Recently news has arisen that Blizzard may be latest developer to jump on board the remastered trend which is become so popular of late. The game in question is Starcraft and rumor has it that the game will be getting a high-tech update which should bring it in line with or even surpass visuals and performance of the recent three games in the Starcraft 2 series. As someone who remembers fondly going to the Wizards of the Coast debut for the original game in Seattle to cover the first look at the game, I’ve always had a fondness for the series.
With that being said, I find myself in a bit of a conflict over the potential for remastered version of the game. The game was so ahead of the curve with only the Command and Conquer franchise offering any sort of competition for the real-time strategy game that in some ways it may be seen as undermining the classic by bringing it on par with today’s releases.
There is a part of me that’s says I would rather see a new entry the series rather than a remastering of the old game as should this be successful; how long until we see Diablo one and two as well as Warcraft remastered?
This is the dilemma of the remastered trend as while it is fantastic to see the old games a new and have them reach a new audience, if it comes at the expense of new adventures in series is this a good thing? On one hand you can say at the success of the remastered version may actually hasten development of new titles in a series, as nothing is saying that they are taking resources away from other development projects currently in the works as Blizzard has certainly been hiring new talent.
My concern is that most of this is mainly due for eSports by giving competitors new material in what is already a proven field without the extended development and cost that would go with creation of a new title series.
I think any developer is poised to do this correctly it would be Blizzard as they have a solid track record and likely will not abandon new creations in favor of remastering classics which in the end is a win-win for gamers regardless of where you stand on the subject of remastered games. I would expect to hear more about this at Blizzcon 2016 as the eyes the gaming world will be firmly fixed on it for any new information.
