Do Xbox Games Only Run In 4:3 On The Xbox 360?

Darkwave · 2 Oct 2007 at 07:42

Hey guys,

Is it possible to get old Xbox games running in 16:9 aspect ratio on the Xbox 360? I can only seem to get them to run in 4:3 with black bars at the sides, even if I force 16:9 on the TV, and they ran just fine in 16:9 on my original Xbox.

Sincerely yours,
Ulfhedjinn.

slambo69 · 2 Oct 2007 at 07:47

Some of my games run fine and others I havent worked out how to change it.

Is there not an option in the games menu maybe?

ArchAnGeL · 2 Oct 2007 at 08:03

I've never noticed mine playing in 4:3. However I am using the HD cable to output 720p for video (I don't think games upscale however). I set the video output mode in the xbox dash

Darkwave · 2 Oct 2007 at 08:56

slambo69 said:
Is there not an option in the games menu maybe?

Not in any of the games I've tried so far, no.

ArchAnGeL said:
I've never noticed mine playing in 4:3. However I am using the HD cable to output 720p for video (I don't think games upscale however). I set the video output mode in the xbox dash

That might explain it, I'm using HDMI and the aspect (screen format) options are greyed out.

Thanks for the replies guys. Unless anyone has any other advice, it looks like I'll just have to keep my old Xbox (which is a bit of a pain because one of the reasons I bought a 360 was backwards compatibility with my catalogue of old games.)

ArchAnGeL · 2 Oct 2007 at 12:34

Ulfhedjinn said:
Not in any of the games I've tried so far, no.

That might explain it, I'm using HDMI and the aspect (screen format) options are greyed out.

Thanks for the replies guys. Unless anyone has any other advice, it looks like I'll just have to keep my old Xbox (which is a bit of a pain because one of the reasons I bought a 360 was backwards compatibility with my catalogue of old games.)

sorry, I misread your first post. I was refering to my orginal xbox being connected by component hd. I've not tried any original xbox1 games on my 360

Darkwave · 2 Oct 2007 at 13:47

ArchAnGeL said:
sorry, I misread your first post. I was refering to my orginal xbox being connected by component hd. I've not tried any original xbox1 games on my 360

Oh right, I get you now. My 360 games run in 16:9 720p just fine but my Xbox games will only run in 4:3.

Wrathamon · 2 Oct 2007 at 13:55

Probably depends if the XBox game supports 16:9 or not, and what the backwards compatibility emulation allows each game to do.

I use the 360 with a component lead, and set to 16:9 720p. Halo 2 runs full widescreen, but Jetset Radio Future is 4:3 with bars at the side.

Darkwave · 2 Oct 2007 at 13:59

Wrathamon said:
Probably depends if the XBox game supports 16:9 or not, and what the backwards compatibility emulation allows each game to do.

They all run fine in 16:9 on my Xbox so I am assuming it's something to do with the scaler/emulator in the 360. I've only really tried Project Gotham (1) and Fable so far, but neither of them display at 16:9 for me and they actually look stretched vertically because of it.

NokkonWud · 2 Oct 2007 at 14:08

Games that were made in 4:3 will run in 4:3.

Darkwave · 2 Oct 2007 at 20:25

NokkonWud said:
Games that were made in 4:3 will run in 4:3.

Even if they ran fine in 16:9 on my Xbox though? I find that bit of a short-change on the 360's part.

lemm · 2 Oct 2007 at 22:33

If you were running 4:3 games in 16:9 then you were stretching them.

2Thumbs · 2 Oct 2007 at 23:03

I'm not really a fan of the 360's backwards compatibility at all, visuals appear stretched and they generally run like a dog. Fable for example stutters once every few minutes which ruins the enjoyment for me.

Glad I kept my original xbox TBH.

Darkwave · 3 Oct 2007 at 01:00

lemm said:
If you were running 4:3 games in 16:9 then you were stretching them.

Nope, they ran fine natively in 16:9 on the Xbox. It's not a case of the game being 4:3 only. I didn't have to force my TV to run in 16:9 mode or anything and the image was clearly not stretched (I would be able to tell, being a widescreen PC gamer.)

Unfortunately I think I'm going to have to chalk this one up to Xbox 360 backwards compatibility being poor, I'll have to call the free support number and ask them what the crack is.

2Thumbs said:
I'm not really a fan of the 360's backwards compatibility at all, visuals appear stretched and they generally run like a dog. Fable for example stutters once every few minutes which ruins the enjoyment for me.

Glad I kept my original xbox TBH.

Yeah, I have to say that I did notice Fable running a bit slowly.

I suppose I'll be keeping my original Xbox then like you did, which is a shame because like I said I partly bought the Xbox 360 to play my back catalogue and new games in one unit.

ArchAnGeL · 3 Oct 2007 at 07:34

tbh, I have kept my original xbox as the 360's media capabilities are a joke.

Darkwave · 3 Oct 2007 at 08:14

ArchAnGeL said:
tbh, I have kept my original xbox as the 360's media capabilities are a joke.

I have to agree with that. I tried streaming some HD media from my PC (has MCE 2005 on it) only to find that the 360 doesn't support anything but the most basic of video codecs. :mad:

Ah well, the PC is hooked up to the TV anyway so I'll just use MCE and the remote as I always have.

Nymins · 3 Oct 2007 at 10:15

Running old xbox games like Halo 1 or 2 on the 360 makes them look really bad for me. They aren't stretched or anything, just the graphics look worse cause they are upscaled. Good thing i have my old Xbox lying around.