Wii's Wario wary of widescreen

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jan 16th 2007 at 10:30AM }

Weally. In posting his impressions of Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, Chris Kohler at Game|Life adds yet another title to his 4:3 Hall of Shame. Joining Rayman: Raving Rabbids and Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Wario's waggle-fest only supports a 4:3 display ratio, generally known as ~~fool~~ fullscreen. While it's easy to agree that the lack of proper widescreen support doesn't impact on the game's fun, it still remains an annoying oversight, especially for HDTV owners.

The Wii's shunning of HDTV support is an understandable topic (and already debated to death), but inconsistent EDTV and widescreen support just seems lazy in the year 2007. Several Gamecube and PS2 games provided different display modes -- heck, a widescreen mode is one of the selling points for the Wii version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Come on Nintendo, put things in perspective here.

Tags: Chris Kohler, ChrisKohler, Smooth Moves, SmoothMoves, Wario Ware, WarioWare

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

hans @ Jan 16th 2007 10:43AM

thanks for letting us know! i will definitely not be buying anymore games with 1995 graphics.

Dansk @ Jan 16th 2007 10:45AM

Whats wrong with 4:3? My TV is 4:3, so that is actually better for me...

IslandLife @ Jan 16th 2007 10:48AM

That's just laaazzy!
If anything first party games should be setting an example for the other companies to follow. Shame on you Nintendo!

theburn16 @ Jan 16th 2007 10:48AM

oh crap, now all the wii fanboys will be in here in no time flat to defend the console that still wants to live in last century where millions of people didn't have widescreen and HD...

satek @ Jan 16th 2007 10:50AM

Basically nintendo should have this down as a feature that has to be supported. Otherwise developers get lazy. I remember Matt at IGN used to rant about it when I visited there frequently, before finding blogs like Joystiq.

Rellik @ Jan 16th 2007 10:58AM

I have composite and 16:9 and everthing looked ok. No 4:3 on my TV, no Black Borders, no streched circles. Same for Raving Rabbits. I have the PAL Versions.

el chino @ Jan 16th 2007 11:00AM

I'll say it once and I'll say it again. The Wii is nothing more but a Gamecube with a funky controller!!! Trust me the fad will fade. The DS is successful because people want simple games on the run just look at cell phone games. However, when it comes to consoles people want power and 5.1 sound not arcadic graphics.

The Intangible Fact @ Jan 16th 2007 11:01AM

Wii=cheap

Good Wii games comming out in the future:

Mario
Mario
Mario
Mario all stars
zelda
zelda
zelda
SSB
Metriod
mario
zelda
super zelda bros
metriod party

Poor nintendo kids

is @ Jan 16th 2007 11:02AM

Er, did the reviewer change his actual Wii settings?

If the Wii is set to 16:9, surely everything it outputs is 16:9?

crono141 @ Jan 16th 2007 11:06AM

I have both those games (Rayman and TC:SO) and I didn't even know they didn't support widescreen because my screen stretched it wide anyway. Looks OK, nothing looks overly stretched, but I guess it is.

Warioware should definitely have it supported. Even if all they end up adding is extra background space on the sides, it should still be there.

dsub @ Jan 16th 2007 11:07AM

I think the fact that even Goldeneye was capable of 16:9 on the Nintendo 64 says it all. Now, 10 years later, it still isn't a standard feature in games. I just don't understand it. It is such an easy thing to add in support for.

kris @ Jan 16th 2007 11:09AM

@ 8 and 9. And who are these 'people' you talk of. The same people who went and lapped up the wii while 360 and ps3 sits on the shelf. I own a wii/360 combo but the sooner people except that the machines are different and offer different things the better this blog will be. Also, exactly what is coming to the 360 that excites you so much because i'm frankly worried, Halo3 sometime this year, bioshock next summer erm....... erm.......

Fred T @ Jan 16th 2007 11:10AM

b b b.b.bbbut... you guys dont care about graphics..

lol @ Nintendo fans keeping their head in the sand. Do yourself a favour guys, and never ever look at an HDTV running HD content.

Monster @ Jan 16th 2007 11:13AM

"Er, did the reviewer change his actual Wii settings?

If the Wii is set to 16:9, surely everything it outputs is 16:9?"

You'd think, since the last generation Xbox even had this covered, but no. I have my Wii set to 16:9 and Super Swing Golf stays in 4:3. Even worse, I have to set my Wii to 480i in order to be able to choose the aspect ratio on my TV. So if I don't want to play Super Swing Golf stretched, I have to set the Wii to 480i before playing.

