Readable text is apparently an HD-only feature in Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
When you release an adventure game that relies entirely on text to convey each and every drop of story and character interaction, you would think that priority number one would be to make sure that text is legible for all players. Unfortunately for the developers at Rare, this seems to have been a slight oversight. Those without HD televisions who downloaded the recently released demo for their upcoming title, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, were surprised to see that the on-screen text had been rendered microscopic.
This isn’t the first time an Xbox 360 title has been deemed illegible as early in the console’s cycle, Capcom released the zombie action game Dead Rising, in which the game was largely unplayable on standard definition televisions due to indecipherable text. Capcom never did issue a fix of any sort for this problem and according to Rare community manager, George Kelion, neither will they.
“Please don’t kill me,” pleaded Kelion, posting on the NeoGAF forums. According to Kellion, the text issue is one that will not be fixed in time for the retail release, set for November 11, citing a lack of time, resources and money to cure.
One of the biggest questions concerning this issue, particularly one in such a high profile, first-party title, is how does something so painfully obvious to so many players make it through the certification process? Reporting on the issue, Joystiq points out that in a recent Official Xbox Magazine UK feature, all Xbox Live Arcade titles must be fully playable (readable text included) on a standard definition television as small as 14″. It appears, as strange as it may be, that the same standards of quality do not apply to other 360 titles.
