Line #110 Main/BorderOccupyingDecorations


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4	[[quoteright:320:[[VideoGame/SpaceHarrier https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_182146_space_harrier.png]]]]
5
6	When the game is too small to fit the whole screen, the developers need to fill it with something. Unless they just go with black bars.
7
8	In the early days, when processing power was limited, it was not always possible to fill the screen with the action of the game. The main window had to be reduced in size, and something was needed to fill the extra space. In some cases, the best the programmers could come up with was to place the game logo and an abbreviated set of instructions in the remaining space. This was also common for ports to home systems of games designed for a tall screen.
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10	During the 1990s and the 2000s, this was done for accessories that let players play handheld games on the TV screen, like the Platform/SuperGameBoy for the Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem and the Platform/GameBoyPlayer for the Platform/NintendoGameCube. They would both have a selection of premade borders, but the former would also theme designs for games made with such functionality in mind (potentially changing based on location or other factors). With the Platform/NintendoDS's and Platform/Nintendo3DS's touch screen and other gimmicks making such accessories impossible, or their aspect ratios also going widescreen like with the Platform/PlayStationPortable and Platform/PlayStationVita, or just straight-up hybrid consoles like the Platform/NintendoSwitch, doing so became pointless.
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12	Today, this is frequently used for emulators and modern ports of older game systems, due to their screens not properly fitting on modern widescreen displays. This often results in a border surrounding the sides, mostly from left and right but sometimes from above and below as well. The border usually incorporates some elements from the game, like the characters or locations, similar to a wallpaper. Developers usually offer players the option to scale the game to fit both the top and the bottom or just go widescreen, but as the aspect ratio change makes the game look distorted, many players consider it a suboptimal solution.
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14	Note that this does not include cases where the developers put the stats, menu, and interface on the extra space, as is often done with vertical ShootEmUp games. This is purely about non-gameplay affecting decorations related to the game.
15	-----
16	!!Examples:
17
18	[[AC:ActionAdventure]]
19	* Steve Turner's 8-bit games ''Avalon'', ''Dragontorc'' and ''Astroclone'' all have a 16-pixel border round the playing area. ''Avalon'' and ''Dragontorc'' fill this with fantasy-themed images, ''Astroclone'' with the game title and a relief design resembling circuitry.
20	* ''VideoGame/TheLastNinja'' is a corner case due to its functional border, showing status information to the bottom and right of the main game window. However, the bottom-right corner is a simple logo, replaced in the sequels to show the top of the ninja's head.
21	* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'': Playing the ''DX'' version on the Super Game Boy (not an optimal way to play due to the Color Dungeon) gives the game a border that shows Koholint Island, the sea, and the sky.
22
23	[[AC:ActionGame]]
24	* ''VideoGame/BubbleBobble'': Playing the ''Classic'' release on the Super Game Boy gives it a border filled with bricks, with the logo at the top as well as Bub and Bob on the sides.
25	* ''VideoGame/DotArcade'': Each game has borders on the left and right for the leftover space that are meant to resemble retro arcade game designs (a knight on a snake for ''Mr. Snake'', the character Speck for ''Dodge Club'', and a race car with a pit girl for ''Rally Driver'').
26	* ''VideoGame/{{Snake}} III'': There's a leafy border around the gameplay window.
27
28	[[AC:AdventureGame]]
29	* ''VideoGame/MacVenture'': The ''8-Bit Adventure Anthology'' release of the games adds a border related to their setting on the sides (skeletons in the halls for ''VideoGame/{{Shadowgate}}'', city buildings for ''VideoGame/DejaVu1985'', chapel walls and candelabras for ''VideoGame/{{Uninvited}}'').
30
31	[[AC:BeatEmUp]]
32	* ''VideoGame/ShuihuzhuanLiangshanYingxiong'': In the initial version, the screen is badly compressed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6juFUi0KMVA within a bronze Oriental-style frame]] (with the stage's title written on top), probably due to it being a low-budget game. A re-release a year later removed the frame.
