http://wii.ign.com/articles/809/809868p22.html
I wanted to bring up a quick discussion on general presentation of Brawl when it's finally in your lap, so here I go. Here, IGN "confirms" that Brawl will have support for 480p, widescreen, Wi-fi, and 60 frames per second. Nothing is known about surround sound yet, though it'd certainly benefit the cinematics.
480p - Progressive Scan. If you play on a high-definition television or an enhanced-definition television, then 480p support is essential. If you've ever had the chance to play Melee in progressive scan, then you'd probably know it looks lovely. The bad part is that very few HDTVs can display 480p without lagging noticeably, most often forcing you to play on a standard tube.
Flicker filter - Known as Deflicker in Melee. It has to be an in-game option somewhere. When turned on, it softens all the game's graphics to prevent flickering of an interlaced TV. It's meant to be turned off when playing in progressive scan to make everything as sharp as can be.
16:9 Widescreen - I'm skeptical of Brawl's widescreen support. If fully developed, it'd certainly benefit the presentation of the gameplay and matches. On the other, it may cause a break in competitive matches, because someone favors one or the other (4:3 or 16:9). What I'm expecting to happen is partial widescreen support, like what was used in Mario Party 8, where only the cinematics and menus were widescreen, and all of the gameplay was 4:3. Brawl's cinematics already have widescreen support, as we've seen. If Brawl's widescreen is fully developed, I won't mind it as long as tournament environments can take decent advantage of it for those who prefer it.
60 frames per second - This has always been integral to the Smash Bros. series. It allows for Melee to run as super-smooth as it does. If you want to see the effects of the frame rate dropping to the next level below, 30 fps, then play a 4-player game on Fountain of Dreams. When the frame rate drops, you'll see how lower framerates break the game.
I worry about PAL's ability to have a good 50 Hz mode. As the pattern has been over the years, converting a 60 fps game to a 50 Hz platform has involved slowing the game itself down by 17% to keep all the frames of animation intact. I doubt that having to deal with this is a big issue, as SSBM has a 60 Hz option which will likely carry to SSBB, and 99% of serious PAL Smash players can use 60 Hz mode on their televisions. Still, it might not be the case for everyone.
Wi-fi - Yes, it is confirmed for something. As far as what, we don't know. Perhaps minor DLC, patching, etc. But of course, we all want online multiplayer. Here's hoping.
Surround Sound - It'd be awesome for those who can actually use Dolby Pro Logic II enabled speaker set ups (all 10 of you). However, I don't think any of us would complain if it were omitted. Being a 2-D game, I don't know if Brawl would especially benefit from surround sound support, unlike say, Metroid Prime, where the action is coming from all 3 dimensions.
I wanted to bring up a quick discussion on general presentation of Brawl when it's finally in your lap, so here I go. Here, IGN "confirms" that Brawl will have support for 480p, widescreen, Wi-fi, and 60 frames per second. Nothing is known about surround sound yet, though it'd certainly benefit the cinematics.
480p - Progressive Scan. If you play on a high-definition television or an enhanced-definition television, then 480p support is essential. If you've ever had the chance to play Melee in progressive scan, then you'd probably know it looks lovely. The bad part is that very few HDTVs can display 480p without lagging noticeably, most often forcing you to play on a standard tube.
Flicker filter - Known as Deflicker in Melee. It has to be an in-game option somewhere. When turned on, it softens all the game's graphics to prevent flickering of an interlaced TV. It's meant to be turned off when playing in progressive scan to make everything as sharp as can be.
16:9 Widescreen - I'm skeptical of Brawl's widescreen support. If fully developed, it'd certainly benefit the presentation of the gameplay and matches. On the other, it may cause a break in competitive matches, because someone favors one or the other (4:3 or 16:9). What I'm expecting to happen is partial widescreen support, like what was used in Mario Party 8, where only the cinematics and menus were widescreen, and all of the gameplay was 4:3. Brawl's cinematics already have widescreen support, as we've seen. If Brawl's widescreen is fully developed, I won't mind it as long as tournament environments can take decent advantage of it for those who prefer it.
60 frames per second - This has always been integral to the Smash Bros. series. It allows for Melee to run as super-smooth as it does. If you want to see the effects of the frame rate dropping to the next level below, 30 fps, then play a 4-player game on Fountain of Dreams. When the frame rate drops, you'll see how lower framerates break the game.
I worry about PAL's ability to have a good 50 Hz mode. As the pattern has been over the years, converting a 60 fps game to a 50 Hz platform has involved slowing the game itself down by 17% to keep all the frames of animation intact. I doubt that having to deal with this is a big issue, as SSBM has a 60 Hz option which will likely carry to SSBB, and 99% of serious PAL Smash players can use 60 Hz mode on their televisions. Still, it might not be the case for everyone.
Wi-fi - Yes, it is confirmed for something. As far as what, we don't know. Perhaps minor DLC, patching, etc. But of course, we all want online multiplayer. Here's hoping.
Surround Sound - It'd be awesome for those who can actually use Dolby Pro Logic II enabled speaker set ups (all 10 of you). However, I don't think any of us would complain if it were omitted. Being a 2-D game, I don't know if Brawl would especially benefit from surround sound support, unlike say, Metroid Prime, where the action is coming from all 3 dimensions.
