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[trancejeremy]

4:3 aspect ratio for viewing standard TV in fullscreen format

not that i'm disagreeing on the price plummeting etc, just pointing out that this particular model is 4:3

It's also an Insignia, which is pretty bad picture quality. (I have one of their PC monitors, only one I could afford. Better than nothing, but only just).

 

[M3wThr33]

When my girlfriend's roommate has a 27" TV and can't read it then goes to buy an HDTV just for it, you know the TV is the issue.
It wouldn't be discussed if it was just blurry.

It's about as useful talking about broken PS2s and 360s saying that you take care of yours. The issue is out of their control. (Aside from the Wine Cooler...)

 

[Downhome]

I have my 360 hooked up to my SD TV with the duel cable that came with the system (the red, white, yellow). Is that the thing to use to get the best quality here?

While the text is VERY small on my TV, after playing for a few minutes I can read it a little better. I can't sit too far away though, or else it wouldn't be able to be understood at all.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Sounds like you took a leap of logic, and just jumped off a cliff.

Look at this way, imagine if you were really nearsighted and decided to not pay for new glasses, but instead put that money towards some cool sneakers, and take a walk in some lovely natural scenery near where you live. Now you're moving real well, but the whole world comes off as blurry. Wouldn't it have been more worth it to stick to your old shoes and bring the world into focus?

Talk about a crappy analogy. It implies you can't see very well to begin with. In this case, you can see just fine. A better analogy would be you buy a new game, and can't see shit on a normal TV.

 

[IceIpor]

I have my 360 hooked up to my SD TV with the duel cable that came with the system (the red, white, yellow). Is that the thing to use to get the best quality here?

While the text is VERY small on my TV, after playing for a few minutes I can read it a little better. I can't sit too far away though, or else it wouldn't be able to be understood at all.

Depending on the SD TV, it could have S-Video capabilties which is better than the RWY (composite) cables you have used.

A S-Video cable is usually black and has multiple pins on the connector.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Glad I don't have this issue, but really, Capcom, like every developer, should've tested for both types of televisions and included a selectable font that is 'optimized' for both HDTVs and SDTVs.

 

[lancubap]

It will very intersting to see if a "ONLY HD GAME" will sell, even if most people still has a 4:3 TV.
It could be a good test to judge the true potential of HD Market.

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

It will very intersting to see if a "ONLY HD GAME" will sell, even if most people still has a 4:3 TV.
It could be a good test to judge the true potential of HD Market.

*Keeps an eye on Resident Evil 5*

 

[Aaron]

Talk about a crappy analogy. It implies you can't see very well to begin with. In this case, you can see just fine. A better analogy would be you buy a new game, and can't see shit on a normal TV.

I thought this whole thread started with being unable to see the text very well. I personally find it hard to make out a great level of detail on a sub 20'' set, especially in some of the better 360 games that pump out a lot of detail. Add in watching it through a composite connection, and things definitely begin to blur for me.

Define 'normal TV' though. Size? Connections? Quality? You can get a good TV for a low price if you're willing to shop around, compare models, look for reviews, search for sales, discontinued items and other things... all of which I've done, but then I enjoy that sort of thing. Like a game in itself, but only costs when I reach the final boss.

 

[Flo_Evans]

does anyone that actually owns the game unable to play it because of thier TV? It seems like the people complaining the most don't even have the game or a 360. :lol

 

[GhaleonEB]

I thought this whole thread started with being unable to see the text very well. I personally find it hard to make out a great level of detail on a sub 20'' set, especially in some of the better 360 games that pump out a lot of detail. Add in watching it through a composite connection, and things definitely begin to blur for me.

Define 'normal TV' though. Size? Connections? Quality? You can get a good TV for a low price if you're willing to shop around, compare models, look for reviews, search for sales, discontinued items and other things... all of which I've done, but then I enjoy that sort of thing. Like a game in itself, but only costs when I reach the final boss.

It started with being able to play other 360 games perfectly fine. Your analogy is that being shortsighted is analogous to having an SD-TV. But the problem isn't with the eyes, it's what the eyes are looking at. Then not being able to see the text in DEAD RISING. Nothing wrong with the TV set. Everything wrong with the text in the video game.