33
34	[[AC:CinematicPlatformGame]]
35	* ''VideoGame/{{Blackthorne}}'': In the MS-DOS version of the game, the sprite and tile graphics were based on those used in the SNES version[[note]]though [[BloodlessCarnage blood was censored out]] of the SNES ones[[/note]], and had the same sizes as measured in pixels. However, whereas the SNES version ran using a screen resolution of 256 × 224, the MS-DOS version ran using a 320 × 240 screen resolution instead, leaving a thin border at the bottom of the screen and a much wider border at the right side of the screen.[[note]]In 2D games with screen-scrolling (especially ones that are capable of diagonal scrolling), another way to handle different screen resolutions would be to increase or decrease the field-of-view along with the screen resolution. However, that would not have been possible for ''Blackthorne'', because it uses pure one-screen-at-a-time [[FlipScreenScrolling screen-flipping]] in both the horizontal and vertical directions rather than scrolling.[[/note]] The MS-DOS version displayed the item inventory within the right-side border and the name of the currently-selected item within the lower border, whereas the SNES version (which didn't have any on-screen borders) put the item inventory in a menu that was accessible by pressing the Select button but which was not visible the rest of the time.
36
37	[[AC:FightingGame]]
38	* ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart 3'' was one of the last fighting games designed for a 4:3 aspect ratio SD display. The Platform/Playstation3 releases added animated sidebars to preserve this aspect ratio when playing on a widescreen HD display, along with a trophy for seeing all possible variants of the sidebar animations. Averted in the eventual Platform/{{Steam}} release, which was instead rebalanced for widescreen play.
39	* ''VideoGame/BarbarianTheUltimateWarrior'' has decorative snakes on the left and right. The snake's heads are animated when the player takes a hit, and the rest of the top border has functional elements.
40	* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' wasn't designed for a 16:9 aspect ratio until ''Xrd''. Thus, ports of older entries to widescreen systems, such as the Platform/PlayStationPortable, Platform/PlayStationVita, and HD systems added decorative sidebars to keep the fighting in a 4:3 aspect ratio.
41	* ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'': Playing the Game Boy release on the Super Game Boy makes the border a purple void with Spinal in the top-left, Fulgore on the right, and Orchid in the bottom-left.
42	* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'': Playing the Game Boy release on the Super Game Boy puts four skulls on the sides and the game's logo at the top.
43	* ''VideoGame/ShaqFu'': Playing the Game Boy release on the Super Game Boy makes the border a Chinese dojo with the letter "S" on top.
44	* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'': Playing the Game Boy release on the Super Game Boy makes the game use what the stage the characters are fighting on would have looked like on the SNES to fill in the leftover space, with Ryu's stage also being used for the menu.
45
46	[[AC:FirstPersonShooter]]
47	* Around one-third of ''VideoGame/{{Cyberdillo}}'' is framed, mostly on the left and bottom, with excessively large icons to depict your health and "funk" meter.
48	* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'':
49	** The 3DO version always has a brown border around the action. This is done not due to gameplay not taking up enough space, but because the port's quality results in the game lagging at larger screen sizes. The two highest options have to be enabled with a cheat code, and even the largest has some brown on the sides.
50	** Earlier versions of the 2019 Unity ports of ''Doom'' and its sequel initially used a background border based on the intermission screen used for ''No Rest for the Living'' due to the games not being scaled correctly to a 4:3 aspect-ratio. Later patches addressed incorrect aspect-ratio while retaining the border up until September 3, 2020 update which implemented official 16:9 widescreen presentation with the option of 4:3, however, the unused space in the latter with the game's IWAD background similarly to the original DOS version with a smaller viewport.
51	* ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'' allowed shrinking the playfield for performance reasons, leaving a border with the green "alien nest" texture around it.
