How Modern Games Might Look In The 90s By 98Demake – Interview
We all had our favourite games growing up, be it on old school consoles, PC or more modern games. With the gaming industry even bigger nowadays, games have become more realistic in look, tone and control, but what if some of these modern games were made in the 90s? Thanks to 98Demake, we don’t have to imagine.
98Demake takes some of the biggest games and imagines them as PlayStation 1 games. Some videos are presented in a trailer style sweep, while others mock-up gameplay, with the PS1 tropes of bad draw distance, grainy textures and rough polygonal models.
I was lucky enough to have a chat with the Finnish creator, 98Demake.
Brian – First off, tell me a little about yourself. What is your background in gaming or 2D/3D design?
98Demake: I’ve been a gamer for my entire life. I started gaming on the NES when I was a kid, then moved on from NES to Mega Drive and finally from Mega Drive to PSX, which was the system that really got me hooked on gaming. And here we are, still gaming! Other than a gamer, I’m a freelance visual artist. I’ve been doing traditional graphics design for over 10 years and 3D visuals for about 4-5 years. I also do have a formal education on the traditional graphics design part of things.
B – What made you start 98Demake?
98: Well, I did sort of similar 3D art to what you see in the videos for a couple of years as a hobby, then at some point I came across an article where the readers had done their own little demake pictures. A couple of months later the idea popped up again and I thought I’d give it a go myself, since what I had been doing was basically PS1 visuals already. I then made a few demake ‘screenshots’ and a mock-up cover (for Mafia III), posted them on Reddit and people seemed to like them. Then later I made my first demake video (The Last Of Us) and people loved it, so I just kept going!
B – What goes into making each video (design tools, sound etc.)?
98: Well, dozens of hours of work and lot of coffee. Honestly though, I use Blender for 3D modelling and animation, Photoshop to create the textures and Premiere for post processing and sound. Every bit of texture and sound goes through its own little demake process.
B – You have had great feedback so far, featuring on many international gaming websites. Have you had any feedback from the actual developers of any of the games or from Sony themselves?
98: Yes! I did get positive feedback and love from Ubisoft! I think that’s it though.
B – As the videos continue, you have gone from trailer-esque videos to faux gameplay of these games. What other 90s/PS1 ideas would you like to incorporate next?
98: Well I think the next move is expanding the time period, while still keeping 1998 as the main focus. I did do a 1996 Max Payne, but I would like to go maybe even further back in time. I have a huge list of game ideas from viewers, so more or less what the people suggest and games that I personally enjoy!
B – Any other tidbits/trivia you would like to let us know about your videos?
98: They’re awesome!
B – Thanks to 98Demake for taking the time to talk about their (I do agree) awesome videos. Some behind the scenes footage was released for Outlast, which you can check out below.
98Demake‘s latest video is of Psyonix’s fantastic multi-player game Rocket League. The fixed camera is a throwback to the old FIFA games on PS1. It would actually be a cool mod for Psyonox to release (wink, wink).
Be sure to give 98Demake a follow via Facebook or Twitter, watch more videos via their YouTube or support this awesome concept over on Patreon.
