Gamers: BioShock Doesn't Have True Widescreen

The creators of the hit game BioShock have responded to criticisms that widescreen users aren’t getting the whole experience.

Apparently, the full game window is only shown in 4:3 resolution. When users play the game on a 16:9 widescreen HDTV, the top and bottom of the scene is cropped slightly to compensate for the difference in monitor size.

The issue affects both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game. While many do not mind the cropping, others have become vociferously upset over the matter.

"It's 2007 for crying out loud, not 1998,” a poster named ‘JohnnyWakko’ posted to the 2KForums. “Some people who try to get the best cutting edge experience out of such a good game have a right to share their distaste at this what I think is laziness."

Still, the comments were enough to warrant an official reply from the game’s creative director Ken Levine, who attempted to calm unhappy gamers on Tuesday by saying he was working to fix the problem.

"I hear you that not everybody was thrilled with the PC launch. And I'm trying to collect information and see what the facts are," he wrote. "We're looking into the issue. I'll only ask you have a bit of understanding as to the time scale that software development issues must occur in."

Even with the problems, BioShock has become a surprising success. The game had a hard time finding a publisher, but eventually Take-Two decided to accept the project in 2006. It couldn’t have been at a better time for the company, which was reeling from a host of financial problems.

Take-Two’s stock jumped 10 percent on Tuesday, following its release as positive reviews came in and the game topped Amazon.com’s charts.

BioShock is a first person shooter that takes place in a failed underwater city that has been thrown into chaos due to a substance that alters a person's DNA to heal them and give them special powers.

The object is to gather as much of the substance as possible to progress through the game.