Probably because kids buy the purple purse and don't really care or know about progressive scan.
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Nintendo Gamecube: Removing support for Component Cable?
I'm sure this isn't new news to hardcore gamers, but it is was news to me. I have been searching for a cheaper source for another set of component cables for my Gamecube. I wanted to make it easier to move between my TV and projector and not have to disconnect all of my cables.
Nintendo is the only official source for the cables (outside of Ebay and importers), and while looking at the store section of their site I read this:
Link to information on Nintendo site
It says:
Nintendo GameCube Component Video Questions
In the Summer of 2004, the Digital A/V Output port was removed from the system. If you have a Nintendo GameCube without this port, and you wish to play your games in progressive scan, please call our Consumer Service department at 1-800-255-3700, to discuss available options.
Additional Information:
Why have you removed the component video feature from the Nintendo GameCube?
On newer models of the Nintendo GameCube, we opted to remove the digital A/V out port from the system because we found that less than one percent of all Nintendo GameCube players used this feature.
Will future Nintendo GameCube games continue to have the progressive scan feature?
About one-third of licensee-published titles and over 90% of Nintendo-published titles currently have the progressive scan feature. We expect that most Nintendo-published titles will continue to support progressive scan. Each licensee will continue to make the decision of whether or not to include this feature in their future games.
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Could the reason that less than 1% of Gamecube owners use the component cables be that the cables are too expensive ($30) and there was really only one source for them (Nintendo website)? If they were $14.99 or even $19.99 and available at game stores, maybe more people would have used them.
Like I said, this isn't breaking news as Nintendo seems to have made an announcement in March . I didn't see any mention on this forum, though, so I thought I'd post the info. Maybe no one else cares...
Nintendo is the only official source for the cables (outside of Ebay and importers), and while looking at the store section of their site I read this:
Link to information on Nintendo site
It says:
Nintendo GameCube Component Video Questions
In the Summer of 2004, the Digital A/V Output port was removed from the system. If you have a Nintendo GameCube without this port, and you wish to play your games in progressive scan, please call our Consumer Service department at 1-800-255-3700, to discuss available options.
Additional Information:
Why have you removed the component video feature from the Nintendo GameCube?
On newer models of the Nintendo GameCube, we opted to remove the digital A/V out port from the system because we found that less than one percent of all Nintendo GameCube players used this feature.
Will future Nintendo GameCube games continue to have the progressive scan feature?
About one-third of licensee-published titles and over 90% of Nintendo-published titles currently have the progressive scan feature. We expect that most Nintendo-published titles will continue to support progressive scan. Each licensee will continue to make the decision of whether or not to include this feature in their future games.
----------------------
Could the reason that less than 1% of Gamecube owners use the component cables be that the cables are too expensive ($30) and there was really only one source for them (Nintendo website)? If they were $14.99 or even $19.99 and available at game stores, maybe more people would have used them.
Like I said, this isn't breaking news as Nintendo seems to have made an announcement in March . I didn't see any mention on this forum, though, so I thought I'd post the info. Maybe no one else cares...
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Well, anyone who has an HDTV and was looking into getting a Gamecube might as well forget it cause I'm sure these 'available options' are gonna cost ya. Sure you can play pretty games like Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Viewtiful Joe, and others in interlaced mode, but once you go progressive, you never go back 
| In the Summer of 2004, the Digital A/V Output port was removed from the system. If you have a Nintendo GameCube without this port, and you wish to play your games in progressive scan, please call our Consumer Service department at 1-800-255-3700, to discuss available options. |
Nintendo's policy for component video distribution has been horrid from the beginning, and this is just another poor management decision. Less than one percent use it - yeah no ****, try selling it in the stores, morons.
If 1% of your market uses and option and you can save your company $$$ it only makes sense to remove the feature. At least there will be an option for PS the few HDTV owners that want one so they are not really hurting the market too much. (Whats a few extra $$$ to the average HDTV owner.. its not like they are cheap yet)
As for selling it in stores.. call me crazy But I doubt anyone interested enough in progressive scan to buy a 1K + set does not have enough Internet savy to go to www.nintendo.com and spend the 5 min it would take to get the cables.
As for selling it in stores.. call me crazy But I doubt anyone interested enough in progressive scan to buy a 1K + set does not have enough Internet savy to go to www.nintendo.com and spend the 5 min it would take to get the cables.
