Widescreen patch collections

[Xan]

This won't be news to most here, but many games for PS2 and Xbox have widescreen patches available. I figured it may be a good idea to try and collect everything in one place, as sites go down over time or links change.

- https://web.archive.org/web/20250225085 ... et/lp.html (PS2 and Xbox widescreen hacks with example screenshots)
- https://github.com/madmodder123/OpenPS2 ... een_Cheats (PS2 hacks ready for use with OPL)
- https://github.com/icup321/XboxGraphicalPatches (more Xbox patches)

For PS2, apart from the mentioned files for OPL, original discs can also be used with a cheat tool. For Xbox, the .xbe files need to be hexedited.

For most PS2 games, forcing 480p will make the image narrower, so applying a widescreen hack on top will usually require an external device for sizing. I found one example where this isn't the case, which is Turok Evolution. Worked almost perfectly when I tried it in OPL a couple of years ago, i.e. fullscreen 16:9 480p, only drawback was that certain objects like pick-up items are culled beyond the 4:3 area, but it to be seemed an acceptable compromise. I am interested in whether there are any more PS2 games that work like that.

[D]

Great idea for a topic indeed. I have been a huge fan of widescreen patches and hexedit hacks since they were discovered!
For PS2 there are also .pnach files that you load first and then after load the iso to get 16:9.
Might as well broaden this thread to also include Dreamcast and Gamecube patches.
I really hugely prefer to hex edit the iso's so that they are always widescreen without hassle and you can just launch them in widescreen
I was looking for ps1 and saturn patches, but those never happened I think. One time there was supposedly a Ridge Racer Type 4 widescreen patch. I was all over it, but it did little to noting as I recall.

As for 480p making the image narrower. I only had that happen for Initial D Special Stage. Very strange. I think that game runs in internal resolution of something like 480X480p and then it is scaled to 640x480i. All shmups for instance I believe I never got this narrower behavior.

[Xan]

Might as well broaden this thread to also include Dreamcast and Gamecube patches.

I have not looked into Dreamcast because I don't have any means to use it on my plasma in 480p. My old 1080p LCD monitor has VGA but it wouldn't be the preferred way. Gamecube patches seem to be emulator only from what I understand, but I gather Swiss has an option to force widescreen as well these days. I haven't messed with that so don't know how well it works. I'm seeing mentions that games are even more affected by the 4:3 culling. If there are any sites with patches or screenshots feel free to post them.

Another thing worth mentioning is some games already had native widescreen, but vert-, and got patched to hor+. NFSU2 is a prime example of that, though I don't find it offensively bad even with vert-.

As for 480p making the image narrower. I only had that happen for Initial D Special Stage. Very strange. I think that game runs in internal resolution of something like 480X480p and then it is scaled to 640x480i. All shmups for instance I believe I never got this narrower behavior.

A lot of games are like that, when doing 4:3 it's not a problem because the TV's 16:9 mode will stretch it close enough to 4:3 again, obviously with black bars. When checking whether this topic exists, I've seen old mentions that some old versions of GSM work differently in this regard. OPL has the newer version built in.

[SGGG2]

https://segaxtreme.net/threads/saturn-w ... hes.34544/

[Xan]

Wasn't aware of that being done or maybe forgot. Interestingly as per the linked thread, some games also get a resolution increase from 320 to 352. None of the pictured games do this, but I'm guessing they still use anamorphic squeezing to get to 16:9 and just offset the loss in detail a bit. According to the dev they couldn't do this for Powerslave as the game would slow down too much.

If they can increase resolution like that, what about just staying in 4:3, shouldn't that give a higher FOV at least in any 2D game? Turns out they did that as well: https://segaxtreme.net/threads/screeen- ... cks.24034/

But it does beg the question why for instance the Story of Thor 2/Legend of Oasis devs didn't go for 352 in the first place. Seems likely to me it was deliberate to make the sprites look bigger and more impressive, and the areas in those Thor games are usually pretty cramped anyway.

[SGGG2]

Works on Genesis games, too.

https://segaxtreme.net/threads/screeen- ... ost-183647

[jd213]

Right, there are "widescreen" (increases H rez to 320) patches for NHL 94 and some of the other NHL games.

Many 3D PS1 games can also be converted to widescreen by MiSTer (and I assume Duckstation).

[WobblingPixels]

PS1 widescreen cheat codes archive: https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-PSOne-W ... #pid477709
The majority should work on PS1 hardware.
More WS codes can be found here: https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-PSOne-W ... s?page=134