2008 WSGF Awards - Press Release

Press Release

WIDESCREEN GAMING FORUM PRESENTS AWARDS TO PC GAME DEVELOPERS WITH BEST AND WORST SUPPORT FOR WIDESCREEN DISPLAYS


High Profile Developers Recognized for Embracing or Penalizing Widescreen Owners


HOUSTON, TEXAS, October 22, 2008 - Widescreen Gaming Forum (WSGF) announces the recipients of its first annual awards.

Field of Vision - This award recognizes developers for implementing proper support of widescreen and Surround Gaming displays.

• Valve Software (Half-Life 2) - For their 100% track record of producing games that become WSGF Certified for perfect widescreen support. Their Source engine provides perfect widescreen and Surround Gaming support, enabling any developer to embrace widescreen.
• Introversion Software (Darwinia and Defcon) - The indie developer, which bills itself as “the last of the bedroom programmers,” proves that studio size does not preclude technical excellence. Both Darwinia and Defcon are WSGF Certified.

Narrow Minded - With tongue firmly planted in cheek, the WSGF recognizes developers who actively discourage or prevent support of widescreen displays.

• DICE (Battlefield 2) - While always describing their Battlefield games as “cinematic,” DICE forcibly limited the aspect ratio to a decidedly non-cinematic ratio of 4:3. Additionally, they helped foster the idea that playing in widescreen constituted “cheating.”
• Electronic Arts (EA Sports). Beyond publishing the Battlefield series, EA consistently removed widescreen support from the PC versions of its EA Sports titles - while including full support in console versions.

Game of the Year - Call of Duty 4 was voted by the members of the Widescreen Gaming Forum as 2007 Widescreen Game of the Year. Only releases certified by the WSGF as having perfect widescreen support were considered.

For additional details visit http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/awards

About the Widescreen Gaming Forum - The WSGF is the world’s leading resource for information on widescreen displays, widescreen gaming, and Surround Gaming. It works tirelessly to analyze how games operate in widescreen and Surround Gaming resolutions, and provides custom solutions where the developers' efforts fall short.

The WSGF website features detailed game reports, a comprehensive collection of widescreen monitor and notebook specifications, and an excellent support forum. Additionally, the WSGF provides screenshot and gameplay video comparisons to showcase the benefits of widescreen and Surround Gaming. The WSGF offers pre-release Certification services to game developers to ensure their games properly support widescreen and Surround Gaming.

About the WSGF

The WSGF is the #1 resource for information on widescreen hardware and games on the World Wide Web (Google Searches - "Widescreen Gaming", "Widescreen Games", "Widesreen"). At our 5th anniversary, the forum has over 13,800 members, and over 136,000 posts. Since May 2006, the WSGF has averaged approximately 350,000 unique visitors per month, and 750,000 page views. The WSGF has been featured or received recognition from a number of different outlets:

• Print: PC Gamer (Dec 2005), PC Gamer UK (June 2004), CPU Magazine (July 2005), Custom PC (April 2006), and Maximum PC (October 2007).
• Web: Extreme Tech (1, 2, 3), AnandTech (1, 2), DailyTech (1, 2) GameSpy, 1up.com, theInquirer.net, Joystiq, Kotaku, TeamXbox, and Digg
• Podcasts: Diggnation
• Hardware Manufacturers: Gateway (1, 2), NVIDIA, and Panoram Technologies
• TV: G4's Attack of the Show

The WSGF was a Silver Sponsor of Penny Arcade's Child's Play Charity, for 2006.

Working with the WSGF

Game Certification

The WSGF offers Certification services for game developers, and encourage developers to engage the WSGF during their beta period. First place to stop are the Widescreen and Surround FAQs, to familiarize yourself with the terms and classifications used by the site. Next place would be the WSGF Certification Overview and Requirements.