(GUI) Playfield aspect ratio

Okay, this is one of the more esoteric observations I'll make, but I 
have to ask since it's been bugging me.

For games with HUD elements, the typical choice you see is to either 
place the elements along the bottom, or possibly along the bottom and 
one side.

To me, placing elements in an L or reverse L makes a lot more sense, 
since you get a playfield area that is much closer to square than a 
typical 4:3 or 16:9.  This is desirable because it gives you an equal 
amount of play room in both directions.

However I've noticed that some games, such as Warcraft 3, put all the 
GUI elements along the top and bottom, and this in turn actually 
accentuates the rectangularity of the playfield.  You get an extreme 
letterbox effect, which I would intuitively find undesirable.

The main reasons I can see for preferring this layout are:

1.  Text prefers to be wide, so for chat dialogs, etc. it's better to 
have it along the bottom.

2.  Letterbox is perceived as more "cinematic".

But I still don't think I like it.  Are there other obvious reasons 
I'm missing?

Brian




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