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The Final Fantasy IX remaster should've been my jam. But it wasn't. Not until a team of fans released an AI-powered HD revamp that puts Square Enix's efforts to shame. How does a small group of fans without a budget one up a billion dollar enterprise? https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/ai-is-about-to-transform-the-future-past-of-video-games
To find the answer, I spoke with, @Ze_PilOt, who created the mod, video game preservationist @frankcifaldi of @GameHistoryOrg, and retro game fan @stry8993. The answer was both simpler and more complex than I expected. https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/ai-is-about-to-transform-the-future-past-of-video-games
For all of the million dollar budgets afforded to the official remasters, these fan efforts often become the definitive way to experience retro titles on modern hardware. https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/ai-is-about-to-transform-the-future-past-of-video-games
Final Fantasy IX was one among many recent official remasters that left fans feeling empty and realizing — maybe for the first time — that the corporations who created their favorite childhood games might not love those games as much as the fans do. https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/ai-is-about-to-transform-the-future-past-of-video-games
So how are fans beating major corporations at their own game?
It comes down to a combination of community expertise and passion. No corporate entity can match the breadth or speed of an organized, open source community unshackled by quarterly earning expectations, nor the love of fans who grew up playing the games. https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/ai-is-about-to-transform-the-future-past-of-video-games
"What I've often said is that when it comes to the preservation of older titles is that in most cases the fan efforts will trump the commercial ones," said @frankcifaldi. "The idea of the video game remaster is very new." https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/ai-is-about-to-transform-the-future-past-of-video-games
These projects represent opportunities not just for new commercial sales, but offer more options for preservation not just of the game data itself, but of the *experience* itself. https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/ai-is-about-to-transform-the-future-past-of-video-games
I'm playing through Moguri Mod now, and what I've discovered isn't just a modern splash of paint on a classic game, but an experience that looks the way I remember the game looking when I first played it 20 years ago on my tube TV. https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/ai-is-about-to-transform-the-future-past-of-video-games
Preservation means retaining knowledge in its original form, but Moguri Mod makes me wonder how we can approach the preservation of experiences — how a kid playing Final Fantasy IX can experience the same joy I did long after the last PlayStation has died. https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/ai-is-about-to-transform-the-future-past-of-video-games
"Once it's commonly understood that fan restorations are the definitive versions of the games," said @frankcifaldi, "I think the commercial industry may start catching up." https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/ai-is-about-to-transform-the-future-past-of-video-games
Fan restorations like Moguri Mod prove that the success of remasters isn't predicated on a huge budget, but rather a solid vision of what made the original so beloved in the first place. https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/ai-is-about-to-transform-the-future-past-of-video-games
