Cheap HDTVs

We have come a long way since the days of Pong. Even the original Nintendo is now something that is associated with a distant past. Today’s video game consoles are a completely new breed. With the technology to literally create a small world inside a CD, players can now spend hours exploring a magical word filled with warriors, spaceships, magic, treasures, and all sorts of things you can imagine.

These digital worlds are stunning, with scenes that can easily pass for a high budget movie for the casual viewer. However, for these effects to be impressive, a person needs a good HDTV. Otherwise, the impressive snow mountain and its wind currents becomes a black and white triangle that shakes a bit.

This is no small matter. Part of the appeal of certain games is the attention of detail that makes them look realistic or impressive. For example, driving games now allow you to see how the painting on your car shines. And the most advanced ones can actually show the reflection on their windows of the things that it passes by, giving the impression that the car is actually going through a course, rather than being just a model on a digital arena. Without a HD TV, this effect is greatly lost.

And I’m not only talking about aesthetics here. Having a good display can actually improve gameplay. Let’s take a videogame that uses two displays, like Dynasty Warriors 6. It has a display that occupies the whole screen, where you can see your warrior battling hundreds of soldiers, and a small display that shows the map and the direction your warrior is moving. Now, if you are using a HDTV, there is nothing worth noticing. However, if you are using a regular TV, good luck trying to see the tiny, blurry map without straining your eyes. And that’s not the only example. There are several games that have white or small text that is incredibly difficult to read without a high definition display.

Lastly, at this moment, there aren’t games that require you to have a HDTV to play them, but that’s not a guarantee that this won’t change in the future. After all, in some countries, TV is only broadcasted in HD, so don’t be surprised if in the near future, your favorite videogame comes with a sticker that says “needs a HD TV to be played.”