I'm torn myself about these things. I mean I realize the premise is to make the classics appeal to a whole new generation of gamers, but the resources required to bring these things up to "spec" and the talent that has to go into it seems wasted in my opinion. I'd rather see these people try something original and fail at it then take the safe route and update a previous creation. It's not like the original games aren't relatively easily accessible and playable anyway... It's almost like you'd like people like these to create the most brain-dead simple emulation front end for all the Sierra games and be done with it, and then put their focus on new stuff.
I can definitely sympathize with this viewpoint. However, I can see some value in it, particularly if these guys are doing it to learn about how to make a great game. I'm sure they also are strong fans of the originals and see this as a way to pay homage to them, perhaps. I compare it to artists learning their trade by recreating great art. Sure it's "imitation," but it's more about technique than originality.
Still, the idea should be to only use this "crutch" as long as you need to understand how it works, and then go on and create original projects. If all you do is imitate, you're not moving above the level of technique.
I'm torn myself about these things. I mean I realize the premise is to make the classics appeal to a whole new generation of gamers, but the resources required to bring these things up to "spec" and the talent that has to go into it seems wasted in my opinion. I'd rather see these people try something original and fail at it then take the safe route and update a previous creation. It's not like the original games aren't relatively easily accessible and playable anyway... It's almost like you'd like people like these to create the most brain-dead simple emulation front end for all the Sierra games and be done with it, and then put their focus on new stuff.
I can definitely sympathize with this viewpoint. However, I can see some value in it, particularly if these guys are doing it to learn about how to make a great game. I'm sure they also are strong fans of the originals and see this as a way to pay homage to them, perhaps. I compare it to artists learning their trade by recreating great art. Sure it's "imitation," but it's more about technique than originality.
Still, the idea should be to only use this "crutch" as long as you need to understand how it works, and then go on and create original projects. If all you do is imitate, you're not moving above the level of technique.
Matt Barton, Managing Editor
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA
Email: matt@armchairarcade.com