Wii Component Cables not in stores

[Yegolev]

Not going to bother with a link, just go to your favorite Nintendo news site.  The summary is that the component cables are not packed in with the Wii and will only be available from online stores, exactly like the component cables for the Cube.  The Cube cables will not work with the Wii, says Nintendo, and the cables will cost about $29.95.

I seem to recall the standard controller will be $18.  Zelda will be $50.  This means that I'm looking at dropping $348 on a single Wii.  Meanwhile, one of my coworkers says that he saw the Good 360 on sale for $400 at Best Buy.  I will be dropping by my Best Buy today to poke around again and see what I can see.

Commence the bitchin', y'all!

[OcellotJenkins]

Yeah the lack of a bundled component cable is pissing me off.  I mean, they are touting the 480p, but requiring an additional $30 to achieve it.  Pfff.  There should at least be standard component out jacks on the back of the thing.  Does the 360 come with component cables?

[tazelbain]

I don't get it.  Does that Wii won't function or that you can't hook the Wii up to another device you would like to?

[OcellotJenkins]

I don't get it.  Does that Wii won't function or that you can't hook the Wii up to another device you would like to?

The Wii will come with a composite cable for hooking it up to a standard definition TV.  You can't get a progressive scan (480p) image with composite.  In order to get the higher quality image you have to fork out an additional $30 for a component cable.  Not just any component cable, but one that specifically fits the Wii's non-standard jack.

So, the console is $250 + $35 for a 2nd Wiimote + $20 for a 2nd nunchuck + $30 for a cable brings us to $335 not counting Zelda.  Not quite as sexy of a price point.  Rumor has it that a game, Wii Play, will be bundled with the additional Wiimote.  If so that helps a little.

[Sky]

They did the same thing with the gamecube. I still don't have the cable for that one.

Meanwhile, one of my coworkers says that he saw the Good 360 on sale for $400 at Best Buy.

Isn't that the price? I thought the one at walmart was $299 for the core and $399 for the one you want to buy.

[Morfiend]

They did the same thing with the gamecube. I still don't have the cable for that one.

Meanwhile, one of my coworkers says that he saw the Good 360 on sale for $400 at Best Buy.

Isn't that the price? I thought the one at walmart was $299 for the core and $399 for the one you want to buy.

Go to Costco to get your Xbox, its like $480, and you get 2 controllers, a remote, and 2 games. Plus the awesome Costco return policy.

[Sky]

I wish we had a goddamned costco around here. Seems like an actually decent employer in that market.

[Yegolev]

Meanwhile, one of my coworkers says that he saw the Good 360 on sale for $400 at Best Buy.

Isn't that the price? I thought the one at walmart was $299 for the core and $399 for the one you want to buy.

I guess I'm on the crack.  The crack that made me think it was $500 instead of $400.

I have a Sam's card, not sure I can get a Costco.

[schild]

Yea, the Costco 360 bundle is monster awesome.

Also, this component thing was the final nail in the coffin. I am in no rush to get a Wii now. Fuck Zelda.

[Big Gulp]

Also, this component thing was the final nail in the coffin. I am in no rush to get a Wii now. Fuck Zelda.

This is one of the things that irks me about Nintendo...  Yeah, they'll do whacky shit like try out new user interfaces, and I'm fully behind them experimenting like this, but they also stubbornly ignore blatantly obvious technological advances.  They ignored online play with the Gamecube until they were led kicking and screaming to it with the Wii.  They're ignoring HD gaming even though there is a fairly decent amount of gamers who do have an HD setup, and apparently they aren't too concerned about future-proofing their console, because I guarantee that the percentage of HDTV owners is only going to increase.

For a company to be so tech-friendly in one instance and so tech-unfriendly in a blindingly apparent that-this-is-the-future way is confounding.

[Yegolev]

I don't know about nails and coffins, but the chances of me being able to order and receive a component cable on release day are probably zippo.  No point in bothering to pick one up until I can connect it to my TV like a human being rather than some half-evolved, SD troglodyte.  I am disappointed, really because I could have sworn I saw that it was a pack-in, but it's not outside the Wii mindset to skip the cable.

[Glazius]

They're ignoring HD gaming even though there is a fairly decent amount of gamers who do have an HD setup, and apparently they aren't too concerned about future-proofing their console, because I guarantee that the percentage of HDTV owners is only going to increase.

