Old becomes the New
In the world today, we see many things around us that appear to be brand new when most of the time they are from the past. Has the intelligence for brand new ideas died or is it because we as human beings prefer things we are familiar with rather than new concepts?
Firstly, let’s look at videogames. It has just been announced at the E3 show that Nintendo are bringing out Super Mario Bros Wii, a “new Mario scroller game for the home console which we haven’t seen for 15 yearsâ€Â. But, this game basically takes the original Mario concepts from Mario Bros 1, 2, 3 and World and has spruced it up with 3D elements and jazzy Wii features. Okay, the levels are brand new and I’m looking forward to the game, but it is a prime example of sticking to original ideas rather than new ones.
The film and music industry is the biggest culprit. If it’s not a brit pop band covering yet another Abba title or Rock band producing a tribute to Black Sabbath, it’s a producing company making another sequel to a tired franchise. The new film Terminator Salvation, the 4th of the Terminator film series, is out this summer and is said to take on a new approach to the franchise. At the end of the day, it is still Terminator and will be the 4th movie. I hear that a new Beverly Hills Cop is coming out in a few years time starting Eddie Murphy. My god that franchise was excellent back in the 80’s and early 90’s but can it still live up to that? It won’t do if what I hear about the script is true. Again, another old idea.
Fashion is another example. Let’s look at something really stupid. Electrical equipment was classy in black, then the 21st century came and the fashion was silver. Now “black is back†is what most say. LCD TVs, most are black. It’s not just fashion, but generation habits and hobbies as well.
What do you think on the matter? Have any really good examples that either worked or you couldn’t stand?
Tell!
June 8th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Nice article. It is human nature to attach themselves to things that they know.
Also, in business a tried and tested method normally means less investment is needed and if it fails, then they don’t lose as much but often they do not get as much if it wasn’t a new idea.
Everything does it. Think Family Guy for a few mins. About half the jokes in Family Guy has already been done in South Park (Check “Cartoon Wars Part I & II” – South Park & “Simpsons Done it” – South Park for examples of this).
Also (and not surprisingly) but some people want the same and no change. Take games for example. Some games (such as RPG Games) don’t change in their format on how the actual game works but rather the story changes.
Get what I mean ?
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June 8th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
I get what you mean. Hard to explain but I always seem to prefer familarity opposed to originalty, but thats mostly in video games.
In music, I always prefer originality as long as it still keeps the artist/band signature style.
In the case of Final Fantasy games for example, they can change the battle system for different additions to the series, but it must also keep its amazing storytelling
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June 10th, 2009 at 4:40 am
Well things like games and fashion, they are old and new at the same time, you might think of them as old because you have experienced the original, but they really are aimed at the younger generation, the kids who do not know the older versions, but at the same time the original version would not appeal to them anymore because the times have changed….. so they jazz it up and publish it again…. and make another nice bundle without having to put too much effort into it…
Nothing wrong with that, I actually think that it is very clever
Movies and music is something else though, the original is 99% of the times the best and any new re-make will just ruin it…. sequences, I am not that sure about, some are ok, some are a huge disappointment, I haven’t seen the newest Rocky movie, but I read conflicting reviews of it, not sure I want o watch it to be honest (and I love Rocky – especially the first one, I saw each of them a few times and will watch them again if they are on)
ok guess I went on for long enough so I will just quit now…
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June 10th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Wildcat, completely agree with you with your comment.
Just release the old for a new market is pretty much what is going on.
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June 12th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Point taken. This summer has also seen a new Star Trek movie and a remake of ‘The Taking of Pelham 123′.
Not to get all philosophical, but this trend would seem to be a testament to the fact that the universe is limited.
Music: There are, after all, just 12 tones in an octave and only so many ways to put them together in a song. The medium of air can carry vibrations over a wide, tho limited range of octaves. The human ear can hear only a small segment of those vibrations — roughly 20Hz-20kHz andthe human voice reproduces sounds in an even smaller range. (Many vocalists seem to have a range of just one octave or less, given the few notes they use.) There are also only so many words in a given language’s vocabulary, and the choices are further limited by subject matter, meter and rhyming. Also by the desired connotations and associations the writer desires.
Film: I seem to remember from high school (public school?) English literature that there are only 7 basic plots for drama. Shakespeare used them all, but somehow, that wasn’t the end of things. The inventiveness of film, plays and books therefore, must come from the way the plots are blended, from characterization and writing style. Contrast, for instance, the styles of Agatha Christie and Robert Parker in handling the mystery story. And again, there are only so many possible combinations of words that can be used to convey meaning.
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June 20th, 2009 at 12:36 am
No kidding! That’s something, ain’t it…
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July 8th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
The Old Becomes the New…
An article that says about old stuff pretty much is what makes the new stuff – like games for example….
July 8th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
I think even bigger than video games I would say Music. Some of the oldest but yet greatest music has been re done to sound new. The oldest songs have been the greatest hits lately.
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