Dig Dug HD may be the next remake for Xbox Live Arcade from Namco and the makers of Galaga Legions and Pac-Man: Championship Edition. If it’s not Dig Dug, then it certainly will be another classic Namco property, as the team behind two of Xbox Live’s monster remakes says that they have more remakes coming!
Talking to MTV Multiplayer, Tadashi Iguchi (the director on both the above titles at Namco) said that there is a definite initiative at Namco to update/remake/”mutate” the popular and beloved “Masterpiece” games from the company’s storied history of 80’s arcade classics.
Here is a list of possible games that could be remade: Galaxian, Rally-X, Galaga, Bosconian, Dig Dug, Pole Position, Xevious and Mappy.
And there is definitely a new one underway: “Right now, we’re only working on the framework of a new game and nothing in detail is decided yet,” Iguchi teased. “If there is a chance, I would like to make an action game with the same team again. There’s not any one game I’m targeting for a new remake, but overall I’m interested in making games that players who liked games in the 80’s will enjoy.”
He also says that the hard work the team puts into the remakes is above and beyond what people may expect, as it takes real effort to achieve what the team has set out to do. “We first divided each element of the original game, talked it over with the team and changed the parts so that it fits modern gameplay conditions, then we put it back together,” he said about making Galaga Legions. “We used the same method for ‘Pac-Man C.E.’ We didn’t try to make only the looks or visual effects better, but since we remade it from the ground up, I think people recognize that it’s different from more traditional remakes.”
As such, Iguchi does not consider Galaga Legions a remake, he says it’s more like a “mutation” of the original. As for Pac-Man: Championship Edition, he says it was more of a “legitimate evolution”. The reason being that the original creator of Pac-Man, Toru Iwatana, was highly involved in authorizing new gameplay features and enhancements to the game. “95% of our new ideas that were turned in were rejected by Mr. Iwatani!” said Iguchi. “For the only one that passed, the idea of the ‘Map Clear Rule’ to play the game non-stop, we really negotiated with him and made him understand what we would like to achieve.”
What’s interesting too is that Iguchi’s desire to make games similar the beloved 80’s classics is based in a deeper belief that the games of today simply don’t match up to those that came before them. “I think more than half of the games you see today with huge budgets and such a ‘realistic’ focus will be either stale or forgotten in 20 years,” he said. “On the other hand, the masterpieces of the 80’s will definitely be enjoyed far into the future. The reason for this is simple — many of these classic titles have unique and fascinating mechanics that can’t be diminished by the advancement of technology.”
Does Mr. Iguchi have a good point about the game’s that we know and love today? Do you think they’ll still be as beloved nowadays, that they would even get remakes? Let us know in the comments below! Personally, I think it’s certain possible, given that remakes of games such as Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy VII are games that people would love to see remade, so I think while we can’t imagine games of today such as Resistance 2 or Metal Gear Solid 4 being remade at this point in time, we’ll see things differently in the future, as we always have.
Via 1-Up