Old games getting HD re-releases: Good or bad?

It's blatantly obvious that a lot of old games are getting HD makeovers for current gen systems. Along with these HD facelifts, these games are also getting trophies and accomplishments for those gamers out there, like me, who are slaves to the challenge of a trophy.

The question at large, however is this:

Do these games really need to be re-released in HD?

To me, some games, not all games, truly deserve a nice HD touch up. Games like Shadow of the Colossus, God of War, and Ico are pretty good candidates, if you ask me.

Some packages even include dual games on one disc like the God of War collection (I and II) and Shadow of the Colossus & Ico, both for PS3, reasonably priced at less than $40.

The downside to this, unfortunately, is that this will, most likely, initiate a fad of giving HD re-releases to veritable slews of games that might not even deserve it.

It's like Blu-ray movies, in my opinion. Some movies can only be cleaned up so much to be released onto a Blu-ray disc, and it can only look so polished. I actually own "Poltergeist" on Blu-ray, because it was a gift, and to be honest the film doesn't look very much different at all from the DVD I used to own.

What are your opinions, people? Is there going to be an HD fad for vintage video games? Is this a good or bad thing?

Share your thoughts!

Do the 3DS remakes get included here?

I don't see why not. However, I'm not a hand held gamer and I don't know much about 3DS titles. Are they actual remakes are are they HD facelifts with 3D?

For the most part, graphical facelifts onto the handheld with 3d.

So I feel kinda burned with Ocarina of Tme, because for all the hype it really was just OoT again. And the silly thing is that I KNEW that and I got it anyway and I was just as 'meh' about it as I thought I would be. It's still a good game, of course, but it is a rather old game and better graphics don't warrant a full price release in my opinion.

And now I am almost certainly going to burn myself again with Starfox 64 3D and before too long I have to ponder if it's the same once more with Monster Hunter 3G, though I hear a touch more will be added to that.

I agree that games like the ones we're discussing certainly don't need to be full priced, what with them being re-releases.

Personally, I think that Ocarina of Time (3DS) is a perfect example for games that shouldn't be re-released. The game itself is timeless and doesn't need 3D enhancements. However, the almighty dollar would argue that point. Not there is anything wrong with making money, I just feel that consideration should be taken when choosing games to be redone.

Thank god I don't give a **** about achievements and trophies. That seems to be where games are headed these days, regardless of platform or genre.

Starfox 64, Ush? Huh. A good rental for its time, I thought. Not much else.

I think when it's done well, it's great, so in general I'm a fan of HD remakes. Plus. I get access to games I might not have had access to otherwise.

I know there are always going to be games I don't want, but that's just life.

Originally posted by -Pr-
I think when it's done well, it's great, so in general I'm a fan of HD remakes. Plus. I get access to games I might not have had access to otherwise.

I know there are always going to be games I don't want, but that's just life.

👆

I think remaking games is a great thing. Games more than any other medium are prone to aging very very poorly. Go back and try and play a PS1 or even a PS2 game on your HD TV, it's pretty shocking how bad it looks. Facelifting games is nothing but a net plus I feel, as long as they don't screw up other aspects of the game in the process.

Originally posted by Digi
Thank god I don't give a **** about achievements and trophies. That seems to be where games are headed these days, regardless of platform or genre.

Originally posted by Ridley_Prime
In a way that's good (gives people more incentive to replay a game), but also has its downsides.

I can't see them as anything but meaningless. 98% of them, at least. Most don't contribute to the narrative, character, nor do they grant you anything useful or often even make much sense. They're just arbitrary ways to prolong games.

...

HD remakes are fine though. Always good to revisit classics.

I think it could be really good for when you have classic games that look like complete ass. But only if they actially work on improving the look of it instead of just slapping on the HD.

Originally posted by Impediment

Share your thoughts!

I'd really rather see only a handful of games, good classic ones at that, getting HD re-releases. Having a whole slew of them coming out is just pointless IMO, but hey, if they sell well, they'll continue this 'fad'.

The Splinter Cell Collection, and Team Ico Collection are ones that I'm definitely getting. All games were excellent, and I really do not have time to revisit them on the PS2. I think HD SotC is getting a touch up, as the frame-rate on the PS2 version was pretty horrible.

Okami, and the first three R&C Games are other games I'm hoping to see HD remakes of.

