The Last of Us: Remastered is a cash grab, and why nobody believes it
Despite it’s $50 price tag, the fact that a team at Naughty Dog spent time on it rather than something else, and the attention Sony is giving a game that’s already available, The Last of Us: Remastered is not getting called out as a shameless cash grab.
The video game industry is product-based, which means by its nature, it’s also money focused. The end game is for companies to make money. There’s also people who make games that are interesting and a craft that is fascinating and worth studying, but at the end of the day, games are things you buy.
That’s why it’s common to see a company do something that is blatantly money-driven and see everyone call it out for wanting only their money. This irony speaks to the belief that we like to think we support things that are made with care.
Sony has done a fantastic job at making us believe it cares about The Last of Us.
From its very creation, it’s clear that Sony and Naughty Dog deeply wanted to make a different kind of game, a product that would be appreciated for its artfulness, not just good design or good graphics. They pulled it off too. The Last of Us feels like a game with a lot of effort behind it, and the fact that it was also really good makes you want to support it.
If you were to subtract all that, though, it would be easy to be cynical about The Last of Us: Remastered. It’s Sony just putting an old game on its new console that already doesn’t have enough new games. It’s Naughty Dog taking the time to make a game we’ve already played better for the few who didn’t play it yet. It’s $50 for a year-old game.
See how offensive those statements sound? They sound like that because you disagree, because you probably liked The Last of Us and would love to play it in a higher resolution with all the DLC included from the start.
The other good thing Sony has done is actually deliver some of its promises. At least according to the leaked gameplay and screenshots, the game looks significantly better than the PlayStation 3 version and it seems to run at a consistent framerate.
Again, subtract that, and you have a game that nobody wants to exist or wishes didn’t exist.
So, yeah, The Last of Us: Remastered is a cash grab, like any video game. But execution and public perception give it value.
Comments:
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why do you think that everyone has to feel it’s a cash grab just because you do? it’s not a big deal, no one is being forced to buy it a second time, but it’s there for the people who like it, like anything else… of course it’s money-driven, Sony is not a non-profit company, just like you don’t work without expecting a paycheck lol… in all seriousness though, a lot of those HD re-releases and enhanced ports are popular, so it makes sense, especially this early on in the PS4 life cycle. I for one, didn’t get around to playing The Last of Us or GTA V on PS3, so anxiously looking forward to playing them on a better console 🙂
Whats funny is most of the people crying about TLOU being a cash grab, are the same people who jizzed all over themselves of GTA V on PS4 and X1 and will be there day one to pay the probably $60 for it…..Obviously Its OK for something but not others
Well it’s probably not exactly the same people if they didn’t complain about GTA lol… but I just can’t get why people bitch so much, every product out there is designed with specific people in mind!
Its a sound analogy. I highly doubt RockStar is going to offer deep discounts on Next Gen GTA 5. IMHO this is likely pro-MS folks making a stink about this. People who have played the game understand it’s a gem and would want others to play it too or maybe pick it up to play it again themselves.
Agreed, there are SO many people that didn’t play TLOU last generation and honestly the game is a gem. I am so sick of the gaming journalist characterizing gamers as some low-intelect nincompoop that can’t make rational decisions about how to spend their money and they just gobble up whatever the industry craps out.
That isn’t true, we are savvy consumers. I will buy The Last of Us because I like Naughty Dog as a Studio and I generally support all their efforts. They never release crap, and I feel that should be rewarded. On the other hand I never buy COD anymore because it is always crap and that should be punished.
I approve this article 🙂
You don’t say..
If you don’t think its a cash grab, ur just dumb…. all remakes, arcade remakes…. are cash grabs.
this was not the first and it’s not gonna be the lat either. Kinda sad in what gaming’s turning into.
newsflash all games are a cash grab asshat they dont make them to give away smdh
Why are TLOU Remastered and other PS3 exclusive remakes being made?
1. financing for next gen projects
2. experience on next gen hardware to better create next gen projects
3. at least half of PS4 owners didn’t own a PS3 which is a huge brand new audience
4. many PS3 exclusive games were critically acclaimed and sold well
5. there are already plenty of new IPs being created
TLOU is practically a new game to at least half (~4.3 million) of PS4 owners that never owned a PS3 and never had a chance to play it. Same with Beyond: Two Souls or any PS3 exclusive game brought to PS4.
TLOU is one of the most critically acclaimed video games ever and sold 7+ million copies on PS3, it’s coming with DLC and multiplayer, 1080p 60 fps with better textures and visual effects, and releasing at a discount price.
Millions of gamers will buy and enjoy TLOU Remastered. Sorry if that upsets some people.
Right… and GTAV, which came out later is definitely not a cash grab because it’s not a PS exclusive.
Got it.
The more biased, the least sane your arguments become.
Totally biased.
GTAV is also coming to next-gen consoles and that game released after TLOU. Oh but I guess it’s not considered a cash grab because it’s not a PS exclusive, right?
Every game is a cash grab. Every sequel and prequel is a cash grab. It doesn’t matter how long a go a game was originally released. They’re all cash grabs.
But you have the choice. If you never played the game and you’re one of the many new PS4 owners who didn’t own a PS3, then why not give the game a try.
the last of us remashed comes with all the DLCs so you get more alot more
Yea I don’t know I felt that way at first but gamestop is selling TLOU used for almost $40 without DLC.So price is ok imo.Alot of ppl didn’t buy a ps3 and alot of xbox users got a PS4 so imo the Online should have alot more ppl on it just hope it don’t kill whats left of ps3s Online cuz i still play it.
I’ll buy it for my PS4 because I never got around to buying it for my PS3. If I had bought it for my PS3, I probably wouldn’t buy it for my PS4 though. But on the other hand, it’s not my kind of game. I’ll buy it and play it through because of the attention it has gotten. One game I have bought and played through on my PS3 that I WOULD buy an HD remake of is Dark Souls 2.
Next time they are going make an article saying the sky is blue.
Most of the games are made for cash grab.
all remasters are quick cash grabs
Personally, I missed it the first time around and I’m thrilled to play this new version. I really like remastered versions of games. It’s also a good opportunity to replay games you love and get new achievements and trophies.
All Games are cash grabs because you are not getting them for free at least that’s what they would love them to be so that it gives studios money to keep making them. Cash Grabs LOL!
All games are cash grabs old and new it doesn’t matter, at the end of the day only one thing matters and it’s that you pay your hard earned cash to keep this studios going so yes let’s hope it’s a cash grab and that all good games are cash grabs.
>.< what does being a ps exclusive tittle have to do with cash grabbin? Is that your only defense? You don't see the halo fanboys saying OH YOU ONLY SAY ITS A CASH GRAB BECAUSE IT ON XBOX HUEHUEHUE! lol see?
I’ve been saying that, since the PS4 Version released, yet nobody believed me and thought I was full of it. Jokes on you, idiots. You bought the same game on another system.