There are always good trends and bad trends within the gaming industry, and right now is no different. For example, and the inspiration for this Byte Sized, a good trend right now is the Retrogaming movement; that is, the replication of older games on newer systems (known as Emulation) so that people who played the games on older systems can relive the memories and that those who never had the chance can experience the classics for the first time, kind of like re-releasing an old movie into the theaters, except requiring a lot more effort.

The bad trend in the industry is doing Retrogaming poorly. By sheer definition, a newer, far more powerful system should be able to handle games from an earlier system with little or no problem; it's like saying a CD can hold music of a higher sound quality than a vinyl record. It's just fact. And yet, time and time again, we see companies release classic game compilations which play worse than the original games did. Just how bad these emulations are varies from the sub-par-but-acceptable Activision Classics on the Playstation to the downright horrid (at least according to every review I've seen) Sega Smash Pack on the Dreamcast. The latter is a particular embarrassment, for I heartily recommended this to everyone a few BS's back. Of course, I thought Sega would devote the same effort to this compilation that they did to Space Harrier and Hang On inside of Shenmue which were beautiful, wonderful emulations, but I neverless apologize to anyone who might have bought this on my own recommendation... All two of you.

Unfortunately, poor emulations of games cause an even greater problem in the industry and that's the reduction of diversity. Certain genres are usually "in" at any given time, but I feel the market is at its best when many different types of games are represented. By releasing a poor rendition of an older game, a company tells customers who don't know any better that the game in question sucked, and not to buy any games like it. People weaned on polygons can look at barely-average releases like Final Fantasy Anthology and say, "No wonder we don't use sprites anymore. This sucks." If another "Classic Game" set comes out, they're less likely to purchase it, as are others, sending a misleading message to marketers that retrogames just don't sell. Sometimes they just don't, but poor ones rarely ever do.

There are several companies that do retrogames well, and I believe I mentioned quite a few of them in a previous BS, but the very disappointing move by Sega with SSM just forced me to comment to companies that these sort of releases just don't cut the mustard. If you're going to put forth any effort to bring one of your finest moments, be it Phantasy Star II, Final Fantasy VI, or River Raid, before a new audience, then go the distance like you're proud of your work, not as if it was some embarrassing relative you wanted to shoo out the door at the earliest convenience. Gamers will thank you, and so will their checkbooks.