First thing's first, I get HD collections/re-releases. I really do, especially now that digital distribution is so widely available. It's giving a lot of people a chance to play 6th gen games that they would never otherwise try. They're cheap, they're nostalgic and a lot of the time they're good value.
Take for instance the Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia Trilogies: three games from well known series, upscaled to 720p and sold for almost half the cost of a new retail game. Mine were £19.99 on release and I saw very few places, both online and brick and mortar selling them at RRP. For 20 quid that's a trip down memory lane, as well as a painful reminder of the death of my PS2.
But, he's the real subject matter of the topic I suppose. Should a HD collection be a simple port, upscale and re-release job? The Metal Gear HD Collection is set for a RRP of £40. That's £40 for a grand total of 5 games, three of which have been upscaled to 720p and given sharper textures. Now I know it's not going to bring any of those game to compete with current videogames, but the point is that there's a bit of work going back into these games.
Secondly should a HD collection be sold on its fame alone? This is the case with Resident Evil 4 HD it seems. While it is in 720p, it's essentially a port of the Wii edition which took the best bits from both the PS2 and NGC versions, content and graphics respectively. Now I'm not sure how hard it is to bang out some new textures, but I've got Resident Evil 4 on PC and with a user made modification that utilises the Gamecube textures, the game looks a hell of a lot better. Resident Evil 4 disappointed me (wah, get over it I know). But not because it was horrible, but because previous HD re-releases at least seemed to have put some effort into making the games fresh again. The sharper textures in God of War and God of War II certainly made the collection worth the 20 quid I paid for it. Whereas Resident Evil 4 is a shocking £16 for a Wii port.
That last bit may have been a rant. I was warned about it, but my fondness for the game won me over and I've forked over £16 for an inferior edition of a game I already own four times. I was hoping the HD re-release would be the definitive edition, though to me that title still goes to the Wii edition. Not only that, but the game just feels like a hollow cashgrab.
Recap
1. Does a 720p resolution constitute a worthy 'HD' re-release (not technically speaking of course).
2. Should a HD re-release be expected to sell on it's fame and prior success alone?
Take for instance the Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia Trilogies: three games from well known series, upscaled to 720p and sold for almost half the cost of a new retail game. Mine were £19.99 on release and I saw very few places, both online and brick and mortar selling them at RRP. For 20 quid that's a trip down memory lane, as well as a painful reminder of the death of my PS2.
But, he's the real subject matter of the topic I suppose. Should a HD collection be a simple port, upscale and re-release job? The Metal Gear HD Collection is set for a RRP of £40. That's £40 for a grand total of 5 games, three of which have been upscaled to 720p and given sharper textures. Now I know it's not going to bring any of those game to compete with current videogames, but the point is that there's a bit of work going back into these games.
Secondly should a HD collection be sold on its fame alone? This is the case with Resident Evil 4 HD it seems. While it is in 720p, it's essentially a port of the Wii edition which took the best bits from both the PS2 and NGC versions, content and graphics respectively. Now I'm not sure how hard it is to bang out some new textures, but I've got Resident Evil 4 on PC and with a user made modification that utilises the Gamecube textures, the game looks a hell of a lot better. Resident Evil 4 disappointed me (wah, get over it I know). But not because it was horrible, but because previous HD re-releases at least seemed to have put some effort into making the games fresh again. The sharper textures in God of War and God of War II certainly made the collection worth the 20 quid I paid for it. Whereas Resident Evil 4 is a shocking £16 for a Wii port.
That last bit may have been a rant. I was warned about it, but my fondness for the game won me over and I've forked over £16 for an inferior edition of a game I already own four times. I was hoping the HD re-release would be the definitive edition, though to me that title still goes to the Wii edition. Not only that, but the game just feels like a hollow cashgrab.
Recap
1. Does a 720p resolution constitute a worthy 'HD' re-release (not technically speaking of course).
2. Should a HD re-release be expected to sell on it's fame and prior success alone?