demake

plural demakes

1. video gamesA remake of a modern video game for an older platform.First known use early 21st c.

   Worms: Armageddon had to be scaled down so much to be playable on the Game Boy Color that it’s basically a ‘demake’.

   2024 September 26, Chris Kohler, quotee, “Retro Radar: A Moment with … Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition: How the Veteran Multiplayer Hit is Being Prepared for a New Battle”, in Darran Jones, editor, Retro Gamer: The Essential Guide to Classic Games, number 264, Bath, Somerset: Future Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 13, column 3

   4 more examples

   This game, created by Adventure Game Studio, is a mickey take of American McGee’s Alice that was put together for a ‘demake’ competition. A demake is basically the opposite of a remake – it’s taking a newer game and making it look like an older generation title.

   2008 November, “Indie Review”, in Dave Harfield, editor, Total PC Gaming, number 14, Bournemouth, Dorset: Imagine Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 68

   Micro Hexagon is a demake of Terry Cavanagh's game called Super Hexagon. So what's a demake, well you take the original game and reduce it so that the game essence is still there but with a much more limited colour pallet^([sic – meaning palette]) and audio range, for the Commodore 64.

   2014, Nigel Parker, “Micro Hex[ag]on Review for the Commodore 64”, in Nigel Parker, editor, Commodore Free: A Free to Download Magazine Dedicated to Commodore Computers, number 78, [United Kingdom]: Commodore Free Magazine, page 20, column 1

   Last time we considered the options that porting existing code from other retro systems offered, but demakes – recent games reworked for 8-bit and 16-bit systems – are another option.

   2015 September 10, Jason Kelk, “Welcome to Homebrew: Make This”, in Ryan King, editor, Retro Gamer: The Essential Guide to Classic Games, number 146, Bournemouth, Dorset: Imagine Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 106, column 1

   While we might have seen low-poly visuals some years ago, it was in the context of ‘demake’ videos reimagining modern games like The Last Of Us and Bioshock,^([sic – meaning BioShock]) and had the air of a joke rather than taking the style seriously. On the internet, it’s not always easy to parse what’s ironic and meant for meme and what is a sincere artistic expression, but these developers are optimistic that the PS1 aesthetic isn’t just a fad but will become as enduring as pixel art.

   2024 December, Alan Wen, quoting Crista Castro, “Shock-a-block”, in Oscar Taylor-Kent, editor, Play, number 46, Bath, Somerset: Future Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 59, column 2

present singular third person demakes · participle present demaking · participle past demade · past demade

1. transitivevideo gamesTo remake (a modern video game) for an older platform.First known use early 21st c.

   Taito's classic demade for the PICO-8 fantasy console

   2020 July 2, “Contents”, in Ryan Lamble, editor, Wireframe: Lifting the Lid on Video Games, number 40, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Raspberry Pi (Trading), →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4, column 2

   5 more examples

   We talked to developers who are ‘demaking’ two of the most unique and critically acclaimed games of the last few years—Left 4 Dead and Shadow of the Colossus.

   2010 March, McKinley Noble, “The Demake: Play Today’s Best Games … Yesterday!”, in Mike Weigand, editor, GamePro, number 258, San Francisco, Calif.: GamePro Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 44

   Learn the basics of pixel art and turn a modern character into pixel form, or ‘demake’ a modern game.

   2012 December, “60 Things to Do during Your December Holiday (with Little or No Money) [Be Creative!]”, in Michael James, editor, NAG: South Africa’s Leading Gaming, Computing & Technology Magazine, volume 15, number 9, [South Africa]: [Tide Media], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 33, column 3

   Retro City Rampage started life in 2002 as a homebrew passion project to demake one of his all-time favourite games for his most cherished consoles (read: GTA III for the NES).

   2012 December 6, Stuart Hunt, “Retrorated: Old Jack City: Retro City Rampage”, in Rick Porter, editor, Retro Gamer: The Essential Guide to Classic Games, number 110, Bournemouth, Dorset: Imagine Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 98, column 1

   There are parallels between low-spec gaming and demaking, the practice of remaking a game to run or look as if it's running on old hardware. They're arguably the same thing – demaking redefines developing for lower specs as an art form deserving celebration.

   2023, Edwin Evans-Thirlwell, “Maxing the Minimum: Inside the Often-thankless, Quietly Imaginative Task of Developing for Low-spec Gaming”, in Robin Valentine, editor, PC Gamer Annual 2023, volume 6, Bath, Somerset: Future Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 108, column 3

   With its low-res art and short, challenging stages, it plays like Mario if it was demade for the ZX Spectrum.

   2024 January, Tom Sykes, “Free Games Reviews: The Lost Levels: Mr Platformer is a Sidescroller that Really Goes Places”, in Robert Jones, editor, PC Gamer Annual 2023, number 391, Bath, Somerset: Future Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 89, column 2