Why is Capcom getting a free pass on RE4 not supporting widescreen TVs?

shantyman

WHO DEY!?
Let me preface this by saying I fully expect to be flamed for this post, but it is not a bash of a) the Gamecube or b) the game itself. I have an issue with the development team.

When Capcom decided to make RE 4 Widescreen, I was excited that developer was being forward thinking in framing it for HDTVs. Coupled with the fact that the game looks pretty damn sweet (and my limited time with the demo affirms that), I was excited. However, when I read it is not anamorphic, it became clear that this decision was to preserve the quality of the graphics, not to enhance it for 16x9 TVs.

Why is Capcom not getting roundly criticized for using a cheap tactic to make the graphics better under the guise of something else? Rebel Strike seems to have no problems running in full screen with the same quality graphics. The reason I am ticked it is not anamorphic is to play it on a widescreen TV would mean black bars on the bottom and top, which is just stupid. The zoom feature is not an adequate workaround because info is lost on the sides then.

I know capcom might change this from what we know, but I'm not holding out hope.

PS: I am not sure if I am using anamorphic in a technically correct sense, but what I mean is it is not formatted for widescreen TVs.
 
I don't know why there isn't more of an uproar about it. My HDTV is 4:3 (and yes, that was a deliberate decision on my part), yet I would love to have the added resolution that an anamorphic image provides. As it is, the system is just wasting resolution by having to draw the black bars on the screen.
 
Because there needs to be something to bitch about, or else it wouldn't be Capcom :)

2004: omgwtf, I can't use my mic to talk? Fuck you Capcom!

2005: omgwtf, RE4 isn't widescreen?
 
Don't forget: omgwtf, why aren't the remixed tunes in the Gamecube version of Mega Man Anniversary Collection?? And the bullshit excuses that followed.
 
Progressive Scan, Widescreen, HDTV, resolution, none of that crap really matters to me. Games should be just as hot on any television you play them on.
 
IIRC HDTVs are generally outselling normal TVs these days. Most under 40" barely come close to $1000 anymore. Plus there's a FCC mandate that all new TVs must be HDTV by 2006, so most TV makers are getting a head start by pushing HD sets over normal ones and driving down the price on HD sets as fast as possible.

As for the original question, they're getting a free pass because the game is on the GameCube and you shall not say anything bad about it.
 
I know it's gonna REALLY piss me off when I finally get the game... I always use anamorphic squeeze with games that support it (I have a 4:3 TV with a 16:9 option) because it makes games look so much crisper and cinematic... It doesn't bother me when the game doesn't support widescreen at all (MGS2/MGS3 for example), but for a game to be widescreen in 4:3 mode is really retarded IMO, that was one of the reasons I refused to buy Beyond Good & Evil.
 
As for the original question, they're getting a free pass because the game is on the GameCube and you shall not say anything bad about it.
Ya called that, if there are two companies that get a free pass around here, god knows it's Nintendo and Capcom.(supermegagalactic rolleyes).
 
Drensch said:
Ya called that, if there are two companies that get a free pass around here, god knows it's Nintendo and Capcom.(supermegagalactic rolleyes).

Nintendo getting a free pass on this board? Good one. :lol
 
Wait for the director's cut which will also have the PS2 special features.. </wild yet probably very accurate guess>
 
koam said:
Wait for the director's cut which will also have the PS2 special features.. </wild yet probably very accurate guess>

PS2 version will have exclusive 20:1 mode :lol
 
I think it is a lame decision. They should have gone with a 480p anamorphic widescreen mode. I'm not giving them a free pass at all. I'll probably buy the game but it sucks to have it delivered like this.
 
I've been complaining about this ever since it was known the game was 4:3 Letterboxed.

I don't care if Matt@IGN says he can zoom the picture. Good for him. Most people cannot zoom in progressive scan (like me), anyway.

Beyond Good and Evil looked like shit on my TV and if the demo is any means of telling the final product for RE4, so will it.
 