It's pathetic. I absolutely hate playing a stretched game. There's no excuse to not include 16:9 in any new generation game.

The Intangible Fact @ Jan 16th 2007 11:13AM

You little manipuated fans think your nintendo consoles are just so perfect when in reality they suck. The controller is the only thing nintendo brings new to the table, but with games its the same ol shit. Yet its so great. I laugh at all you idiots. Can't wait for the next mario.....

ALH @ Jan 16th 2007 11:13AM

its in 4:3? really? i honestly didnt notice

come on people, this is wario ware, as much as its lame that not all games are in widescreen its not like it matters when half the graphics look like they were literally drawn on a napkin by a three year old. This is the one wii game i own that doesnt suffer from the upscale, because everythings so huge anyways.

Now, if zelda was only in 4:3 i'd be pissed..

FrankTheCrank @ Jan 16th 2007 11:13AM

come the next 12-24 months...people are really going to see how scary ugly looking the Wii graphics are...

When some cooler stuff comes out on PS3 and 360...Nintendo is going to have to pull another magic rabbit out of that hat.

Personally, they should have standardized on 720P...and this full screen/wide screen business is just dumb. Any game released today should at the very least support a wide screen display.

Haze_ITA @ Jan 16th 2007 11:15AM

What?
So this site is wrong?
http://www.hdtvarcade.com/hdtvforum/index.php?autocom=custom&page=wii

batmyke @ Jan 16th 2007 11:31AM

Um, I'm not sure this is accurate; I went to the Fusion Tour event in San Diego last September, and I waited in line to try out Smooth Moves. I distinctly remember that I was playing on a widescreen tv, and I do not recall seeing any black bars on the sides...

Is it possible Mr. Kohler is mistaken?

vidGuy @ Jan 16th 2007 11:34AM

Gears of War looks pretty. I played it in 1080i for an hour on a rental and took it back. Pretty much the same old same old. It's a nice game, it just doesn't appeal to me.

Here's a list of Wii games that I'm looking forward to. The full list of announced games can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wii_games

Now, some of these are rehashes (look at Mario Party 8!) but those, for me, are winning formulas. I couldn't care less that they won't be in HD.

Animal Crossing
Battalion Wars 2
Big Brain Academy
Bomberman Land
Brothers in Arms: D-Day
Darkness - now renamed Midnight
Disaster: Day of Crisis
Donkey Kong Wii
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
Fire Emblem: Goddess of Dawn
The Legend of Zelda Wii
Mario Kart Wii
Mario Party 8
Mario Strikers Charged
No More Heroes
Orb
Project H.A.M.M.E.R.
Ready to Rumble 3
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
Sadness
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Paper Mario
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Thorn
Wii Music

I've said it before - the Wii doesn't stand on its own as a console for the "hardcore" gamer. The Wii60 combo does satisfy everything, though. I'll play the 360 when I want a traditional game with amazing graphics that I'll play by myself or with my roommate. I'll play the Wii when I want Nintendo's classic offerings, some new IPs that may turn out to be gems, and party games that are a ton of fun with a group of people. Honestly, lack of 'uber' graphics does put the Wii in a different category, but it won't hurt the console's success at all.

I got a 360 around last summer. I got a Wii at launch. I've played the Wii at least twice as much in about 1/3 the time.

Call the Wii cheap. Call it behind the times. I'm still extremely pleased with it, as are most Wii owners. I couldn't say the same for PS3 owners, which is supposed to be "ahead" of the times.

Nintendo SHOULD mandate a 16:9 and progressive scan option for all games, but I don't think it's a make-or-break deal in any sense.

Marty @ Jan 16th 2007 11:35AM

Really though... what is the percentage of people who own widescreen TV's compared to "full screen"? I'd be interested to know, because I still don't believe that widescreen is in the majority.

Beaudry @ Jan 16th 2007 11:39AM

Weak that the game maker doesn't make it 4:3 and 16:9. Very weak.

You can tell that the WiiHaters were waiting for something to pounce on because they are REALLY getting excited about a Wario game not being made for 16:9.

crono141 @ Jan 16th 2007 11:41AM

Its probably pretty close to the number that own HDTVs

EDTV's don't really sell to well. If you're gonna plunk down 500+ dollars for a widescreen EDTV, may as well spend an extra 200 or 300 for the HD version in the same size.

vrf @ Jan 16th 2007 11:44AM

The really wonderful irony to fucktard arguments like those from "The Intangible Fact" is that they do more harm to their side than Sony could ever do... And they think they're helping!

