Indeed. They've been a thing since the 16-bit era. The SNES had Super Mario All-Stars and the 16-bit versions of the first three Dragon Quest games, and the Genesis had Mega Man: The Wily Wars, a compilation of the first three NES Mega Man games remastered with 16-bit graphics. And it's continued since then. There's still plenty of older 3D games from Gens 5 & 6 that could do with being remade with more modern graphics, and I think there's a few Gen 7 games that might benefit from being remastered/remade as well because they had performance issues that dragged down an otherwise good title, or because they were a Wii game that would benefit from better graphics (the Wii having only Gen 6 power) and no motion controls.

This is the right comparison. In the movie industry we see reboot-cycles. After about a generation - say 20 to 30 years - are over, everything comes back. This is repeated again and again. Just look up how many Sleepy Hollow movies there are. The gaming industry is that young, that we are just at the first cycle of remakes.

This is the right comparison. In the movie industry we see reboot-cycles. After about a generation - say 20 to 30 years - are over, everything comes back. This is repeated again and again. Just look up how many Sleepy Hollow movies there are. The gaming industry is that young, that we are just at the first cycle of remakes.

This is a very good point.  I believe "A Star Is Born" has been made 4 different times.  Although they wait long enough between remakes that this latest one seems new to most people.

Also each industry goes through phases.  It seems like the movie industry used to do a lot more remakes just a few years ago.  Now they are doing superhero movies instead.  So the gaming industry might get end up doing fewer remakes in a few years and instead trend toward something else.  Although, remakes are never going to go away entirely.  It's more of an ebb and flow.

It also seems like the remake cycle gets smaller each time. For example, King Kong 1933, 1976, 2005, 2017.

Well pack in The Last Of Us Part 2 with every PS5 would also be a great selling point, but I don't see a reason for them to do that either. 

The last two console generations were interesting. The technological jump that was between the PS2 and PS3 era of gaming shook up the industry. Japanese devs fell very far behind in tech and prowess. The era of photorealism and open worlds began. To cope with the changing tides developers came up with a way to experiment and gauge consumer direction with the fabled REMASTERS. So many games got recreated for a new age of people, allowing many to re-experience the glory days and for Devs to help litmus test what fans were most into. 

Yet.....in PS4/XB1/Switch era maybe we have relied too much on Remasters. Feels like 1 of 3 games is a remaster or remake now a days. In particular this gen's bevy of remasters took place of the void of traditional backwards compatibility that had been present in Gens prior. 

Going into PS5/Next Box.....that should not be the case. It is very likely both consoles are at minimum BC with the prior gen. And the tech leaps are nowhere near as shocking anymore. Sure, we still have a few more high profile Remasters on the horizon, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Resident Evil 3. But what else is there? We have kinda hit all the biggest gems of yesteryear. Almost every great title of the 90s has made a comeback in last few years. Shadow of the Colossus, Legend of Zelda Orcarina and Majora(albeit they could be ported to Switch), The Last of Us: Remastered, Tomb Raider Def, Sleeping Dogs Def, Darksiders 1-2, Bayonetta, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Devil May Cry 1-4, DMC, GTAV, RE2, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Sly, Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Halo Master Chief Collection, Gears of War Def, Final Fantasy X/X-2, FFXII, etc. Outside of doing direct ports of pre-up rez'd remasters is there really anything left? As we hit a form of technological roadblock there is really no need to remaster anything for next gen. What exists now is really good enough and I can't fathom paying for any of them again for minor graphical overhauls when they are likely compatible for the hardware.

As much as I have enjoyed all these remasters.....I kind of hope we are done. It is high time we stop gazing back into the past with nostalgia and created worthy experiences of the future.