Looking Towards 21:9 and Beyond
In my last blog post, I talked about how the WSGF got started. In those early days we often found that games had zero support for widescreen. We weren't debating issues of "good" or "bad", or "Hor+" vs. "Vert-". We were trying to get widescreen resolutions to just show up in the game options. Fast forward a few years, and as widescreen displays became more prevalent, the issues became fewer. We still fought the good fight regarding increasing the horizontal FOV, and ensuring that the HUD remained unstretched.
A few years later and 16:9 widescreen became the default gaming aspect ratio, ushered in by the adoption of the Xbox360 and PS3. Our debates became more nuanced and often ended up being about whether a game implementation was "right or wrong" if it was Vert-, but the FOV felt right at 16:9. Many users began to disregard differences or issues between 16:9 or 16:10, as they saw those issues as minor. The TripleHead2Go crowd was still very interested in proper FOV and HUD, but many widescreen users were concerned due to a lack of interest in multi-monitor gaming.
Fast forward again to today, and widescreen gaming is generally done properly (all except for those based on Unreal3). And, multi-monitor is becoming much more commonplace due to Eyefinity and it's mass-market approach to multi-monitor gaming. But, if you're still not interested in multi-monitor gaming, does the WSGF and its lobbying still have relevance? Yes it does.
One consistent complaint about multi-monitor gaming is the issues regarding bezels and expense of three monitors. While monitors have gotten cheaper, the issues of bezels remains for some users. CES 2011 showed off a number of thin-bezel monitors, and that issue will continue to improve. However, for those decidedly in the single monitor camp, the emergence of 21:9 displays means that the work of the WSGF is as relevant as ever.
Moving from a 4:3 to 16:9 aspect increases the FOV by about 15%. Moving from 16:9 to 21:9 adds another 15%. So, if a game is Vert- but "feels" right at 16:9, it will have that Vert- claustrophobic feeling that many widescreen users experienced in the early days of the site. No matter your current display preferences, time marches on and technology advances. Ensuring that games work properly today (even if it doesn't impact you today), will ensure that games work properly tomorrow and that classics can continue to be played on modern hardware for years to come.
I'm looking forward to 21:9 displays, and hope they hit the "displays" market (versus the TV market) soon, and with the announcement of 21:9 projectors, I can't wait to see a couple of those in Eyefinity. Here's to increased aspects and horizons for years to come...