This really svcks. Top of the screen is cut off. Text is too small to read, and no way to adjust size or screen. I was so excited to pick this game up too . Just used all of the money I had. Wish I could buy an HDTV but thats impossible.

Well my days ruined. I know this probably wont be patched so I guess this is a warning to everyone with sdtv's. Its not going to work guys....

can you not change the resolution settings in the xbox menu?

I know this is of no help but I have to ask why do people game on SDTV's these days? You truly can get one dirt cheap nowadays and it'll still be better than gaming on an SDTV. Games these days are made to get the most benefit out of them in HD. Can you even buy SDTV's these days? Whenever I go into an electrical retailer these days the only options are HD ready TV's. What I'm saying is, it's unsurprising if a game doesn't function too well in SD. I don't really think it's the devs fault.

In fact, for 2 to 3 times what you paid for your game, you could get a cheapo small HDTV that would still be better for gaming on than an SDTV.

Not everyone can afford too buy an hdtv. I was barely able to save up for skyrim let alone a new tv. A little bit of googling brings up some info on hdtv numbers, with between 50 and 60 percent of homes actually owning an hdtv.

Its way to early to blow of sdtv owners =/

Yeahp. We're pretty much screwed. There will be no fix, and those of us with older TV's are stuck with a game whose text is literally unreadable.

Shame, really.

I can deal with the small text, it's the cutoff that is really bugging me. How am I supposed to play this without a compass? And to the guy suggesting we simply buy an HDTV: Not everyone has $300 bucks to spend, especially after we just spent $60 + on the game itself.
Come on Bethesda, patch this up please! Don't make me return this and go buy MW3 instead! I've been waiting years to play Skyrim!

Verninon. If your compass isn't showing up, have you tried going to the Display Settings and changing the HUD Opacity? Thats how I found mine.

I think if all of us playing on SDTV's could afford it, we'd all have HDTV's so the "just buy an HDTV" response is no help. It's annoying because my TV isn't small, it's just not HD and it's very, very annoying not being able to read anything and have my HUD cut off on the sides.

You're kind of twisting my words. I didn't say "just buy a HDTV". I said you can get them dirt cheap nowadays. You can actually get one for about 3 times the price of a single game.

For people like me, thats 3 times the money I don't have. I'm currently putting myself through college and I can't afford to pay for an hdtv, even with 2 jobs.

Does switching between Widescreen and normal on the Xbox itself make any difference?

Switching between normal and widescreen barely helps for me. Everything is still cut off on the edges and then the graphics look condensed to boot. And "3 times the cost of the game" is actually a lot of money. Hell, 360 games themselves cost a lot of money.

Switching to Widescreen mode on the 360 brought more of the HUD in, but not all of it. I can sort of see the compass now, but not my health, and not my weight on the items menu.

I registered here specifically to post about this. I'd like to know whether there will be a patch to adjust screen size. I've been extremely excited about this game, but as much as it kinda kills me to say it, I don't want to invest hundreds of hours into a game in which I will never be able to see half of the HUD. It's unplayable.

And yeah, "spend hundreds of dollars on a new television" is an unacceptable solution.

Text issues, whatever, I can deal, but I want to be able to play the game.

Agreed. I need to know if Bethesda is working on fixing this somehow or I am trading this for MW3 (as much as I hate to say that).

Yep, I have a big TV but half of my damn compass is cut off and the messages hat come up at the top left of the screen are unreadable. It's playable but still a big pain in the ass. Please put in an option to lower it in the next patch...

Did you try changing resolutions aswell? Skyrim only supports 720p for xbox~

Nope, I don't have HD on my TV, I don't have the HDMI cable either.. svcks.

I feel your pain op. Until last week i was using an sdtv and spending my time squinting at text on the screen. Due to an amazing bit of luck, i got a tax rebate and was finally able to buy an hdtv. To those who responded to the op with, "oh well, just buy a new tv." You really sound like arrogant, spoiled little douchebags. These days, most people are struggling just to put food on their tables.

Dont hate on me, i dont make these games but people dont cater to outdated tech anymore. Same reason Skyrim wasnt optimised for windows 95, many people just dont use the platform. Apparently mass effect 2 was unreadable on sdtv

This really is a serious issue. I spent what little spare money I have to buy this game, just to find that the text is too small to be read, and everything on the HUD is pushed so far off of the screen that it might as well not even exist in the first place. I don't have the money (nor would I wish to spend the money) to buy an HD TV just to play this game. This game costs 60 dollars as is, I shouldn't have to go out to by a new TV just to play it. I'm sorry, but no video game, in my opinion, warrants buying a new TV just to play it.

For those of you that I've seen across the internet saying to svck it up or buy a new TV, or that this was done because majority of the people who played Oblivion didn't like the text size, you need to get off of your high horse. All that we SDTV players are asking for is an option to adjust screen settings for text size and slightly altered HUD placement so that the game is actually playable for us. It wouldn't affect anyone who doesn't choose to turn on that option. This is an issue that affected Dead Rising, in making it impossible for me to play through the game's story (Not that I cared about the story, but that's not the point). Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is another game that was originally plagued with this issue, but a title update added the option to easily fix it.

Bethesda, all that I ask is that you please let us know (preferably ASAP) whether or not you plan on fixing this issue. If you are, then I will hold off on playing it until it's fixed. If you aren't, then please let us know so that I can take it back to Gamestop to get my money back. Personally, I think it would be a shame, since it looks like a great experience. But I refuse to keep this game if this problem is not going to be addressed.

Heard about controller and tv and type of xbox problems. Wow, did I luck out, new controller, new 32" HDTV, and my old crapped out Pro from like 4 years ago. so hopefully this means when I get my copy I'll be good to go..


Very sorry to hear all the sad news about people who are having problems.

I am to my utter surprise went coming home from the gamestop to find how cut off the hud/screen was! man,it is painful waiting all this time and Ive been so hyped waiting for this release.I used to have a awesome pioneer plasma but had to sell it because of low funds.

I have a suggestion for those not able to afford a hdtv...get either a vga cable or a dvi to hdmi cord and game on your computer monitor,from what I hear it is very affordable and def be an increase with picture quality.

it is what I am having to do now. believe me I absolutely feel your pain...I did not even think I was going to be able to get skyrim for a long time and was extremely surprised when I was able to snag a copy todayu to only come home and be completely destroyed realizing it was nearly unplayable on a sdtv.

go to system settings/display and switch to widescreen,I found it helps the visibility of the compass/hud and is prob. the best option avail. right now....I do not know if a patch can fix this or not. I really wish there were an option but I digress.

I was talking to Gstaff and he said he'd talk to the team about it.

Thank you!

a patch on ps3 involving this would be good too becus i have the same problem on my ps3 version