But we do have a problem
Written by Lars Cornelis op
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The GTA trilogy is an extreme example, as they are great games that have been remastered intensely poorly. So bad, that you can no longer understand from this remaster why these games were so important two decades ago. There are of course good and bad remasters, of both good and bad games. But even the best remasters often deviate from the creator’s original vision. While that is precisely what we must keep.
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To illustrate, I’ll take the GTA trilogy again, because that’s such a wonderful textbook example of how things should not be done. Apart from the unstable frame rate, the rain effects and the exaggerated smoothening, the games look extremely sterile. There is no graphical filter or effect in the game. From a high point you can immediately see the entire game world. This makes San Andreas suddenly very small, as if you are looking out over a toy city. If you see too much, the magic disappears.
In the original version it became hazy in the distance. In fact, in the city the viewing distance was shorter than in the countryside. This was due to a technical limitation: the busy city demanded more from the PlayStation 2 than from the countryside. But that created a certain atmosphere. The city felt oppressive, warm, filled with smog. While in the countryside you could breathe freely in the clean air. It is precisely those kinds of aesthetic details that are extremely decisive for the atmosphere of a game.
There are more examples of remasters that fail when it comes to preserving the original vision. Even ‘good’ remasters make mistakes. Recently I played Halo 4 again in preparation for Halo Infinite. The original version of Halo 4 on Xbox 360 ends, logically, with the credits. They are accompanied by a beautiful performance of Never Forget, which is an emotional exclamation point at the end. In the Master Chief Collection, the credits are cut out and the post-credit scene starts immediately. Which is technically not immediately post-credits scene is more.
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I am immensely annoyed by these kinds of things. Games are artistic works and are made with a certain vision. Image and sound are brought together in a certain way. From the sounds in the menu to the credits and everything in between adds to the whole.
In recent years, I consciously chose a television and audio set that reflect that vision as well as possible, without saturated colors or exaggerated bass. But when a game is a few years old and ready for a remaster, should we just accept that some random bastard will run off with the source material? Just keep your hands off it!
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If a game is a few years old, should we just accept that some random asshole will run off with the source material?
I’m not saying that because I don’t want to pay (again) for remasters. I say that because I like games. And you want to keep things you love. Unfortunately, that is getting more and more difficult with games. They are threatened left and right. Digital stores go offline, games have become (too) dependent on patches or online services, or publishers withdraw the first release because a reissue appears.
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Rockstar, for example, pulled the original GTA games from digital stores. The PC versions are now (limited) downloadable again, but the console versions are no longer available. Sony deleted recently with a view to Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection the standalone PS4 games (small nuance: those PS4 versions are still available as a bundle). The Halo Infinite disk is just a glorified DRM key; the game itself isn’t there at all. That is not a problem now, but it does make consumers completely dependent on digital distribution. It’s really rife.
And then there is the technological ‘progress’. For example, my modern television no longer has a scart or RCA connection, so connecting my PlayStation 2 without the intervention of accessories is no longer an option.
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Long story short, wanting to play old games is a dull ache – and it only promises to get worse. Publishers like to take advantage of this problem by releasing remasters, but time and time again this has not proved to be a satisfactory solution. This is partly due to the consumer, who often expects something from an upgrade with such a reissue. The end result is therefore often neither meat nor fish.
It is strange that the game industry (both publishers and consumers) is so different from the film industry in this regard. There are plenty of old movies on 4k blu-ray for sale. The resolution is higher, HDR has been added and the sound has mostly been upgraded to modern audio formats like Dolby Atmos or DTS-X, but it’s still the original movies from start to finish. Nobody suddenly expects new content or improved special effects. And those who are now wisely going to say that with every re-release something is adapted to Star Wars: that’s right. No one has ever been happy about that except George Lucas himself. Exactly my point.
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Movies are a very different medium from games and are less affected by the ravages of time, but a similar approach to games is certainly possible. Microsoft proves this with its backward compatibility strategy. They make the original games playable on modern hardware. Only if it is possible are (hardware) the resolution or frame rate increased, or HDR is added. But that’s all: it remains the original, unaltered game and those technical improvements can even be switched off again. That’s where we need to go. This is how you keep the classics in their original glory and make them playable on modern devices.
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Then we can immediately switch to better, more consistent terminology. Get rid of the Legendary HD Definitive Super Edition. As a director, do you really want to adjust something, for example by expanding your game with extra content or a different camera perspective? Then we speak of a Director’s Cut. Want to really recreate a game by modern standards? Then it’s called a remake. It may simply be sold again for the full blow, but do your best on it. Have some fun with the chance to recreate a classic. And in all other cases, leave the source material alone, please.
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Only in this way can we preserve our history. Only then can today’s generation understand that Grand Theft Auto 3 was really significant in its day. And only in this way can I, in a nostalgic mood, sing along with a few beers of Toto’s Africa as I cruise along Vice City’s neon-lit boulevard.
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Every Saturday a column appears on Gamer.nl that (usually) deals with current events. Also read:
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