HD Re Release

There's a trend in the gaming industry that is becoming more and more common. It's taking a game that came out 5-10 years ago(sometimes less). Upping the resolution, and calling it an HD game. Are publishers being lazy? Or are they honestly trying to release these games to people who couldn't play them the first time?

Sony seems to re release more games than either Microsoft or Nintendo. Here is a list of some titles that Sony has released (not all are listed).

1. Beyond Good & Evil
2. God of War
3. God of War II
4. God of War: Chains of Olympus
5. God of War: Ghost of Sparta
6. Ico
7. Medal of Honor: Frontline
8. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
9. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
10. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
11. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
12. Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
13. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
14. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
15. Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
16. Resident Evil - Code: Veronica X
17. Resident Evil 4
18. Shadow of the Colossus
19. Silent Hill 2
20. Silent Hill 3
21. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
22. Sly 2: Band of Thieves
23. Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
24. Splinter Cell
25. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
26. Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
27. Tekken Tag Tournament
28. Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection
29. Tomb Raider Anniversary
30. Tomb Raider Legend

Microsoft has some of the titles listed above ported to the 360. They also did a re release of the original HALO last year. Of course, they actually remade the game, not just upped the resolution.

Nintendo hasn't done any HD re releases, but then again as of now they still don't have an HD system. Nintendo did release some Gamecube games on Wii with new Wii control options. They also remade 2 Nintendo 64 titles for the 3DS. Starfox 64 and Zelda both got complete remakes and both received high scores from most gaming publications. This week Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater was released on 3DS, and it was also remade for the system.

All 3 company's release back catalogue games through their online services. I would like to know how many times Nintendo has released the original Super Mario Bros. So the question remains, is this just Publishers being lazy? I think the answer is both yes and no. Yes it's lazy to up the resolution and not add any new features to a game. BUT it's a cheap way for the publisher to make some extra cash on their beloved franchises. If you think about it a lot of the re releases are still great games, and the bump in the resolution makes them even better. It's not like most people still have their old game systems. Or have the ability to pull them out and plug them in just to play their favorite game.

Obviously gamers should prefer a remade(newer, better) version of a game then a resolution bump. However I'd take the HD version over no version at all.