Have There Been Too Many Video Game Re-releases?

While the latest console generations have offered some of the most unique and exciting video games, they’ve also been plagued with dozens of releases, remasters, and remakes of older games. These games are fun to play, there’s no doubt in that, but are there too many of them?

Console, PC, Smartphone & Casino re-releases

The last few years have experienced a slew of re-releases. We’ve seen both the original Crash Bandicoot and Spyro trilogy release on current-gen consoles, we’ve seen remakes of Resident Evil Two and Three, a remake of 1997’s Final Fantasy VII, and, recently announced, remakes of the PS1’s first two Tony Hawk Pro Skater games, the first two Mafia games, and according to rumours several older Super Mario games. It doesn’t end there, however, as games from previous console generations have been rereleased as collections with added visual improvements too.

The remakes aren’t just limited to home consoles as companies have been developing and releasing remakes such as Age Of Empires II and Command And Conquer for PC. Meanwhile, smartphone game developers have been releasing older games such as SEGA’s Sonic The Hedgehog for iPhones and Android devices, and casino game developers have been re-releasing classic video slots with updated visuals and gameplay mechanics or they’ve been remaking older slot machines games for online casinos. Having a glimpse at Casinostoplay.com, a leading review website for Internet gambling, you notice that many casino sites boast more than 1000 games with many of them being re-release from the olden days.

As you can see, much of the gaming industry has become overtaken by these re-releases. While many enjoy seeing older games return with updated graphics and gameplay, these many re-releases aren’t a great thing.

The Drawbacks of Re-Releases

This doesn’t only apply to home consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation, but also smartphone and casino games. Many game publishers are concentrating on remaking older games, partially due to their easy and guaranteed success, rather than spending time creating a new series that can shake the industry up and change things.

However, it is important to point out that re-releases aren’t all bad. They’re a great way of attracting new players who never had the chance to play the original game, and, since they’re games, they’re overwhelmingly fun to play. More gamers are calling for their favourite franchises from previous console generations to be remastered and re released on current and future gens.