This column has short-man syndrome - February 23rd, 2000 - Drew Cosner
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not neccessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. What if I didn't hide a message here one day? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Reading these columns is sort of like watching those surgery shows on the Learning Channel. They're nauseating to the point that you feel like you're going to vomit. You know they're going to work their way into your subconscious mind, eventually manifesting themselves in your dreams. And yet you can't stop looking.
Hey, let's see you come up with as many intros as I have and have them all be funny, okay?
| If only every decision were this simple |
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Blasphemy! You dare question the value of remakes? That's not something for a gamer to ask. They put out the games; I buy the games. It's as simple as that.
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That's certainly one way to handle the situation. You're certainly the type of consumer Square banks on, I'll say that.
| The coolest ever |
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I own FFVII. I still play FFVII. But as soon as the PS2 remake (Sakaguchi
willing) comes out, I will shell out however much of my soul Square wants to
it.
Why?
I'm a graphics whore. I'm damn proud of it too. After all, graphics are
half of what makes a videogame. On my desktop is the CG picture of Vincent
on a rooftop looking over a stormy-skied Nibelheim, one of the coolest
pictures this side of "Starry Night." Every time I see it, all I can think
is, "Wow, what would an entire FFVII with these kind of graphics be like?"
Answer: Sexalicious.
Christoph, whore-o-matic
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Yeah, there is a certain draw to seeing one of your favorite games given a few extra tweaks here and there, be they graphical or otherwise. considering how we all get the urge to play through an old game we enjoyed in reminiscence every now and then, minor graphical adjustments or some other slight change gives instant justificatino for doing so. On one hand, you could just dust off the actual cartridge itself in most cases, but then again, if you get the remake, you're playing an old game you like and being given a few extra surprises along the way.
| You're American whether you like it or not |
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I'm a Canadian, don't give a damn about being inadvertently called an
American when referring to English-speaking people on this continent.
Hell, the term isn't even inaccurate, either. We all live on the
continent of North America, right? Makes us all North Americans, then.
And I don't know where the guy who wrote that letter's from in Canada,
the earliest I ever got a game was a week after the US release date. Stupid
French manuals.
*-LS-*
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Yeah, I'd tend to agree with that logic. On one hand, the common perception is that America can't go a week without blowing something up and/or ramming one form of large vehicle into another, and if you're Canadian, being associated with such people might get you irate. On ther other hand, Canadians are technically living in North America, so suck on that. Just because you aren't actual members of this fine country doesn't mean you get to avoid the stigmata entirely.
It's comforting to know that, even if inadvertantly, I'm helping to make my problems other people's problems.
| The right way to make a remake |
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Drew,
I would greatly appreciate and most likely buy a REMAKE of any classic RPG such as FF or CT... However, I SPIT on these "ports" that Square has released with almost NO improvement in any area whatsoever. These are just examples of laziness, and an attempt at Square to cash in on franchise without putting money into them.
What would I like to see? Well.... Think of Lunar:SSSC and Lunar:EB.... That's what the Final Fantasy's should be like. Remakes. My hopes skyrocketed when I heard about the FF remakes for the GameBoy Advance, but were quickly shot down by Yamauchi and his arrogance....The fool!
The way I see it, Square could go about this two ways:
1. The Super Mario All Stars Method: Following the genius example of Nintendo, Square could put the classic RPG's they're wanting to release on one DVD for Playstation 2 (because a DVD can hold much more space than a CD... I forgot how much more, but a lot), and improve the graphics and music in the games *to a point*. For example, in Super Mario All Stars, all of the graphics and sound are improved in all the Mario games... But, amazingly enough, you can still tell a difference in which game came first, second, third, etc. by the graphic and sound quality of the games. You can also still tell that Super Mario Bros, for example, was made for the NES, DESPITE the fact the graphics and sound were improved.
