan!")? Anniversary compilations (Street Fighter, Megaman, Megaman X, etc)? 3D updates (Bionic Commando, Maverick Hunter X, Real Myst, etc)? Besides the obvious (Nintendo), yes, Capcom figures prominently... Heck, they've been making "Director's Cut" remakes on the PSX and PC since the mid '90s and just HOW many times did they rehash SFII?! SSFIV is on the way soon. Expect a SSFIV Turbo after that and an SSFIVT UD ("Ultra-Def") in another 10-15 years.

None of those are remakes. IMO to qualify for a remake a game has to have the same (or almost the same) plot, level layout and gameplay, but the artwork has to be completely redone. Otherwise you could claim every kung fu movie is a remake of Enter the Dragon. Porting an old 2D classic to GBA or putting it in an compilation is not a remake, it's the same game.

 

[Elcs]

How? I bought it back in 01 i think as it had a free water filled mouse mat with it Pretty decent game imo although i dunno how it relates to the previous games as i never played them so ive nothing to compare it against.

Dune 2000 was awful. Although it was essentially a remake of the Dune game, it completely changed the mechanics of it by tweaking damages, units and such.... To me it completely through out the balance in what was a good, solid game.

The real thing which bugged the life out of me was they changed the Siege tank from what was essentially the precursor to the Soviet Heavy Tank in RA (Heavy Armour, Double Barrelled Turret but not the biggest tank) into the Artillery piece from RA.

Some good touches were marred by extremely poor decisions in the balance.

Emperor: Battle for Dune was a great game. Decent storyline backed by extremely good video work (including Michael Dorn from Star Trek fame) and a strong game engine. The first full 3D RTS by Westwood, it looked good, played well and handled well.

Some downpoints were poor AI and pathfinding, dismal at times. Some strange units came around too, not resembling anything from Dune 2. Despite carrying the same name and a few similarities the base units for each faction were so far removed from what a Dune 2 player, or a Dune novel reader recognised (I am both).

Had Emperor been a standalone game without the word tie to the Dune universe, it would have been a good, solid 8/10 game... but comparing it to the legendary incarnation of Dune 2 gave it a level of expectation that it struggled to achieve.

 

[CZroe]

None of those are remakes. IMO to qualify for a remake a game has to have the same (or almost the same) plot, level layout and gameplay, but the artwork has to be completely redone. Otherwise you could claim every kung fu movie is a remake of Enter the Dragon. Porting an old 2D classic to GBA or putting it in an compilation is not a remake, it's the same game.

Did you even READ my post? I may have mentioned emulated releases and nearly identical ports, but those were just a couple usually lumped in with better examples of the same game being TRULY remade.

OK, if updating the updated artwork and graphics in Super Mario All*Stars alone doesn't count as a remake for Super Mario Bros 1 (or, for that matter, the others), then SURELY Super Mario Bros. DX does with all it's extra gameplay modes and bonuses despite it's regressed graphics (it's a GBC game, what do you expect?). Super Mario Advance vs Super Mario Bros 2/USA counts too (updated graphics AND bonus/enhancements beyond the 16-bit SMA*S refresh). Even if you don't count Megaman X Collection (emulated), Megaman Maverick Hunter X on the PSP is a particularly good 3D remake of Megaman X. It's a retelling of the original with the same general levels but HUGELY updated (and not "just 3D" either). It even allows you to play through the game as a new character (Vile). Megaman and Bass on the GBA is an updated remake of Rockman and Forte (Japanese). Heck, the GB/GBC Megaman Xtreme series takes bits and pieces of Megaman X games before it, remade and interwoven together (boss and level selections interwoven into new games). Megaman Powered Up on the PSP is a 3D remake of the classic Megaman (different from the X series). It even has TWO remade modes... "classic" has a 4:3 screen while "Remix" has a 16:9 widescreen... BOTH now updated as 3D side-scrollers. Bionic Commando is TWO games, one a true remake of the classic and one a new modern game carrying the name of the classic (Like Ninja Gaiden).

Granted, the XBOX/Playstation era Ninja Gaiden game is too different to be a remake of the original and they do not carry the same story, but it still follows the "cash in on name recognition" formula that many Hollywood remakes are banking on. At least Doom 3 had some of Doom's story (more than the movie did) but they didn't decide to just call it "Doom."

