Monday, 11 September 2006
No Solution Forthcoming Re: Dead Rising in SD
Topic: Game|Death
Game publisher Capcom indicated this morning that there is no solution forthcoming to the issues that cause their latest hit game, Dead Rising for Xbox 360, to be nearly unplayable on standard definition TV sets.
A representative of the publisher told 1up.com that a patch "is not possible" due to the scope of the problem, which causes the in-game text messages to be unreadably small on non-HD displays.
The statement comes right on the heels of the company's announcement that it will double its advertising budget for Dead Rising, pumping an additional $3 million into television ad buys.
The game, a campy zombie-killing adventure set in a shopping mall, became a surprise hit for the company when it was released last month, shipping over half a million copies in its first two weeks.
But players without high-definition television sets got a nasty surprise when they popped in the disc. They couldn't read the crucial messages that the game sent out telling them where to go and what to do next.
Without them, they were set adrift in the shopping mall, helpless against the advances of hordes of zombies.
As complaints piled up, Capcom offered users some suggestions, but none were especially helpful. Today, after weeks of silence, the company divulged to 1up.com that although they had looked into creating a downloadable patch that would remedy the problem, "the amount of text and the size of the patch necessary to change the text" made it impossible to solve the problem.
So there's another $90 I can save - probably have to put it towards a Wii game or something.
It was a pain in the arse trying to read the text in the demo, so if this persists Ill be holding off until 2008
Haha yeah I read they said try adjusting the contrast etc, but basically they had no plans to fix it.
Not an issue for me but sucks for the SD gamers out there. I've read that it's not horrendously bad though, and still very readable, just not as much so as other game text.
it would be a fuckaround not being able to play the actual story....
if it's still playable...ie you can simply just slaughter zombies...so be it. maybe they should release it for a cheaper price? i'm laughing at myself....
i certainly wouldn't wanna pay full price for a game that's only *technicaly* 90% complete
seriously though, Capcom....i could never stay mad at you
On a side note DVDCrave has both the normal and tin editions in stock now.
I still want to know more about the fucking tin version, as far as I can see it's just Dead Rising in a tin case... sure it looks pretty but I don't think I'd want to pay $25+ more for just a special tin..
I was looking forward to this game, I didn't even play the demo so that I could enjoy the whole game. Guess that changes, there isn't a chance I will be getting it now.
I remember that shitty text in the demo, it was a fucking pain in the ass to read. You would have to stick your eyeballs against the tv. Imagine the text you're reading right now, now imagine it in yellow.
Scullibundo wrote:I remember that shitty text in the demo, it was a fucking pain in the ass to read. You would have to stick your eyeballs against the tv. Imagine the text you're reading right now, now imagine it in yellow.
I played the demo on a friends 51cm SD TV and had no problems read it but it was very small. And the story is written by notorious Nintendo fanboy Chris Kohler (Kobun Heat on GAF). There's no doubt it's small and hard to read but "nearly unplayable" is just fanboy bullshit.
Thing is though, it shouldnt be an issue but it is. If it detracts from the game enough, you cant just attempt to debunk the issue by calling it "fanboy bullshit". The game itself is 10 shades of awesome, its on xbox and its by capcom. By all accounts I should be all over it, and would be except I dont like getting headaches from trying to read unnecessarily small text.
I think in future devs need to realise there is still a huge market of people stuck on sdtv's. Yes it may sound crazy but a lot of people don't have the cash to upgrade their tv's. In europe where they're extremely behind in hdtv, i'd expect a massive number of gamers still using sdtv's.
lestat wrote:i'd expect a massive number of gamers still using sdtv's.
I usually play in my bedroom on a SD widescreen TV so games such as this and Saint's Row are a real pain. Today I decided to try SR on the HD LCD and in 16:9 720p it looks brilliant. It makes me wonder why I have to suffer with a 4:3 stretched image due to devs not bothering to do the most basic of testing before shipping a game.
Even though I have a HDTV, it was a pissweak effort.
What it does prove is that the benefit of a console having standard specs is a bit fuzzy at the moment, because not everyone will have the same equipment. They've got to get the idea of testing a variety of environments, something that hasn't been said about console gaming since the colour/ bw switches.
lestat wrote:Yes it may sound crazy but a lot of people don't have the cash to upgrade their tv's.
THIS MAN IS TALKING SOME CRAZY TALK!
would you believe that there is yet another set of people who only upgrade tvs when the one they're using dies? a group of people who don't feel the need to have the absolute best of everything?
no, me either, i was just making it up, all humans require the absolute latest in televisual entertainment
"Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion" - L. Ron Hubbard
The size of the patch would be too big? How does this shit work? I'm no Xbox 360 developer (which should be pretty clear by the end of this sentence), but surely the font's essentially there on the disc and there'd be a bit of code saying "make the text this size, position it here and draw an appropriately sized window for it to go in"? How involved could it possibly be to scale everything? How does the amount of text come into it at all? That'd make sense if it was in another language, but I'm not buying it here. It sounds suspiciously like Capcom just isn't interested in addressing the issue. But then why would they knowingly piss off so many consumers? Bah.
