Video Game Remakes: Because New Ideas Are Hard

Just because a game is old does not mean it needs updating. And by updating, I don't mean the 203,493 updates you have to install when you haven't turned on your PS4 in four months or software patches. Of course, the term old games is relative depending on which console generation you grew up in. I grew up during the 00's in the PS2's prime, which I why I don't see the point of Silent Hill 2 or Resident Evil 4 getting remade. Well, of course there's a reason: the obvious cash grab.

Also, Konami decided that it was high time to piss in Silent Hill fans' faces again and assign fucking Bloober Team to (allegedly) remake Silent Hill 2 and possibly a new Silent Hill installment. Great. Can't wait for the game about a depressed person going to Silent Hill and getting tortured by the manifestation of their past child abuse. Resident Evil 4 getting remade is just...why? I understood why Resident Evil 2 and 3 was remade, but RE4 already has a remastered version on PC and various next-gen consoles. It's widely regarded as the best Resident Evil game, though Resident Evil 7: Biohazard received a lot of praise as well.

Naughty Dog are also cashing in with The Last of Us: Part 1 which is a remake of the original Last of Us. I was confused when I got this news because I remember quite well buying the remastered edition of the game. But no, it's a remake. A remake of a game that was already praised for its high-fidelity graphical quality on the PS3. Seriously? With all the fucking questionable work practices I hear about with this company and forced crunch-time abuse. "Hey, you know we just made you work like slaves to get Part 2 out? Now we want you to go back to Part 1 and spruce up the graphics a bit." What a way to fucking insult your artists. They get mountains of more work while getting the same pay while the executives use the extra cash to buy cocaine-stuffed Krispy Kremes and throw hundreds at strippers. That's just satire, of course. They only throw 20s. Cheap bastards.

I still do not have a PS5. Frankly, I don't even want a PS5. I have become so utterly disillusioned with the gaming world, it's not even funny. I don't look forward to new games or press conferences at all, because I know it's just going to a bunch of lies. Scripted previews of games that don't show actual gameplay, executives lying their asses off about not having micro-transactions, more fucking live-service games that you have to pay monthly subscriptions for. Oh, no. You don't own games when you buy them. What gave you that backwards idea?

Remakes have become the easy-street filler that companies use to pander to nostalgic nerds and rake in more money than they ever need. It's an excuse to not come up with new ideas. Because they don't want to create fun games just for the sake of gaming and creativity and all that wholesome shit - they want to find the perfect way to suck you in and all of your hard-earned money in the most predatory ways imaginable. Honestly, if it keeps you soulless cretins at the top of gaming companies occupied enough to shill out remakes instead of taking advantage of gambling addicts and children with your shitty lootbox practices, keep on keeping on.

A remake of a game does not diminish the existence of the old version. Well, it might. Marketing wise. There's been cases of gaming companies removing versions of a game from certain stores because they remastered the game for new consoles. Basically corporate gatekeeping, which I will argue, just increases game piracy. I don't see the logic behind this. If you remove access to purchasing your games on other consoles, gamers without next-gen consoles will just pirate the games, more so out of spite. Streaming services do this as well, making it nigh impossible to legally watch and download the shows you want. This is a societal problem, too. If you prevent people from landing jobs to get money legally, they will find ways to make that money illegally. Capitalism causes crime. Can I get that on a shirt?

Honestly, I'd rather have Konami and Bloober Team leave Silent Hill 2 alone. At least Capcom actually knows what the fuck it's doing with the Resident Evil remakes since its their own intellectual property. All that work that the original Japanese developers did though will be tarnished. I doubt that they will be included in any of the development since Konami owns the Silent Hill brand. Hah, you thought the artists who designed the game have rights to the product? What are you, a communist? They also made a literal gambling machine.

I just made this article to rant about remakes because I'm so tired of this industry doing the least but getting the most. And by that, I mean the CEOs and executive positions. Game developers, artists, programmers...they get the least and that's a crying shame. I hope that their further efforts to unionize proceed.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed and join me next time for an article about something or other. Probably games.