"Normal" wasn't a good choice of words, but I'd call a "normal" tv anything over 13" and under 35". I have a 27", which I still consider a good size. I fully expected 360 games to be playable on mid-size SD-TV. There's no reason to expect otherwise, since the vast majority of televisions out there are SD sets. There's benefit to having an HDTV, but making the game playable should not be one of them.

does anyone that actually owns the game unable to play it because of thier TV? It seems like the people complaining the most don't even have the game or a 360. :lol

Eh? That's not the case at all, and certainly not in this thread.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

Try playing it on a 13 inch SD TV, reading the text is worthless almost.

Everything is worthless on a 13 inch SDTV.

 

[Flynn]

Everything is worthless on a 13 inch SDTV.

Seriously, you'd think that people were hooking their 360s up to the portable black and white TV in their neighborhood barbershop.

 

[Sho Nuff]

This is lazy/misguided development. We can learn that either Microsoft doesn't have the rocks to tell Capcom to fix the text, or just doesn't give a shit/tested it in the first place.

I seriously wonder what setups they test games on. Quite a few games are completely ****ed up aspect ratio-wise on 1280x1024-resolution monitors (Tomb Raider is an utter abortion).

 

[Sgt. Killjoy]

My 19" Samsung makes it unplayable. Other games are fine this is the first ive hada problem with.

Would even a small HDTV work, like a 26" LCD with 1080i? Ive been thinking about getting something like that anyways.

 

[thetrin]

Hey wanna buy me a nice 37" panasonic plasma? I'd sure love to get rid of this 14" SDTV which is all I can afford.

I have a 22" HDTV that cost me the equivalent of $700 USD. Nothing like that exist outside of japan??

 

[Tempy]

I have a 27" SDTV and the text is small and blurry, but not unplayable. Still, it's pretty damn annoying, and I would definitely prefer a larger font patch.

Outpost Kaloki X also defaults to a very small font, but guess what? You can change the font size in the options! Pretty good for a low budget XBLA game compared to a big budgetted CAPCOM effort don't you think?

I do have a VGA cable, but playing X360 behind the desk on a 17" LCD monitor isn't exactly ideal either.

 

[Luckett_X]

Looks like I'm not joining the next-gen race for a long time then. I use a pretty small TV (god I think it might even just be 13") to play games on currently in my room because I am dirt poor.

Here in the UK, monitors and tv's are horrendously expensive, and theres the space issue to consider as well.

Got to thank this thread and article though, this is the first I've heard of this which is surprising, and I find it pretty disgraceful. This isn't just a minor bug, this is a MASSIVE oversight.

 

[mrklaw]

Looks like I'm not joining the next-gen race for a long time then. I use a pretty small TV (god I think it might even just be 13") to play games on currently in my room because I am dirt poor.

Here in the UK, monitors and tv's are horrendously expensive, and theres the space issue to consider as well.

Got to thank this thread and article though, this is the first I've heard of this which is surprising, and I find it pretty disgraceful. This isn't just a minor bug, this is a MASSIVE oversight.

£100 gets you a 17" LCD monitor, £125 gets you a 19" widescreen LCD monitor. VGA cable, job done. And you can still use it with your PC


While yes, this is a screw up by Capcom, surely part of the reason anyone owns a 360 is for the graphical potential. You know you aren't getting the most out of it by using a crappy TV.

 

[123rl]

I've been saying it since launch and Capcom are definitely not the only devs to make this mistake. Dead Rising is not unplayable at 480i. It is hard to read the text, and therefore Capcom have made a huge error, but to say it is unplayable is just fear-mongering. A lot of EA games are, IMO, totally unplayable because of the small size. The menus on Tiger Woods 06 are completely unreadable. Fight Night, Madden, Fifa, even Burnout to some extent...all of them are unreadable on an SDTV. Even 1st party games get it wrong - the text in Amped 3 is far too small. A lot of devs do it well though - COD2 and other Activision games have well-scaled text that looks perfectly fine in any resolution. Namco got it perfect with Ridge Racer 6 as well

Microsoft and the publishers should accomodate for both HD and SD. I think the majority of 360 owners will have a HDTV either now or in the future...but that still leaves a large part of the audience with SDTVs.