52	* The DOS game ''Island Peril'' both averts and plays this trope straight by having black bars at the bottom and sides of the screen, but the top has grey ornamentation that touches the top of the screen.
53
54	[[AC:PlatformGame]]
55	* The Platform/GameBoy version of ''VideoGame/{{Animaniacs}}'' features a Platform/SuperGameBoy border depicting an old TV set, dotted with portraits of the Warner siblings, Pinky and the Brain, and Ralph Theodore Guard.
56	* ''VideoGame/ConkersPocketTales'': Playing on the Super Game Boy fills the borders with differently colored balloons and presents, alluding to the game's plot being about Conker's birthday party.
57	* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'':
58	** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong94'': Playing on the Super Game Boy fills the borders with a cabinet that resembles the original arcade, but with small tweaks to use colorized in-game graphics instead.
59	** The ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongLand'' games feature their own custom borders when playing the games on a Platform/SuperGameBoy, done in the pre-rendered pseudo-CG style of the SNES games. The first game features a row of palm trees, the second game features a wall of bananas, and the third game features a wall of stopwatches (which serve as the game's main collectible).
60	* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'':
61	** ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'': The ''3D Classics'' release has a pink-white border and the logo in the bottom-right corner.
62	** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'' features a custom Platform/SuperGameBoy border depicting Kirby, Rick, Coo, and Kine against a green checkerboard backdrop.
63	** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamCollection'': The game features emulated versions of ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'', ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'', ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'', ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'', and ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards''. Because ''Dream Land'' and ''Dream Land 2'' were Platform/GameBoy titles, they're too small to fill up even a 4:3 monitor; consequently, playing these games brings up a specially-designed border depicting sprites from them against a pink backdrop. A baby blue version of this border is also used when playing ''Adventure'', ''Super Star'', ''Dream Land 3'', and ''64'' on a 16:9 display (as they were designed for a 4:3 one).
64	* ''VideoGame/PacInTime'': Playing on the Super Game Boy puts the game's logo, Pac-Man, three ghosts, and pellets on a blue border.
65	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
66	** Playing a game in Classic mode in ''Sonic Origins'' fills the leftover space from the 4:3 aspect ratio with rings and shapes, a picture and colors representing one of the six major characters, or sprites and colors representing one of the four games in the collection.
67	** The ''Sonic N'' release of the first game of the ''VideoGame/SonicAdvanceTrilogy'' lets players choose between the N-Gage's unusual 11:13 and a scaled-down 4:3 ratio. For the latter, the game fills the borders with blue, plus Sonic and his name at the top.
68	* ''VideoGame/{{Dizzy}}'': ''Treasure Island Dizzy'' has a border. Outside the border are palm trees outside the border on the left and right, ground below the game window.
69	* ''VideoGame/WarioLandII'' sports a custom Platform/SuperGameBoy border depicting Wario and his riches at the top as well as the location he's currently in filling the rest. If you're playing the Flagman D-D minigame, it uses a Platform/GameAndWatch console as its background.
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71	[[AC:PuzzleGame]]
72	* ''VideoGame/KirbysStarStacker'' features two Platform/SuperGameBoy borders, both depicting Kirby and the Animal Friends. The first border features them against the various blocks that appear in-game, while the second depicts them, a bunch of stars, and a rainbow against a blue checkerboard.
73	* ''VideoGame/MoleMania'': Playing on the Super Game Boy fills the borders with dirt, with Muddy's arms in the bottom corners and the logo at the top.
74	* ''VideoGame/PanelDePon'': Because the playing field occupies only the centermost vertical area of the screen, the rest of the display is used for borders themed around the various characters, with the score and time limit being placed there as well. The Platform/GameBoy version of ''Tetris Attack'' (a DolledUpInstallment themed around ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'') even features Platform/SuperGameBoy borders that replicate the ones seen in the SNES release.
75	* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo1992'': The ''SEGA AGES'' release has a border with artworks of Arle, Carbuncle, the opponents, and the Puyos.
