Retro specialist Nightdive explains the difference between a ‘remake’ and ‘remaster’
Retro games specialist Nightdive Studios has explained the difference between video game remakes and remasters, according to its own definition.
Nightdive, which has created a large number of re-releases including Turok, Doom 64, Blade Runner and Shadow Man, told VGC in a recent interview that it’s come up with an internal definition for what defines a “true remaster” as opposed to a “ground-up remake”.
Re-releases of older games have become a mainstay on the video games calendar in recent years, but there does not appear to be much cohesion in the language used to describe them.
“It’s really tough, isn’t it? We’ve tried to come up with a definition internally,” CEO Stephen Kick told VGC.
“Based on the work that we’ve done in the past, we’ve done a little bit of everything at this point. We’ve done what we like to call, ‘enhanced editions’, where you’re basically taking the original game, making it run on newer operating systems and then adding some nice quality of life stuff, like widescreen support.
“Then we’ve got games like Shadowman, which we consider a true remaster. We did all that all that quality of life stuff and got it running smoothly at 60fps, but then we did art on top of that; new textures, new models and even went so far as to work with the original developers to implement stuff that got left on the cutting room floor.
“Finally, we’ve got System Shock, which is a ground-up remake. It’s all brand new, but it’s still based on the original game and is as true to that as we can possibly keep it.”
Despite the frequent debates on forums and social media over what defines a remaster vs remake, Nightdive’s kick told VGC he does believe the public is starting to appreciate the amount of work required to create either.
“I
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