# Why are large graphic games so small on my laptop screen?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-graphic-games-so-small-on-my-laptop-screen/202045>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 16, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-graphic-games-so-small-on-my-laptop-screen/202045 "2003-09-16T23:39:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-graphic-games-so-small-on-my-laptop-screen/202045/1 "2003-09-16T23:39:01Z")

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I’m running XP. I can’t change the screen resolution, either.

Anyone have any ideas?

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**Author:** ![Kewk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ab992/32.png) [@Kewk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kewk)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-graphic-games-so-small-on-my-laptop-screen/202045/2 "2003-09-17T00:13:13Z")

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Sounds like your running in 640x480. If you cant get out of that rs you should prolly make sure that your laptops video card has the most recent drivers, which you should get from the computer manufacture.

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**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-graphic-games-so-small-on-my-laptop-screen/202045/3 "2003-09-17T01:28:26Z")

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Well I’m trying to run Vice City, and the computer resolution is 1024x768, but VC won’t allow anything beyond 640x480.

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**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-graphic-games-so-small-on-my-laptop-screen/202045/4 "2003-09-17T03:18:24Z")

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Maybe [this TechIMO discussion](http://www.techimo.com/forum/t72601.html) has the answer. I have no firsthand knowledge of the game or its interface, but I do know how to [search](http://www.google.com/search?q=Vice%20City%20screen%20resolution&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) the web.

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**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-graphic-games-so-small-on-my-laptop-screen/202045/5 "2003-09-17T03:29:31Z")

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Thanks anyway, **amore** , but you might want to read the posts above before posting that link.

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**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-graphic-games-so-small-on-my-laptop-screen/202045/6 "2003-09-17T03:37:50Z")

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Ah, found my answer. Please close the thread.

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**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-large-graphic-games-so-small-on-my-laptop-screen/202045/7 "2003-09-17T04:29:15Z")

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Why not answer your own question before asking that the thread be closed?

Was it something simple, like Function-F8?