Let’s take somebody I actually really respect, the Pet Shop Boys. (They’re practically a one-hit wonder in America but had numerous hit records in Europe.)
Within the past month, PSB has released a new album “Nonetheless” to favorable reviews, but they also released an EP called “Furthermore” with completely new recordings of some of their best-known hits. Recently they also collaborated with British post-punk group Sleaford Mods on a cover and remix of “West End Girls.”
There’s an audience who enjoys all this. Why shouldn’t they both put out new material and work with others to rejuvenate the old? For someone who never liked their brand of melancholy synthpop, it’s beating a dead horse. For the fans, it’s keeping alive something that deserves it.
Interesting how the „up to date“, or should I say „generic“ production of Furthermore robs them of their charm. They had an instantly recognizable sound.
I mean, do whatever the hell you want. I'll call you out as a hack for doing it, but if someone out there enjoys it then more power to them.
Personally I think that if Nintendo eschewed new games, and kept releasing the original Super Mario Brothers (a beloved game from almost four decades ago) bit-for-bit on other devices, maybe with better graphics, they'd be irrelevant idiots today. Sure, there's SOME market for that, but what's much cooler is making new stuff that holds up in the current year. Nostalgia is a powerful tool, but porting code from 30 years ago to my smart fridge with upgraded graphics is a poor use of it (this is barely hyperbole for the franchise, which says a lot).
That all being said, I know the Cyan offices haven't collapsed into rubble so they're still doing OK (though their workforce is TINY now, compared to 'back when'). And if that's what floats their boat, great. I'd rather suck start my shotgun than release the same software for 30 years (same as in verbatim, no less, someone else is porting it to modern stacks) but to each their own...
But Cyan does release new games with no connection to the Myst IP. And Nintendo has re-released the original Super Mario Bros on different platforms over the years.
> kept releasing the original Super Mario Brothers (a beloved game from almost four decades ago) bit-for-bit on other devices, maybe with better graphics, they'd be irrelevant idiots today
But they do that all the time. New Super Mario Bros had like 5 different releases across multiple platforms with little to no changes. Hell, the entire SMB lineup is basically the same game with a new gimmick and fresh graphics tacked on every release.
Super Mario All Stars it's a remake of the classic Mario Bros games for the NES but with SNES' Super Mario World graphics, they stil hold up really well today.
Let’s take somebody I actually really respect, the Pet Shop Boys. (They’re practically a one-hit wonder in America but had numerous hit records in Europe.)
Within the past month, PSB has released a new album “Nonetheless” to favorable reviews, but they also released an EP called “Furthermore” with completely new recordings of some of their best-known hits. Recently they also collaborated with British post-punk group Sleaford Mods on a cover and remix of “West End Girls.”
There’s an audience who enjoys all this. Why shouldn’t they both put out new material and work with others to rejuvenate the old? For someone who never liked their brand of melancholy synthpop, it’s beating a dead horse. For the fans, it’s keeping alive something that deserves it.