Not to nit pick but we should not use the term 800p. 1920x800 is not 800p. 800p would be 1424x800. The resolution the devs want to do with there game is basically the same as 1080p movies with black bars.

Also there will be no upscaling with 1920x800, unlike a 900p or 720p game.

I'm cool with the widescreen, but I game on a 55" (60 or 70 would be more ideal.) People with 40 or less screen sizes might have to sit pretty close to the TV to enjoy that res. I hate sitting to close honestly, I like a balance. Basically I don't want to squint when I game.

I prefer black bar and a wider horizontal fov, especially if the game is created with that in mind.

For example :

Here is a sneak peack.

It wouldn't, cause the crispness/image quality of the game running with or without the black bars is exactly the same. without the black bars it would be the exact same picture quality, just set to fill the entire image.

hard to explain/Sounds crazy i know but 1920x800 with black bars @ 4x MSAA >>> 1080p less AA

The smaller the tv the better it is to game on in actuality (as far as performance that is)

But if you play mostly casual/single player games this is a non-issue

Ah, I understand now. (obvious now that I really think about it) 1920x800 is not 800p.

What is the point/appeal of the black lines though? Just to make the horizontal field of view larger?

They want it to be a "cinematic experience" or some shit :P

Yes exactly. It allows you to zoom out a bit and show more of the surroundings. The character will still occupy the same screen height, thus horizontal field of view is larger. It's not the same as simply cutting of the top and the bottom if done right. (The original Bioshock did it wrong, that showed the same horizontal field of view in 5:4 as 16:9, 16:9 just blocked off the top and bottom bits)

FXAA is blurry like a hell.. the worst AA ever... the only advantage is that it is almost perfomrnace free for modern GPUs.