HD Remasters as a tool for Developers?

I just watched this video ( http://www.cgmagonline.com/cgvideo/cgm-sound-hd-remasters/ ) and thought this guy had a pretty unique way of thinking about HD Remasters. It makes sense without thinking about it too much, but I'm not sure how viable it is that developers actually make HD Remakes for this reason.

Yeah, remastered editions are great for developers to pick up a new tool set without getting the designers, sound guys and everyone else involved. Usually just the developers and sometimes the artist need to tweak their work. On top of that it allows the community to not get left behind. Meaning if you want to make say a the last of us sequel that really ties into the original story you can then just put the original on sale on the newer platforms. Or better yet, package it with the sequel for free, you see this a lot with Valve and other steamworks based games.

So 2 reasons

1. Devs and artists learn the new platform and it's workflow.
2. Customers aren't left in the dust on new plot that ties in with the old.

It isn't even necessarily about the workflow. It's difficult to develop gameplay and adapt to a new architecture (and code libraries) at the same time.

The easiest way to do it is to separate the two. But it's hard to justify that use of employee time. By making it a product, there is justification for the work and you can get on with it, and recoup the cost through sales.

This is assuming devs will want to use their old codebase. Some devs throw their old codebase out or just start with a new codebase they purchased (which is what happens when you buy UE3 and go to UE4 for example). But a company like Naughty Dog wants to keep using their codebase. Heck, they've used parts of it since Jak & Daxter.

Part of the reason that Wind Waker HD on the Wii U exists was to give the Zelda team a chance to get their feet wet with HD game development before truly getting started on Zelda Wii U.