Companies follow trends. It doesn’t matter what company it is, or even what type of media they fall under, whether it be film, television, books or even gaming itself, companies are suckers for jumping on to bandwagons. After all, it’s a tell-tale sign for product researches to discover exactly what is hot with their buyers. They want to know exactly where the money is, and as soon as they find out where it is, that’s where their focus is diverted.
One recent trend for gaming companies is the HD Collection. Early examples of this are noticeably more fixated on Sony’s Playstation 3, with ‘HD’ ports of fan favourite’s series’ such as Tomb Raider, Sly Raccoon, Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia, and more recently, Jak and Daxter. Even the two cult favourites Ico and Shadow of the Colossus were bundled together to high critical acclaim.
Now it seems that is something that companies all over the gaming scene, even on the PS3’s biggest competitor, the Xbox 360. Two of Capcom and Konami’s biggest franchises (Devil May Cry and Metal Gear Solid, respectively) have both been announced, with the latter hitting consoles in February to chart success. Even two of Capcom’s classic Resident Evil titles came out last year on PSN and the XBL Marketplace.
In some ways, this is fantastic. Gamers who don’t still have copies of their favourite classics, or even the console which they played them on, can now enjoy these titles without the hassle of having to purchase either again, because they can now play them on the comfort of a current-generation console. What’s even better for them is the fact that they can enjoy these titles in splendid HD. You get multiple titles in the same bundle, and often companies release them for a below-average store price, which whilst it makes perfect sense (you are paying for old games, after all), in this day and age, it wouldn’t have been a big surprise for companies to charge the full price or even higher.
But whilst there are many perks to these HD releases, there are some things that are perhaps generally overlooked. For example, it’s often a case that whilst graphics may seem sharper, they’re not quite of a HD standard and still look slightly aged compared to this generation. I’m not someone who is put off of playing old titles due to the older graphics, but it makes perfect sense that gamers who were perhaps introduced to gaming or are used to gaming on this generation consoles would be put off of playing these titles. It can be hard for developers- completely overhauling graphics to a high standard whilst retaining the core gameplay is no easy feat, but by today’s standards it’s certainly not impossible. Sometimes I think it’s merely a case of companies rushing through the reproduction of the titles in order to get it out onto store shelves as quick as possible because they know that it’s an easy cash-in, rather than giving the games the love they may have received the first time around.
The same can be said for gameplay. Some developers leave their HD “remakes” entirely untouched, and this can kill the experience when gameplay mechanics have not aged well. This affects two types of gamers- fans of the original title in question, and gamers who didn’t play the original titles. For the former, it can entirely kill the good memories that these games hold. For the latter, they may simply refuse to play something which feels so old. Many people are oblivious to the fact that gaming has evolved a lot over the past ten years. Whilst it’s true that many of the core genres of gaming still exist in the modern-day games industry, the way these genres themselves work have been improved immensely over the past decade, and some titles just can’t compete with today’s equivalents.
I’m not saying that companies shouldn’t do these HD Collections, it’s just I think that it’s highly necessary for developers to provide the same amount of passion for the original game as they do with the originals. Without this, gamers just aren’t going to respond with the same amount of excitement and delight as they did when the games first game out. Certain developers can get this right- Sucker Punch’s Sly Raccoon Collection was well received by gamers, and whilst it may not be as huge as many of the other famous series’ mentioned throughout this article, it still managed to stir a great amount of enjoyment from original and new gamers alike. It’s even got people anticipated for the fourth outing hinted at as a bonus in that collection. Other developers need to take a leaf out of their books, because if they do precisely that, these collections will sell by the bucket load.
