Are games realy widescreen or just streched

[googlefest1]

when i look at many screenshots of new games that are shown in the 16:9 aspect ratio they look streched to me

are games still made in 4:3 aspect ratio and streched in the publications just to make you think they are in wide screen?

i know many people dont care too much about that but i do - i perfer to view an image in the correct form. edit:: (I also know there are people that dont like seeing black bars on the sides of their widescreen tvs - im not looking for coments on that)

i also think developers are still used to creating the game environments for the standard def tv which (untill recently) were in the 4:3 aspect ratio. On top of that many still probbaly have PC monitors that are 4:3

any one know the truth?

[Half Japanese]

If they look stretched, they probably are. Every game on the 360 is REQUIRED to support 16:9, but many developers are including it these days. But then again, many aren't. Games that don't are usually smaller-budgeted affairs and not the blockbusters, which sucks since I'm big on sleeper hits.

There's a big-ass list that we need linked to, stickied and adorned with glitter and glue-sticks called HDTV Arcade (www.hdtvarcade.com). They have a big-ass user-contributed list of what games support what features (HD modes, online, 16:9, etc.). It's not perfect by any means, but it's the best I've found so far.

[agbulls]

If they look stretched, they probably are. Every game on the 360 is REQUIRED to support 16:9, but many developers are including it these days. But then again, many aren't. Games that don't are usually smaller-budgeted affairs and not the blockbusters, which sucks since I'm big on sleeper hits.

If you have a new TV, and its pretty good, go for the "Widezoom" option. It uses a processor to stretch the image but keep the proportions very close to what they should be. It works amazingly well on regular 4:3 TV as well. My 50" Sony has it, and I never watch things in 4:3.

[veronica_marsfan]

"Widezoom" option. It uses a processor to stretch the image but keep the proportions very close to what they should be.


Yuck. I'd rather have the black bars & watch things in proper dimensions. "I Love Lucy" just wouldn't look right in 16:9.

:angel:

[agbulls]

Yuck. I'd rather have the black bars & watch things in proper dimensions. "I Love Lucy" just wouldn't look right in 16:9.

:angel:

Have you seen widezoom in action? Its pretty impressive for most stuff---but especially games.

[googlefest1]

i guess we would never know unless they put it on the packaging

my guess is all the games are developed in the 4:3 aspect ratio - otherwise they would alienate too many potential customers that cant stand the black bars on the top and bottom of thier screen. I also don't belive a developer would make 2 versions of the game so the default has to be 4:3 with posibly the fmv done in wide screen. So if your planning on buying an HDtv to play games on then there is no need shell out more money for a wide screen. I guess we have to wait for the next gen to come out for true widescreen games.

Does anyone think they would actually start making wide screen games (not 4:3 streched)? True wide screen where your forced to play the game in either letter box or pan and scan on a 4:3 tv screen?
--- My guess is posibly towards the end of the cycle

edit : wide zoom looks funky to me

[GM80]

ALL Xbox 360 games are developed for true widescreen. Even the 4:3 or vertical ports in the Xbox Live Arcade are at least centered in a 16:9 image with artwork on either side. All of the games will also run in 4:3 standard definition if that's how your console settings are configured.

I imagine PS3 is the same way, and perhaps Wii. Last generation, though, was a mixed bag of real, letterboxed, and nonexistant widescreen.

I suppose you must be seeing screenshots from some publication that uses 4:3 video capture hardware and then stretches the image so they seem to be widescreen. On the 360, at least, the games are correctly proportioned at 16:9.

[JWKobayashi]

edit : wide zoom looks funky to me

You're not the only one. In order to fill your wide TV screen, they have to manipulate the image. This is done by zooming in on the center of the image, which ends up cropping a bit off the top and bottom.

I'd rather have bars myself. I can't stand if things aren't in their proper aspect ratio.

[njiska]

i guess we would never know unless they put it on the packaging

my guess is all the games are developed in the 4:3 aspect ratio - otherwise they would alienate too many potential customers that cant stand the black bars on the top and bottom of thier screen. I also don't belive a developer would make 2 versions of the game so the default has to be 4:3 with posibly the fmv done in wide screen. So if your planning on buying an HDtv to play games on then there is no need shell out more money for a wide screen. I guess we have to wait for the next gen to come out for true widescreen games.

Does anyone think they would actually start making wide screen games (not 4:3 streched)? True wide screen where your forced to play the game in either letter box or pan and scan on a 4:3 tv screen?
--- My guess is posibly towards the end of the cycle

edit : wide zoom looks funky to me

Ummm Googlefest this isn't a static image we're talking about, it's real time renders. You can render 4:3 and 16:9 and have them actually be the right proportions. Unlike a move a game actually can draw more data on the sides to fill it out.

As was pointed out all Xbox 360 games HAVE to be true 16:9 at a minimum of 1280x720p. When these games are show on a 4:3 TV either black bars are added or the game renders a 720x480 standard 4:3 image. There is no stretching in either case it just draws a different visable area.

As for the WII and older systems any game that says it supports widescreen is proper animorphic 480p, just like a dvd. There are only 2 instances when stretching occurs.

1. When you don't have your tv set to the correct viewing mode i.e. 16:9 for 16:9 games and 4:3 for 4:3.

2. When a prerendered cinimatic is played and the game doesn't properly add bars. Again all prerenders on the 360 Must be native 16:9.

[veronica_marsfan]

Have you seen widezoom in action?
Yep. Makes people standing on the far left or right of screen look Overweight.


Good point about games being able to render:
- 4:3
- 16:9
just by adjusting the camera view. Like switching between Standard and Anamorphic lenses on a movie camera.

:dance:

[roushimsx]

Tangent!

What are some games that have a 16:9/widescreen option that actually shows you LESS (by cropping the 4:3 image down to 16:9 instead of expanding the viewable area)? The only one that's coming to mind right now is Stunt Racer 64 for Nintendo 64. Good god was that high res widescreen mode worthless :(

(looked nice, at least)

[Overbite]

Hi-res n64 fits in well with jumbo shrimp and buffalo wings