RELYING ON NOSTALGIA INSTEAD OF NEW IPs
One of Sony’s strengths over the years has been the continued development of new IPs, going back to the early days of the original PlayStation right through to upcoming PS4 exclusives such as Ghosts of Tsushima. That constant stream of new content has ensured Sony’s continued evolution over the years, with one new franchise to take over when another has run its course. The easy way out of that? Go back to the past and rejig a few old IPs, of course.
Right now the biggest of these remasters, Shadow of the Colossus, is looking rather tasty ahead of its launch in a few short weeks and, after that, there’s the returning MediEvil franchise later this year. Let’s not forget Sony’s E3 2015 conference, which rested heavily on the nostalgia factor thanks to the Final Fantasy VII remake and the sequel to Shenmue, of which we will no doubt see more of this year. Oh, and then there’s the constant stream of requests for Spyro to return.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with nostalgia, but it’s easy to lose sight of the future if one’s eyes are always turned to the past. If Sony wants to continue to delve into the seemingly bottomless pit of ideas that they have at their disposal, any remakes or remasters they decide upon can’t be to the detriment of those studios who are keen to try something new. The aforementioned Ghosts of Tsushima is a positive sign that there’s continued interest in supporting studios who have something new to pitch, but if future funding suddenly shifted to a safer bet like a whole pile of remakes? No offense to any Ape Escape lovers out there, but that might not be such a good thing.
