Debate on Video Game Restoration: Remasters, Remakes, and Preservation

The topic of art conservation, brought to attention by Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi in 2023 and further explored in 2024 articles, remains largely overlooked within the video game sector, even with the prevalence of remakes and remasters. On November 1, 2024, a conference named 'Save and Continue? Tra conservazione e retrogaming' took place during the IVIPRO Days in Trieste. Similar to film, video game remastering updates titles while maintaining their original features, as seen in Digital Eclipse's Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (2024) and Nightdive Studios' Quake II remaster (2023). Digital Eclipse's Gold Master Series, which began with The Making of Karateka, showcases historical games. In contrast, remakes like Ballistic Moon's Until Dawn for PS5 and Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024) frequently change gameplay and storylines.