Games By James Plafke Jan. 7, 2014 11:00 am
If there’s one thing fans of a classic franchise hate, it’s when new content is added to their beloved media. Everyone is generally at peace with an HD remake, as adding that layer of high definition to an otherwise unchanged game rarely harms the product. However, when you add new content to a beloved franchise — as George Lucas quickly learned with Star Wars, but didn’t seem to care much about anyway — fans sour on the change. A new patent suggests Sony might be the new George Lucas, adding new content to old, classic games.
The patent — filed back in 2012 but recently made public — could make use of the Gaikai streaming that has been rumored to be the backbone of Sony’s eventual backwards compatibility plan. Rather than just offering the world unchanged classics, the patent suggests Sony can modify old games on the fly, adding new mini-games or challenges into the mix.
Though we have yet to get any solid details about how Gaikai streaming will be integrated into the PS4 and perhaps PS Vita, this patent is at least one way to make you want to play*Symphony of the Night yet again. New challenges open up new ways to play old games, and this tech could even lead to trophy support for older titles.
At any rate, adding in new challenges (and thus, trophy support) is a much less offensive crime than, for example, adding Cloud into every other*Final Fantasy*game in the vein of*Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker.
Until release, there’s no telling if the patent is meant to significantly modify old classics, or just add in some ultimately shallow mini-games to keep you entertained when you’re fighting Psycho Mantis for the millionth time in your life. At least the potential of adding some content into old games is more intriguing than simply playing those old games once again. Maybe it could even one day lead toward every game in the catalog receiving an HD update.
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The patent — filed back in 2012 but recently made public — could make use of the Gaikai streaming that has been rumored to be the backbone of Sony’s eventual backwards compatibility plan. Rather than just offering the world unchanged classics, the patent suggests Sony can modify old games on the fly, adding new mini-games or challenges into the mix.
Though we have yet to get any solid details about how Gaikai streaming will be integrated into the PS4 and perhaps PS Vita, this patent is at least one way to make you want to play*Symphony of the Night yet again. New challenges open up new ways to play old games, and this tech could even lead to trophy support for older titles.
At any rate, adding in new challenges (and thus, trophy support) is a much less offensive crime than, for example, adding Cloud into every other*Final Fantasy*game in the vein of*Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker.
Until release, there’s no telling if the patent is meant to significantly modify old classics, or just add in some ultimately shallow mini-games to keep you entertained when you’re fighting Psycho Mantis for the millionth time in your life. At least the potential of adding some content into old games is more intriguing than simply playing those old games once again. Maybe it could even one day lead toward every game in the catalog receiving an HD update.
More...
