I don’t entirely agree with you there. If it’s been a long time between two installments, you generally want to replay the old one first and it’s nice to have the option to play a remastered version if it’s been done well.

would it have really killed the gta/fallout franchise owners to spend a few bucks to create a half-assed in between title?

That kills the hype for the next game because everyone goes “oh they’ve lost it”, meaning possibly more work for less money if the highly anticipated game sells less because of it.