 

[mollipen]

But why play a next-gen console on a crap TV? Why not put that money into a better display?

Component cables. Nice, rather new 20" TV. Text ranges from mostly to completely unreadable.

I know some of you in thread want to sound like you know what you're talking about, but you don't. Just because some are having trouble reading the text on their TV DOES NOT MEAN IT IS A CRAP SET. When you're talking about the low resolution NTSC SDTV is at in the first place, even nice sets can have display issues due to how things are handled internally, the final quality of the video display, etc.

As for why I don't have a nicer TV yet? I'm moving soon, and I'm not going to but a new HDTV just to then sell it and buy another new one once I get moved. But none of that matters, and the people who keep arguing that solution are so missing the point it isn't funny.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Even 1st party games get it wrong - the text in Amped 3 is far too small.

Amped 3 is the first installment that's not first party. It's a Take 2/2K Games franchise, now.

 

[123rl]

Amped 3 is the first installment that's not first party. It's a Take 2/2K Games franchise, now.

You're right. I made a mistake

 

[maxmars]

Everything is worthless on a 13 inch SDTV.

My other TV, the one I use primarily for my consoles, is a 7 inches LCD TV. I guess I should factor this in my buying decisions.

 

[MrDaravon]

I absolutely ****ing love the responses of "buy a new TV, you need one anyway, you need it for next-gen anyway LOL." Are some of you guys retarded or what?

 

[Tellaerin]

While yes, this is a screw up by Capcom, surely part of the reason anyone owns a 360 is for the graphical potential. You know you aren't getting the most out of it by using a crappy TV.

The main reasons for me to own a next-gen system are because a) new games I'm interested in are going to be produced for them, and b) as development shifts to these new machines, the ones that I own now will no longer be supported. While the graphical upgrades are definitely nice, I can still appreciate those next-gen visuals on my current (SD) TV - I don't need HD to see that the visuals are more detailed and realistic. Live-action movies are more detailed and realistic than videogame graphics too, and people can recognize and appreciate that distinction just fine without having to buy a new television.

 

[Chao]

So you can't play on SDTV?

Not my problem.

 

[Bloodwake]

*points at HDTV monitor*


Sucks for you guys.

 

[Miburou]

This isn't even a SDTV versus HDTV thing. The text is just too damn small, even in Hi-Def on a 34" HDTV. It was perfectly clear on my TV, but I had to strain my eyes a bit due to the size. Why did Capcom do it? Maybe to prevent the screen from being obscured, and I do have to say that the phone calls and other messages rarely interrupt the flow.

 

[Safe Bet]

I'm all for the transition to HDTVs but c'mon...

That's a big flaw...

 

[hadareud]

£100 gets you a 17" LCD monitor, £125 gets you a 19" widescreen LCD monitor. VGA cable, job done. And you can still use it with your PC
.

125 quid? I'm looking to buy a widescreen 19" - where can you get one for £125? What's the quality of those cheap screens like?

I am being serious btw, I'd really like to buy one if the quality is ok.

edit:
I found one for 130 quid at play.com
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Ele...GHW191_19_Widescreen_TFT_Monitor/Product.html

Does anyone know of any cheaper deals?

 

[dark10x]

Heh, a friend of mine decided to skip the game for this very reason. They can release a PS3 version with SDTV compatibility now. I kid, I kid...

I've never seen this problem in person, though, but it sounds like that picture is not accurate. I tried switching my 360 to SD mode on my TV just to see, but the text was perfectly clear even in that mode (looked suprisingly decent in 480i as well). However, a lot of SDTVs simply can't resolve the text and I think it is a good test for determining the quality of an SDTV.

 

[M3wThr33]

I absolutely ****ing love the responses of "buy a new TV, you need one anyway, you need it for next-gen anyway LOL." Are some of you guys retarded or what?