It's just too good...

DarkStar @ Jan 16th 2007 11:46AM

I've played Trauma Center, Rayman, and WarioWare on our 16:9 screen and none of them are stretched at all (US NTSC versions)...

So far, all Wii games have been 16:9 enhanced... I have no idea what this reviewer is taking about...

grable @ Jan 16th 2007 11:50AM

Isnt it funny that its mostly the 360/PS3 fanboys that feel so strongly for their "right" choice of console they have to continualy bash the Wii?

While most comments from Wii owners are that they like their Wii AND their 360 too (if they have one).

Which console was for kiddies again?!? ;)

Roflmon @ Jan 16th 2007 11:51AM

What the hell is this graphics > gameplay, HD > gameplay, Nintendo sucks type of stuff?

I own a Gamecube, Xbox, and Wii. I will be getting a 360 when the new CPUs are out. I love Gears of War, I love Paper Mario, and I love GTA:SA.

Do yourselves a favor and get YOUR heads out of your asses. Games don't need amazing ZOMG HD graphics to be fun. Hell, Halo 2 only runs 480p on the Xbox when the Xbox supports 1080i.

As a video buff, I am bummed that the Wii doesnt support HD, but I'm not going to fuss over it because the games are a lot of FUN. Isn't that what games are supposed to be about, FUN? I don't play GoW for the graphics, I play it because co-op is fun as hell.

HEY GUESS WHAT ELSE, the PS3 is available everywhere, no one is buying it, yet it's what you guys are ranting about, HD everything, 56 CPUs, 20000Ghz, whatever the fuck it is. It's also $700! And has no good games! And sucks! Guess what? The Wii is selling like crazy, you know why? Because the games reach a huge audience, I've never seen anything like it. It's not a "fad" or a temporary thing, it's only going to die down eventually because, *gasp* everyone will have one. Guess what you "hardcore gamer d00ds", there are also casual players too, who don't give a rat's ass whether they can see Master Chief's individual pubic hair or not. They care about good quality games.

You guys are so unbelievably sad. 360 has GoW, will have Halo 3 and BioShock, that's awesome and I'll be right with you in line for them. Perhaps the PS3 will start shaping up with better games. But right now, with my budget and playing habits, the Wii was the right choice.

Another place to look is the VC, why are so many people buying all these retro games? Because they rocked. Goldeneye didn't have amazing graphics, it looks like shit, but it's fun as shit too. Super Smash? Same idea.

Yah, the Wii has some problems in the graphic support department, I myself ranted about the lack of HD support. However, to be honest, in the end it doesn't matter because the Wii is fun as hell.

Vinnk @ Jan 16th 2007 11:56AM

I agree with DarkStar. I have been playing this game since launch on my Widescreen TV and never noticed anything unusual. All the ads for this game show it on widescreen TVs and the same with the demo kiosks. It dosn't look streached out to me. Then again since it has purpousely goofy graphics to begin with and I have only ever played it on a widescreen TV, perhaps it dosn't look how it is supposed to.

Meh.

Looks fine to me. Plays great too. But I guess that isn't important because:

Non-Widescreen Wario Ware=Wii is teh D0000000M3D!!!!1

IslandLife @ Jan 16th 2007 12:06PM

@Marty

Whether you choose to believe it or not, more and more people will be buying widescreen. If your "full screen" were to go bad, would you buy another full screen or would you buy a widescreen. C'mon now Marty, be truthful.

Olsta @ Jan 16th 2007 12:10PM

I have a widescreen TV and purchased Wario Ware last week. I have since played it for about 6 hours and until I read this blog, I had no idea it wasn't 16:9.

Wonder why that is? Oh yeah, beacause I've been enjoying the game on my own and with my friends oppose to analysing every technical issue.

All I can assume is that most of you lot are very sad, lonely people. Just fucking play games - if you don't like them DON'T BUY THEM.

WizarDru @ Jan 16th 2007 12:10PM

"23. Really though... what is the percentage of people who own widescreen TV's compared to "full screen"? I'd be interested to know, because I still don't believe that widescreen is in the majority."

The majority? Far from it. But the question isn't 'how many have it', but 'of potential video game players, how many have it?'. The issue is more that a game like Wario ware, which certainly doesn't tax the system, SHOULD support 480p and 16:9. Consider that 90% of the Gamecube's first-party games supported 480p, and you walk away confused. It just seems lazy or willfully ignorant on Ninty's part.

