Like painting a Groucho Marx mustache on the Mona Lisa, the much-lauded remake of the even more-lauded Resident Evil 4 has introduced post-launch microtransactions. Alongside Mercenaries mode, Capcom has also released "Weapon Upgrade Tickets" with little fanfare. These tickets allow players to pay their way to powerful endgame weapon upgrades for about three bucks a pop. This is a step beyond the additional costumes that launched with the game – I wouldn't say this is necessarily about compromising the original game design and progression system, although that's certainly a part of it.
Rather, using remakes to retroactively add new monetization schemes to beloved games serves as another way to cynically mine nostalgia for cash, and should be opposed wherever it presents itself. At this point, I'm expecting the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake to feature purchasable packs of health drinks or additional skins for your plank of wood.
