We are now seven months into the lifespans of the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 and more than 18 months into the Wii U’s release.
Yet we are confronted with the oddity of video game publishers asking us to pay money for games that have already been on the market for years.
Many jaded gamers are still waiting for a reason for purchasing a brand new $400 or $500 console.
The solution on the part of manufacturers has been to remaster or remake previous games for the new systems. This is done to both give developers experience on the new platforms and to take advantage of this lull.
Most notably, Sony’s “The Last of Us Remastered” and Microsoft’s “Halo: The Master Chief Collection” are intended to fill this gap. The games coming from previous generation platforms now have higher resolutions and include additional content for the same price as their original releases.
Certainly, gamers have been burned by remakes in the past. Some “game of the year” editions have come out all too quickly after original releases with no new content or appeal. But I believe rereleases cannot be all bad.
These are early days of a new generation of consoles.
That means developers want to get the hang of new hardware, even if it is based on PCs. Plus, it gives people a chance to enjoy the games the way that the developers originally intended.
So for those complaining, my advice is to sit back, relax and wait for 2015.
