A popular trend in the games industry these days to re-release old titles, sometimes with updated graphics, on current-generation systems for a "reduced" price; that price point typically being two-thirds the cost of a typical "new" release.
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| Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary |
And gamers gobble it up.
Halo got a 10-year anniversary edition with a particularly breathtaking new coat of paint and unchanged gameplay.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary even includes an awesome feature which allows you to switch between the new and original graphics right in the middle of playing the game - a nostalgic as well as academic experience. As someone who never spent much time other than a single LAN party in
Halo, I found
Anniversary to be a very interesting and enjoyable title. For $40, I didn't complain once. Except during the Library level. Gah.
Nostalgia is apparently a massive driving force behind the re-release mantra, but it can sometimes backfire. Consider the recent brouhaha over
Final Fantasy V's re-release and HD remastering on iOS. Square Enix messed with the formula a bit too much and spoiled the nostalgic experience for many fans - not to mention the steep price.
This isn't a new trend, either. As far as I can recall it began somewhere around the Gameboy Color era with re-releases of
Dragon Warrior I through who-knows-what-number-they're-at-now.
What do you think about HD remakes and re-releases? Are they an industry cash-grab or a worthwhile investment of our time and money?
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