One particular aspect of the gaming industry is the need to bring back franchises or reinvigorate them to make business flowing, but also for younger gamers to get an experience they may have missed out on.A new trend has appeared in which games are being remade for newer generation consoles. This is an idea that I love, but also take with a wary step because of the abuse that could be done to games.
The first major port that was brought from the original Xbox to Xbox 360 was Halo: Anniversary which released in 2011. While the game was already available for play by means of backward compatibility, 343 Industries decided to celebrate the ten year celebration with a game remade from the ground up, but with the same controls. The graphics, sound, and soundtrack were given an overhaul, and the game was a success with critics and fans alike. Another example is the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, which brought the Xbox 360 and PS3 to next-gen consoles with updated graphics. While these ports are exciting it begs the question why aren’t the new consoles backwards compatible?
One obvious answer to this question is simple: money, and it always was this reason. Why Microsoft and Sony claim that the consoles are to powerful to handle last gen games I find it perplexing then that several games are being ported over that were already in development for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Murdered: Soul Suspect, published by Square Enix was originally in development for the last-gen consoles, but was recently announced for next-gen consoles and rumors are abound that Grand Theft Auto V may be released soon for Xbox One and PS4.
I do not mind games being remade for newer consoles or HD collections such as Doom 3: BFG Edition. In fact I am excited by the rumors that Halo 2: Anniversary might be released this year, but when it is obvious that many last-gen console games could be available via backwards compatibility it irks me. Of course Microsoft and Sony have already stated that they plan to use their cloud services to bring many older games to the console, so this is something to look forward to. I hope that more classics are on their way for me to enjoy again and again.