Numbers aren't available for how many widescreen TVs are out there, now...but it's safe to assume that it's up from the 12-15% of 2005, considering that last year saw record price drop and sales of HDTVs. Not a majority, but certainly a fairly large community, especially amongst the 'purchases video games at launch' crowd.

EDTVs are, as far as I'm concerned, a scam for the unwary who THINK they're getting a cheap HDTV....which is why they're falling to the wayside....the price-differential has moved too far south.

And quite honestly, I think if you feel that Gears of War is the same-old-same-old, you probably don't like that kind of game to begin with, because I just got it last night, and I certainly didn't feel that it was ho-hum-seen-it. YMMV.

Iscariote @ Jan 16th 2007 12:20PM

All the people posting that the game is widescreen because they don't have black bars on their TV are pretty funny.

I mean, personally I like the Wii and I don't think 16:9 matters on Wario Ware, but a lot of you guys need to stop demonstrating your complete lack of understanding about this issue.

JodyAnthony @ Jan 16th 2007 12:29PM

Oh my god, you stupid nintendo fanboys! Dont you realize that since the game is not in TrueHD, it's not good!? (Nevermind the fact that 'TrueHD' is actually an audio codec that has nothing to do with graphics.)
Honestly, people, don't you realize that up until the 360 (i guess, if you're a poor ms fanbot (look! I am clever!)!) or even better, the almighty PLAYSTATION 3 (In all caps! It makes it COOOOOOL) games were terrible because they weren't in HIGH DEFINITION! Come on, don't you realize that the only way that games can be fun is if they are a full 1920×1080 pixels?!? Stupid fanboys, I have been gaming since ATARI, I know what I'm talking about! I have been gaming for 30 years! Believe me when I say the past 30 years have been TERRIBLE for gaming, because the games weren't in 1080p! Luckily I knew that I only had to suffer through substandard graphics for 30 years before my lord and master the SONY corporation gave me the chance to spend 600 of my hard earned dollars for some amazing potential! Go ahead and play with your wii-wii, nintenfags! one day you'll realise that its not nintenDO, it's nintenBLOWS! amirite?!? enjoy wasting your money on WAGGLE, you homogheys!

Longshotx @ Jan 16th 2007 12:34PM

It's striking how Nintendo Fanboys defend this console when it simply a Gamecube with a new controller. Okay so it might be marginally more powerful than the Xbox (I'm still waiting to see this) but it is so last gen. Now I know what you nintendo defenders are saying: its not about HD gaming or bleeding edge graphics, or dolby 5.1 surround sound, or connectivity, or media playback, or extras. You will say its about games, but I believe that gameplay can have both great graphics and sound and that developers should constantly push the envelope. I also see no reason to buy a Wii other than to play 1st party games. I guarentee that most of the 3rd party games will be crappy downgraded ports with tacked on Wiimote controls and the Wii will suffer the same fate as the Gamecube. And no the Wii is not a DS, stop comparing the two.

jason @ Jan 16th 2007 12:35PM

Really, how important is this? I can't count how many of my friends houses I've been to who have HDTV's and are using the included composite cables. HDTV adaptation in the video game world is too early. Don't get me wrong, I have a 57" Hitachi HDTV and 42" Sony Plasma, but I think its just too early. The general public hasn't been properly educated on how HDTV works.

meekzzz @ Jan 16th 2007 12:36PM

4:3, 16:9 does it matter for Wario Ware?

I checked gamestop store availability and only 1 store within 200 miles of NYC has it in stock.

Jackson Pritt @ Jan 16th 2007 12:41PM

1) Widescreen is not the dominant format yet, but it will be within the current generation of consoles. Not supporting the format is retarded. Nintendo and other Wii developers are failing on this issue.

2) The Wii will STRETCH OUT 4:3 games to fit a 16:9 format. Trauma Center DOES stretch to fit 16:9. The picture is blurry, and the characters and other game elements are noticeably wider than they are in 4:3 format. This is very different than Z:TP, which keeps sizes the same but gives extra information (more of the picture) on the sides in 16:9 format.

3) I have a Wii. I love my Wii. I think the Wii is here to stay, but this is just lazy bullshit on the part of the developers, and I won't support it. After buying Trauma Center and finding out after the fact that it only supports 4:3 I've vowed to never buy another Wii title that doesn't support 16:9 format. If this means I don't play Wario Ware, or only play it when I'm at someone else's house, then so be it. Nintendo and other developers need to be sent a CLEAR message that this kind of crap won't be tolerated, and the best way to do that is to not buy these games.

h @ Jan 16th 2007 12:59PM

Although I have not yet played Wario Ware, I can confirm that Rayman Rabbids IS in 16:9 since I have a 16:9 TV (Samsung 720p LCD), component cables for the Wii and have sset the Wii to widescreen in its system prefs.

