Support NeoGAF

[Culex]

In the new IGN mailbag, an oddity appears out of Matt's mouth again:

RE4's "Widescreen" Mode

does resident evil 4 run in widescreen?

Matt responds: Well, here's the thing. It does and it doesn't. Capcom's initial claim that the game would support true anamorphic widescreen is false. In fact, the title runs in a letterboxed mode similar to the one in Beyond Good & Evil. However, gamers who own 16x9 televisions can use the zoom option to literally zoom in the picture, which cuts off the "black bars" and simulates an anamorphic experience. The downside is that you are just zooming the screen, which means that some of the detail is sacrificed. I checked out the demo on my plasma at home and the zoom function worked fine with only minimal blurriness, but still, this is not what I would deem a true widescreen mode.

My guess is that Capcom wouldn't have been able to get the game running with a decent framerate if it employed a true widescreen mode.

So it's not "true" widescreen mode. That sucks for us folks who were planning on running in 16x9.

 

[olimario]

Wow... That sucks.
And after all the hype about it being true widescreen.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Okay the game looks GODLY and it has GREAT FRAMERATES

so widescreen had to suffer... Thank You Capcom for doing your best.

Wait till next gen if you want everything perfect I guess

 

[Solid]

Boooo!

No buy until it's $20.

 

[SantaC]

I used "zoom" on my demo, and I couldn't tell a difference. It looked as good except that you got rid of the black bars. Everyone with true widescreen tvs should just use it.

 

[king zell]

that really sucks..

 

[Sho Nuff]

My guess is that Capcom wouldn't have been able to get the game running with a decent framerate if it employed a true widescreen mode.

Something tells me that his guess is wrong, it strikes me that it shouldn't be that hard, is fillrate the only thing that would affect a bigger viewport size?

 

[MaddenNFL64]

Yeah, that's disappointing. Capcom really led everyone on with that . It just zooms in until the black bars disappear.

Well, I don't have a widescreen TV, so no loss for me.

 

[shantyman]

That's absolutely terrible. Why wuld they make it a widescreen game but not have a true widescreen mode? MGS3 is another game that should be widescreen, but this is just pathetic.

 

[Miburou]

So when playing the game I'll have both horizontal and vertical black bars?

BTW, does having 25% of the screen as simply a solid black help the frame rate? Now it seems more like a shortcut than anything else.

 

[The Faceless Master]

what a joke... waiting till players choice...
oh wait, i was already not liking the fact that its not like past games in the series...

 

[seismologist]

That's weird. There weren't any bars at E3. Maybe it was in running Zoom mode?

 

[Jacobi]

Sell your Cubes it's all over !

I don't really care about it I have a 4:3 TV.

 

[Miburou]

I don't really care about it I have a 4:3 TV.

You're still going to have to live with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen.

 

[Overseer]

What about the cutscenes?

 

[Lemurnator]

Okay the game looks GODLY and it has GREAT FRAMERATES

so widescreen had to suffer... Thank You Capcom for doing your best.

Wait till next gen if you want everything perfect I guess

Yeah, when it's on PS3.

[/TROLL]

 

[aoi tsuki]

What about the cutscenes?

i'm sure it'll be the same for them too.

Sucks, even though i don't own a 16:9 tv. i was hoping to have one shortly after the US release.

 

[cybamerc]

I think Matt needs to clarify whether he's been told this by Capcom or if he's just basing this information on the demo. I mean just because the demo only has one display option doesn't mean the final game will.

 

[dark10x]

I think Matt needs to clarify whether he's been told this by Capcom or if he's just basing this information on the demo. I mean just because the demo only has one display option doesn't mean the final game will.

This is exactly what I was thinking!

I mean, outside of Jak III, every single PS2 title that would go on to offer 480p and 16:9 support in the final product lacked BOTH options in the demo versions offered up...

The point is that demos often fail to provide all of the possible options that will be supported in the final product. Is there even a full options menu in the demo? Does the demo support 480p? I'm curious to know...

 

[maskrider]

The point is that demos often fail to provide all of the possible options that will be supported in the final product. Is there even a full options menu in the demo? Does the demo support 480p? I'm curious to know...

The demo supports 480p, just hold B when booting the game.

 

[-=::[Eagle-Vision]::=-]

The demo doesn't even have an options menu....

 

[Gahiggidy]

Petition?

 

[Wario64]

I dont think I can trust IGN about this info. Hasn't the game been running in 16:9 already?

 

[Solid]

I dont think I can trust IGN about this info. Hasn't the game been running in 16:9 already?

Wasn't the trailer at TGS in 16:9? I think so.

Edit: Yup it was. Can't see if it's streched though.. but I don't think so.

http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_residentevil4_tgs_2k4_cam.wmv

 

[ge-man]

I can't believe Matt is making the mistake of using the demo to detail final features.

 

[SantaC]

As someone mentioned, the demo doesn't even have an option menu. Matt could have talked out of his negative ass again.

 

[Naked Snake]

But when you use "zoom" on a widescreen TV wouldn't you lose info from the sides of the image? Thus defeating the purpose of having a natively widescreen image in the first place IMO.

The final game better have a true widescreen mode, or there will be hell to pay.

 

[Scrow]

if i had a pre-order, i'd cancel it right now.

 

[Dez]

But when you use "zoom" on a widescreen TV wouldn't you lose info from the sides of the image? Thus defeating the purpose of having a natively widescreen image in the first place IMO.

The final game better have a true widescreen mode, or there will be hell to pay.

No you would not lose info from the sides.. just the top and bottom, which happen to have no information anyway (black bars).

 

[Shompola]

dez, the zoom functions on most if not all widescren tv's isn't perfect. you'll lose some picture from the sides definitely on my tv and a numerous of others I have seen.

 

[Miburou]

My TV has 3 types of zoom, so one of them should work.

But I doubt the final game will have true widescreen. I mean there are black borders in 4:3 mode, so going to true widescreen means a much bigger area to draw.

 

[Teddman]

That's pretty ridiculous. A game like Super Monkey Ball 2 had true widescreen so what's the problem? Now the game is more accurately called "letterboxed" instead of widescreen.

 

[Dez]

dez, the zoom functions on most if not all widescren tv's isn't perfect. you'll lose some picture from the sides definitely on my tv and a numerous of others I have seen.

The only reason you'd lose info on the sides is because of overscan.. which is the case with most tvs. You notice it with widescreen tvs because you have something to compare it to (ie 4:3 normal mode).

 

[Error Macro]

Hah, the game is now effectively "pillarboxed" (bars on all four sides) on 16:9 TVs. I have a 4:3 HDTV, but a true 16:9 widescreen mode in the game would have yielded more resolution in the image because I can squeeze an anamorphic image. Which is why I believe what Matt says about the framerate suffering. There would have been an additional 25% hit to the graphics engine if it ran in an anamorphic setting.

 

[Shompola]

the hit would only be in fillrate though and nothing else. transformations and lighting would still be the same. just different in the clipping process we would see a hit.

 

[Celicar]

Sounds great. I'm very happy about this decision. +1 Capcom

 

[ge-man]

I think I should reiterate that Matt appears to be basing his info on the demo. We might want to wait on an offical word from Capcom before getting pissed off.

 

[maskrider]

Yes, let's just wait and see if it can live up to the hype.