76
77	[[AC:RolePlayingGame]]
78	* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'': Console releases feature a decorative border around the screen, thanks to the game using a 4:3 display as part of its {{retraux}} aesthetic. The border's contents dynamically change based on what area of the game the player is in.
79	* ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' has a dynamic border that changes depending on the level, as the game was originally displayed in 4:3. It even updates itself to reflect plot points, such as the Headspace border depicting constellations of the cast replacing one of them with a flower after [[spoiler:the other party members are made to forget Basil]].
80	* ''VideoGame/QuestBriansJourney'': Playing on the Super Game Boy makes the game fill the borders with many copies of the ''Quest'' (or ''Holy Magic Century'' if you're playing the Japanese version) logo and two pictures of Brian.
81	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
82	** The [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Generation I]] games and the early [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Generation II]] games feature custom borders when playing on a Platform/SuperGameBoy. ''Red'', ''Green'', and ''Blue'' feature various Pokémon against a backdrop whose color matches that of the game's title[[note]]going clockwise from top-left, ''Red'' features Pidgey, Clefairy, Rhydon, and Kangaskhan; ''Green'' features Shellder, Pikachu, Kangaskhan, and Rhydon; ''Blue'' features Charmander, Squirtle, a pair of Poké Balls, and Bulbasaur[[/note]]. ''Yellow'' features various Pikachu playing against a green backdrop. ''Gold'' and ''Silver'' feature a Poké Ball pattern against a colored backdrop matching the game's title.
83	** The ''VideoGame/PokemonStadium'' games include a Game Boy Tower feature, which allows the player to use the Platform/Nintendo64 Transfer Pak to play the mainline games in Platform/SuperGameBoy mode, complete with custom borders. ''Pokémon Crystal'' is incompatible with the Super Game Boy, but ''is'' compatible with the Game Boy Tower; as such, it uses the Super Game Boy's default border.
84	* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': There are several border options on consoles, thanks to the game using a 4:3 display as part of its {{retraux}} aesthetic. The dynamic option switches it based on the location the player character is in. There are also several optional borders unlocked for doing specific tasks, but those depend on the version.
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86	[[AC:ShootEmUp]]
87	* ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'': The HD ports of the game features decorative wallpapers to occupy the sides of the screen due to the game being pillarboxed to a 16:9 while the game screen is still 4:3 with the option to replace the original pixel art HUD with an HD one that also keeps track of color chains and weapon levels. In single player games, the right side of the screen also features an in-game reference sheet for the buttons and their corresponding weapons.
88	* ''VideoGame/RaySeries'':
89	** The Windows 95 port of ''[=RayForce=]'' has the game's HUD move to the right side of the screen due to the game screen itself being {{screen crunch}}ed to fit in a 640x480 display resolution, with decorative borders separating the players' score, lives, and lock-on indicators, while the high-score in the middle between the two players.
90	** The ''Ray'z Arcade Chronology'' compilation features optional border artwork based on the respective games to fill the unused space along with real-time gameplay data and information gadgets.
91	* ''VideoGame/{{Twinbee}}'': The ''3D Classics'' release fills leftover space thanks to the 3DS's larger screen ratio with a red curtain.
92
93	[[AC:SportsGame]]
94	* ''VideoGame/PowerPunchII'': The Steam release fills leftover space with two images of Tough Guy from the box art.
95
96	[[AC:TowerDefense]]
97	* ''VideoGame/BloonsTowerDefense 5'': Playing the Steam version at a wide aspect ratio gives the game a border with eight artworks of various towers.
98
99	[[AC:TurnBasedStrategy]]
100	* ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'': Playing ''Game Boy Wars Turbo'' and ''Game Boy Wars 2'' on the Super Game Boy gives the game a border with a sepia map of the game world, with the latter also showing some units.
