Are TV games revisiting classics game remakes or just rehashing old stuff?

Remaking classic games from the past and releasing them on new platforms is nothing new in the gaming industry, with games like the Super Mario Bros. series also having achieved huge success at the hands of Nintendo.

Seemingly with a basis to rely on, many manufacturers have also put a large number of classic games on the big screen of TV, and have also extended a lot of simple casual games like "Dota Legend TV Edition" from them, making TV games a lot richer, but most of the games are suspected of constantly rehashing old stuff under the pretext of revisiting classics.

Faced with such a gaming environment, how should TV games develop?

Players' nostalgia is not an excuse to rehash old TV games

From the perspective of players, there were more or less some shortcomings in the games of the past. Due to the dissatisfaction at that time, the game makers decisively seized the business opportunity and remade the classic games to meet the needs of these players. All this happened naturally. If you want it, I will give it to you. It all comes down to the satisfaction of reasonable expectations and wishes.

Since entering the next generation, two IGN full-score games have been born on PS4 after being recognized in many aspects. One of them is the remake of the 3A masterpiece "GTA5" on the PC platform. In the face of the affirmation of many players, if a heavy game like "GTA5" is only sold once, it may become a blasphemy to it.

In this way, it may be a good choice to remake games that are valued by players and push them to new platforms. In this way, video games seem to stand on the shoulders of "giants" and follow the path of "success" of others.

From PC to TV, from console to TV, and even from mobile games to TV, game manufacturers continue to add games to TV through various channels, so casual games like "Tank Wars" and "Raiden", or masterpieces like "Dynasty Warriors" and "GTA" appear on the big screen.

And what are the results?

Seeing that games like "Tank War" with simple operation were broadcast on TV, with good operation adaptation and game graphics, and were popular among players, a series of similar games such as "Tank War 2015" and "Tank War of All People" began to appear in the players' field of vision. There were so many that they could not be stopped, which directly challenged the players' acceptance limit.

As for "Dynasty Warriors" and "GTA", although they seem to be classic masterpieces that are more attractive, when you open the game, the graphics are so bad that you can't bear to look at them because the performance of the machine cannot reach the strength of a PC or a console. The operation is also copied without any good adaptation, and there is no sense of operation.

Players’ pursuit of classic nostalgia does not mean simply copying the game. The reason why classics become classics is that they shocked players in that era. If past achievements are moved to the present, it does not mean that they will be successful in the future. However, if players’ nostalgia is used as an excuse to rehash old games and the games are put on TV intact, players will not buy it.

What kind of games do large-screen TVs need?

According to a survey conducted by a certain website, only 10% of netizens said they have played games on smart TVs. Although this is only the opinion of some people, it also shows that TV games have not attracted the attention of players.

Overall, smart TVs and TV boxes have not reached the level of PCs and consoles. Smart devices have difficulty running some large-scale games. After seeing this, in order to attract players, game CPs have turned to the mobile phone market for game sources, and the number of mobile game transplants has also increased.

But television is different from mobile phones. Most of the games played on mobile phones are played in fragmented time, such as on the road, in elevators, and on subways. However, playing games on television is more about attracting people to sit down together and spend several hours entertaining themselves. This requires the game to be interesting, continuous, and immersive. At present, such games are very rare on smart TVs.

Are classic remakes still suitable for big-screen TVs? What kind of games do big-screen TVs need?

First of all, there are only a handful of TV game developers that can develop their own original games. Game porting and classic remakes are still essential in the early stages of TV game development, but remakes do not necessarily mean copying. Even with a strong IP, there can be novelties of its own. Nintendo's "Super Mario Bros." series, although many years have passed, can still arouse the interest of players. Why? Although each game is about Mario Bros., each has different gameplay characteristics. An IP is used until old, but the game is not old, and novelty is always displayed.

Secondly, we need to consider the specific performance of the game carrier, that is, the TV. TV games are not like PC and console games, which rely on gorgeous graphics and powerful performance of the device. Although it is a pity, 3A games like "Assassin's Creed" should be put on TV as little as possible, while light games like "Leo's Fortune" are not complicated to operate and have depth.

Finally, game CPs focus more on the needs of players. After all, games are for players to play. After being trained on PCs and consoles, players are no longer satisfied with game quality and graphics. Different groups of people have different audiences. How to adjust the future TV game layout according to the players is an issue that TV games should pay attention to at this stage.

Game remakes may be a necessary step for TV games at this stage. Remakes of old games may also appear on the big screen, but how to get out of this situation still depends on the next decision of the game CPs.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.