Poll: Games Made for HDTVs

[I Have No Idea]

What are your thoughts on games that were clearly made for people with widescreen TVs? Not everybody has the money for one of these TVs, especially in this economy, and it seems that a lot of developers forget this. A big perpetrator for me is Battlefield: Bad Company 2. At least on my SDTV, the spotting dots and the mini map are small. When I played the game over a friends house on his widescreen HDTV, I noticed that the spotting dots were actually triangles, and i just couldn't make out the shape of them on my TV.

 

[I Have No Idea]

No console game currently exists that runs in true HD.

Maybe I should've just left it at "widescreen" then. You know what I mean.

 

[b3nn3tt]

Yup, annoys me no end. I do have an HD TV, but when I visit my mum I use my old SD TV and so many of my games are just unplayable on it. The worst ones are those games that have opted to use font that is literally unreadable unless viewed on an HD TV.

 

[imagremlin]

No console game currently exists that runs in true HD.

Maybe I should've just left it at "widescreen" then. You know what I mean.

By that logic I could say no computer runs in HD either if I define "True HD" as double whatever you have. There is an industry standard for HD and both the 360 and the PS3 are compliant.

Having said that, my answer to the poll is YES.

 

[Epona]

No console game currently exists that runs in true HD.

Really, then what is true HD?

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I hate to say it, but HDTVs aren't an expensive luxury anymore. They haven't been for a few years now. The only SDTVs you can even still buy new are leftover stock from things like Disney-themed kids TVs. It's a safe assumption at this point that anyone who can afford a games console will also have at least one HDTV. I'm sorry you don't have one OP, but you're a statistical anomaly.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

No console game currently exists that runs in true HD.

Really, then what is true HD?

I think he's following some marketing claim about how it's not "true HD" unless it's full 1080P -- which is just as much of a lie as stereo sales people claiming Prologic wasn't "true surround" about a decade ago. Prologic absolutely was real surround; it just wasn't discrete surround. Same thing with 720P and 1080i; they're both HD standards, they're just lower resolution than the highest res stuff that is marketed as HD. If you want to claim that it has to be the highest res available to be true HD, then even 1080P isn't true HD, because consumer computer monitors go higher, to say nothing of professional projection equipment, which can go up to 4K res or higher.

Edit: Although I just realized, he could be talking about how a lot of the prettier games on the HD consoles (notably Halo 3) actually run at 1024X600, which technically is sub-HD.

 

[I Have No Idea]

Well, Moonshine is banned permanently....so...not getting an answer out of him.

 

[Janus Vesta]

I hate to say it, but HDTVs aren't an expensive luxury anymore. They haven't been for a few years now. The only SDTVs you can even still buy new are leftover stock from things like Disney-themed kids TVs. It's a safe assumption at this point that anyone who can afford a games console will also have at least one HDTV. I'm sorry you don't have one OP, but you're a statistical anomaly.

I don't agree. I only know one person who has a HDTV and a games console. And he doesn't even have a PC. I spoken to a lot of people who can't see the teeny tiny text due to not having a HDTV.

I don't have too much of a problem with it, but does text really need to be that small? Really? Is making it 2 or 3 points larger really taking up that much screen space?

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I hate to say it, but HDTVs aren't an expensive luxury anymore. They haven't been for a few years now. The only SDTVs you can even still buy new are leftover stock from things like Disney-themed kids TVs. It's a safe assumption at this point that anyone who can afford a games console will also have at least one HDTV. I'm sorry you don't have one OP, but you're a statistical anomaly.

I don't agree. I only know one person who has a HDTV and a games console. And he doesn't even have a PC. I spoken to a lot of people who can't see the teeny tiny text due to not having a HDTV.

I don't have too much of a problem with it, but does text really need to be that small? Really? Is making it 2 or 3 points larger really taking up that much screen space?

Out of curiosity, what country are you from? Because this may be a US specific thing, but I don't know /anyone/ who doesn't have at least a little 19 inch HDTV. Like I said, you can't even buy standard def TVs, and you haven't been able to for three or four years now.

 

[DirgeNovak]

I hate to say it, but HDTVs aren't an expensive luxury anymore. They haven't been for a few years now. The only SDTVs you can even still buy new are leftover stock from things like Disney-themed kids TVs. It's a safe assumption at this point that anyone who can afford a games console will also have at least one HDTV. I'm sorry you don't have one OP, but you're a statistical anomaly.

