Does the console HDTV push mean that widescreen will now be the PC standard as well?

[Bar81]

It just occured to me with the HDTV push by all threee console makers next generation that widescreen will become the standard when gaming. Given all the cross-development with PC and console games could that mean that us PC gamers with widescreen displays will now be able to play most if not all our games in native widescreen resolution? I think that may be the case and I can't be happier about it as there's simply no going back to 4:3 or 5:4 once you've played a FPS or sports game in widescreen high resolution.

 

[CrispyFried]

Originally posted by: Bar81
It just occured to me with the HDTV push by all threee console makers next generation that widescreen will become the standard when gaming.

:beer: :thumbsup:

 

[Tsaico]

I don't think so, at least not for a long time. I heard that all new tvs are going to be HDcapable within a few years, and they will stop manufactering the old format. Because more and more of them sold are HD, the gaming consoles are just looking to add more life to their next system. If the majority of televisions they are running on are HD, but do not take advantage of it, then I would imagine that would be a poor marketing move.

Whereas the PC world, you will see very few widescreen displays. Not to mention, the real problem with the television wasn't the shape, but the resolution. Television was incredibly bad when compared to the resolutions you can have on even an old PC, let alone a modern one.

 

[Bar81]

Well, microsoft for one has said that ALL Xbox 360 titles will have a minimum of 720P support so that means that *every* game released for the Xbox 360 will by definition have proper widescreen support. Nintendo and Sony have hinted that they are also heavily pushing HDTV on their units as well. Considering that these days most games on the PC receive simultaneous console releases, with the number increasing every day, it would be kind of silly for the PC team not to take advantage of a feature that's basically handed to them by the console coding team or if developed in reverse with the PC version first, it would make almost no sense to intentionally not support widescreen and require the console port to have to tweak the game themselves wasting many man hours in a sort of retrofit of the game.

I think that once people start to play games in widescreen they will accept no less. Personally, a FPS or sports game is certainly significantly less immersive when it's not in widescreen.

 

[thraxes]

Well I for one think that WoW on my Dell 2005FPW looks pretty damn good in Widescreen. If only my system was a bit better so I could run it in native res...

 

[Pariah]

No one wants black bars on the top and bottom of their PC monitors while playing games. Almost no PC monitors are widescreen, nor is there any push to have them since the majority of PC content is better viewed vertically than horizontally. I'd much rather play games at 1600x1200 than 1600x1080. No idea what you are talking about with the extra work for ports is about. Almost all TV's today are still 4:3, the XBox 360 supporting 720P in all games, is just that, support. All games will still have to support 4:3 for the vast majority of TV's. Where's the additional work porting a 4:3 capable console game to a 4:3 PC format? I sure don't see it. Nor do I see any interest in widesceen gaming on a PC.

 

[Bar81]

You're misunderstanding my post. What I'm saying is that since the console games MUST have HDTV support, then their PC counterparts will most likely have widescreen support also for the reasons in my post above this one. No one is saying that all PC games are going WS only.

btw, it's quite apparent that you've never actually owned a widescreen monitor as what you're saying is simply not true. A game with native widescreen support means that it FILLS THE ENTIRE widescreen display (read, no bars) When you play a FPS or sports game in widescreen and then go back to a non-WS display you'll understand the level of immersion WS provides and why WS is such a good thing.

 

[w00t]

i think widescreen is good but for gaming i am not really sure also i tried gaming on a laptop with a widescreen display on cs 1.6 i was shooting people and they wouldnt die i think cs 1.6 isnt true widescreen i guess. widescreen for just browsing the internet e-mail and stuff like that i think is nice but if u get into gaming i like using crt's and non widescreen yes they make widescreen crt's.