What a nostalgia blast! Insomniac had to coax in that one day to inform everybody how 17 years ago, to the day, on August 21, 2008, Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty was launched for the PS3. August 21st in 2008 feels like yesterday and a century ago simultaneously. And the response? Well, you would expect support from a fanbase that has been begging for some sort of classic content for nearly ten years.
The tweet was quite innocuous, just a little anniversary mention with a pirate emoji and a link. But the replies? They tell another, much sadder story. It’s like opening a time capsule and finding out that everybody wants the very same thing they wanted ten years ago. Remasters. Ports. Collections. Interest is there- loud and obnoxious too.
One of the first was from Jam Alonso: “You should remastered all your PS3 games to PS5,” and that pretty much sums up that entire comment section. Then some Mike H guy and him saying it’s a “fun game;” yeah, not really. Gro3 presents an assessment, “the power of a strong brand history”. That’s so true!
But man, so many requests for a PS5 port or perhaps a full collection! DDKong even said, “We desperately need the old RnCs ported to ps5,” while Sir Cat suggested “‘Qwark Collection’ that could be compared with Halo’s Master Chief Collection.” That’s a pretty good idea, isn’t it? Like, Ratchet and Clank 1 through 6 including all the spin-offs? Give me all my money now.
But of course, the really interesting thing for me is people getting creatively effusive with the begging. AimlessThund3r casually waltzed through the comments with “Remasters when? 💅🏼” accompanied by the nail polish emoji, as if it’s just hanging out in a salon waiting on an answer. And then we get British Monkey with the bleakly hilarious: “Shit. So I guess this is a retro game now too.” Ouch.
The best kind of nostalgic responses talk about “back in the day before I had my PS3” promos, as NefariousLombrak put it, while xangbar reminisces that “I remember downloading this off my neighbors open wifi because we didn’t have internet at the time.” Pure 2008 energy, ain’t it?
And then there are those with little-to-no experience actually playing. CodeNameChriz admitted, “The only ratchet and clank game I never played tbh,” which is exactly why the games need to be in a much more accessible format. Like, how are the new kids on the block supposed to lay hands on these classics if they’re basically tied to ancient, near-defunct hardware?
International fans are joining the chorus: LordSimonaci commenting in Portuguese, “So sad to see the PS3 Ratchet games stuck on that console. We need them remastered on PS5.” See? It’s not just the English-speaking players clamoring for these.
There is an impressive amount of people who seem to ask for specifically the PS3 era games. Like, we got the PS2 games remastered, duh, but what about the Future series? Tools of Destruction, Quest for Booty, Crack in Time? They are still sitting there on PS3, unless streaming through PS Plus Premium counts as remastering… and no, that’s definitely not the same.
SaoryEmanoelle “one of the best titles, too bad it’s so short” about Quest for Booty, which is kind of correct when you consider that it was designed as a smaller, downloadable title to fill the gap between Tools of Destruction and A Crack in Time; it doesn’t make it any less awesome.
Meanwhile, some are already wondering about what’s coming next. ShawnTails is “Looking forward to their next adventure,” which is a really nice sentiment, contrasting with what Taintpaints… well, they’re up for, “Love Ratchet and Clank but with all due respect please hurry with Wolverine. Would love to play before I die. Thanks,” which is… morbid but understandable?
The demand for it exists, and it’s not a couple of people. When multiple languages are all blasting these same requests from the rooftops, that is not just a bunch of nostalgic gallivanting; that is a market opportunity! People want to give Insomniac some bread; they just need an avenue to modernize it down to their current system.
Seventeen years is way too long for any game to be stranded on aging hardware. Considering the massive popularity of the 2016 reboot and Rift Apart, it is quite obvious that giant interest still lies in the franchise. Perhaps now is the most appropriate time for Insomniac and Sony to have some serious talks with people and instead provide them their heart desires. A good collection would virtually roll off the shelves, especially with online multiplayer integration in the games that supported it beforehand.
What is rather telling is the sheer spike in engagements, which proves that Ratchet & Clank hasn’t just been a fallen franchise. The laments it garnered from this otherwise simple anniversary comment are loved and cherished by millions of gamers who grew up playing these games. They all are more than ready to walk down memory lane; meanwhile, they’ll need help to get there with a PS5 instead of dusting off their old PS3s stored away in an attic.
Here’s hoping that Insomniac is hunting down every single comment out there. The demand is real; the market is there, and the games are still classics. Sometimes the best way to move forward is to look behind, and then give the gamers what they’ve been calling for all these years.
