My friend just got an xbox and only has a 35"-ish standard def TV.

Is it even worth trying to play without an HDTV? Anyone here try it?

I haven't tried it, but it's not like the gameplay would be any different.

god, i remember playing games on sdtv, they sucked.

I played a big chunk of Fallout 3 on a 27" SDTV. It wasn't THAT bad.

I think your friend should buy it. He's got the XBOX, so why not?

Well i heard its next to impossible to see opponents crouching or reading text.

Why would you want to watch your opponents read text?

the magazine section is REALLY good on the terminal map bookstore!

Is there really any reason not to have an HDTV at this point. And don't give me the high price arguement. Computer monitors are dirt cheap. 22" widescreen monitor is less than $150. And those will accept an hdmi signal with a dvi adapter. If you can afford an xbox or ps3 and a $60 game you should be able to afford a small HDTV.

Uh...because I'd rather play on a 36" Sony Wega SDTV vs a 22" HDTV and yes I would play the high price argument because I don't have the money for a nice TV that would satisfy me like at least a 42" LCD TV. So yeah just because I can afford a 360 and a $60 game doesn't mean I can afford an HDTV that I want.

Besides, do you have any idea how much those Wegas weight? Moving that thing would be a real pain.

I remember the only time I saw an SDTV playing a 360 game. My buddy was playing Oblivion and it was hard as Hell to read the text, and the scrunched menu made it look totally different. I also remember him saying that he couldn't read the text at all on one game, Dead Rising I think. He was on a 32" Sony Vega.

Don't even get a 360/PS3 if you don't have a HDTV so you don't have to ask these types of questions.

Stick with the Wii or Genesis.

I played it on my own 27" HDTV, and my brother's 35" SDTV today, and I could barely tell the difference.

I just got an HDTV this past summer, and did all of my gaming on a 32inch SDTV prior. While the games look amazing in HD, I still thought most stuff looked really great in standard. I can't go back now, but while I was on the other side of the fence I was totally happy. All of the "why bother with xbox if you don't have an HDTV" is a bunch of baloney if you ask me. Even the games that are notorious for being bad on SDTVs (Dead Rising) I found playable.

I'd say yes. I'd even consider a surround system more essential in the game, especially in multiplayer. My receiver is/was giving me problems so I started playing through my TV speakers. Now that I'm back on 5.1 it's a world of difference.

That's my next thing. I haven't had any decent sound equipment in years, but I think I'm going to ease back into it primarily for games.

Size isn't everything you know...

I too was like you in that I have a 32" SDTV and played my Xbox360 on it. Then one day I decided to get the VGA adapter and try it out on my 20" PC monitor. I figured that if I wasn't impressed I could always return the adapter. I was more than impressed in the difference, and I quite honestly cannot play on the SDTV anymore despite the 12" difference.



Then either you didn't have the HDTV set up correctly or you need to go to the eye doctor and have your vision checked. There is a very notable difference between SD and HD. To say you weren't impressed with the difference is okay, but to say you could barely tell a difference at all I find very difficult to believe.

Here are some recent comparison screenshots from IGN that shows the difference between God of War 1 and 2 on SD and HD. The PS3 God of War collection did nothing to the textures, models, etc. All it did was raise the resolution to HD, and it is still a very notable difference between the original PS2 games.

Screenshots spoilerized for size:

In addition to simply just sounding absolutely sickening, surround sound also helps identify enemy player locations when near.

Surround sound is something I haven't had in ages. I don't miss it, because I've been without it so long, and to be honest it can get kind or irritating for all of my tv watching, but I think it would be good to have when watching blu-rays (going to get a player this year) or playing games. I need to look into some in-a-box options. Are surround sound speakers pretty much wireless now?

They can be... but the really good ones aren't. You can get yourself a decent sound bar that simulates surround sound (pretty well I might add) for a couple of hundred to thousand bucks. I have one in the bedroom that the wife approves of.