I was just wondering when and with whom it all started. I'm asking specifically for re-releases for consoles (I'll prefer to leave PC aside, since I believe this could be very debatable). I had in mind that these cheaper versions, usually released relatively later after the original game release date and when it's commercial viability dropped, had only seen the light on optical media (ie. cd) based consoles, like Playstation and beyond. But just now I saw a Desert Strike Classic edition (1996) for Sega Mega Drive. That got me wonder if there was any other "classics" line for previous consoles, or even future ones cartridge-based. ?
Depends on what you're talking about. I don't think there were any before the Genesis, and the only Genesis game I can remember is Sonic 3 (http://www.mobygames.com/game/sonic-the-hedgehog-3/cover-art/gameCoverId,12959/). But a lot of games were rereleased later with few differences (Majesco was big into that in the SNES/Genesis era). Other than that the earliest is the PS1 and N64 both had best seller rereleases.