They should be appluded for still supporting the Gamecube with this AAA title.. That is enough for me
 
I don't have a widescreen or HDTV. When one of my TVs dies I will get one. So, RE4 having widescreen is irrelevant to me. sorry to piss on your snowcone.
 
-SRV- said:
I don't have a widescreen or HDTV. When one of my TVs dies I will get one. So, RE4 having widescreen is irrelevant to me. sorry to piss on your snowcone.


certainly you can see how it would irritate those who do have a TV that can handle it.
 
cvkpaladin said:
Does RE4 have a progressive scan mode even though there is no 16:9 option?

Yes.

As for Capcom's choice--I won't be hasty. If someone told me two weeks ago that GT4 would have 1080i, I would've said said that they were a moron. While I'm not terriblely confident that things will change, I don't think it's time to start sending nasty e-mails to Capcom or bashed them on forums. I have yet to see Capcom themselves comment on the subject (although I may have missed some info in the flurry of RE4 news in the last couple of months.)
 
Oh! My Car! said:
Will some of the sides get cut off with the zoom or does it fill the entire screen?

If you're one of the lucky ones that can zoom with a progressive signal, and your zoom is a non-linear one, then it will stretch it to fit the screen.
 
I didn't know that it doesn't support widescreen tvs. Well if it is true....

Capcom you are a bunch of assholes.

Maynerd
 
Considering that RE4 seems to be using a shitload of fillrate burning effects left and tight you can't exactly fault them for having to sacrifice the vertical screen resolution to have those effects in place, and make a game with OMGWTF graphics that every fan of a game talks about.

What I don't understand is what the game will look like on a 16:9 TV? Will it have black borders on top, bottom, left and right sides?
 
Marconelly said:
What I don't understand is what the game will look like on a 16:9 TV? Will it have black borders on top, bottom, left and right sides?

Ridiculous isn't it? It'd be like playing a PC game in window mode, also reminds me of Doom on Sega 32X.
 
This is why I won't buy the game for full-price. No way Capcom will have my money after this stupid decision.
 
shantyman:

> The zoom feature is not an adequate workaround because info is lost on the sides then.

What kind of crap TV do you have?

> PS: I am not sure if I am using anamorphic in a technically correct sense, but what I
> mean is it is not formatted for widescreen TVs.

Anamorphic is correct.



ManaByte:

> IIRC HDTVs are generally outselling normal TVs these days.

I doubt it.

> Plus there's a FCC mandate that all new TVs must be HDTV by 2006

They must be DTV ready.



Naked Snake:

> but for a game to be widescreen in 4:3 mode is really retarded IMO

Letterboxed.



Marconelly:

> What I don't understand is what the game will look like on a 16:9 TV? Will it have black
> borders on top, bottom, left and right sides?

If you have a decent TV it'll fill out the screen. Now whether or not it looks good zoomed in is another matter.
 
cybamerc said:
shantyman:

> The zoom feature is not an adequate workaround because info is lost on the sides then.

What kind of crap TV do you have?

Sony 30HS420. That's not crap. AFAIK, any TV will somewhat crop the edges if zooming a letterboxed signal, but the real point is is that is a hack fix IMHO and does not look as good, and not what it should be.
 
blame it on your tv for making the game look bad :lol

and go on and moan all you like, it's not going to change :lol
 
dcm said:
blame it on your tv for making the game look bad :lol

and go on and moan all you like, it's not going to change :lol

Its not like Capcom's decision is smart in any way. In fact all they are doing is a cheap work around and not designing the game within a better spec or evolving with technology.
 
Warm Machine said:
Its not like Capcom's decision is smart in any way. In fact all they are doing is a cheap work around and not designing the game within a better spec or evolving with technology.

My point exactly. What doubly pisses me off is I think the game looks so freaking awesome.

My other point is this very poor design decision had been mentioned 2 in two other threads, but DS v. PSP can get thousands of posts. I'm just surprised more people are not annoyed at this.
 
shantyman:

> AFAIK, any TV will somewhat crop the edges if zooming a letterboxed signal

No. Just crap ones.

