God of War 2 Secret "HD" Mode Revealed -- seriously!

[agbulls]

For those that have been following the Isle of Rhodes site (marketing promo for GOW II) you'll have noticed there was a countdown clock. This clock expired last night and appeared to reveal just more developer commentary. However, the good ol' internets have pulled back the curtain to reveal the true purpose of the site: To reveal a Secret HD Mode.

First, the link and then a quick description of how to access it:

http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resou...structions.jpg


How to do it:

The extra resolution makes the game run a bit slower, but it's also prettier.

As the game boots up, before even the White test "SCEA Presents" legal screen comes up. Hold down L1+L2+L3 (Thumbstick Button)+Square+Circle at the same time.

If you did it right, the Legal screen will appear in a shade of purple.

If you are doing this on a PS3, you may need to plug the controller in via USB.

It's not 720p. but it is running in 640*448

[Emuaust]

Rumor going around in the pal gaming circles at the moment is the game was delayed
so sony could finish a new BC update for euro ps3's to upscale GoW2 to 720p,
look out the 5th of may if true im going to be all over that

[agbulls]

Rumor going around in the pal gaming circles at the moment is the game was delayed
so sony could finish a new BC update for euro ps3's to upscale GoW2 to 720p,
look out the 5th of may if true im going to be all over that

I don't know bout that but I'd be really disappointed if an eventual "upgrade" wasn't offered to the US as well. I think this is likely the best we'll see for resolution from this game--it is a PS2 title after all.

And, if you read the link I posted it is clear they really had to push the system hard to get this upgraded verion playable. From what I've read, the apparent slight slowdown that is mentioned is not noticable.

I'll try it when I get home and post an update.

[ckendal]

I have yet to try this yet, but would you need to do this each time the game boots?

[agbulls]

Just finished testing it out. The colors seem to pop quite a bit more (at least on my TV). This might just be a side effect of seeing about 15% more detail on everything. You can see more detail on Kratos' wings and everything does indeed look sharper.

The game runs just fine. There is still some noticable screen tearing, but no worse IMO than running the game in pro scan previously. I'll definitely be finishing the game using this mode. Also, FYI, this is a test on my PS3. I'll have to wait until later tonight when I turn the system back on to see if it remembered this new "HD" setting. My inclination is no.

[PS2Hawk]

yea I just tried it on my ps3 and I can say the game does look better there are less jaggs to some extend and I havn't notices any screen tearing however I am using HDMI cable could that make any difference ??

[heybtbm]

I did a comparison between regular 480p and this enhanced resolution on my PS3 and can say that it definitely looks better. The only problem is that you almost have to use the USB cable to connect your controller. If you try and disconnect the controller from the cable, the game pauses and won't let you play until the cable is connected again. Very annoying. If I could just get the trick to work without using the USB cable.

Also, the PS3 doesn't "remember" the HD setting. You'll have to do it every time...but like I said before, it's definitely worth it.

[agbulls]

I did a comparison between regular 480p and this enhanced resolution on my PS3 and can say that it definitely looks better. The only problem is that you almost have to use the USB cable to connect your controller. If you try and disconnect the controller from the cable, the game pauses and won't let you play until the cable is connected again. Very annoying. If I could just get the trick to work without using the USB cable.

Also, the PS3 doesn't "remember" the HD setting. You'll have to do it every time...but like I said before, it's definitely worth it.

I was able to connect using the USB cable, do the code, and then pull the cable. Once you pull the cable just hit the Playstation logo and your system should see the controller. It seems if you don't use the cable the controller and system don't sync up fast enough.

[Mr. Smashy]

I tried this out yesterday night. Sure enough, the SCEA legal screen turned purple. Aside from that, I can't say that I noticed any obvious differences. Maybe there was a little less page tearing. The game already looked pretty good in widescreen with progressive scan enabled.

I have to say that I'm curious about their comment that the resolution in this new mode is increased to 640x448. What was it running at before?

[agbulls]

I tried this out yesterday night. Sure enough, the SCEA legal screen turned purple. Aside from that, I can't say that I noticed any obvious differences. Maybe there was a little less page tearing. The game already looked pretty good in widescreen with progressive scan enabled.

I have to say that I'm curious about their comment that the resolution in this new mode is increased to 640x448. What was it running at before?

It was running in 480p previously. From what I understand, you need a big TV to notice the difference. I can definitely see a change on my 50" HD. Out of curiousity, what are you playing on?

[rbudrick]

Stupid. Why the hell didn't they just make it a regular feature rather than make people jump through hoops? Yeah, it's nice it's there, but shit. Does anyone have an economic reason they would do this?

-Rob

[agbulls]

Stupid. Why the hell didn't they just make it a regular feature rather than make people jump through hoops? Yeah, it's nice it's there, but shit. Does anyone have an economic reason they would do this?

-Rob

Apparently they finished optimizing the code for the "HD" mode on the day the game went gold. So, to avoid further delays, they didn't bother putting it in the menu.

Either that OR it was just a buncha bullshit marketing.

[Mr. Smashy]

It was running in 480p previously. From what I understand, you need a big TV to notice the difference. I can definitely see a change on my 50" HD. Out of curiousity, what are you playing on?

I use a 47" 1080p-native LCD. Also, I'd like to point out that 480p is generally accepted at being a very minimum of 640x480 and generally 720x480, which is clearly higher than the 640x448 stated on the website.

I get the feeling that this whole website is a bit of an elaborate joke. Didn't some guy need to get a 1,000,000-hit combo before anybody knew about the URL with this information?

[Nez]

I definitly notice the slow down, but then again I was trying to get it to slow down on purpose. Looks really good on my PS2 but on some of the cut seens the texture looks muddy. It didn't look that bad before.

[Xizer]

It's not 720p. but it is running in 640*448

Considering the fact that standard definition is 640x480, I fail to see how this is an improvement.

Apparently you're cutting 32 pixels off the picture?

[agbulls]

Considering the fact that standard definition is 640x480, I fail to see how this is an improvement.

Apparently you're cutting 32 pixels off the picture?

It is using a full frame buffer. Considering I'm sure you're not a programmer, just take my word for it. IT LOOKS BETTER.

[heybtbm]

There is a definite improvement. I've compared the resolutions on two separate occasions now. The "new" resolution has significantly less jaggies and screen tearing. The backgrounds have a smoother overall appearance.

I agree with the poster who asked why this wasn't just included in the original menu. Having to set the HD mode each time you play the game is almost as lame as the old PS2 progressive scan BS (holding X and Δ when the game boots up).