Well, not to put too fine a point on things, but rendering at the highest resolutions means you have to account for, what, four times the screen resolution? I don't think that's a computationally insignificant task. Given that the Wii is supposed to be compact, cheap, and cool, there was probably more here than just flat-out "ignoring HD".

--GF

[Big Gulp]

Given that the Wii is supposed to be compact, cheap, and cool, there was probably more here than just flat-out "ignoring HD".

And to this I call bullshit.  The resolution required to output to the HD standard is really pretty damned low, well within the realm of the old Voodoo cards.  Shit, when my computer is outputting to my TV I have to actually step down from the resolution that I run my monitor at.  Running at a high resolution is not where the expense comes in, it's in rendering all those polys that the 360 and PS3 are currently pushing.  I'm not asking for that from Nintendo; I don't expect photorealism from them, but I do expect that my TV's picture not look like blurry washed out ass because they can't be bothered to support what's likely to become the standard very shortly.

[Bokonon]

HD won't be a standard in US households (>60% or so) for another 3-4 years. I am a tech geek, but I'm still using a 6-year-old Philips 27" CRT TV, and have no plans to upgrade any time soon, and certainly not at current prices. Currently, for the full HD experience, you need an expensive TV, an HD tuner, and/or a more expensive cable box, plus a still more expensive cable box to do HD recording (or get a ludicrously expensive HD TiVO).

Sorry, but I'm not going to spend a ton of money just for my gaming console. And I know the difference with HD, my dad has a 60"+ HD TV (rear projection I think) with HD cable. It's nice, but in my case, it isn't worth the premium... Not for TV anyway. I think we'll find that a lot of non-techies will feel similarly.

To me, HD is akin to buying a really sweet AV system. Is there a difference? Yeah, and for a small minority it is a huge, can't-go-without difference. For most though, its not enough.

What can I say about F13?  It's really my favorite website in the entire universe!  I love the irreverent banter and sly wit these keyboard jockeys produce.  And I especially love the staff, they're AWESOME.

[Xanthippe]

I can't live without my TiVo, but I still have 3 crt TVs, and am not planning on buying a new HD until the price drops.

With regard to buying the Wii - you forgot to mention buying a memory card. They come in 1g and .5g sizes.

I ordered a Wii, 2nd Wiimote, a 1g memory card and Zelda.

I have heard that the gamecube controllers are plug-inable to a Wii - is that correct?

[stray]

Sure is. Up to 4 ports, like the GC. I'm guessing it's the same 4 ports for the Wii remotes, just backwards compatible.

[Stephen Zepp]

XBox360 put quite a large amount of R&D and implementation budget into HD support, and even though it's not directly measurable against, it's part of the reason for both the price tag, and the lack of profit on hardware sales. Programming against the 360's twisted (although fast as hell!) video hardware is challenging!

Wii, as has been mentioned, isn't much in the way of hardware/video at all, and I'm guessing (pure guess), that this was one of the features on the chopping block early on.

[Bokonon]

I can't live without my TiVo, but I still have 3 crt TVs, and am not planning on buying a new HD until the price drops.

With regard to buying the Wii - you forgot to mention buying a memory card. They come in 1g and .5g sizes.

I ordered a Wii, 2nd Wiimote, a 1g memory card and Zelda.

I have heard that the gamecube controllers are plug-inable to a Wii - is that correct?

Return the Nintendo-branded SD memory card (if that is what you have). From everything I've read, their SD card reader will work with standard cards, which you can get for half the price (and up to 4GB now).

What can I say about F13?  It's really my favorite website in the entire universe!  I love the irreverent banter and sly wit these keyboard jockeys produce.  And I especially love the staff, they're AWESOME.

[Trippy]

Given that the Wii is supposed to be compact, cheap, and cool, there was probably more here than just flat-out "ignoring HD".

And to this I call bullshit.  The resolution required to output to the HD standard is really pretty damned low, well within the realm of the old Voodoo cards.

Actually it's not. The original Voodoo maxed at 640 x 480 resolution and the Voodoo 2 maxed at 800 x 600, neither of which are enough pixels to do 1280 x 720 for HD 720p. For comparison, NTSC is 704 x 480 interlaced.

