Anyone play games on a Widescreen?

[MarioAllStar2600]

FOr christmas I got a 22 inch widescreen.... for my gameroom. I can't imagine playing games ona widescreen though, does it look right? Can anyone tell me if I should exchange it for a normal TV.

[Mayhem]

Oh you adjust. I have. Plus many games support widescreen. And don't forget the DVDs. Though here most of them are anamorphic so I don't need to pick up a separate version :P

[Jincman]

I play everything in widescreen.

You really do get used to it.

More and more modern games are starting to include a 'widescreen' mode. For example: You really haven't played Super Monkey Ball until you play it in widescreen mode.

Enjoy!

[s1lence]

Yeah, I play everything in widescreen on my 50inch. It rocks, even the games that are set up for WS look fine to me. Enjoy!!

[Queen Of The Felines]

Yes. Yes I do.

Best $400 I've ever spent.

Kristine

[SoulBlazer]

I LOVE my new Sony HDTV Widescreen 32 inch TV.

More and more games are getting widescreen/progressive support, and even older games look good on them. Besides, you can always play in Normal mode.

[izret101]

I love widescreen the first few times i saw it i thought it was weird looking with the black around the top and bottom but i prefer it so much more now because you get to se the same amount up and down but more left and right. Which can be very helpful at times.

[mezrabad]

YES! I like the newer games that are made for widescreen most of all, but even the games that aren't are fine for playing in "wide zoom" mode. Best thing about it is watching "letterboxed" movies in full screen/widescreen.

[XxMe2NiKxX]

Old games played on widescreen suck nads.

[qbertandernie]

the older stuff (any game played on a square where that matters, like pacman) suck ass if played wide screen, but anything else only seems fat for a few minutes...you should have the option to switch between wide and reg though, so those can still be played on a 16:9 tv.

be careful with using the reg mode though...i have burn in...

[SirDrexl]

In my limited experience, no.

Most games that do have a widescreen mode (and there are many that don't) just change the way the 3D graphics are rendered to make them look less distorted on a widescreen display. It's hard to describe what I'm talking about, but the effect is like seeing the game through a wider lens (you don't actually see more on the sides). It just doesn't look right to me, and it's easy to tell that games are designed first and foremost for a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Also, this change in rendering does not affect the 2D graphics such as fonts, health and score displays, and the like. These things look stretched on a WS set. Not to mention any game that is 2D will not fill the screen.

One game that does do it right is the Madden series, which opens up the sides to let you see more of the field to your left and right. Also, these games have separate 2D graphics designed for widescreen.

If you don't mind playing games with black (or gray, depending on how your set handles 4:3 material) bars on the sides and you watch a lot of DVDs, you should keep the set. Some sets also have ways of stretching part of the screen to try to make it less noticeable, but it still looks distorted to me.

BTW, is your TV an HDTV? (Not all widescreen sets are.) That can really make a difference in your decision, as you can play games that support progressive scan (most Xbox and Gamecube games do) with the right connections, watch DVDs in progressive scan, and watch TV in HD on it as well. If it is HD, I'd keep it.