The Last of Us (PS3)

[EvaUnit02]

Plus they're riding on the success of the show.

The problem with your narrative is that ALL Sony first party titles ported to PC since 2020 have been consistently priced high. All have been several years old games.

[Sulphur]

There's no problem with the narrative. The remake is relatively new despite the original game being old, and yes, their PC title prices have been stupidly high because they're treating each one as a 'new' release. Sony's been pretty anti-consumer this generation (cf. the PS5 'upgrade' debacle amongst other things), so it's not surprising. I'm not rewarding their terrible customer approach (and I'm blaming this on the relatively new leadership this generation), so I think I'm just going to defer getting a PS5 for now.

The show's success will ensure that the price remains high, because more people will want to check it out now who haven't.

[Brethren]

You can't argue the game is a decade old, when this is the remake version from just last year, literally less than six months ago. Do you feel the same about the new Dead Space, or even Demon's Souls when it was re-released in 2020? It'll be the same deal with RE4 and System Shock later this year.

[Harvester]

I'm playing TLOU now on PS4, I was undecided on whether I wanted to try to play the game first or watch the show first, and decided on the game. I'm not going to play the remake, my PC won't be able to handle it and I don't have a PS5 or have plans to buy one in the near future. It's a good game but I both suck with the PS4 controller and at sneaking/stealth games, so I'm playing it on Easy and still dying frequently on some segments (human enemies are fine but the one-bite == death clickers are particularly bothersome). So far I'm enjoying it though, and it runs at a buttery smooth 60FPS on my PS4 Pro. I'm either going to finish the game or ragequit at some point, and then watch the show.

[EvaUnit02]

You can't argue the game is a decade old, when this is the remake version from just last year, literally less than six months ago. Do you feel the same about the new Dead Space, or even Demon's Souls when it was re-released in 2020? It'll be the same deal with RE4 and System Shock later this year.

Sure I can. The "remake" only updates graphics, AI and adds "accessibility" cheat options. It's the exact same game. Demon's Souls doesn't change the core experience either, it's in the same boat. Both were cash grabs at launch and if you chose to buy them at full price, you're a fool.

Dead Space seems to make very noticeable content + gameplay design changes and additions, but I still wouldn't pay top dollar for it. There are options however, including rental through a EA Play Pro monthly sub. RE4 looks to be more akin to Dead Space.

[Aja]

"accessibility" cheat options

Maybe I'm reading more disdain than you intended with those scare quotes, but including options to make a game playable for people with physical or cognitive disabilities is not the same as enabling cheat codes.

And for goodness sake, Demon's Souls wasn't a cash grab; it was clearly lovingly remade from the ground up (except for the parts where they had to translate the existing code from Japanese, which is no small feat). It plays better than the original, it looks better, it sounds better, and it's all around just a near-perfect example of how to do a remake well.

[Anarchic Fox]

When a publisher re-releases a game at full price, they are making the assertion that the game is worth just as much now as it was originally. That might be deluded. It might also be a poor business strategy. But if you go beyond that, and claim that it's greedy (as you've done before, EvaUnit02), you show that your expectations for prices have become so ingrained that you think they are indicators of morality.

[Sulphur]

Clearly because only a game's entire art, code, and engineering pipeline had to be redone for a current-gen remake that recreates a 1:1 experience without any major changes to the gameplay, it's a cash grab. Bold claim for someone who named himself after a giant red dildo.