Some companies get mocked for re-releasing old games, while others get constant praise — the difference between the two is huge.
As video games have grown more popular in this world, the practice of re-releasing old games has become more common.
It's undeniably a way for companies to earn extra revenue from older titles.
Many game companies see how Gamestar Electronic Entertainment adds support for older games on each new console and gets praised by players, which gives them the mistaken belief that players genuinely love those old games and are willing to pay for them again.
But the reality is different.
Gamestar Electronic Entertainment has always provided free support for players who already own those old games.
As long as you have the original game cartridge, you can go to any nearby Gamestar store and exchange it for a digital version of the same game for free.
Of course, to prevent reselling or secondhand abuse, Gamestar collects those physical cartridges in exchange.
Some players, not wanting to give up their old games, simply choose to buy them again since the prices are low anyway.
That kind of mindset is what keeps these old titles alive.
The truth is, it's not that old games are inherently appealing in this era — it's just nostalgia.
If they're cheap enough, players are happy to pay a little again.
Other companies don't share this awareness.
Most of their re-releases come with little to no changes — often just dumping the old version onto a new console and charging a high price. Players aren't stupid. Why would they pay for that when they could buy modern hits instead?
Some companies get mocked relentlessly for this, with players even swearing off such re-released titles.
Eventually, seeing there was little profit, many gave up on re-releases altogether.
Now, only Gamestar Electronic Entertainment continues supporting old games. For third-party games, Gamestar can't interfere.
But now, Takayuki plans to change the way they handle re-releases.
Since old games can destabilize the new console, and since he's always stood by his promises — and genuinely wants to breathe new life into these classics — he's launching a full-scale remake plan.
This "remake" means re-coding the old games using modern development platforms while keeping their original framework, and upgrading the graphics.
For example, 8-bit games from the FC era can now include new visual effects.
Of course, this takes some resources.
But it's not actually that difficult — unless the source code is lost.
Thankfully, Gamestar has always been extremely careful about source code preservation.
To this day, every game they've ever released has its source code safely stored in their database. Some titles have even been integrated into the Unreal Engine's framework.
For games identified as potentially causing system issues, full remakes are planned. While individually simple, doing this for many titles is a big task.
Fortunately, Takayuki isn't in a rush.
He assigned a portion of the mobile game division — some experienced staff and 100 newly hired developers — to handle this project.
The engineering team continues testing old games for compatibility and stability. Any game that fails is handed off to the remake team, who rebuild it using the original source code and enhance it with modern features.
And all of this? Free for players.
Takayuki calls it the "New Remake Plan."
Take the original Super Mario Bros. for example — even just enhancing the background and adding some visual effects would be enough.
With modern console power, these games can be upgraded freely.
At the same time, a "classic mode" will remain available for purists who prefer the original experience.
Even Takayuki admits, if Super Mario Bros. had new flashy effects, he might find it jarring after being used to the original for so long.
The new effects are just to see if they can attract new players.
The remake team is thrilled with the task.
They feel like artifact restorers — giving new life to games that are over a decade old.
And once they learned Takayuki wasn't planning to charge players extra, they respected him even more.
For Takayuki, it's not about money — making extra cash off remakes would lower his standards.
If he wanted quick profits, launching a card-based gacha game like Hearthstone would make far more than repackaging old games.
This remake initiative is his way of contributing back to the game industry.
The team, inspired by his vision, poured themselves into the work. They completed remakes quickly and at impressively high quality, with HD visuals that made them feel like entirely new games.
Seeing the success, Takayuki handed the whole plan off to the team with confidence and turned his full attention back to finishing the Switch.
If nothing unexpected happens, the Switch will be ready to launch next year — with Uncharted as one of its flagship titles.