Only In Widescreen ??

[Nick_]

Just downloaded the demo, and I see that it's in widescreen mode .. Is this game playable in 4:3 aspect ?? Thanks ..

[Iggyhopper]

I don't know, but you can change your overall screen settings in the system settings, see if that changes anything.

If it doesn't then I'm to assume that yes, it's only in wide screen format.

[Nick_]

I don't know, but you can change your overall screen settings in the system settings, see if that changes anything.

If it doesn't then I'm to assume that yes, it's only in wide screen format.

The overall screen settings are already set to standard ( 4:3 ), but when I enter the game it switches to widescreen mode .. It's a bit dissapointing I guess .. I hope that Team 17 will give us a choice in the future ...

[Squirminator2k]

A lot of Xbox games will default to a letterbox mode on a 4:3 television.

[AndrewTaylor]

Do they still make 4:3 TVs?

This annoyed me when the BBC straight away started making all programmes in widescreen and putting important things right in the corners, but that was years ago. I think it's been around long enough by now that it's fair for games on latest-generation consoles to assume it.

[Nick_]

Do they still make 4:3 TVs?

This annoyed me when the BBC straight away started making all programmes in widescreen and putting important things right in the corners, but that was years ago. I think it's been around long enough by now that it's fair for games on latest-generation consoles to assume it.

I realize that 4:3 TVs are a thing of the past, but I still have one .. I understand that making games in 16:9 aspect is the standard in today's industry, but developers should still give the option for 4:3 aspect ( at least for a little longer ) .. I don't think that it's a very hard thing to do, and I'm sure that people with 4:3 TVs will appreciate it :D

Thanks for your answers ..

[alex atkin]

Indeed keeping everyones screen area the same is necessary. It gets a lot more complicated with the zoom levels, trying to keep focus on what is going on the screen, if you have to cope with users who have the sides chopped off. Its so much easier to just letterbox instead.

The TV manufacturers like it too, it helps push you to buy a new TV. :p

Seriously, if you do not letterbox you end up with the whole Bioshock argument. What happened there was to support 4:3 they displayed more data at the top and bottom, so that you still saw the exact same width as people in widescreen. However, people complained that it gave an unfair advantage to people playing on 4:3 as they could see more of what was going on.

[Squirminator2k]

To be fair, that's because the widescreen in Bioshock was poorly implemented. That's not a standard.

[alex atkin]

To be fair, that's because the widescreen in Bioshock was poorly implemented. That's not a standard.

You only have three choices if you need to support both 16:9 and 4:3 (with 16:9 being considered the base):
1) Keep it the same width and so you see more at the top and bottom.
2) Keep it the same height and you lose the sides.
3) Letterbox it, so its identical.

If you consider 4:3 the base, you still have the same situation. You either lose the top and the bottom of the picture, or you zoom it out to maintain the same height but gaining more on the sides.

With movies, I always prefer to maintain the width and see more at the top and bottom if watching 4:3. Quite frankly, I wish Blu-ray movies did the same for 2.35:1 movies showing the extra at the top and bottom (with an option to put on black bars for those who insist on the theatrical ratio) to fill my screen.

Games however its a different thing entirely as in order to maintain an equal difficulty for all people who play the game, the only sensible option is to letterbox. So if you mean Bioshock screwed up by not doing that, I agree. But as we see here, there is always someone who will complain nomatter what you do.

[mathesar]

A lot of Xbox games will default to a letterbox mode on a 4:3 television.

This is true. friend of mine uses a 32" CRT (4:3) and a lot of games play with black bars on top & bottom even tho its set to 4:3 in xbox system settings.