Rayman is not in progressive scan however, as I can see interlacing sometimes. Circles in the game are circles in widescreen, not ovals as they would be if it was not widesceen.

Virtual consoles do not support Widescreen, you have to change the aspect ratio for them. There is a button on the remote of my to do this, as there should be on all widescreen TV's.

Saneless @ Jan 16th 2007 1:11PM

I'm sick and tired of Joystiq posting up bad Wii news everytime they come across them. They're so damn biased! ps3 4 life.

Anyway, no 16:9 support is just laziness. Stretch it out mofos, some of us don't like looking at people all silly ratioed.

xhazeleyes01x @ Jan 16th 2007 1:17PM

you're all idiots. why does it matter if people who own the wii enjoy playing it with graphics not up to your liking? why does it entertain you and make you happy that ww is 4:3? do you have nothing better to do with your lives? i'm a cross platform player and this fanboyism saddens me. you guys are such immature pricks with nothing better to do than pick fights.

Norm @ Jan 16th 2007 1:21PM

Who cares? I don't. Is this really even an issue with some people? Are these the same people that are pitching fits over their wii systems being obnoxiously loud?

Spilt_Milk @ Jan 16th 2007 1:22PM

Looks fine to me on my 16x9 screen. What is in that pipe you guys are smoking? Seriously, it looks and plays fine in widescreen.

Scooby Doo @ Jan 16th 2007 1:26PM

Okay, it looks like no one is really sure if the game is supporting wide screen output, or if the TV's are somehow 'stretching' the image. I think that's very important to the topic.

Something that I wondered when reading the article though...given the Wii control scheme and how it understands relative movement, would a developer have to 'tweak' the controls for 16:9? It might need to do things like support a wider range of movement, etc. This doesn't seem as simple as a middle-ware engine where you would just change the resolution.

If the developers have to make adjustments to the game and controls(which would include Q&A), I could see not wanting to support wide screen for a new console with barely a 2 million user install base. Unfortunately, I've never programmed anything for the Wii so I don't know, however it's something to consider in relation to the topic. Now that I better understand the costs to the developers and publishers, I'm a little more willing to give them slack on these kinds of things.

ill trooper @ Jan 16th 2007 1:45PM

"Do yourselves a favor and get YOUR heads out of your asses. Games don't need amazing ZOMG HD graphics to be fun."

Yes, but also understand that games don't HAVE TO LOOK MEDIOCRE to be FUN.
I like my Wii but it's underpowered. It makes me a little sad between long hours of golf, tennis and elebits. Should at least support 16:9 across the board.

Finn @ Jan 16th 2007 1:48PM

41 is right rayman does support 16:9 just not 480p I know because I play it all the time, and because you can tell by looking.

I'm not sure why all the wii games don't support both and I think that devs are just being lazy for not reason... theres not excuse for games not being 480p widescreen everytime.

Finn @ Jan 16th 2007 1:48PM

also I did this once before, but I'll do it again for the people sceaming Zelda Zelda Zelda Mario etc...

Splinter Cell game releases
2002-2006 4 games (5 if you include handhelds)

Zelda
1986-2006 7 games (6 if you take out 4 swords) 14 games (if you include handheld)

so if you include all handheld games there almost equal

but just by console games Splinter Cell has had much more games made per year since the first game was made than Zelda.

I can do the same thing with Mario, at least real Mario games, not party/soccer/baseball etc.....

Rob @ Jan 16th 2007 1:57PM

Considering Dead Rising, King Kong, pre-patch Lost Planet, let me just say it's about time there's an HD bug.

Jackson Pritt @ Jan 16th 2007 2:05PM

People, if you have your Wii set to widescreen and you put in a non-widescreen, 4:3 game, the Wii STRETCHES OUT THE PICTURE TO FIT YOUR TELEVISION. Christ, why is it so damn difficult for you to understand this?!?

crono141 @ Jan 16th 2007 2:20PM

We know Jackson. It does this because the signal coming from Wii is ALWAYS 4:3 signal. When in 16:9 mode, it just fills up the 4:3 square with squashed content that looks correct when using your TV's scaler to stretch it to 16:9

Thats why EVERYTHING on Wii fills up a 16:9 TV all the time.