101
102	[[AC:VisualNovel]]
103	* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': The Wii ports of the original trilogy fill the leftover space with a colored background and many copies of the game's logo flying by.
104
105	[[AC:Other Games]]
106	* ''VideoGame/BeautyAndTheBeastABoardGameAdventure'': Playing on the Super Game Boy gives the game a border of the castle walls and roses.
107	* ''WesternAnimation/TheDisneyAfternoon Collection'' by Creator/{{Capcom}} puts the selected game's box art (with a specific color filter for each) in the background.
108	* The first three ''VideoGame/GameAndWatchGallery'' games feature dynamic Platform/SuperGameBoy borders based around the various included games. Playing them in modern mode presents borders depicting lush landscapes, many of which imitate the visual style of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland''. Playing them in classic mode, however, bring up borders based on the original Platform/GameAndWatch devices. The original ''Game Boy Gallery'', meanwhile, only features the Classic borders.
109	* ''VideoGame/KirbysBlockBall'' features a custom Platform/SuperGameBoy border depicting King Dedede and Kirby's Spark, Burning, Needle, and Stone abilities against a lavender checkerboard.
110	* Since ''VideoGame/MarioParty8'' was designed for 4:3 televisions, with only a small amount of game modes supporting 16:9 displays, the original release features decorative borders with a blue tartan pattern if the Wii's display mode is set to 16:9. The borders were removed on later copies after players complained that the patterns caused screen burn-in.
111	* ''TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}}'': Playing the Japanese Game Boy Color release on the Super Game Boy gives the game a border with a brick wall, ''GB Monopoly'' graffiti at the top, and the official ''Monopoly'' logo at the bottom.
112	* ''[[Platform/SegaGenesis Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics]]'' is a commercial compilation of emulated games -- players may either play by watching a simulated TV or switch to a full-screen mode -- but the aspect ratio is different for modern computers. Instead of vertical black bars, the sides of the screen are filled with a grid.
113
114	[[AC:Non-Video Game Examples]]
115	* The work of American artist Jim Fitzpatrick involves the creation of graphic novels based on Myth/CelticMythology. His interpretation of the first Irish mythological cycle, ''The Book of Conquests'', has the artwork on every page surrounded by beautiful ornate scrolled borders, in imitation of Irish monastic books such as ''The Book of Kells''.
116	* In Japan, ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' was aired with a border depicting several of the characters alongside the series logo thanks to the aspect ratio. It's part of the reason the Japanese DVD releases are considered [[BadExportForYou an inferior version]], since not only are the live-action Otoboto Family skits cut out (resulting in OrphanedPunchline and OrphanedSetup situations), the aspect ratio still wasn't fixed for the DVD releases.
117	* Some LetsPlay videos on [=YouTube=] will have borders around their gameplay, usually because the game's original aspect ratio doesn't fit on a 16:9 display, with these borders sometimes filled with relevant statistics or art. This is most evident on playthroughs of games on the Platform/NintendoDS or Platform/Nintendo3DS, where after both screens are fitted onto a single horizontal video, the remaining negative space will be filled out by custom borders.
118	* Some LetsPlay streams also used borders, although in this case the border is usually for the purpose of keeping the screen neat and making sure the elements don't overlap (for example, a few Twitch Streamers do not like it when their chat and Webcam feed blocks out portions of the game screen).
119	* Music/GladysKnight's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1iRaS3gqws music video]] for "Licence to Kill," theme song to the [[Film/LicenceToKill James Bond movie]] of the same name, is presented letterbox-style. Occasionally a video girl appears in the top margin, laying across the screen seductively.
120	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}'' was originally made in 4:3 before making the jump to 16:9 widescreen HD. Individual segments were typically only around 4-6 minutes long, so episodes of the show were typically made of several segments grouped together around a particular theme from a mix of new and old material. Therefore, later episodes presented in HD would show the older segments in letterbox format with colorful, child's wallpaper-type decorations in the borders.

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