Chalk another one up to Chris Kohler's 4:3 Hall of Shame with Wario Ware: Smooth Moves. But the question is -- do you care? It's certainly annoying (though perhaps understandable in Trauma Center, at least) when your video games don't take full advantage of your televisions, but so long as all the game play is accessible, visible, and in full, brilliant color ... is this important to you? [Via Joystiq]













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-16-2007 @ 12:42PM
vidGuy said...
Nintendo should mandate 16:9 and progressive scan options for all games. But the lack of widescreen does not detract from the fun whatsoever.
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1-16-2007 @ 1:06PM
Author X said...
Contrary to that "hall of shame" article, no, it's NOT the end of the world when there are black bars on the sides of the screen for your games. Hell, on the large set at home, everything in HD has to have bars on top and bottom. It's just another standard, and just because the Wii CAN display in 16:9 doesn't mean Ninty should be FORCING the developers to add content to fill out the sides.
If it's a game like Zelda, where there will indeed be stuff on all sides of you, regardless of whether you see it, widescreen can really add to it by giving you a better view of the surrounding area. However, in Trauma Center, all you'd be able to see is more background. All the surgeries are designed to fit on a 4:3 screen, there'd be nothing useful to display anyway. The same goes tenfold for mini-game games. Mini-games are developed seperately, one at a time, and especially in Wario Ware they have their own graphics and art. Should they recreate every single one of them again in widescreen? Or just add Super Game Boy-style borders with stills of Wario and his crew along the sides?
It probably seems like I'm blowing this way out of proportion, but that's how I felt when I read the Game|Life article demanding that every game be forced to support widescreen.
Besides, there are worse, much, much WORSE things than a game that doesn't support widescreen. Like a DVD box set that boasts "original widescreen format" but only offers it in a 4:3 letterboxed format, meaning on a widescreen set you get a black box of inconsistant shades of black (two horizontal bars distinguishable from the two vertical bars - now that's distracting).
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1-16-2007 @ 2:21PM
wiiboy2007 said...
APPLY COMMONSENCE SIMPLY SWITCH OVER TO 16BY9 FAKE WIDESCREEN I ALLWAYS PLAYED MY GAMES IN WIDESCREEN EVEN WHEN NOT SUPPOTED AS EVERY WIDESCREEN TV CAN FAKE IT
I HAVE A LG HD XD ENGINE TV ITS NO PROBLEM MY TV ENHANCES 480P OR I TO A DIGITIZED UPSCALED FAKE HD MODE AND ALLSO CONVERTS STANDARD SCREEN TO 16BY9 WITH OUT THE STRETCHING
MOUNTINE OUT OF MOULHILL AGAIN JURNOS
ITS NOT HARD TO SIMPLY SELECT WIDESCREEN IN YOUR TV MENU
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1-16-2007 @ 2:30PM
Chris said...
Yeah, I do care.
Nintendo should have figured by the fact that component cables were going for $150 on ebay as long as a month after launch that there are many people who want to enjoy the Wii on something better than a standard definition television.
It's not the end of the world, but it is outright lazyness and disregard for the consumer. I personally will not purchase games for my Wii that don't have 480P or the option of 16:9 display.
If they could do it for Batallion Wars on Gamecube (a game that came out the same year Nintendo yanked component output from the Gamecube), they can do it for Wii games.
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1-16-2007 @ 2:32PM
Anticrawl said...
It's pretty weak that games like Goldeneye for the 64 supported 16:9 ratio for widescreen tv's and games today still lack this option, two generations down the line.
That said I'm still gonna get this game when I have the time buy it.
Anticrawl
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1-16-2007 @ 3:08PM
iveo said...
I have Trama Center and i never noticed that its not widescreen. Unless my TV is just auto converting it to widescreen ( i think thats whats happening). Anyways I dont care much. I will only buy widescreen movies but when it comes to games its just a bonus.
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1-16-2007 @ 4:31PM
J said...
I really dont care. I have a PS3 and 360 to do that shit. Widescreen has nothing to do with fun.
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1-16-2007 @ 4:39PM
Mr. Khan said...
I agree with the idea that the option should be mandatory (that sounds like an oxymoron), but Nintendo needs 3rd party support, and only by fewer demands shall they net that support
(I feel that it is not the case that Nintendo consoles will no longer push the bill for power, but that no console shall exceed $250 or the equivalent given inflation, i also feel that once the 360 premium reaches $200, then Nintendo shall release a new console)
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1-16-2007 @ 4:55PM
Chris said...
7: "Widescreen has nothing to do with fun."
I think some Wii fans take the "fun" thing a little too far. Having a game that's in color versus grayscale doesn't affect fun, nor does the system having a Photo Channel or a News Channel.
That said, it's certainly not fun for me to stare at a smaller or distorted image when it takes minimal effort to indclude 16:9 ratios.
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1-16-2007 @ 5:49PM
James said...
Grrr.... I'm already cheesed that my Wii doesn't output a "wide" signal, according to my TV, even at 480P over component cables. I have to mash the "Ratio" button on my remote until it forces 16:9. I don't have to do this for my Xbox or my 360, or my PC (DVI-->HDMI), and I *shouldn't* have to do it for my Wii. Now, I'm going to have to mash that same button to put it *back* in "Set By Program" (which will make it 4:3 again). Or, uh, I guess just leave it and have the Channels menu look all squashy... but still irritating. This is much worse than all those nit-picking Wii Annoyances Joystiq was running.
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1-16-2007 @ 10:16PM
Anticrawl said...
Are you an idiot James? Did you ever think for a second you have your Wii set to display 4:3 ratio and not 16:9? It asks you when you initally set it up and after that you have to go in and change it manually in the settings.
Anticrawl
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1-17-2007 @ 2:21AM
Bodie said...
Um...I just played and beat Warioware. It's completely in 16:9 progressive widescreen. I'm not sure what you're talking about. Maybe your Wii settings are wrong.
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1-17-2007 @ 9:13AM
Chocolate Starfish said...
In short, yes.
It's not a factor that will stop me from buying a great game, but it may stop me from buying a not-so-great game. It will also leave me frustrated, and I'll probably curse it every time I turn it on only to have 40" of my 110" projector screen filled with color.
In the case of Smooth Moves, the game isn't displaying an environment like in a 3-d adventure game. I can understand that there isn't more content to utilize the wide portions of the screen. It'd be like complaining that an image of the Mona Lisa doesn't take advantage of my widescreen monitor because it portrait orientation rather than landscape (not that Warioware graphics are comparable to DaVinci's, but you get the point). Game makers take note of the complaining, though, and keep up with the new displays.
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1-17-2007 @ 1:34PM
Kevin M. said...
Meh, stretch mode works perfectly well for animated content. I've used it in years past for older games, why should I worry now? Does the extra area make much of a difference? Obviously it can't because everything has to be in the "4:3 safe zone".
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1-18-2007 @ 3:58PM
Ethan Duffy said...
I think it's more essential the 4:3 is supported, though I'm in widescreen myself. The obviously inconsistent presentation in Warioware would obviously make it hard to change the aspect.
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