Anyone play games "stretched?" (1 Viewer)

Brandon_H · Apr 25, 2003

I'm curious as to whether anyone out there with a widescreen TV plays their games "stretched." Or it is a shameful thing to play a game in anything less than its OAR?

I ask because, well, I have to admit that I do. Let me explain . . a couple of months ago, I upgraded to a Sony Cineza VPL-HS10 projector. Native widescreen. Before I got it, I would have sworn that I never would play a game stretched. Sinful, I thought.

But then I popped in a few games. . . and I had a REALLY hard time discerning whether it was 4:3 or 16:9. Like "Phantasy Star Online," for instance. I really couldn't tell. Since it was for Xbox, and my Xbox is set for WS (and most games go by the dashboard setting and won't let you change aspect ratio in-game,) I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. I played widescreen. It looked good. But come to find out, PSO isn't widescreen after all. So the next time I played, I switched to 4:3 on the projector. To my eyes, PSO looked WORSE. And so, I gulped my pride down and re-stretched the ratio.

Since, I've found that I can't really tell the difference in a lot of games. "Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven," for one. So, I'm thinking I might be doing a lot more games in widescreen. Please don't tell anyone. I think they might throw you off the forum for habits like mine. . .

Aaron Copeland · Apr 25, 2003

Heh...we've actually discussed this before and the thread got a bit heated.

Jeff Peake · Apr 25, 2003

I have a Pioneer 643 widescreen set. I watch all 4:3 material in "Natural Wide" mode, which stretches the sides more than the middle and zooms in slightly. It is hard to tell that the picture is stretched at all.

Dan Keliikoa · Apr 25, 2003

The only genre of games that I can't handle in 'stretch-o-vision' is racing. Cars just DO NOT look good stretched.

But I find that most non-widescreen supported games actually look fine stretched otherwise.

Jason Seaver · Apr 25, 2003

I've actually done it the other way more often - if there's a baseball game or something on that I want to watch but not necessarily give my full attention, I'll use the set's "side-by-side" feature and play a game "squished" in the other window.

Ricky Hustle · Apr 25, 2003

I do, it looks good, and I don't give a crap what anyone else thinks.

OAR does not apply to games.

Tony-B · Apr 25, 2003

OAR does not apply to games.

Why do you say that?

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Jeffrey Forner · Apr 25, 2003

Absolutely not. Widescreen TVs have a 4:3 mode for a reason. If you don't like the grey bars (and you shouldn't) you can always cover them up with some easily constructed home made mattes to cover them.

I highly doubt anyone here would stretch a 4:3 DVD to fit a 16:9 set. Why should videogames be treated with less respect among gamers no less? Because it doesn't look "bad" to you? The fact of the matter is, the image is still stretched and distorted.

Graeme Clark · Apr 25, 2003

We're not going to go through this again are we?

JamesH · Apr 25, 2003

I never can understand why people get upset sometimes about the way other people they don't even know play their video games.

Should I ask for permission since I like to keep my contrast and saturation cranked higher than what a ISF calibrated TV would have?

Ricky Hustle · Apr 25, 2003

Why do you say that?

Because it's the way I FEEL.

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JakeMcM · Apr 26, 2003

some games don't look stretched to me even though they are 16x9, on my 7ft wide screen 4x3 cuts off about 1 ft on each side, and if I don't notice the difference I get the biggest picture possible. OAR is only important in games if the modes make the game look crappy to whoever is playing it.

Calvin Watts III · Apr 26, 2003

Absolutely not. Widescreen TVs have a 4:3 mode for a reason. If you don't like the grey bars (and you shouldn't) you can always cover them up with some easily constructed home made mattes to cover them.

Will someone please tell me why it is better to hate the grey bars & out something physical over parts of the television, making it, IMHO, look silly?

I just ignore the top/bottom bars. I'm sure that when I get a HDTV, that I can do the same on the sides. I've been watching home OAR films since Hollywood decided to start releasing VHS widescreen videos.

In closing, to somewhat keep this on topic - OAR does matter - if there is a certain way that a game is meant to be seen - well that is what I want.

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BertFalasco · Apr 26, 2003

I don't have a choice every game is stretched for me unless there is 16x9 option in a game. I am too lazy to go into TV menu and take off stretching. Zelda looks great in prog. scan and stretched even for its lack of 16x9. Starfox I cannot tell the difference b/w 16x9 and stretched. NBA Live 2003 stretched..the circles are perfectly circular and not oval at all.

Jason Harbaugh · Apr 26, 2003

On both my widescreen and projector I don't get the choice. But even if I did I would play it stretched. It isn't worth the extra risk to damage to the tv to have bars on the side and games rarely look bad stretched. Stretching something is a far less crime than cropping something out (widescreen to pan and scan). Of course if developers would actually use the technology they have today and make every game widescreen capable then we wouldn't have this problem. I won't even buy a game unless it supports at least 480p.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Ricky Hustle · Apr 26, 2003

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Good for you, man!

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Jeffrey Forner · Apr 27, 2003

What about games with a widescreen 'option'? If games have this 'option' is the game INTENDED to be be seen in widescreen or is the developer saying, we want you to play this game in whatever form you like?

It's very simple. If a developer includes 16:9 support on a game, then you should play it in 16:9 mode. If you have a 4:3 TV, then you should play it in 4:3 mode. Neither choice is more "correct" than the other.

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JakeMcM · Apr 28, 2003

with that whole 50ft screen thing, I think it more depends on the viewing distance. When you are 50ft back from a 50ft screen it looks pretty much the same to me when I watch a movie 10ft back from a 10ft screen.

Graeme Clark · Apr 28, 2003

It is if there is intent of the game's creator.
I guess the rest of my post is conveniently dismissed in the context of one sentence.

We've been through it all before. If Miyamoto himself came on here and said it didn't matter, I doubt it would change the minds of a the few people opposed to it.

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Jeffrey Forner · Apr 29, 2003

If Miyamoto himself came on here and said it didn't matter, I doubt it would change the minds of a the few people opposed to it.

This begs the question, if Miyamoto himself said that he did oppose stretching games on a 16:9 TV, would that stop any of you who do it?

While we're on the subject, I do believe Romier said during the last thread on this subject that he would ask developers about it during E3. I'll repeat what I told him back then: I suspect most developers don't care one way or another nor have they even thought about it much if at all.

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