@lakest said in The word "Remastered" in videogames:
Hello guys, just wondering if the game "The Last of Us" was the first game to use the word"Remastered"? I remember that they used to be called "HD" or something like "definitive edition" instead of "Remastered" but now after The last of us they almost always only use "Remastered", for example in the old days the new "final fantasy VIII remastered" probably them will be called "Final Fantasy VIII HD", all of this is meaningless lol but want to know if this is right
It's certainly not the first, but since this generation "Remastered" became the more prominent word.
and the reason for that is pretty clear, you can't call a port of a PS3 or 360 game "XXXXXXX: HD" because usually those games were already HD or perceived as being HD (a ton of games were actually sub HD, like the CoD games usually ran at around 640p, and that wasn't unusual, the PS3 version of GTA4 ran at 640p as well while on 360 it was HD at 720p... same story with Red Dead Redemption)
This means there would be some confusion if they called it "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare HD", even tho the original version was not HD on last gen systems making this version the first true HD version on console. because people just assumed those consoles played games in HD across the board, which obviously wasn't the case but have fun explaining that to the general public...
and on top of that technicality, "REMASTERED" sounds way more impressive... GTA Vice City HD just tells me they made it run at a higher resolution, while "REMASTERED" tells me they changed more than just the resolution, remastered instantly gives the impression of a more thorough upgrade to more aspects of the game.
so it does not only save the not so tech-savvy general public some amount of confusion, it also acts as a better punchline for the PR department.
But I think back when "HD" was still the "hot shit" as the youngens would say (insert "hello fellow kids meme") it actually served its purpose, because back when HD was a new thing it was a great PR move to use it in your rerelease's title.
