Preserving gaming history

As I was playing Assassin's Creed Unity; I could not stop thinking how great it would be to play the last gen games from the series. Then it hit me, the last generation we had over 20 games from the past generation ported over; and with the recent release of the Halo Master Chief Collection, it really occurred to me, that there are a ton of games from last generation that deserves that treatment. We have seen a few already with Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs, Grand Theft Auto 5, and The Last Of Us.

I can think of at least 15 games deserving an HD remaster, but at the same time, I can see how some would see these releases as an uninspired cash grab. Still, at the same time there are so many new gamers, that it would be a shame for them to lose out on some of the best experiences of the past generation. However, that is not the only reason HD remasters are a good idea; unlike any other medium, games are lost once a console is obsolete. While many gamers do keep a collection of games; why is it that older games are not moved over to the new hardware, there are some cases where they are, but those are the exception, not the rule.

When film moved from VHS to DVD, it was not just a few older films that moved to DVD; When they went from DVD to Blu-ray, older films were brought along too. Why is it that gaming is the only entertainment medium that does not preserve its history? One reason that the Master Chief Collection impressed me so much, is that it preserves a vital part of gaming history. You do not have to like Halo, but it is impossible to deny the impact it had on the industry. The same could be said for Call Of Duty Modern Warfare, Grand Theft Auto 4, Gears Of War or Uncharted.

As a gamer it would be great to relive some of those old memories, but I feel that it is even more important to preserve our history. While that may sound cheesy or even stupid; gaming is a major part of our culture, and it deserves to be preserved in the same way we preserve any other meaningful memory.