Last week I talked to you about the negative effects of fanservice on the artistic integrity (I feel like such a tool when I use phrases like "artistic integrity", but that's what it is, darn it) of a work. This week I come to you with tales of a more positive form of fanservice, but one not without its negative effects. No, I'm not talking about boobies this time. I'm talking, at long last, about Solid Snake.
As you may or may not know, the original groundbreaking Metal Gear Solid is getting a high-tech remake for the Nintendo GameCube as Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (this, combined with the Cube's recent $50 price cut, is all part of a Nintendo plot to steal my money, but that's another article for another day). The first trailers were released recently (okay, maybe not recently, but I just saw them, and it's my column and I'm the Resident Metal Gear Solid Historian, so if I say it's recent, it's recent), displaying what can be done when fanservice is used for good. This is a case where a good game can only be made better, and deserves to benefit from the advanced in technology that have come since its initial release. We're not talking crap like George Lucas gave us with the "special editions" of Star Wars (although the addition of a musical number by Otacon would make the game the most perfect thing ever. Make a note of it for Snake Eater, Hideo.) The Twin Snakes remake is done with care, with complete re-recording of the massive amount of dialogue (Snake is more Snake-y! Otacon is more geeky! Naomi is no longer British! But Liquid is Liquid, but I wouldn't want him any other way. BROTHER! But I digress), and the expansion of scenes to make them more dramatic or just plain cooler (I reference the Meryl sniper scene for the first category, and the ninja for the second. The ninja. ...I use too many parenthetical comments). I'm frothing at the mouth just from brief glimpses of cutscenes; if the gameplay is even half of what Metal Gear Solid 2 provided, it may possibly be the best game ever created. But, I'm a Metal Gear fan.
Nintendo has made quite a business out of remaking popular games from older platforms. Several Resident Evil remakes have been released, with just as mouth-froth-inducing improvements. Companies do this because, obviously, these are games that sold massive amounts the first time through; releasing them again only shinier and cooler can only make more money. Now, I have nothing against making money; I quite support it. In fact, give me money. Now. I'll wait.
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Okay, nevermind.
The problem that comes with these remakes (and their cousin, the never-ending series of sequels, of which the Resident Evil series is possibly the worst offender) is that it makes for creative stagnation. Why bother to think of a new game just as cool as Metal Gear Solid when you can just slap a new coat of delicious, delicious paint on it? Why come up with anything new when you can just make another Mario game?
Hard questions to answer when you're busy rolling on piles of money. Also, a hard practice for me to object to when I know that in a few short months, I'll get to see Solid Snake and Otacon ride off into the sunset together with super high-quality graphics. Love blooms on a battlefield with real-time rendering. I'm the happiest girl on earth.
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