Recently I wrote about how game anniversaries can reignite passion for franchises. In putting it together there was a lot of thought about how game anniversaries are an opportunity to revive and revitalise IPs that have not been seen for a very long time. But part way through another thought occurred: Who needs game anniversaries?
We at Game On Aus love gaming. You know what else we love? BLOODY GAMING! So why wait until game anniversaries to give some of our favourite franchises some love? There are so many titles that deserve, nay demand respect!
Mario might have been in the first Donkey Kong arcade game but Mr Kong was the star! Which Lemmings fans don’t remember the cute little ‘Oh no’ they gave off as they exploded, taking a chunk of the landscape with them? Samus is one of the original bad ass good girls in games, showing little girls everywhere that they can kick butt too. Give these titles some love! So many of them were played by current developers and were used as inspiration for their titles. Why not give them a chance to bring these classic characters to a new audience?
At the end of the day that’s what us gamers want. We don’t care for the pomp and circumstance of game anniversaries. Give us a social media post, maybe some figures or other nick-nacky type collectibles and move on. Much like our partners on Valentine’s Day, these game series want to feel special every day, not just for a single day.
In the age of the internet there is no shortage of speculation about game releases. Left to its own devices The InternetTM will run riot and come up with the most fantastical scenarios about what will be announced for game anniversaries. Ultimately reality will fall short. The imagination of millions of gamers will always trump the realities that developers deal with to release their products.
Not releasing games on anniversary dates also gives developers flexibility. If the game isn’t ready, push it back. Iron out those bugs, give staff a chance to catch their breath. A bad game might not be bad forever nowadays, but bad first impressions take years to recover from.
So stop just talking about it. Give us Metroid Prime 4, Halo: Infinite, the Nintendo 64 Mini, or whatever. Just give us SOMETHING! These titles deserve more than to be left on the shelf.