These are the same ones saying a PS3 is too expensive, but I need a whole new TV for one game.

 

[Ranger X]

Capcom is wrong anyway for so many reasons.

First of all there's a ****ing lot more SDTV out there than HDTV. Chances are many 360 owners doesn't play in high res so you better make your game good in low res.

Also, they suck at patches because they could make a patch that simply zoom the text boxes... This patch would be easy to make and weight nothing.

And Microsoft are quite permissive when you submit a game. Their standards are low. They pretty much care about if it's playable and that's all.

 

[duckroll]

This isn't even a SDTV versus HDTV thing. The text is just too damn small, even in Hi-Def on a 34" HDTV.

DING DING DING! We have a winner!

 

[hadareud]

DING DING DING! We have a winner!

it's fine on my 17" monitor via VGA though. Strange.

 

[Skilotonn]

One question... to all those who have this text problem - didn't you all already see this in the demo? It's only natural (to me atleast) to find out first if the text was made bigger in the final version before complaining...

And since everyone here has a PC I assume, it's as easily fixed by buying a VGA cable, or if you want, a new monitor to go along with it...

Not to sound all high and mighty, but to buy a next-gen system just for a tiny SDTV doesn't make a whole lotta sense... you miss out on so much that it isn't even funny... just go the extra mile and get a VGA cable - the difference is huge, and SOOOOO worth it also...

 

[bumpkin]

Yeah, they're slightly exaggerating (sp?). I'm playing on a 27 inch "SD" TV, connected via standard A/V, and I can see the text. It's not crisp and clear, but it isn't unreadable.

 

[dark10x]

DING DING DING! We have a winner!

That's not true at all, though. The text looks awesome on my TV even when sitting across the room. It's a perfect size that I wish developers would adopt for most games (while offering the option for larger text to SD gamers).

 

[shuri]

Did you miss the "all I can afford"? I don't have a 360 yet, but it's on the purchase list. And no, I won't be able to afford a "REAL" TV by then either.

did you say yesterday on irc that you owned like 7 copies of FF7?

also, I have NO IDEA how A FONT SIZE CHANGE patch can be so problematic. This is totally bullshit. They are probably coming up with a director's cut.

They probably ****ed up and have no way to update the game or to fix the problem with a patch..

 

[Ranger X]

That's not true at all, though. The text looks awesome on my TV even when sitting across the room. It's a perfect size that I wish developers would adopt for most games (while offering the option for larger text to SD gamers).

How about some middle ground for everyone. Wouldn't it be the most intelligent option?
We never have problems with say, movies subtitles. Maybe some videogame devs should have a clue.

 

[The Faceless Master]

One question... to all those who have this text problem - didn't you all already see this in the demo? It's only natural (to me atleast) to find out first if the text was made bigger in the final version before complaining...

And since everyone here has a PC I assume, it's as easily fixed by buying a VGA cable, or if you want, a new monitor to go along with it...

Not to sound all high and mighty, but to buy a next-gen system just for a tiny SDTV doesn't make a whole lotta sense... you miss out on so much that it isn't even funny... just go the extra mile and get a VGA cable - the difference is huge, and SOOOOO worth it also...

in the demo, there really isn't anything of importance posted in the text that size... oh and you might need to get a full body massage...

 

[mollipen]

One question... to all those who have this text problem - didn't you all already see this in the demo? It's only natural (to me atleast) to find out first if the text was made bigger in the final version before complaining...

No, I didn't - I played the game at E3, and hmmm, looked great there because it was on HDTV. At that point, there wasn't really the thought of "Hmm, I should make note of this text, because it'll probably end up unreadable on SDTVs."

And since everyone here has a PC I assume, it's as easily fixed by buying a VGA cable, or if you want, a new monitor to go along with it...

I keep trying to plug a VGA cable into the back of my iMac, but it just won't seem to want to fit anywhere.

And, AGAIN, "Buy a new X" is NOT a valid solution to this problem. People shouldn't HAVE to buy a new anything if Capcom and Microsoft had done their jobs.

