Yes I realize this is a wierd title, but I've noticed a strange (and EXTREMELY irritating) trend among several console games lately. While its not necessarily gamebreaking, it does make some games extremely difficult to play, or at least make it hard to tell whats going on.
What I'm talking about, is why the hell is the text in menus and HUD's on games getting so tiny?
And no, its not just my eyes, I own a 29 inch TV and sit maybe 5 feet away, so its not like I'm across the room. I also wear glasses that fix any vision disorders I have, so its not that my eyesight is to blame.
For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, go play Dead Rising on a normal sized TV(the first one, I'm not sure if the second one has this problem), it was one of the first games I noticed to have this problem. Try to read any dialogue between two characters in the story, or the menus, or even try to read the name of a weapon on the ground. Unless you are either 3 feet away from the TV screen, or own a TV the size of a Buick, your eyes will probably suffer severe strain. I had moments where I literally had no clue what was going on, because I couldnt make out the size 6 font scrolling along the bottom of the screen in the middle of a 50 zombie horde.
For a while, I thought the game was just a fluke, and went on to have games with writing that was able to be read without a microscope. Until, that is, about 2 weeks ago.
After hearing some friends talk about how awesome Bad Company 2 was, I decided to pick it up at gamestop. Upon loading up the game, I actually thought my TV was broken. Where it said "press > to start" (I assume thats what it says, I still cant make it out) there was merely a black line with white squiggles in it. On my 29" TV, it was maybe a centimeter wide, slightly larger than the words you are reading right now. How on EARTH am I supposed to be able to read that from 5 feet away, let alone 10 or 15? Not to mention if I had a smaller TV I would have had to break out a magnifying glass to make it out. This problem is only made worse in game, as menus, or in game subtitles are almost unreadable in the heat of battle. I almost took the game back just because I couldnt read any of the writing, even though the game was fun and I enjoyed everything else.
Once again, I thought it was a fluke, but when I downloaded the Crysis Beta and the Bulletstorm Demo, I realized it was far too real. Admittedly, Bulletstorm at least makes the Killshots easy to read, but the menus and subtitles were still small (maybe not Dead Rising small, but close) but the Crysis Beta seemed to have no excuse. Killstreak rewards, menus, player names, everything was all microscopic font.
What I have to ask is, why is this popping up more and more? Am I the only guy with a TV thats under 40 inches? Are these games designed with the PC in mind, and people dont realize that font that works fine on a computer monitor is too small for console? Is it laziness? Do they just not know? Is it just bad design?
And no, nothing is wrong with my eyesight. Games like COD, Halo, Left 4 Dead, Singularity, and many others had plenty large enough fonts their menus, so its not like its all games.
TL;DR Why is text in some console games so tiny that its almost unreadable? Have you noticed this, and if you do, does it bother you? Do you have ways to fix it, or are you forced to sit uncomfortably close to the TV? Do you own a large TV (something like 40 inches or larger) and it just doesnt affect you? Any other games you noticed that are guilty of this?
I really want to know if other people are noticing this or if I am just losing it. It's a really serious problem for me, and has been giving me serious headaches at times. And no, I dont have the room in my entertainment center for a bigger TV, so please dont just post "LOLZ GET A R3EL TV NOB"
What I'm talking about, is why the hell is the text in menus and HUD's on games getting so tiny?
And no, its not just my eyes, I own a 29 inch TV and sit maybe 5 feet away, so its not like I'm across the room. I also wear glasses that fix any vision disorders I have, so its not that my eyesight is to blame.
For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, go play Dead Rising on a normal sized TV(the first one, I'm not sure if the second one has this problem), it was one of the first games I noticed to have this problem. Try to read any dialogue between two characters in the story, or the menus, or even try to read the name of a weapon on the ground. Unless you are either 3 feet away from the TV screen, or own a TV the size of a Buick, your eyes will probably suffer severe strain. I had moments where I literally had no clue what was going on, because I couldnt make out the size 6 font scrolling along the bottom of the screen in the middle of a 50 zombie horde.
For a while, I thought the game was just a fluke, and went on to have games with writing that was able to be read without a microscope. Until, that is, about 2 weeks ago.
After hearing some friends talk about how awesome Bad Company 2 was, I decided to pick it up at gamestop. Upon loading up the game, I actually thought my TV was broken. Where it said "press > to start" (I assume thats what it says, I still cant make it out) there was merely a black line with white squiggles in it. On my 29" TV, it was maybe a centimeter wide, slightly larger than the words you are reading right now. How on EARTH am I supposed to be able to read that from 5 feet away, let alone 10 or 15? Not to mention if I had a smaller TV I would have had to break out a magnifying glass to make it out. This problem is only made worse in game, as menus, or in game subtitles are almost unreadable in the heat of battle. I almost took the game back just because I couldnt read any of the writing, even though the game was fun and I enjoyed everything else.
Once again, I thought it was a fluke, but when I downloaded the Crysis Beta and the Bulletstorm Demo, I realized it was far too real. Admittedly, Bulletstorm at least makes the Killshots easy to read, but the menus and subtitles were still small (maybe not Dead Rising small, but close) but the Crysis Beta seemed to have no excuse. Killstreak rewards, menus, player names, everything was all microscopic font.
What I have to ask is, why is this popping up more and more? Am I the only guy with a TV thats under 40 inches? Are these games designed with the PC in mind, and people dont realize that font that works fine on a computer monitor is too small for console? Is it laziness? Do they just not know? Is it just bad design?
And no, nothing is wrong with my eyesight. Games like COD, Halo, Left 4 Dead, Singularity, and many others had plenty large enough fonts their menus, so its not like its all games.
TL;DR Why is text in some console games so tiny that its almost unreadable? Have you noticed this, and if you do, does it bother you? Do you have ways to fix it, or are you forced to sit uncomfortably close to the TV? Do you own a large TV (something like 40 inches or larger) and it just doesnt affect you? Any other games you noticed that are guilty of this?
I really want to know if other people are noticing this or if I am just losing it. It's a really serious problem for me, and has been giving me serious headaches at times. And no, I dont have the room in my entertainment center for a bigger TV, so please dont just post "LOLZ GET A R3EL TV NOB"
.
