When Microsoft first showed off the Xbox 360 on MTV, what, four years ago, that was supposed to be the birth of the Era of HD Gaming. And while you and I may have a 1080p TV (and maybe even an entry level surround sound setup), it turns out, at least according to Epic Games’ Mark Rein, not even half of the people who played Gears of War 2 played it on a HDTV. That’s right, 50 percent of the people who battled the Locusts didn’t do so on an HDTV!
And what are the implications of this? Probably that we’ll be hanging onto this generation of video game consoles for a little while longer than usual. What’s the point of launching a new Xbox when half the people who have one haven’t really seen what it can do? It certainly saves developers money—no having to start over from scratch, trying to figure out the odds and ends of fancy, new (read: complicated) hardware in order to create an engine that “pushes the limits” or whatever.
I could be totally uncreative and end this with the question, “HOW MANY OF YOU PLAY YOUR GAMES ON AN HDTV?”
But I won’t.
via Kotaku
Frick, what!?
I can’t imagine trying to play GoW on a small square screen!
Unfortunately I have a 1080P TV but the regular 360 and I am only running it with the component cables that were provided. Is there any way that I can improve this with a new cable or is there a cable they sell to give the regular 360 a HDMI feed?
Well, component to HDMI conversion would be silly and useless, but component isn’t bad quality anyway. You can still get 1080p, right?
Converting the cable won’t improve the quality, that’s like asking if you take a cassette tape and record it to cd, will the music magically become CD quality.
To be honest the 360 only outputs 720p which component handles very well (unless you get a lot of noise from interference). But personally I would sell your current 360, keep your HD and use the money to buy a new Aracde unit and slap your HD on it then use HDMI which you can find a cable online for a mere $4. Not because HDMI is better but because the newer 360s are quieter, run cooler and are more reliable.
I figured that the component to HDMI was pointless but I didn’t know if Microsoft had a cable for the regular 360 with HDMI like the standard one.. And I am not sure if I can still get 1080p from the component cable or not.. Is it supported without the HDMI?
I didn’t buy my 42″ 720p HDTV until 2007 and I thought I was late to make the jump. But then let’s not forget there are probably alot of players who are teenagers, playing the 360 on the TV in their bedroom and their parents don’t want to spend the cash to buy them a HDTV.
All these stats prove is that only half of the people who bought GOW2 are hardcore gamers. Considering how cheap HDTVs are now in 2009 I’m sure we’re going to see these numbers dwindle even more.
“Not hardcore gamers?” I play games more often, and more “hardcore,” than anyone I know, and I still play on a standard def TV. It’s not like I’m sitting here saying “oh man, i’m so glad i don’t have HD and therefore suck at gaming.” I really wish i had an HDTV, but i was laid off, and being completely honesty, i cannot afford even a 26 inch, let alone the HDMI cable to go with it ($30 for a cord!?) or possibly a bigger screen. I can’t afford my car payments right now, and try as I may, i’m having no luck finding a job. so don’t blame the gamer for not having an HD. I would love to have a better resolution, and to not have my games thrown into odd proportions to fit them into a square shape, but unless you want to make a donation, that’s not an option for me for quite some time.
For me I have a 1080p 50in panasonic… but my gaming tv is a 36in standard def. The wife won’t put the foot down on me hogging the main tv for gaming
Poor devil
i just bought a 50 panasonic viera plasma… i’m considered to be a hardcore gamer and up to this point i’ve played everything on a standard tv.. i knew the hd would make gears look cool, but it wasn’t in my top 5 deciding factors to buy the tv. unless, somehow hd makes games have deeper content, more add on’s and not just a ‘crisp’ picture, i don’t think i missd out on my gameplay experience. its hard to say the 360 is ‘pushing the envelope’ when it doesn’t come with an hd dvd player just like the ps3 comes with a blue ray….
I have a HDTV but I find that GoW looks better on standard def
Your mother looks better on standard def. Zing!