It's that time of the year to be voting for the best and worst of this years games and developers. We've got 3 developer awards and 1 game award to hand out this year. Even though many games now offer native widescreen resolution support and some even offer native multi-monitor support, not all do it well. To help evangelize and encourage proper implementation in widescreen and surround gaming scenarios, the WSGF seeks to recognize those developers who represent the best and worst examples of widescreen support.
Let's get it started!
Field of Vision Awards
These awards are the ones you want to win, rewards for a job well done.
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Mainstream Developer of the Year
This award is for the larger developers that show a support to widescreen and multimonitor gamers, and whose 2011 releases demonstrate this. These developers are the ones making the effort to look after the WSGF community.
Nominees:
Codemasters - A long term supporter of games that natively support widescreen and miltimonitor, this developer published two big titles this year: the WSGF certified Dirt3 and Operation Flashpoint: Red River, whose DR is incomplete but has native support. Their implementation of multi-monitor support including centralized HUDs in the whole Dirt series and their long term commitment to widescreen and multimon support with both the Dirt and Operation Flashpoint series make them a real contender.
Obsidian Entertainment - This developer has had a hit-and-miss run of games, but did release the WSGF certified game Dungeon Siege III this year. In the past, their multimon support has had some highs (Neverwinter Nights 2, 2006, certified) and some lows (Alpha Protocol, 2010, Vert- and Fallout: New Vegas, 2010, poor multimon support), but Dungeon Siege III performs flawlessly. Have they turned a corner finally?
Ubisoft - Known best for their DRM antics, this developer has still put out some respectable titles. The Assassins Creed series has supported multimon long term (all of the games are gold or silver certified), and their 2011 release Assassin's Creed Revelations narrowly misses out on certification due to not supporting multimon in multiplayer. Another big Ubisoft 2011 release Anno 2070 looks extremely positive so far and could potentially be certified once testing on it is complete.
Crytek - A developer that has shown steady improvement through the years, from needing a hack to even run widescreen in the 2004 release Far Cry, to the WSGF certified 2011 release Crysis 2. Hopefully they keep up the standard from here.
Croteam - This smaller developer puts many of the larger ones to shame with its Serious Engine 3. The Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter remake was gold-certified, and their 2011 release Serious Sam: BFE (which also uses the Serious Engine 3) continues the certified trend. Many other developers could take notice!
Volition - A hit and miss year for this developer. WSGF certified the game Saints Row: The Third for its outstanding widescreen and multimon support, complete with a centered HUD, whereas their other major 2011 release Red Faction Armageddon needs a registry edit for multimon resolutions.
Day 1 Studios - This developer made PC games in the late 90s, moving to consoles in the mid 2000s, but has returned to PC gaming with a bang. Their first release for the PC in over ten years is the WSGF certified FEAR 3.
Vote here for the Mainstream Developer of the Year
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Indie Developer of the Year
This award is for smaller independent developers who, despite smaller budgets and teams, manage to implement widescreen and multi-monitor support that any good developer should try to achieve.
Nominees:
Mojang - This indie developer from Sweden has an instant hit with the WSGF certified game Minecraft. After spending a year in alpha and a year in beta, it was officially released this year on a variety of platforms. Proving to be so popular, WSGF started and still hosts a Minecraft server for our members. A real contender for the title.
11 Bit Studios - This indie developer from Poland has only published one game but it's a cracker, the WSGF certified game Anomaly: Warzone Earth. This unique tower-defense game is unique as you are the attacker, and it looks fantastic.
Flying Wild Hog - This indie developer from Poland has released the game Hard Reset. While not certified yet as the resolution testing is not complete, it looks like it will be as both widescreen and multimon are natively Hor+ and is a great effort from a small dev.
Vote here for the Indie Developer of the Year
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Game of the Year
This award is for the game that has the very best widescreen and multi-monitor implementation, an example that we would like to see all games live up to. Because of this, games that did not offer native multi-monitor support or centered HUDs were excluded from contention.
Nominees:
These are the WSGF certified games that have been released this year that feature the very best widescreen and multi-mon implementation. Take a minute to review the games and vote which game makes the most of its support.
Minecraft - This game from the small indie developer Mojang offers flawless widescreen and multimon support, and from all accounts is simply excellent to play this way.
Need For Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed - Racing games usually benefit greatly from widescreen and multimon implementation, and this is no exception. A fantastic racer and a worthy contender, including centered HUD.
Dirt3 - It's fantastic when a game offers full widescreen and multimon support straight out of the box, and this one keeps the tradition going. A perfect example of how it should be done, with a centered HUD, stunning graphics and gameplay to boot.
Saints Row: The Third - Beautiful environments and perfect widescreen and multimon support including a centered HUD, this game's implementation is a benchmark for other developers to aspire to.
Serious Sam: BFE - Another game with full widescreen and multimon support including a centered HUD, this game looks fantastic and is another tribute to its developer.
Need For Speed: The Run - Offers the same exceptional support as its sister game, Shift 2 Unleashed, including a centered HUD. This game also features some gameplay on foot, as a small side to the main gameplay of driving.
Dungeon Siege III - Another fantastic example of perfect implementation including a centered HUD, this game is beautiful.
FEAR 3 - The first release from this developer for the PC in 10 years and the widescreen and multimon support is perfect, including a centered HUD.
Vote here for the Game of the Year
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Narrow Minded Award
This is the one you don't want. It's awarded to developers who just don't even seem to care about widescreen or multi-monitor support.
Nominees:
Bethesda - While undoubtably one of the most anticipated and most popular games of the year, Skyrim's initial lack of support and then constant breaking of WSGF fixes saw it bring such a large amount of traffic to our site that it brought the server down. To those trying to play the game, it seems like Bethesda are actually trying to prevent gamers from playing it in multi-monitor. Bethesda has also published other troubled games during this year and last, such as Brink and the Fallout series.
Infinity Ward - This developer, while supporting widescreen well and in fact winning the Game of the Year in 2008 for Call of Duty 4, has shown a long term commitment to not supporting multi monitor gaming. None of their titles have ever supported multimon and their 2011 release Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the same.
Vote here for the Narrow Minded Award
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Just a shout-out to the Insiders and Editors who helped me on this one, especially Lolotov. Cheers mate.
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Feel free to discuss in this thread.
