Capcom to non-HDTV owners: You're screwed

Having never been a console developer, I can’t say how I’ve done it. But if I were to do it, the QA process would include the variable that changes in the hardware, the TV. That seems common sense to me.

Anyone who has ever developed a web application or just run a web site knows that you test across different mediums (browsers) to insure a consistency of presentation. Given that the medium in this case is the wide array of TV and computer displays I don’t see why it shouldn’t be standard practice to test on at least representative samples of the common types of displays out there, especially given the known and significant difference between SD and HD TV. A QA process is not limited to one aspect of quality; it should encompass quality as a whole. They should have tested at the very very least one SDTV, one HD and one monitor, and for the TVs used the composite, S-Video and component hook ups since those are known to make a difference as well.

I work at a tiny business that has a web app we’ve got a number of different test machines in our test lab with different OS/Browser combos. For a company like Capcom not to have a test lab with different TVs really boggles the mind.

Frankly whoever runs QA over there should be in hot water for this. It’s really a giant “DUH!” move. It would be like me telling my boss “uh, well we didn’t test on IE 6”.

maybe it’s one of those employee related issues… Bob already makes 2$ less an hour than Tim and Jane, I don’t have the heart to tell him since he’s lowest in seniority he gets to spend 10 hour days testing DR on a 13" SDTV…

At my last company most of the Xbox devkits were plugged into the shittiest 14" portables money could buy.

However with the 360 I’ve not seen a single dev kit to date that isn’t plugged into a computer monitor or HDTV.

Not saying this is the norm but that small ability to play it on your second monitor is killing the need to have the smallest TV in the world on your desk as well.

Poor Bob. =(

Does your variable also involve the tester’s eyesight? Because as I’ve said before, I’ve seen the text be readable on SDTVs. In fact, I could read the text on my SDTV through s-video, albeit slowly.

I’m not defending capcom here, but you can’t expect a developer to do more than have a couple SDTVs around, and it’s unlikely that they’d buy a wide array of models. If it’s readable on those, then what are they supposed to do? Buy every model available to make sure it’s possible?

I believe the problem here is that they did not test on any SDTVs.

Do you know that for a fact? Because as I’ve said, I’ve seen SDTVs where the text is perfectly legible. On 10 year old CRTs no less.

Maybe just issue a patch so people can read the text? Or start putting a label on the game box that indicates the issue so people with SDTV’s can stay away?

This is incorrect. When I was working on The Sims: Bustin Out, our test plans specifically included several different kinds of televisions. The majority of our QA testers were playing on extremely small TV/VCR combos. Not testing on multiple TVs is irresponsible, and is directly the fault of the lead tester(s) and the AP that interacts with QA.

At least I can tell from the demo that the text is illegible on my TV, saving me $60. I was really hoping for a patch so I could buy this. After having Capcom laugh at me for not owning an HDTV, I’m not inclined to buy anything else these Bozos publish either.

Console developers, specifically those in Japan, are simply not going to be the type to know to test on cheaper TV sets. They don’t come from the PC background, where myriad combinations of video/driver/monitor/CPU/etc. have trained former PC devs to be more thorough (or at least promote the facade of having been thorough in PR). They’re used to just getting a new piece of hardware, designing a game for it and having it work, sort of like Charles says when he says it’s a software thing on consoles.

Now that 360 and soon PS3 are more and more like computers, running on what amount to huge computer-type displays at various resolutions. You damn well better test on as many of the various displays people could be using because if you don’t, you’re guaranteed to have this kind of problem with your game.

Also, the laughing thing… that just turns people right off of the whole next generation console thing because those who haven’t bought a 360 are going to say, “I can’t afford an HDTV. Why should I buy a 360? I’ll just keep playing my PS2.” That’s just stupidity.

I completed the entire game plus overtime mode without restarting once.

Perhaps, but I bet in many cases (maybe not yours) having different tvs around was more a matter of happenstance than organized.

Consoles are ending up where PCs are – it’s impossible to verify that something works on all the hardware out there. It’s a suckers game. You take what you can to represent a bit of a sampling, and then make sure that works. If joe has a no-name brand tv that’s so blurry he can’t read the text, well, oops. Maybe he should spend more than 30$ at a garage sale. This is the same scenario as someone who buys a computer with a cheap motherboard, ram, and videocard, which just happens to crash in certain 3d circumstances. There’s a point at which it ceases to be something the developer can control.

I completed the entire game plus overtime mode without restarting once.

So…?

You’re doing a lot of defending of what appears to be a widespread problem, not just the random garage sale tv guy…

I’m defending against the idea that software developers have to get in to the hardware testing business. I think Capcom is stupid for not making text size and speed options. I think they are even dumber for not patching them in after the fact. I think they should fire their PR guy for laughing at people who don’t own HDTVs.

But I don’t believe any of this means that developers should be expected to have a full hardware testing lab for a console. There are infinite TVs out there, both good and bad. If Capcom didn’t do some cursory tests on some SDTVs, shame on them. But you can’t expect a developer to verify that their software will look perfect on every end piece of hardware.

But I don’t believe any of this means that developers should be expected to have a full hardware testing lab for a console.

One of the big reasons that I spend a much larger portion of time these days gaming on consoles instead of the PC is because of how easy and reliable they are. If developers want me to continue buying there games then I damn well expect them to do whatever testing is required, hardware or software, to keep that experience as seamless as it’s been in prior generations. I have zero sympathy for QA here.

I’m sure if you send them your TV during development, they’d be happy to use it for testing.

We are completely agreed at this point.

But I don’t believe any of this means that developers should be expected to have a full hardware testing lab for a console. There are infinite TVs out there, both good and bad. If Capcom didn’t do some cursory tests on some SDTVs, shame on them. But you can’t expect a developer to verify that their software will look perfect on every end piece of hardware.

Right, but it seems to have affected so many TVs I’d imagine they do little to no testing on any range of TVs.