The video game industry thrives on rumors.

The video game journalism industry lives on pre-judgments.

Even the hint of a new IP/major sequel causes chaos amongst gamers and journalists.  “Metal Gear Rising?! Project Natal?!  Half-Life 2: Episode 3?!  Holy crap on a cracker!  Gotta write about this in my blog!”

The hype machine keeps the wheels of the industry turning even during the traditionally slow summer months.  Slow trickles of screenshots cause nerdgasms across the world.  A ten-second Modern Warfare 2 trailer inspires pages upon pages of analysis.  One misspelled word on a David Jaffe Tweet causes panic.

When TMNT: Turtles in Time was first hinted as an XBLA remake, people with fond memories of the game and the franchise pooped their pants with excitement.  “Oh, it’ll be 3D?  Online multiplayer?  More modes?!  COWABUNGA!”  Then it came out to this.  What happened?

We knew that the whole game was only a half-hour long.  We knew it was just a remake with “enhanced” (read: lifeless) graphics.  We hoped that the online multiplayer options would increase our enjoyment of this sitcom-length, $10 fun time.  But no.

Perhaps we expected too much?  When Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was re-released on Live Arcade (with no graphical enhancements!), it was still praised as a innovator of the genre, although gameplay quirks such as not being able to change direction mid-air painfully revealed just how far adventure games had come.  TMNT: TiT (worst acronym EVAR!) is a product of an older generation.  The gameplay is old, and there is little reason to play it over and over except for the achievements.

But come on.  There  was no reason to play the original Turtles in Timeon SNES over and over and over, but we did anyway.  There weren’t even achievements to reach for.  There was no survival mode.  There was no four-player co-op.  We just had a 20 minute game, and we were happy.

I found the original cartridge for sale a few months ago – only $19.99 at a pawn shop, what a steal!  Yet, when I pay 800 Microsfot points ($10) for the re-make, it almost feels too expensive.  Maybe my expectations have changed.  Maybe I want a remake to be more than just a remake.  Maybe remakes, in general, are holding the entire industry back.  Maybe they glorify an age when a game could be 20 minutes long and still feel like $50 worth.

By focusing on our past so much, are we ignoring the future?  Is every Final Fantasy VII remake keeping Final Fantasy XIV from being even better than it could be?  Than it should be?  Yes, remakes make money.  Nostalgia sells.  But at what cost?

At what cost?