Are Nintendo remakes bad for gaming?
Nintendo is notorious for remastering, remaking and rereleasing a lot of their games. Here’s why that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Nintendo remakes have been criticized in the past for having the company prioritize old games and existing titles rather than new ones. While this may not be totally accurate, there are a lot of Nintendo Switch titles that originally came out for older consoles. That’s not entirely negative
It’s true that putting time, resources and effort into remaking an old game does technically detract from the company’s ability to make new ones. Every Pokémon remake means they’re not working on a new one. Still, they have proven they have the ability to do both.
In a calendar year, there can and have been remakes and new titles for a lot of their biggest IPs. In 2023, Super Mario Bros. Wonder (a new title) and Super Mario RPG (a remake) will have come out. Did one take away from the other? Not really.
Furthermore, for every player complaining that they’ve already played (insert game title here) and don’t need a remake, there are a few that never got to experience it. For the most part, it’s the classics being remade and brought to a modern audience.
There are a few key examples. Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door is expected to arrive in 2024. That was a GameCube game, and a ton of current Nintendo players missed the chance to experience it.
They released The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD in 2021, and that was a game made for the original Wii. There’s an audience who missed it. The same can be said of every remake, whether it’s Pokémon Brilliant Diamond or The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.
These classic games were beloved in their time, which is partly why some fans don’t want to see them brought back. However, that’s exactly the reason that it’s fine to bring Nintendo remakes back. Two kinds of players will play them: those who loved and want to relive the game, and those who missed out.
That makes up a majority of the player base Nintendo has. Yes, it does limit resources for new games, but there’s a good reason these remakes are made and they have a great impact on the community.