10 votes

The year in tiny video game text, 2019

11 comments

  1. [2]
    mrbig
    (edited )
    Link
    As someone who plays all games with subtitles, ridiculously small fonts really bother me, and it was good to see that I'm not only the only one.

    As someone who plays all games with subtitles, ridiculously small fonts really bother me, and it was good to see that I'm not only the only one.

    4 votes
    1. joplin
      Link Parent
      Thanks for posting this. I was just playing the Bradwell Conspiracy on my iPhone yesterday (aside: don't bother), and all the in-game text was inscrutable even with my glasses on. Parts of the...

      Thanks for posting this. I was just playing the Bradwell Conspiracy on my iPhone yesterday (aside: don't bother), and all the in-game text was inscrutable even with my glasses on. Parts of the game were also too dark to play during the day.

      1 vote
  2. Grawlix
    Link
    They touch on this with the Kingdom Hearts example, but I think a lot of these are more an issue with font elements besides size. Some of them, ironically, would be equal to or larger than the...

    They touch on this with the Kingdom Hearts example, but I think a lot of these are more an issue with font elements besides size. Some of them, ironically, would be equal to or larger than the Kotaku font size if you compared them side by side. ;)

    But, a lot of them are stylish, chunky, sans-serif fonts, which are a nightmare to read with a big block of text, especially when the contrast between the text and the background is low. I know I joked about comparing it to Kotaku's font size, but the site is way easier to read than any of the examples mentioned because of those other elements.

    Also, Fire Emblem: Three Houses gets my vote, purely because the size of the banner means they know the message should be big and noticeable, but the text is so tiny on it.

    2 votes
  3. [2]
    wundumguy
    Link
    I'm thankful to be a millennial because as I grow up, so will all my fellow millennials developing this software, and they'll understand the importance of accessibility. As we age, our vision,...

    I'm thankful to be a millennial because as I grow up, so will all my fellow millennials developing this software, and they'll understand the importance of accessibility. As we age, our vision, hearing, and coordination go down, so it'll be nice to have more robust accessibility features in the future

    2 votes
    1. mrbig
      Link Parent
      I'm actually a millennial, born in 1982. An elder millennial, but millennial nevertheless.

      I'm actually a millennial, born in 1982. An elder millennial, but millennial nevertheless.

      1 vote
  4. [6]
    Akir
    Link
    That's weird, I could read most of those pretty well even on my phone screen (though some of them were absolutely terrible). It makes me wonder if many people who don't wear glasses or contacts...

    That's weird, I could read most of those pretty well even on my phone screen (though some of them were absolutely terrible). It makes me wonder if many people who don't wear glasses or contacts just don't care much about how sharp their vision is.

    But then again I also know that not all vision problems are correctable, so maybe some of the Kotaku editors have those problems.

    1 vote
    1. [5]
      balooga
      Link Parent
      Presumably you're not looking at your phone screen from a couch across the room. I think a lot of the problem is that games are being designed for PCs with HiDPI screens, but the console...

      Presumably you're not looking at your phone screen from a couch across the room. I think a lot of the problem is that games are being designed for PCs with HiDPI screens, but the console experience is an afterthought. There's an ideal ratio for TV size vs. viewing distance, but many people's rooms are outside of that range. Squinting to read tiny UI labels from 8+ feet away when you "only" have a 32 inch, 1080p TV is not a pleasant experience.

      4 votes
      1. [4]
        Akir
        Link Parent
        Squishing that into my phone makes it an even smaller picture, especially considering I'm holding it vertically. It's a much lower resolution as well. In any case, I've played some of the games in...

        Squishing that into my phone makes it an even smaller picture, especially considering I'm holding it vertically. It's a much lower resolution as well.

        In any case, I've played some of the games in this list (Control, Kingdom Hearts 3, and The Witcher 3, albeit the PC version) with basically that exact setup and have not had issues reading them.

        1. [3]
          mrbig
          Link Parent
          Did you play Witcher on PC or console? What is the distance between the screen and your couch/chair/whatever? I have a 40" TV, and push my couch as close to the TV as possible, and still have...

          Did you play Witcher on PC or console? What is the distance between the screen and your couch/chair/whatever? I have a 40" TV, and push my couch as close to the TV as possible, and still have trouble comfortably reading the text. The subtitles are crazy tiny. This is true about most games.

          1 vote
          1. [2]
            Akir
            Link Parent
            I played it on my PC, but it's hooked up to my TV. I'm somewhere between 10 and 12 feet by my estimate. Sure, the text is uncomfortably small, but not unreadable.

            I played it on my PC, but it's hooked up to my TV. I'm somewhere between 10 and 12 feet by my estimate. Sure, the text is uncomfortably small, but not unreadable.

            1. mrbig
              Link Parent
              Well, it should be comfortable!
              • Exemplary

              Well, it should be comfortable!

              1 vote