Generally what Sony did with Astro Bot. Going “hey, remember all these cool games we used to make” but not making the games available. Or how Street Fighter 5 had a bunch of costumes that referenced games Capcom was never gonna make again.
The Nostalgia bait stuff feels worse when it reminds me that the era of creating mid sized IPs is over, at least for big companies. Bandai Namco will likely reissue every single Katamari game ever made, but if someone came to John Namco’s desk to propose the next Katamari, it’ll probably be passed on.
It made me think of that Fukuyama book, the end of history. How gaming has reached an end point and there’s no going back.
PS kinda rich for sony to nostalgia bait games like Ape Escape & Parappa when they closed JP studio down.