I'd love for someone to call them to discuss these "available options". I don't see what they can do. I don't believe the standard a/v port supports progressive scan, so short of swapping a new system for an old one with the port, what are these "available options"?
last i heard, they were supposed to enable component output on the standard A/V port. the whole point of having the seperate component port in the first place was to remove the cost of bundling the required DAC, therefore reducing system price. if the DAC has been integrated into the GPU now, then it is quite possible to have the A/V port handle the job. there are still pins not used on that thing, even after 3 systems that have progressively added features each time.
frankly there isn't enough info yet to be all pissed off about it yet. i'm calling them now.
frankly there isn't enough info yet to be all pissed off about it yet. i'm calling them now.
called them!
okay, so as far as the rep i talked to knew, they are *not* going to be adding component capability back to the Gamecube over the A/V port. there are also not any identifying features on the box that differentiate the new version from the old while in-store. the guy also said that if i was not interested in picking up a used one somewhere then i should call back to get one through them.
basicly, if you want a Gamecube with component capability, then call Nintendo and they will hook you up. this falls in exactly with how Nintendo has always been whenever i've called them. possibly the best phone customer service i have ever gotten.
okay, so as far as the rep i talked to knew, they are *not* going to be adding component capability back to the Gamecube over the A/V port. there are also not any identifying features on the box that differentiate the new version from the old while in-store. the guy also said that if i was not interested in picking up a used one somewhere then i should call back to get one through them.
basicly, if you want a Gamecube with component capability, then call Nintendo and they will hook you up. this falls in exactly with how Nintendo has always been whenever i've called them. possibly the best phone customer service i have ever gotten.
This was actually mentioned a few times on this forum back in March when it was originally announced. I also agree, I am disappointed Nintendo is removing the port. Although, from all the articles I read on it, they did mention that Nintendo may just be doing component over the standard A/V port, although nothing has been confirmed.
I agree in that from a business standpoint, it makes sense why nintendo would condense the ports. However, I think it's a bad PR move because the GC was still a good console for home theater geeks such as ourselves and it's sad to see them taking a step backwards.
After I heard this news, I bought a second GC and made sure it had the digital A/V port so that I can continue to enjoy all my current GC progressive scan games and the many that are still coming out.
I suggest that if anyone has been on the fence about buying a GC, then if you're going to get one the sooner the better as it's only a matter of time before the ones with the digital ports are phased out.
I agree in that from a business standpoint, it makes sense why nintendo would condense the ports. However, I think it's a bad PR move because the GC was still a good console for home theater geeks such as ourselves and it's sad to see them taking a step backwards.
After I heard this news, I bought a second GC and made sure it had the digital A/V port so that I can continue to enjoy all my current GC progressive scan games and the many that are still coming out.
I suggest that if anyone has been on the fence about buying a GC, then if you're going to get one the sooner the better as it's only a matter of time before the ones with the digital ports are phased out.
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Too true. I always think about getting the cable when I'm in a store (looking at cables, imagine that!), and by the time I get home and can order it online, I've already forgotten.
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Why? Hey, this game is progressive scan, but your console isn't! Err...huh?
If they are going to continue supporting progressive scan by selling the component cable and used cubes through TEHOMGS33KR1T CHANNLE, why end it officially?
Those japanese sure are a wacky bunch of loons.
| Originally posted by fireshoes Nintendo's policy for component video distribution has been horrid from the beginning, and this is just another poor management decision. Less than one percent use it - yeah no ****, try selling it in the stores, morons. |
Quote:
| We expect that most Nintendo-published titles will continue to support progressive scan. |
If they are going to continue supporting progressive scan by selling the component cable and used cubes through TEHOMGS33KR1T CHANNLE, why end it officially?
Those japanese sure are a wacky bunch of loons.
IIRC the other options part involved simply trading in the current non-componantable Cube for a componantable Cube at the cost of shipping maybe. Things may or have already changed tho so don't quote me on it.
Well I have my cube for the sole purpose of playing exclusive titles. *IF* future exclusive titles are in widescreen 480p, then I will be happy.
But my gut instinct is to be very disappointed by Nintendo.
But my gut instinct is to be very disappointed by Nintendo.
Idiotic move, in my opinion. I'm glad I've had a GC for a while now, and I've been using the component cable for 6 months now. A very nice picture, and I'll be hooking it up to a Z2 projector within the next month so it will look even better.
Very surprising that they would go out of their way to remove a port on the console. I'll send them an email making sure they know I won't buy future consoles without a component-or-better connection. I agree that their "1%" statistic is meaningless given the difficulty in obtaining the component cable.
Very surprising that they would go out of their way to remove a port on the console. I'll send them an email making sure they know I won't buy future consoles without a component-or-better connection. I agree that their "1%" statistic is meaningless given the difficulty in obtaining the component cable.
If they are removing the port then I wonder how this will affect future games? will they bother making sure they are 480p?