 

[hadareud]

How about some middle ground for everyone. Wouldn't it be the most intelligent option?
We never have problems with say, movies subtitles. Maybe some videogame devs should have a clue.

why not offer an option to have a custom size?

Can't be that difficult.

 

[Hayami]

you guys are buffoons if you ever think an "HD only" game would make it to market.

 

[plagiarize]

If you own a 360 and you don't at least have a VGA cable, you wasted some money. you're getting some nice anti aliasing, but you're losing tonnes of detail...

now capcom SHOULD have put a larger text size into the game (as an option... like Dark10x i like the size on my set... and i know it's perfect on a monitor with the VGA cable)... but you've spent extra money for a console that can do HD.

you're always going to be disadvantaged. i'm going to be able to see if that person off in the distance is a zombie or a swat guy much more easily than you... in mp games i'm going to be able to see you at a much larger distance than you can see me.

i'm going to see greater detail than you, and text is always going to look clearer even if it's legible on your tv. more of your screen is going to be taken up by HUD because it has to be a bigger size to be useful... etc etc.

i'm not saying you're stupid not to at least get the VGA cable, just really missing out. for the cost of the VGA cable the difference is HUGE. you spent $400 on a console (or 280 pounds or whatever) you spend more than a vga cable costs every time you buy a game. you can afford one and it will make all your games look much much better.

you know, maybe capcom DID test it on SDTVs and maybe their SDTVs displayed the text fine (as it seems many SDTV sets out there do).

it's a shame they don't think it's worth the effort to fix... and it's a shame some of you can't enjoy the game because of it...

but this is going to happen again. it's going to get more common... and for less than the cost of a game you can not only ensure that you're not going to miss out again, but you'll find that all your games suddenly look better.

 

[teruterubozu]

Capcom should just put all the text on Adobe Acrobat for download. :lol

 

[Ranger X]

why not offer an option to have a custom size?

Can't be that difficult.

Yep, that's as easy to do as what i suggested earlier.
Honestly, Capcom simply doesn't give a shit because there's many easy solutions for this problem (if it is really a problem)

 

[The Faceless Master]

If you own a 360 and you don't at least have a VGA cable, you wasted some money. you're getting some nice anti aliasing, but you're losing tonnes of detail...

now capcom SHOULD have put a larger text size into the game (as an option... like Dark10x i like the size on my set... and i know it's perfect on a monitor with the VGA cable)... but you've spent extra money for a console that can do HD.

you're always going to be disadvantaged. i'm going to be able to see if that person off in the distance is a zombie or a swat guy much more easily than you... in mp games i'm going to be able to see you at a much larger distance than you can see me.

i'm going to see greater detail than you, and text is always going to look clearer even if it's legible on your tv. more of your screen is going to be taken up by HUD because it has to be a bigger size to be useful... etc etc.

i'm not saying you're stupid not to at least get the VGA cable, just really missing out. for the cost of the VGA cable the difference is HUGE. you spent $400 on a console (or 280 pounds or whatever) you spend more than a vga cable costs every time you buy a game. you can afford one and it will make all your games look much much better.

you know, maybe capcom DID test it on SDTVs and maybe their SDTVs displayed the text fine (as it seems many SDTV sets out there do).

it's a shame they don't think it's worth the effort to fix... and it's a shame some of you can't enjoy the game because of it...

but this is going to happen again. it's going to get more common... and for less than the cost of a game you can not only ensure that you're not going to miss out again, but you'll find that all your games suddenly look better.

because everyone has a desktop (and not a laptop) at home

 

[Zalasta]

Somehow I wonder that if the game in question had sucked, would there still be as many people dismissing the ridiculously small font as a non-issue?

We buy console games expecting that they'll work on our current setup, whatever TV we happen to use. There should be some kind of label warning the consumer if a title requires something out of the ordinary in order to play it with no problems, just like an online only game will indicate as such on its cover. Then again, there are those who don't bother to read the box thoroughly, so they don't have room to complain. It was clearly an oversight on Capcom's part, no excuse what so ever.