Did you think that Final Fantasy's original 8-bit graphics were the same on PSP? I hope you didn't because that'd be pretty stupid. Even the GBA versions were completely remade. Heck, Final Fantasy III was remade in 3D on the NDS, as was Dragon Quest IV and others. How does Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD not qualify as a complete graphical and platform remake? The same question goes for Real Myst... it went from pre-rendered slideshow designed to showcase the early "multimedia CD-ROM" craze to real-time 3D requiring the HIGHEST END videocard available at the time (GeForce 256) as a MINIMUM. It's like you didn't catch a single one of those references. Don't forget other awesome total remakes like Metroid Zero Mission (compare the maps side-by-side) and Star Fox 64 (same story; now cinematic and verbose).

Oh, and just look at what Rare has been doing with Microsoft... Conker's Bad Fur Day Reloaded, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie on XBOX Live, etc. They even remade Goldeneye 007 but couldn't get the legal stuff sorted out to release it. Look on XBOX Live for other examples... everything from Myth, Duke Nukem, Castlevania SOTN, etc all remade and enhanced (not just adding achievements).

I almost forgot... Just like SMB DX, the Donkey Kong Country series was remade for GBA and expanded on while taking a slight graphical set-back (unlike the shockingly bad GBC version).

OK, so you don't coun't the Director's Cut's of Resident Evil on PC and PSone or RE2/3 on PC. Even if you forgot that Resident Evil 2 was remade quite nicely on N64 (better controls!), there's no excuse for forgetting about REmake (Resident Evil) on Gamecube... for God's sake, we CALL it "remake," and it's an awesome one at that. FWIW, the other two were enhanced for Dreamcast and then ported to GC too (RE0 and RE4 were native GC games). I can see how you wouldn't count RE4 Wii Edition any more than RE4 for PS2, but at least it added the extra content from the PS2 and the better graphics of the original GCN version with 16:9 progressive scan and great new controls. IMO, it counts; Okami for Wii doesn't.

Half-Life Blue Shift and Half-Life Source are minor "remakes" considering that they heavily rely on resource data from the former games (one is a graphics expansion and the other is a completely new engine), but can understand if you think that they shouldn't count (Counterstrike Source also for that matter). Even so, they add to the whole "remake-happy dev" point.

Most of my examples are classics not because they slowed down today. Thanks to online distribution and companies like Square-Enix officially saying that they would rely on remaking their past games (yes, they said that this would be their focus several years ago and they have stuck o it), the VG remake is alive and well. Hmm... I just got finished playing Turtles in Time Re-shelled on my PS3 (same as the SNES/Arcade classic but in 3D able to walk/perform moves in all directions). Steam has a vast selection of updated PC classics. Perhaps all you need to do is spend a little more time looking at what's right in front of you.

 

[Udgnim]

I want UT 1 remade. won't happen though.

 

[CZroe]

I want UT 1 remade. won't happen though.

Why bother when you can still play the original? I still install Quake III Arena when I want to get my Q3DM17 on. *It* totally doesn't need a remake. Oh wait.

For any on-lookers, QIIIA and UT were equivalents battling for the same market share at the time.

 

[ChaoZ]

Okami in HD. I would shit bricks.

 

[CZroe]

Let's see... I haven't been to Kotaku.com since last Spring. Just to see how pervasive remakes are in the world of video games, let's take a visit and see what's on the main page.

Ah! I didn't even have to scroll on my toolbar-riddled 1024x600 netbook: It's right there on the featured articles across the top of the screen! "NBA Jam Sets The Wii On Fire In 2010" What has it been, 15 years? How's that?

They are also showing Gears of War 2 in 3D, which I assume (it doesn't specifiy) means it's coming to PC for stereoscopic support even though Epic/Cliff said that it would never come to PC (I called them out on that long ago).

Scroll down and you'll be treated to a new Wii version of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (originally on GBA, remade on Nintendo DS, cellphones, and now Wii).

Scroll further and you find remakes of Pokemon Silver and Gold (SoulSilver and HeartGold).

Scroll even further to Tecmo Bowl Legends, a remake of the popular 8-bit Tecmo Bowl and Super Tecmo Bowl.

THAT'S ALL ON JUST THE FIRST FREAKIN' PAGE OF A POPULAR GAME NEWS BLOG!

I love being so SO right.

Even if you don't want to count GoW2, you have to count Pokemon, Phoenix Wright, and NBA Jam. Abbreviating Gears of War reminded me of my latest PS3 purchase... God of War 1 & 2 Collection (updated for HD). I still have both on PS2 with a PS3 capable of upscaling them (original launch unit upgraded from 60 to 120GB) but it was different enough to warrant a purchase even with the same gameplay (Trophy support, GoW3 demo, HD graphics, etc).

Okami in HD. I would shit bricks.

At least it was updated for 16:9 progr. scan with PROPER controls on the Wii, but it lost the "canvass" effect. I, too, want to see a true remake of this.