Shit, when my computer is outputting to my TV I have to actually step down from the resolution that I run my monitor at.  Running at a high resolution is not where the expense comes in, it's in rendering all those polys that the 360 and PS3 are currently pushing.  I'm not asking for that from Nintendo; I don't expect photorealism from them, but I do expect that my TV's picture not look like blurry washed out ass because they can't be bothered to support what's likely to become the standard very shortly.

The Wii GPU's clock speed is only slightly faster than the GameCube's (unknown how the number of pipelines compare). It does have an order of magnitude more graphics memory than the GameCube (24 MB + 3MB vs. 3MB), however it's still an order of magnitude less than what the PS3 and Xbox 360 have. So the textures should look better than the GC's but of course nowhere near as nice as the PS3 and Xbox 360.

[Trippy]

Not going to bother with a link, just go to your favorite Nintendo news site.  The summary is that the component cables are not packed in with the Wii and will only be available from online stores, exactly like the component cables for the Cube.  The Cube cables will not work with the Wii, says Nintendo, and the cables will cost about $29.95.

Not really surprising since Nintendo removed component output from the GC given how few people were apparently using it (i.e. buying the component cable). You should be happy that the Wii even has component output (for now).

[Nija]

True "HDTV" is 1080i. That's 1920x1080. Very, very few TVs actually support true HDTV resolutions.

480p is not hdtv. It's a perk.

[schild]

There's really no way to side with Nintendo on this one. One of the big selling points of Wii Zelda besides the arrow twang from the Wiimote is that they said it was 16x9 480p and the GC one wasn't. Given that it is, by far, the Game Worth Playing on the system, there's only one viewpoint on this matter.

They screwed the pooch.

[Trippy]

True "HDTV" is 1080i.

No, it's not.

[damijin]

(P.S. people who are angry about this are the vocal minority, the majority of Wii buyers, or at least the people Nintendo is targetting, don't really care and planned on using a composite hookup anyway. Remember they're aiming for non-gamers and ex-gamers. The kind of people who dont know wtf 480p is. They're trying to not include anything that will jack up the price for the people who just dont care. I will say though, that maybe the component cable should be a bit cheaper and easier to get.)

[Yegolev]

No, the average person isn't going to care about this cable thing.  It burns me, though, for the reason Schild mentioned.  I have always told everyone that the Wii isn't being made for gamers or the tech-savvy, and the low specs and such don't bother me since I know what I am getting into.  Fact is, though, that I am a hardcore gamer and tech -savvy, and I have my limits.  If not for the financial demands of Q4, I'd be picking up a 360 since, yes, I do love me some shiny.  Shiny zombies, especially.

The thing that irritates me about this cable thing is that they made a point of the 480p+16:9 display in both the Wii specs and various software specs, and they have decided to make it harder for me to have that.  It's not an insurmountable problem by any means, but I was really hoping to just unwrap the damn thing and get going immediately.  It's all about the convenience these days (see previous whines from me about finally buying an OS instead of getting it the "usual" way), and this is simply inconvenient no matter how it falls out.  Option 1 is to get the Wii and connect it up anyway using composite cables (hell, they might only include an RF switch connector) then rewire it later, which sucks because I have to take three whole minutes to do that, and I'm just not fucking interested in shitassed cabling adventures these days.  Option 2 is to just wait for the cable to show up before I install it, which is bothersome since I won't be able to brag about my Wii in the schoolyard on release day.

From a business standpoint, I can totally see why they did this, but I think it's a rather assy way to treat [some of] your customers.  Especially when everyone except Nintendo knows that we will hear them say they were wrong about the HD thing in three or four years, just like the online play whiff of the Cube.  It just smells like a bait-n-switch and it rubs me the wrong way.  Of course, as I said, the primary target audience doesn't give a shit about progressive scan, even if they know what it is.

I'd like to know why the Cube's component cable will not work.

[stray]

No, the average person isn't going to care about this cable thing.  It burns me, though, for the reason Schild mentioned.  I have always told everyone that the Wii isn't being made for gamers or the tech-savvy, and the low specs and such don't bother me since I know what I am getting into.

Have you seen that Dragonball Z game for the Wii?