I don't agree. I only know one person who has a HDTV and a games console. And he doesn't even have a PC. I spoken to a lot of people who can't see the teeny tiny text due to not having a HDTV.

I don't have too much of a problem with it, but does text really need to be that small? Really? Is making it 2 or 3 points larger really taking up that much screen space?

On an HDTV? Fuck yes. When I was stuck with my old crappy SDTV, I could barely make out the text and subtitles in Mass Effect 2. Now, on my new crappy HDTV (which BTW only set me back 150$, so Owyn is totally right) the text size is just perfect. Any bigger and it would get annoying - Ratchet & Clank Future or Resident Evil 4 HD are good examples of this. Text is ginormous in those games.

I agree it sucks for people who can't afford to upgrade, but HD has been the standard for a few years now.

 

[Epona]

I hate to say it, but HDTVs aren't an expensive luxury anymore. They haven't been for a few years now. The only SDTVs you can even still buy new are leftover stock from things like Disney-themed kids TVs. It's a safe assumption at this point that anyone who can afford a games console will also have at least one HDTV. I'm sorry you don't have one OP, but you're a statistical anomaly.

I don't agree. I only know one person who has a HDTV and a games console. And he doesn't even have a PC. I spoken to a lot of people who can't see the teeny tiny text due to not having a HDTV.

I don't have too much of a problem with it, but does text really need to be that small? Really? Is making it 2 or 3 points larger really taking up that much screen space?

Since SDTV's can't even be purchased anymore and since HDTV's have really come down in price and since we are in the age of HD consoles and since this poll shows 81% of voters have an HDTV, I have to say you're anecdotal evidence is in the minority.

 

[Bad Jim]

HD

Not everybody has the money for one of these (HD)TVs

Modern consoles can usually be plugged into PC monitors, which offer sufficient resolution and are much cheaper than 40 inch TVs. You probably only need a cable.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

HD

Not everybody has the money for one of these (HD)TVs

Modern consoles can usually be plugged into PC monitors, which offer sufficient resolution and are much cheaper than 40 inch TVs. You probably only need a cable.

19 inch TVs are cheaper than the 40 inch ones as well. Granted, an equivalent sized monitor will still be cheaper, but lets compare apples to apples; PC monitors don't really come in 40 inch sizes.

 

[I Have No Idea]

HD

Not everybody has the money for one of these (HD)TVs

Modern consoles can usually be plugged into PC monitors, which offer sufficient resolution and are much cheaper than 40 inch TVs. You probably only need a cable.

Huh. I knew that, but I didn't realize I just needed a plug. Awesome, thanks.

 

[Cronq]

If you can't afford a $300 TV, how in the hell do you support a gaming habit which costs many times more?

Entertainment businesses compete for disposable income. Why should a video game company cater to people with little disposable income at the expense of losing customers that have plenty of disposable income?

 

[lacktheknack]

HD

Not everybody has the money for one of these (HD)TVs

Modern consoles can usually be plugged into PC monitors, which offer sufficient resolution and are much cheaper than 40 inch TVs. You probably only need a cable.

Huh. I knew that, but I didn't realize I just needed a plug. Awesome, thanks.

Check your monitor for an HDMI plug, mine has one. I think consoles come with an HDMI cable.

 

[torzath]

Check your monitor for an HDMI plug, mine has one. I think consoles come with an HDMI cable.

They don't currently (in America at least), but an HDMI cable isn't expensive, and if it is, you're being scammed.

 

[Saulkar]

Most games on consoles do not use HD level resolutions. While your tv may have a 1920x1200 resolution, your game will probably have a much lower resolution and will be stretched to a 16x10 aspect ratio to match the screen size.

 

[jakeblues1295]

If you can't afford a $300 TV, how in the hell do you support a gaming habit which costs many times more?

Entertainment businesses compete for disposable income. Why should a video game company cater to people with little disposable income at the expense of losing customers that have plenty of disposable income?[/quote/]

Because with my gaming habit, im not gonna buy around 5 new games at once, instead im gonna spread it out over a couple weeks or months while I can save up money.

Edit: damnit quote messed up.