2. The Maximum Method: They could take each RPG one-by-one and completely remake it, giving it polygonal graphics, pre-rendered graphics, or vastly improved 2D graphics.....They could replace the story scenes with beautiful cinematics... They could redo the entire soundtrack with opera-like vocals and a COMPELLING orchestrated soundtrack.... They could add new story scenes, new sidequests, to character dialogue to make the story more "complete". Then, on the side, they could have the original, unchanged, unedited, unimproved SNES version of the game come on the same disc as the redone version of the game, so that gamers could play the original to see how it was different. (This is feasible because it would take up so little space)
I'm not sure which method I'd like better.... Either would be great, although I have to say I lean a little towards the Super Mario All Stars way. Which way would YOU prefer? This would be a good poll to take....
- Shake
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Well, which way I would prefer really doesn't matter considering that putting the time and effort into a remake either method requires would completely defeat Square's purpose. The company just wants a product it can toss together and throw out the door with minimal effort and cost -- solid return for a small investment. There's plenty of newer, potentially more profitable games to develop; ports are just a way for Square to pick up a few extra bucks when need be.
Companies like Working Designs make their bread-and-butter by appealing to a small but dedicated section of the market. WD has found its niche and works within it. Conversely, Square gets to have the best of both worlds: the company's ports appeal to the same niche market, while newer games are targeted at more casual gamers, who make up the bulk of those buying games. Sure, Square's remakes may not have the same honest integrity that WD do, but it's a different financial objective.
| Letters from a gumball machine |
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Dear Drew,
Are you kidding, who wouldn't want to play Chrono Trigger again? Hell, I'm
in the middle of a game right now. CT is without question the best RPG ever
made. Then again you got Playstation RPG's like FF7 which was great but is
no where near the caliber of CT. I don't know, something about the game just
does it for me. Sorry for the little rant there.
Anyway about the topic, I can see why people would want to play remakes of
the classics. It's pretty much quality assurance that the game isn't going
to suck. Look how many remakes of Star Wars they made and people were very
pleased with that. There is nothing like having the opportunity to take
something that is already good, and make it great.
Then again, I do agree that it is better to move forward rather than
backwards. On the other hand, there are probably only a handful of RPG's
that were made in the 32-bit era that I would consider truly great. As
opposed to the 16-bit era that contained some of the best RPG's to date.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not throwing the whole old-school temper tantrum
routine. I just think we are at a point in time right now when developers
could create really badass games. I don't see why in the next year I won't
be able play a game that will absolutely blow my mind. The technology is
there. All that's missing is the creative minds that bring it to life. I
know there are some great developers out there.(Kojima, Miyamoto, Sakaguchi)
I just hope that looking to the past will bring a brighter future for games.
-tom servo
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I'm way too tired to even attempt to address the sudden change in tone your letter takes at the end, but it does bring up a point I wanted to address. Namely, there are some people who will never enjoy newer games as much as older ones (for a multitude of reasons I won't get into now), and for them, a port offers exactly the experience they look for in a game with a few changes to give them a reason to go through it again.
| But, then, having is often not as pleasing a thing as wanting |
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I also like remakes because they can be a second chance for games that never
made it to the US (COUGH) Seiken Densetsu 3, Dragon Quest 6, Terranigma, and
Policenauts (COUGH).
While I'm on the subject of SD3, a Seiken Densetsu Anthology complete with
SD2 and 3 with Working Designs-style extras would kick SERIOUS AMOUNTS OF
ASS. Can I get an AMEN!?
Star Lancer
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This is certainly another argument in favor of remakes. It doesn't happen too often, but occasionally it finally does. Take, for example, FFV.
Closing comments:
Okay, so this is the shortest, lousiest column I've done in a while. But dammit, I'm on a streak; I haven't missed a column since taking over as weekend guy, and even if it means pawning off some piece of junk on you readers to maintain the streak, then that's what I'll have to do. At least you can't fault me for my lack of honesty.
Anyway, write about whatever so pleases you tomorrow. I'll make sure tomorrow's column is super extra crispy good, or something. Actually it will probably be about as crummy as always, but at least it will undoubtedly be longer.
-Drew Cosner
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