it depends what you are talking about..
if u asking bout resolution.. no doubt it is better coz it is in HD la..

but talking bout the ratio, it is a problem..
not all games have black bars..
i give some examples.. so far from what i see..
DOA4 looks good on 4:3, it run fullscreen, no stretching..
Viva pinata looks good.. fullscreen, no stretching..
GOW has black bars on top and below.. non-fullscreen.. so the image is small
DOAX2 looks bad.. it run fullscreen, but there is major stretching..
PGR3 looks bad.. it run fullscreen, major stretching..

streching makes the games looks extremely jaggy and unporpotioned..
in DOAx2.. the girls appear to be very tall and thin.. cars in PGR3 looks distorted..

it all depends on the developer.. some games is fine.. some game is pathetic to look at.. its not like they can't do it.. they probably juz ignore it.. PGR3 has this problem when running at 1280X1024 but it corrects itself when u switch to lower resolution like 640x480 but its no use.. its low res!!!!

Sad to say but NEXT GEN IS FOR WIDESCREEN ONLY!