Pineconeattack!

Okay, lets face it. Some of you don’t know what “tate” even is. So before I even start, here’s the best explanation I could find.

The official unofficial definition from Insomnia states:

Tate: (also True Tate, Vertical Mode) Viewing mode available in some vertscrollers which displays the playing field at full size, rotated 90 degrees to the right. Designed to be utilized by certain monitors which can be turned on their sides, so as to display the game on a vertically-oriented manner similar to a vertically-oriented arcade monitor. The preferred screen format of most vertical shmup players, but it cannot be safely used on most televisions, since turning standard sets on their sides can break them.

Can be used as a verb to describe the actual turning of one’s monitor or television on its side, as in “I tated my monitor to play this game.” Also sometimes presented as “Arcade Mode” or “Full-Screen Mode.”

The word “tate” comes from a Japanese adjective which means “vertical,” and is pronounced “tah-teh,” though the common mispronunciation of “tayte” has gained semi-acceptance. Also commonly spelled with all capital letters (TATE), though it is not an acronym.

There are two incorrect “origins” of the word which are commonly heard: one states that “tate” simply comes from the English word “rotate,” and the other states that the word comes from the Japanese verb “tateru,” which means “to stand.”

Now are we all on the same page? Like wide-screen movies, borders suck and why should you the player have  your gaming experience ruined by having your game shrunken and distorted down with ugly borders along the sides? Well there is a way to play the game easily; it will just involve you upgrading your gaming rig.

Continue reading Once you go tate, you’ll never go back.