> but the real point is is that is a hack fix IMHO and does not look as good, and not what it should be.

The alternative is cutting back on the graphics.
 
I really thought when they first announced the game was widescreen that it was true widescreen, and if you played on a 16:9 TV you wouldn't have bars. Did this change?
 
Ecrofirt said:
I really thought when they first announced the game was widescreen that it was true widescreen, and if you played on a 16:9 TV you wouldn't have bars. Did this change?
It can't be true widescreen due to certain limitations in the GameCube hardware. I thought it would support anamorphic widescreen but I reckon they just couldn't keep the framerate high enough. If your TV has a proper zoom mode there won't be any black bars but obviously the game won't look as crisp as it would have if it supported anamorphic widescreen.
 
RE4's output does leave a lot to be desired. Even worse than the lack of anamorphic widescreen (IMO) is the fact that it runs in 16-bit color (which results in a very grainy image in 480p). Disappointing...
 
If the game wasn't letterboxed I'd live with it. But with those black boarders Widescreen is a must! The reason I skipped BG&E was the whole lack of widescreen with giant borders thing.

What I do wonder though is why they showed RE4 on a 16:9 TV at TGS this year. Talk about misleading people...
 
Deepthroat said:
What I do wonder though is why they showed RE4 on a 16:9 TV at TGS this year. Talk about misleading people...
It's only misleading to those with crap TVs.
 
Thanks Capcom.

re4_.JPG


Yes you can zoom but it looks like shit if you do that IMO.
 
Matt Cassarole says the stretch looks fine on his widescreen tv (final build)

So far, pretty damned awesome, and further polished. A good chunk of new cut-scenes and dialogue in the final build. Also, some welcomed fixes. For instance, our hero can now wield the knife at any point with the L button. Doesn't matter if you have the gun equipped. Just hold L and he brings up his knife. Such a huge improvement over the previous process, which demanded that you cycle back and forth between an inventory screen to equip the blade just so you could smash open some crates. Also, the camera stick now enables you to free look left and right in addition to up and down. Excellent stuff.

Game is freakin' gorgeous on my widescreen plasma. It runs in progressive and Dolby Pro Logic II. I use my zoom function to eliminate the letterboxing -- you should all know by now that there's no true anamorphic widescreen mode, but this alternative seems to work well and despite my skepticism it looks great. No major loss in detail with the zoom.

I'm under just about every sort of NDA in the world, so I can't talk about story details. But there is some VERY cool stuff going on. I'm really having a great amount of fun. I made my wife watch me play earlier tonight and she literally screamed five times. Pretty funny, to be honest. She was like, "Watch out behind you! Turn around! Matt, run!" Seeing as how I'm already a big pansy when it comes to this game -- I'm genuinely scared to play it alone -- her screaming was not helping! happy

I'll take some pics of the box for you soon. The copy Capcom sent me came with a laser print of Leon and the Chainsaw Man, a making of featurette (in which Capcom quoted me twice, which was cool), and other little goodies. Best of all, it came wrapped in a diaper with the tagline: "Don't pee your pants. (But just in case...)"

Matt
 
Yeah, because the first thing I think when I see a videogame running on a widescreen TV that natively is formatted for a widescreen aspect ratio is "Wow, look at that non-anamorphic videogame running in zoom mode on that awesome widescreen TV."
 
cybamerc said:
It's only misleading to those with crap TVs.

By zooming in you'll get a worse resolution. And there are none crappy tv's that can mess up the picture if image is zoomed. My SONY tv sure does so when I use ZOOM rather than SMART.

Point is either have native widescreen support or none at all. Not some shitty letterboxed image with 20% of the potential resolution is lost thanks to some awesome black bars cluttering the screen.
 
Shompola:

> Point is either have native widescreen support or none at all.

Point is the game looks the same as it has all along. When people played it at Capcom events, E3 and TGS, and loved the visuals, it was displayed on widescreen sets with the picture zoomed in to fit the screen.
 
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