Cognition Dissemination: Remasters STILL Aren’t Over
It’s been a month since I made a semi-lengthy post regarding the continued releases of remasters, a piece that conveyed how publishers haven’t ceased providing them despite the increase in brand new software releases. Little did I know that point was more bang-on than I expected at the time. In addition to there being one I forgot to mention, more have been announced in the short amount of time since that post.
This isn’t much of a surprise, though; publishers were releasing these because they didn’t have enough new games ready on current-generation platforms initially. But once those titles were complete, they weren’t suddenly going to stop these, especially when they could be counted on as a constant revenue stream. That’s important in a time were development costs are rising at a faster pace than the sales of new products.
It was shortly after that post when I realized I forgot to mention The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, despite it being announced around then. This definitive port of perhaps the best-selling RPG of the last console generation was announced at Bethesda’s E3 2016 conference, shortly after its existence was leaked by a UK retailer. While all the DLC will unsurprisingly be included in the package, the bigger attraction is the enhanced textures, performance, and support for mods, all of which should be improved over the current PC version. That also explains why this version will also release on PC when it arrives in late October.
Let’s be honest here: The real attractive aspect of this release is having a chance to play a version that doesn’t hitch due to a memory leak, especially for anyone restricted to the PS3 version during the last console gen. Not to say I’m certain this version will be flawless, because you should always be skeptical of a Bethesda-developed product, but at least there’s a considerably better chance of it being polished to a sheen.
Remasters of both Marvel Ultimate Alliance games were announced and released in a quick fashion, following a surprise unveil at the San Diego Comic-Con. For anyone who thought they’d never get their hands on these again, thanks to the rights for Marvel’s games being disheveled after Disney purchased them, this provided everyone another chance — on modern platforms, at that.
Unfortunately, the “remasters” of the Prototype games were an ominous foreboding for how Activision would treat such releases without the words “Call of Duty” in their name. Regardless of the platform, those who immediately purchased the package ran into crashes, unresponsive controls, and assorted bugs and glitches that weren’t present in the original titles. The graphics and performance also aren’t all they should be, given how much more powerful current platforms are, and even the menus are a huge downgrade. Fortunately, they’ve patched the game to fix some issues, but expect some (like the graphics and menus) to remain unaltered.
Fortunately, you can depend on other companies to handle their remasters better from the get-go — even Capcom. Speaking of them, they had a couple of their own to unveil in the form of the Dead Rising games. Specifically, Capcom is bringing the first Dead Rising to PC, PS4, and XB1, while Dead Rising 2 and the Off the Record version will release for PS4 and XB1; the last two products are already available on PC.
While Capcom is maintaining their supposed commitment to remaster everything for current-gen platforms, it’s the PS4 version that’s the most surprising of these releases. That’s due to the series being more aligned with Microsoft for the last three years, as the Microsoft-published Dead Rising 3 missed the platform. The also-upcoming Dead Rising 4 will follow that title’s lead when it releases this holiday season.
The ports should also be in good hands, given who’s handling them. The first game is being worked on by QLoc, who’s handled a number of ports for Capcom, including DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition. The second game and its spinoff are being worked on by Mercenary Technology, who handled the PC versions of those same games, and God of War III Remastered for Sony last year. There’s no date for the ports, but a mid-September timeframe was previously listed for each title on the Xbox Live Marketplace. We’ll see whether that’s accurate within a few weeks.
Also coming from Capcom is Resident Evil 4 for PS4 and XB1, due for a release on August 30th, a little earlier than the fall 2016 timeframe they previously set. This version should be based on the Ultimate HD Edition that released on Steam in 2014, and an improved effort over the HD remaster on PS3 and 360. Also unlike that one, this one’s getting a retail release in America and Asian territories, with the former costing a mere $20. If you love the game as much as I do, get ready to purchase it yet again.
As you could tell by reading the lede of this post, I seriously underestimated the number of remasters that were yet to come from publishers. That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised to see this piece out of date within a few months at most, since some publishers are determined to remaster everything, even if it’s available on XB1 through backwards compatibility. While you can think of remasters as cynical cash-ins, keep in mind these also mark the first opportunity for some to experience these titles, and offer some a chance to own a definitive version most of the time. Anyone who still doesn’t like remasters can tide themselves over with new games, so in a way, everyone is a winner here.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
