According to Bolter in Remediation: Understanding New Media, the term remediation can be defined in terms of the entertainment industry as "repurposing: to take a property from one medium and reuse it in another" (Bolter, 2000, p45) The entertainment industry has always had a history of taking older films and reinventing them for a newer audience but now its not just remaking films that can be considered as remediation.
In this day and age, it seems no longer acceptable to have a media on just one platform, for example just a video game or just a movie. Video games which have reached global success through the years like Halo or Final Fantasy, after numerous game releases for their prospective consoles, have made the move to other medias many times, Halo with various books and comics, a web series and an upcoming live action TV series and Final Fantasy with multiple mangas and CGI films, including Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children, which was a direct sequel to the events of Final Fantasy 7. So to mirror Bolter's definition, taking features from a game like Final Fantasy, for example characters or locations, fans of the franchise are placed in a familiar setting, whilst the use of a different medium can bring around a whole new audience, who may not have accessed the media through its original means, introducing them to a new form of digital media as Bolter states "Remediation is a defining characteristic of the new digital media" (Bolter, 2000, p45)
Whether or not, it is a good or bad thing that remediation or "repurposing" is a factor within the entertainment industry, it has both its benefits and disadvantages, can still be argued. While its a good thing that, using multiple platforms can introduce a new audience to a franchise, that they previously never would have experienced, it can also reduces the appearance of any new material, which can lead to fans getting bored of franchises and therefore affect sales. It is a method that need not be overused.
Bibliography
Bolter, J.D, (2000) Remediation: Understanding New Media, New Ed. MIT Press. (p20-50)
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This is a class blog for students enrolled on the History and Analysis of New Media Module at The University of Ulster. Please keep comments constructive to help students progress with the given text