Capcom decides they don't like SDTVs [Response from Capcom]

[Andrew Wonser]

I haven't seen this part of the story commented on, or if it was it's nestled in one of the other threads.

Screw you says Capcom

[corruptrelic]

Yeah I read that "People should definitely have HDTVs before buying a xbox 360" comment in the latest EGM.. it's a good thing I didn't buy dead rising as I'm still on an older 2000 panasonic SDTV.

[Knightshade Dragon]

Wow.  That just sucks!  Moreso since they made all the hand-waving motions like they were going to fix it!

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

It may have honestly been coded in a way that was too much effort to fix.

[EddieA]

I hope this doesn't happen with any other games.  I definitely plan to pick up a 360 after some more games I'm interested in come out, but I don't plan on buying an HDTV anytime soon.

[CeeKay]

anyone else smell class action suit?  after reading that I'm glad I didn't pay good money for the game.

[Turtle]

Well then they should have coded the game so that it scales well.  Seriously, I know how difficult it is to program games, but setting up some sort of font system would be a good idea in general to allow the game to scale.

[Arkon]

I have a sony SDTV and the text in Dead Rising while a bit small was still easily readable for me.  That said, if it is something that can;t be patched then fix it and reissue the discs and pull all the old ones.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

after reading that I'm glad I didn't pay good money for the game.

But you paid bad money for the game? 

[Jancelot]

So neither the boneheads at Capcom nor MS QA thought to test it out on a SDTV?  Or perhaps they did and it was too late?  Either way, the game sold well and they have our money.  Why would they waste time on a patch?*

*Note:  I didn't say why should they make a patch.  Because it's obviously the right thing to do for customers in our new environment where they can no longer return flawed games.

[CeeKay]

after reading that I'm glad I didn't pay good money for the game.

But you paid bad money for the game? 

   I wouldn't even pay dirty or blood money for a game that Capcom did such a boneheaded move with.  Actually I'm going to snag a friends copy after he's done with it before he trades it in.

[ATB]

Dude! The 360 has killed all previous generations of games and hardware! It only makes sense that it has now killed all previous generations of television sets.!  J. Allard you magnifient bastard! 

[Purge]

Dude! The 360 has killed all previous generations of games and hardware! It only makes sense that it has now killed all previous generations of television sets.!  J. Allard you magnifient bastard! 

 , whydon'tcha?

[kathode]

Well then they should have coded the game so that it scales well.  Seriously, I know how difficult it is to program games, but setting up some sort of font system would be a good idea in general to allow the game to scale.

Doing so would've required knowing that scaling is necessary.  I think it's pretty obvious they didn't test extensively on lower end TVs.

That said, if it is something that can;t be patched then fix it and reissue the discs and pull all the old ones.

That kind of move is reserved for Hot Coffee-style debacles.  It can be financially devastating.  As annoyed as people are with this issue, it is only a major annoyance.  Congress will most likely not get involved, and I seriously doubt any lawsuits will come out of it

[Farscry]

Well, either it'd be an easy fix and they just don't want to do it, or they didn't follow good coding practices and hard-coded the font+size of the text at every instance of the text popping up rather than using a global variable.  In which case their programmers are incredibly stupid.

[Jancelot]

I believe most fonts for video games are stored in customized picture files.  So it's not just a matter of incrementing a number to get a larger size.  They'd have to ship out a new file with the larger font images.  That in itself isn't a big deal.  What is probably tripping them up is that they'd have to reposition and rescale the speech bubbles and the such throughout the entire game.  That's a lot of testing and work (which should've been done in QA 'natch).

So I understand that it is genuinely a lot of work.  But it is a screw up on their end and shafting the customer isn't the best PR decision.  Even if it is the best financial one in the short run.

[ATB]

Anyone think this will make anyone so angry at Capcom that they'll never buy one of their games again? I'm guessing no, but it still sucks for those without HD. 

[happydog]

I have a hard time reading the text on my HDTV. I wouldn't even try to read it on a standard TV.

I can't imagine how they could possibly not be able to fix it (relatively) easily. I can imagine that QA effort to verify the fix could be a real nightmare though.

[Farscry]

Good points Jancelot; hadn't realized that they may have this all stored in static graphic files.

[coopasonic]

I bet they are working withe HD manufacturers to drive more HD sales! 

[wonderpug]

How about the simple solution of giving you an option to make the text stay on the screen longer?  On my SDTV, the Dead Rising text is difficult, but not impossible to read.  If it would just stay on the screen 50% longer I'd be just find.

[Turtle]

Or, you know, they could actually put in voices like most modern games.  I mean, this is supposed to be a big new series for them, and we're paying $60 for it.

[ATB]

Whoa it just hit me. There's no voice?!  Wow so advanced it's arcane...

(ok ok that's the last jab).

[Kevin Grey]

Whoa it just hit me. There's no voice?!  Wow so advanced it's arcane...

(ok ok that's the last jab).

Yeah, it's kind of a weird omission.  The text that people are referring to is the "mission objectives" that are delivered via cellphone so it's kind of bizarre they didn't voice act them considering they wouldn't even need to bother with corresponding character animation.

[coopasonic]

Whoa it just hit me. There's no voice?!  Wow so advanced it's arcane...

(ok ok that's the last jab).

Yeah, it's kind of a weird omission.  The text that people are referring to is the "mission objectives" that are delivered via cellphone so it's kind of bizarre they didn't voice act them considering they wouldn't even need to bother with corresponding character animation.

Maybe they ran out of disk space... shame they don't have Blu-Ray.

[Jancelot]

The 360 is domed and the PS3 will make it irrelevant!

[Harkonis]

Domed?  Mine is more of a rectangular enclosure

[Kagath]

The 360 is domed and the PS3 will make it irrelevant!

I thought that it was more of a concave shape?

[Wolves]

Hmm....to solve this dilemma, one could buy a Sony HDTV set.
The ironing is delicious.

[disarm]

The 360 is domed and the PS3 will make it irrelevant!

I thought that it was more of a concave shape?

i thought it was more like an 'inhale'... :slywink:

[Punisher]

Hmm....to solve this dilemma, one could buy a Sony HDTV set.
The ironing is delicious.

I usually wear my ironing, not eat it....Am I missing out?

[Wolves]

Hmm....to solve this dilemma, one could buy a Sony HDTV set.
The ironing is delicious.

I usually wear my ironing, not eat it....Am I missing out?

Somewhat, just a Simpsons quote.
Bart was being dumb and said 'ironing' instead of 'irony'....and didn't know any better.

[godhugh]

I never really had much of a problem reading the text on my Sony SDTV. It's smaller then most games for sure, but it didn't seem extreme to me.