I'm impressed by how it plays (as a spectator), but it looks a little complicated. I'm not even sure if I could play it well, let alone what kind of learning curve so called "ex gamers" and "non gamers" would have with it. It also makes me wonder how many other Wii games will play out like that.

Point being, in some cases, the Wii Remote plays to the strengths of seasoned/hardcore gamers. And smart kids. It isn't a game console for "grandma" necessarily.

As for technical stuff, yeah, from one perspective, perhaps Nintendo isn't as forward thinking as they could be.....But really, all of this cutting edge shit some of you cherish so much isn't going to be widely adopted for at least another 5 years. Which is about the lifespan of a game console anyways.

I don't think they're marketing to "non gamers" and "ex gamers" so much as they are marketing to.....Normal people. The kind of people who make do with factory car steroes, use CRT televisions; don't have SLI, Physics cards, and 64 bit processors in their computers; who *just* bought a digital camera, and can barely fill the hard drive of even an iPod Nano.......But still want to have fun with a new and moderately priced gaming console.

[Nija]

True "HDTV" is 1080i.

No, it's not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hdtv

480p sure as fuck isn't. Which is all the GC will do, and all that the original xbox will do realistically.

[Trippy]

True "HDTV" is 1080i.

No, it's not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hdtv

480p sure as fuck isn't. Which is all the GC will do, and all that the original xbox will do realistically.

I didn't say it was. However 720p is certainly "HDTV".

[squirrel]

True "HDTV" is 1080i. That's 1920x1080. Very, very few TVs actually support true HDTV resolutions.

480p is not hdtv. It's a perk.

Wrong on many levels. HDTV = 720p, 1080i or 1080p. 1080i IS NOT 1920x1080 - it's 1920x540 every other field. 1080p is 1920x1080, and there's quite a few TV's that now support it. 720p is as "true" an HD resolution as 1080p. Both are in the HDTV spec. Finally as broadcast television is unlikely to ever use 1080p (bandwidth issues) 720p/1080i are likely to be the signal used both in OTA broadcasts and cable/satellite HD. 1080p will primarily be used for HD-DVD/Bluray (and yes HDDVD can do 1080p but it's not standardized as it is for Bluray.)

Please get informed before professing 'truths' to people. As always - http://www.avsforum.com is your best source of info - the wiki you linked to has many errors.

[schild]

Actually 1080i is 1920x1080. Being interlaced or progressive doesn't change the resolution. It just means all the lines are being shown or they're being alternated (interlaced).

Regular TV is 480i.

EDTV (and DVDs) are roughly 800x600 (4:3) and 852x480 (16x9). Really though, they both run at 480. The 800x600 ones are for P&S morons.

HDTV is 1280x720 (p & i), and 1920x1080 (p & i).

Conversation over.

Edit: Also, I've ignored PAL for this post.

[Trippy]

Actually 1080i is 1920x1080. Being interlaced or progressive doesn't change the resolution. It just means all the lines are being shown or they're being alternated (interlaced).

Regular TV is 480i.

EDTV (and DVDs) are roughly 800x600 (4:3) and 852x480 (16x9). Really though, they both run at 480. The 800x600 ones are for P&S morons.

No. NTSC DVDs are 720x480 (p or i) for both 4:3 and anamorphic widescreen (16:9). I don't know where you are getting 800x600 from (which according to you gives 4:3 frames more detail than widescreen) but 852x480 is the square pixel equivalent of 720x480 16:9 but on the disc it's still just 720x480. I.e. those extra horizontal pixels are extrapolated by the software -- the true horizontal resolution is still just 720 pixels.

[schild]

I got it from avforum and wikipedia.

[Xanthippe]

Can someone please explain these arcane symbols, acronyms and numbers to me?  Small simple words help.

I have almost no idea what you are talking about.  What are component cables, and I don't care, right, since I have a crt TV?

[schild]

You care. It's the difference between shitty, bleeding colors and blurry edges and how the game is Supposed to Look.

[OcellotJenkins]

Why the hell would something as crucial as the Wii component cable ONLY be available online?  Retail stores are carrying every kind of fucking Wii lapel pin/dog tag/remote glove/dildo/skin/trinket/shit imaginable but AREN'T going to have the cable.  What explaination could Nintendo possibly have for such an idiotic decision?