Do Developers think all Console owners have 50" TV's?

[MiracleOfSound]

HD is your friend!

I had this problem until I saved up for my little HDTV and now I can read everything perfectly.

EDIT:

Except these damn Captchas.

 

[chronobreak]

I have a 42 inch HDTV and I still have problems reading things if I'm not sitting close enough to get a headache after an hour of playtime.

 

[EHKOS]

I hate it when this happens. Go scribble scribble scribble and do this....crap.

 

[ninjapenguin981]

Standard definition also suffers from this problem.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

maybe its just me, but it is JUST FINE.

i went from gaming on my moms old tv from her freshman year in college (yeah that shit be old) for xbox 360 games for a while, try reading shit on there from more than a foot away, its not possible.

so having small text on my standard tv now is crisp and clear compared to that. although i am jealous of my roommate and his bigass hdtv..i can read shit out of my peripherals its so clear on there

 

[The Random One]

If they keep selling you games that only look good on a 50" plasma, eventually you'll buy one. That'll just happen.

Or we'll switch to PC gaming. I watch the Disney Channel and White Collar. That's not a whole lot of TV. Why would I spend $500 on a TV when I could get more games? Or a doll?

Particularly, I have both my computer and my 360 hooked up to a multifunctional monitor, which it turns out is HD so I accidentally solved that particular problem for me by accident. But yeah, HDTVs are one of the many things devs imagine everyone wealthy enough to afford these curios called 'video games' own.

 

[iBananaCrazy]

I play on a 19" HDTV and I can read the text fine on any game. I do sit about 2 feet away from it, so that could be why..

 

[FootloosePhoenix]

Funny enough, I went from an ancient standard definition TV to my new HD one without having the small text problem, then I realized I wasn't using an HD cable with my PS3 (hurp-derp). So I switched it, and ever since the text has been, though not unreadable, irritably small.

 

[sleeperhit79]

Hate to say it but considering how cheap hdtvs are nowadays(300$ for a 32" is not hard to find), we as gamers have no excuse to use proper televisions on the systems they were designed for. You really can't blame gamemakers for designing their HD games on their HD systems with HD tvs in mind. If anything an HDTV is the more sensible way to spend your money.

 

[luckshotpro]

I have a 28 inch TV that's about 8 years old, I sit about 4 feet away from it, I have 20-20 vision, and I still can't read the text in games like Dead Rising. Although my 12 year old brother has his own 360 on the 52-inch HDTV in the family room. We sit something like 15 feet back and we can read that just fine, even with the xbox only plugged in with standard definition cables.

 

[imagremlin]

Spot on. My main gaming rig does have a 50 inch TV and all is peachy across all consoles. My secondary rig happens to have a 29 inch, and the text on XBOX 360 games on it is pretty much unreadable. Here's the kicker, the Kinect is connected to the secondary rig, se we HAVE to stand far from it - and can't read a thing.

I undestand that most have larger TVs or sit closer, but an option for large text would have been good.

 

[GLo Jones]

That would be silly of them, if someone can afford a TV like that, they can afford a decent gaming PC. /thinly-veiled-PC-superiority-jibe

In all seriousness though, I know what you mean. I also tend to find the edges of the image are often cut off, which tends to dig into my HUD.

 

[WanderingFool]

Spoiler: LOLZ GET A R3EL TV NOB!!1!

...Okay, Serious time. I know where you are coming from. I have a 32? LCD HDTV, but it is at school most of the year. The consol is at home, and bringing it back and forth is too much trouble. So instead I game on a crap Zenith TV (the kind built into a cabinet), and I can?t shit.

 

[MrMoustaffa]

You do realise these consoles are made for HD? This is the whole point of them. Without one you are going to get an inferior experience. It would be like people complaining that they couldn't watch the colour shows on their black and white TV. HD has been out long enough and has become cheap enough for it to be easily accessible. If you can afford the price for a current gen console you can afford a decent TV to go along with it.

Well here's the kicker. I was given the Xbox 360, and although I now have a job, all of the money goes to restoring my 1976 MG and music equipment. It doesnt help that I only clear maybe $125 a week at my partime job. Saving up 3 to 4 hundred dollars, for a fancy TV just so I can READ THE GOD#$%# text on a game, isn't cool. If I was having graphics issues, or the TV chugged at 20FPS, then I would understand, but having to buy a new TV just so I can tell what the hell is written on the menu is kind of rediculous.

I know that these companies playtest these games with big HDTV's, but you think they would be smart enough to sample some random TV's that might be used to play the game, and make sure they're compatible as well. They dont have to look great (lets be honest, theres no way an SDTV will look good nowadays) but at least make the game playable. Thats all I ask.

As much as I hate to say it, COD MW2 did a great job at this (intentional or not I have no idea) You could read all the menus, captions, and ingame text no problem, even on the crappiest of TV's. I remember doing 4 player splitscreen on an 18" TV with some friends and we could still read the rewards we were getting. You would think since other games ape COD so much they could at least copy that.

/rant

BTW I'm not ranting at you guys, I'm kind of just venting about my TV

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

What you're talking about has more to do with screen resolution than size. I have a 1080p monitor and I can see all text just fine. Remember they don't make the games on 50" HDTVs. I understand what your issue, and I notice it whenever I use my friends CRT-TV.

 

[Krantos]

No, it really is the HD factor. I got my new tv (HD, but the same size as my old one) right after Mirror's Edge came out. Talk about horrible. The tutorial text on the SDTV was completely illegible. The HD was still small (27"), but it was at least readable.

 

[DanielBrown]

Got a 22" HDTV and sit perhaps a meter from the screen. I have absolutley no problems reading the text in any games. The computer is harder for me(the tooltips in WoW makes me have to lean in and focus like hell).

 

[Something Amyss]

It's not so much they think we have HDTVs or large TVs as they really don't give a damn what we have and decide to do what they want to do.

 

[Sephychu]

...Okay, Serious time. I know where you are coming from. I have a 32? LCD HDTV, but it is at school most of the year. The consol is at home, and bringing it back and forth is too much trouble. So instead I game on a crap Zenith TV (the kind built into a cabinet), and I can't shit.

Man, I am, from the bottom of my heart, truly sorry.
I didn't know TV size could affect that.