Originally posted by Ridley_Prime
In a way that's good (gives people more incentive to replay a game), but also has its downsides.

I'd rather have NG+ or extra gameplay for replay value, as opposed to 'achievements' which really do not do anything at all.

Infamous 2 at least had certain aspects activated/changed if you had a certain trophy in Infamous. If they did stuff like that on a regular basis, then Trophies/Achievements would at least have some value.

I'd rather have a lot of things than the trophy/achievement system as it currently is, so far be it from me to fully defend it, but I do give it some credit for including some of the fun/sensible acheevos/trophies they have in games out there. Not a fan of most of the ones like winning a certain number of matches or ranked matches or some crap though, but I do like the ones like for beating a game on the hardest difficulty, which gives a little more meaning for beating something on hard or expert now than it did back then (especially if you unlock other things in the process too), to show that you did it and all. If you're one of those people who rarely ever does a full playthrough of a game they get though, let alone on the hardest difficulty or find/collect every important item, then I can understand that too.

But on the main topic, when it comes to re-releases, there are some games I'd rather see at least some change to than having them exactly the way they were before with HD + online slapped on, but other than that, most of them are classics that have held up well even today and withstood the test of time, so they more or less deserve being re-released.

I such a trophy whore. I have over 800 trophies and 3 platinums.

In the end, the product is made for people who want them. If you don't like the idea, don't buy it.

I like the idea. I never had a Playstation so having the ability to rent the God of War collection was great for me. Having them touched up in HD is an added bonus.

I'm not really interested in any remakes of games unless it is totally warranted (Deus Ex: Human Revolution).

But I've noticed games that were released after 2002 have aged much better so I don't see HD remakes being a huge thing in 5 years or so (unless they totally remake the game)

Originally posted by BackFire
I think remaking games is a great thing. Games more than any other medium are prone to aging very very poorly. Go back and try and play a PS1 or even a PS2 game on your HD TV, it's pretty shocking how bad it looks. Facelifting games is nothing but a net plus I feel, as long as they don't screw up other aspects of the game in the process.

Before I bought my new 320 GB PS3, I used to have the 60 GB that was backwards compatible. Once, just for nostalgia's sake, I popped in the first Silent Hill game that debuted on PS1, and, yeah, it looked like balls.

Silent Hill, in my opinion, is one of those games that actually deserves a full remake.

I think it's a good idea. It's a good way to revisit old games that someone may not have anymore, nor be able to find a copy of more, doubled with the fact that the PS3 (which is where most of these HD remakes are) is no longer backwards compatible.

And hell, the FFX remake that was just announced finally swayed me into deciding I'll be buying a PS3. Even though I don't normally care much about graphics, that game was breath-takingly gorgeous when it came out, and still looks pretty good even though it's 10 years old. I'd love to see how it looks in HD. Plus it'd be nice to have it on a blu-ray disc, which is far more durable, instead of treating my PS2 copy like it's made of crystal because I know I'll never find a mint copy again.

Originally posted by Impediment
I such a trophy whore. I have over 800 trophies and 3 platinums.

I'm a trophy whore as well. I mostly played games once though, even games that suck, but I tried to get as many trophies as I can on that single playthrough.

I'm currently level 10, 400+ trophies, only 2 platinums though 😄, what's your PSN ID?
mine's DaJay99

That being said, trophies are a huge incentive for me to buy these HD collections, but the deciding factor is whether I already played the game or not. As much as I love MGS, I don't think I would buy it if it wasn't for Peace Walker. SoTC is a great game, I want to experience it in HD, but ICO is the main reason I'll buy the disc.
I'm all up for this releases, I can catch up with my backlog and have pleasant experience in HD

I'm excited for FFX, but me buying it will depend on the price. It wouldn't hurt if FF X-2 😉 or FF XII are included in there too, but it will be great if the remakes are the International Editions (FF X-2 feels like a different game, plus it has the challenge tower, which I couldn't fully appreciate because it was all in Japanese)

I personally love the HD remakes, it's the only way I ever get to try older games that passed me by in the past. If not for the HD remake, I would never have been able to play God of War 1 & 2, Ico, Shadow of Colossus etc, all games I've always wanted to play (true, I could have played them if the PS3 had just had backwards compatibility built in)