Team Ico remastering their old masterpieces?

Rumor has it that Team Ico will be remastering their video game classics Ico and Shadow of the Colossus in HD for the PS3. One can see how I’ve drooled over Shadow of the Colossus in past reviews, but what really excites me is the chance to acquire Ico - a game which nobody has played but everyone says is great.

The most exciting part of the upcoming video game season for me, though? That would be The Last Guardian, Team Ico’s latest installment. The trailer, which can be found here, seems to demonstrate all of the beauty and wistfulness of the developers’ previous installment.

Between the giant bird-dog, the little toga-wearing boy, and the Mayan-ruin feel of the landscape, it doesn’t really make a lot of sense. But that’s the thing about Team Ico - they’re so good, they don’t have to make sense. Their development process, called “subtracting design,” is to take away every aspect of the game which detracts from the reality of it - which is the primary reason Shadow of the Colossus felt so different, and so lonely. The story, the landscape, and even the heads-up display was so bare, but so evocative, that it emotionally grabbed me more than any game I’ve played since.

If you’re a thinking gamer with a poetic sensibility, who wants to see the pinnacle of modern video gaming’s forays into aesthetic perfection, rather than macho Gears-of-War style dick-measuring, I can’t recommend this developer more.