The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s, and do not reflect those of MyGaming
We as gamers tend to like things that are familiar to us. That’s why Nintendo manages to make piles of money each time it releases a new Legend of Zelda, Metroid or Super Mario game that features the same basic gameplay with a new coat of paint. It’s one of the reasons that Activision churns out sequel after sequel of franchises that sell really well: Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and Tony Hawk.
It is for this same reason that Sony has a new revenue stream. After putting two PlayStation 2 games onto a single Blu-Ray disc, upscaling the graphics, upping the framerate and adding trophies for each game, they released God of War Collection at around the same time as God of War 3. This managed to capitalise on the hype and marketing that surrounded one of 2010’s biggest releases, and obviously sold quite well. Sony has noted the sales of this collection, and has been quite quick to announce a further two collection series. The Sly Cooper series of games (all three games, presumably in 720p, confirmed with three platinum trophies, on one Blu-Ray disc) and the Team Ico Collection (containing Ico and Shadow of the Colossus), and which will presumably be released to coincide with The Last Guardian’s release.
Obviously, people who already own the games being released in these collections are just buying a new coat of paint (and a few new trophies if you are into that). Of course there is a certain market that will be experiencing the games for the first time (including myself, who didn’t get a chance to play any of the Sly Cooper games or the original Ico), but I think that quite a large percentage of sales will come from people buying the games purely for the nostalgia factor. In other words, “I really enjoyed playing Shadow of the Colossus back on my PlayStation 2, let me relieve those glory days by playing it again in a slightly prettier format on my PlayStation 3.”
This is probably as close as PlayStation 3 gamers will get to having true backwards compatibility. Perhaps there was a chance that if the God of War Collection didn’t sell well, Sony would not be publishing more collection games, and would instead be implementing a form of software backwards compatibility or making full PS2 titles available for download from the PlayStation Store, in much the same way as original PlayStation games are currently being made available. Sony seems determined to play on gamers’ feelings of nostalgia in order to make as much money out of their old titles as possible.
Nintendo’s approach, on the other hand, is more subtle. By releasing annual titles to at least one of their big franchise names, they ensure that gamers will be at least marginally interested at news of a new Zelda/Mario/Metroid/Pokémon game. The formulas for each game remain fairly static: explore, find a dungeon, get unique item needed for next dungeon, fight boss, finish dungeon, find next dungeon etc. for Legend of Zelda games. By evoking the same sentiments that we experienced when we first rescued the princess in the original Super Mario Brothers, Nintendo ensures that they sell millions of copies of New Super Mario Brothers Wii, which is essentially an amalgamation of most previous Super Mario Brothers games, with some add-ons, new levels and prettier graphics. The same goes with Pokémon games and every other franchise that Nintendo owns.
Of course, nostalgic feelings can go horribly wrong. If the memories of the original game are too strong, they will overpower our enjoyment of the game in front of us. This will lead to rejection of the new game, a longing for the “good old days”, and a decline in future franchised title sales.
In general, however, nostalgia sells, and game developers know this. Obviously they are going to want to sell as many games as possible, and they will gladly prey on our happy childhood memories in order to shift their latest release. That’s why developers are so hesitant to take risks: new intellectual properties are risky, while a game that you fondly remember playing when you were younger is almost a sure bet.
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