Old faces, new tricks

An interesting thought occurred to me while I was playing the remastered version of Monkey Island 2 over the weekend; why, in an age where technology seemingly knows no bounds, are we reverting to vintage stories to showcase the potential? Monkey Island 2, while I’m extraordinarily happy that it's made a comeback, is nearly 20 years old and was initially released on the Amiga 500, proudly pronouncing its pixels to pirate-loving audiences Worldwide. Yet, despite its age, major gaming companies are touting it as a high profile release for their summer launch line up this year.

This certainly isn’t something exclusive to the video games industry either, as evidenced by the growing trend in Hollywood blockbuster remakes over the last few years. For example, this year sees the return of Predator, the A-Team, The Karate Kid and Nightmare on Elm Street. They're all being brought back to the big screen; all being updated for the modern day cinema-goer, who may or may not have had previous experience with the franchises.

Are we seeing such an influx of old stories so that the original creators can finally realise the full potential of their original, intended product? Even though we watched these films and television programmes time and time again, and stayed up night on end to play these computer games in the 80’s, are we only now, in 2010, seeing the definitive version?

Perhaps major gaming developers and Hollywood directors genuinely feel that we, the consumer, need to have these stories given back to us every now and again, to remind us that they exist, even though we could freely pick up the originals on DVD, blu-ray or through specialist websites that digitally distribute them for a small fee.

Perhaps it is because a conclave of fans of a particular product have been lined up for the top dollar jobs in their industry of choice and are in a position of power to see their dreams come true, their favourite stories redesigned from the ground up.

Perhaps the insatiable lure of money has completely eradicated the lust for experimentation.

Or perhaps it is because the well of ideas really has started to run dry and directors and developers the World over are coming full circle with storytelling, unsure of where else to turn but to something already established.

It’s remarkable when you consider the entertainment industry is pushing boundaries with IMAX 3D cinemas, with booming surround sound and enlargened screens, and in the video games industry having motion controls replacing gamepads and games fully controlled by a camera and voice recognition. Yet, the stories that primarily drive this revolutionary technology are remakes and sequels.

Do you feel this is how things should be or should designers be pushing new, fresh experiences like James Cameron did with Avatar, like Christopher Nolan is pushing with Inception and how 3D intends to structure all of our entertainment purposes in the months and years to come?