wraggster
April 11th, 2020, 20:58
Everything old is new again.
As with millions of people around the world, this time in self-isolation has come at a perfect moment for an indulgent binge in the games of my youth. This week I've been whiling away the evenings on Resident Evil 3 (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-04-02-resident-evil-3-critical-consensus) (original release, 1999, just as I was finishing high school), but I'm concerned I won't get a chance to finish it before Final Fantasy 7 (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-04-07-final-fantasy-7-remake-critical-consensus) (original release, 1997, and the first game I ever bought on the first games console I ever bought -- my parents had strong views on computing devices without an overtly educational value).
It's largely coincidence that these remakes of two behemoths of the late '90s have turned up at exactly this point, of course; but what isn't coincidence is the fact that the games of the PlayStation era are the focus of such intense commercial interest right now.
In no sense has the development of the Final Fantasy 7 remake been any cheaper than any other modern AAA title
These games exist at the confluence of a few factors which make them into perfect candidates for the kind of high-budget remake that Square Enix and Capcom have committed to. Their age is more or less ideal, for a start -- the generation who grew up with them is in their mid-thirties through to their early forties, which is prime territory for a first wave of middle-aged nostalgia, as I realised (somewhat uncomfortably) as I caught myself last week buying figurines of the original low-polygon Final Fantasy 7 character models to put on my desk at work.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-04-10-the-industry-mines-for-90s-nostalgia-opinion
As with millions of people around the world, this time in self-isolation has come at a perfect moment for an indulgent binge in the games of my youth. This week I've been whiling away the evenings on Resident Evil 3 (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-04-02-resident-evil-3-critical-consensus) (original release, 1999, just as I was finishing high school), but I'm concerned I won't get a chance to finish it before Final Fantasy 7 (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-04-07-final-fantasy-7-remake-critical-consensus) (original release, 1997, and the first game I ever bought on the first games console I ever bought -- my parents had strong views on computing devices without an overtly educational value).
It's largely coincidence that these remakes of two behemoths of the late '90s have turned up at exactly this point, of course; but what isn't coincidence is the fact that the games of the PlayStation era are the focus of such intense commercial interest right now.
In no sense has the development of the Final Fantasy 7 remake been any cheaper than any other modern AAA title
These games exist at the confluence of a few factors which make them into perfect candidates for the kind of high-budget remake that Square Enix and Capcom have committed to. Their age is more or less ideal, for a start -- the generation who grew up with them is in their mid-thirties through to their early forties, which is prime territory for a first wave of middle-aged nostalgia, as I realised (somewhat uncomfortably) as I caught myself last week buying figurines of the original low-polygon Final Fantasy 7 character models to put on my desk at work.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-04-10-the-industry-mines-for-90s-nostalgia-opinion