Kotaku: widescreen

Mega Drive Collection Splotches Are Optional

Mike Fahey — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:40:00 MST

Yesterday Sega announced the 40-strong Mega Drive Ultimate Collection for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation3, and fans were ecstatic, until they saw screenshots of the title's HD smoothing in action. Yes it's hideous, but it's also completely optional. Martin Snelling of Sega UK confirmed with RPG Site that the hideous-looking smoothing filter can be shut off. Even better, all games will play in whatever aspect ratio your television supports.

"I’ve had confirmation that the filter can indeed be switched off...And the games will display at whatever ratio your console is set at – 4:3 or 16:9. If playing in 16:9 the game will fit and not have black borders at the side."

It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? Yesterday I was "Oh look, another Sega compilation." Now I am leaning heavily towards "Gimme."

Mega Drive Collection filter can be turned off, say Sega [RPG Site - Thanks Alexander!]

Fire Emblem Doesn't Only Get New Name

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:00:39 MDT

Localization tweaks are fascinating. Take Wii title Fire Emblem: Goddess of Dawn, which was released in Japan this past February. When it gets a North American release this November, the game will be retitled Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. No surprises there! Nintendo had previously announced that it was not going to use Goddess of Dawn in the title, begging the question why? The good news is that the game is getting 16:9 support — something the Japanese version doesn't have.
Name Change for Fire Emblem [Siliconera]

BioShock's Widescreen Pissing People Off

Mike Fahey — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 09:00:03 MDT

What's wrong with this picture? Well the normal area shows what the BioShock demo looks like on a widescreen monitor. The red areas show the extra space added when the game is played in standard 4:3 ratio. This is not how widescreen is supposed to work. Instead of slicing the top and bottom off of the image, widescreen should allow players to see more on either side. I have to agree with Paddy the Wak from the Widescreen Gaming Forum who posted the picture above - awwwww pants.

Now the 2K forums are alive with the sound of angry, as more gamers verify the problem on their PCs and 360s, with one of the latest posts as of this writing confirming that the screen clipping appears on the 360 retail version as well.

Shoddy, shoddy work 2K. People invest in widescreen display solutions to see more, not less. 2KB's Chris Kline was even asked specifically if widescreen would display additional image as compared to 4:3 in this thread here.

You will see more in widescreen. We use a different projection matrix; there is no squashing or stretching of the image involved.

So what happened? So far no one officially has commented in the 2K forum post. Just a lot of angry people canceling their preorders until the issue is addressed and fixed. While it may seem like a piddling issue to some, cutting off the top and bottom of the screen not only produces less picture, but also has the effect of blowing up the textures and making the camera view tighter than it was before due to cramping.

Would this be enough to keep you from purchasing BioShock? I'm still on board, but then I feel I have a certain obligation to pick up and play one of the biggest titles of the year. Hit the link below to read the full 2K forum thread, filled with disturbingly rational discussion and cool heads. Seriously, it's almost spooky.

Widescreen messed up ... [2K Forums - Thanks Saiwen!]