Well, my guess would be that 480p games for the GC will be about the same as they are before the port was removed. We know already games like Prime 2, RE4, and other upcoming titles will be in 480p. My guess is that they will continue to support that feature. It may not be a heavily promoted feature since future consoles won't have the port, but my guess is that they will still support it. Right now it seems too soon to tell, so I guess we just have to cross our fingers and wait.
At this rate, the next generation Nintendo console will be back to using cartridges and R/F output. The Gamecube has no digital audio output, and now no high-definition or progressive video output. It has no real online capability, no support for DVD playback, and it arrived late to the party!
Jeez, no wonder Nintendo is in third place. Great first party titles aside, their console is simply not designed to compete.
Jeez, no wonder Nintendo is in third place. Great first party titles aside, their console is simply not designed to compete.
Look around you can find many an interview from Iwata and company saying its "not about hardware" and they are a "game company". (Not just at this years E3, look or the pre-release interviews when Iwata was asked about why they had no DVD in the GC)
Nintendo does not produce the GC for US. Yes several people here love theirs to death but its not made for HT enthusiasts specifically. Its a cheap game machine doing what it was intended: Play games.
DVD/DD 5.1, on-line.. these are not what the GC is about. Nintendo does not see the advantage in these features, so it makes sense to not include them as they add to the price of the system. They gave people component and their customers overwhelmingly sent the message "We don't hook our GC's up to PS sets". So again it makes financial sense to pull the feature.
I do not see why removing the support will affect any games in the future, its not like there were ever many with PS/16:9.
Nintendo supports 480P, Sega and EA support 480P/16:9 on most games and it seems Capcom is going to start.. virtually nobody else ever did.
There are 1.5 million consumers or so with the ability to display 480P/16:9, a very small number but apparently enough for Nintendo, Sega/EA and Capcom to include the support in the past. There is no reason to expect any of these companies would just drop the support. These 1.5 million consumers are not going anywhere after all are they?
Nintendo does not produce the GC for US. Yes several people here love theirs to death but its not made for HT enthusiasts specifically. Its a cheap game machine doing what it was intended: Play games.
DVD/DD 5.1, on-line.. these are not what the GC is about. Nintendo does not see the advantage in these features, so it makes sense to not include them as they add to the price of the system. They gave people component and their customers overwhelmingly sent the message "We don't hook our GC's up to PS sets". So again it makes financial sense to pull the feature.
I do not see why removing the support will affect any games in the future, its not like there were ever many with PS/16:9.
Nintendo supports 480P, Sega and EA support 480P/16:9 on most games and it seems Capcom is going to start.. virtually nobody else ever did.
There are 1.5 million consumers or so with the ability to display 480P/16:9, a very small number but apparently enough for Nintendo, Sega/EA and Capcom to include the support in the past. There is no reason to expect any of these companies would just drop the support. These 1.5 million consumers are not going anywhere after all are they?
Slordak, There are so many things wrong with that post that I don't even know where to start.
Yes, no digital audio on the GC. However, many GC games support Pro Logic 2(87 games I believe) and often sound better than their PS2 counterparts, and the PS2 DOES have a digital audio cable. I will admit that XBOX games do tend to sound the best though making use of full 5.1 sound.
There are more 480p games for GC than there are for PS2(GC has 129 games that are 480p). Nintendo is removing the port from the back of future consoles, but has said that they will make GCs with the port available to the people that want one. They never mentioned about removing support for 480p games, just trying to cut costs on the hardware. I agree that it stinks, but there's no use jumping to conclusions at this stage because we just don't know what's going to happen. As I mentioned before, many of the GC's key titles (RE4, Prime 2, Paper Mario 2, etc.) are going to support 480p.
The GC does have online capability, it just happens that Nintendo chose not to actively support it. The GC going online is no different than PS2 going online. It requires you to purchase an additional adapter and then setup your ISP info on it for games like PSO. Unfortunately since Nintendo didn't want to support their own games for online play, it gave little incentive for 3rd parties to support online gaming for GC. It sucks as many of Nintendo's games would've translated well into the online world, but if they feel they can't make money on it then they need to focus on what they can make money on. For what it's worth I've already heard of one of the games EA is making for all the next gen systems(including Nintendo's) and online play is a HUGE portion of it, so it seems as though the next Nintendo will be better supported for online gaming.
Yes, the GC doesn't have DVD playback. However, it is also $50 cheaper than the XBOX and PS2, so you can buy a separate DVD player for that much. From what I've read, the PS2 DVD playback isn't all that great and the XBOX requires you to spend an additional $20-$30 for their DVD kit and the XBOX only supports 480i DVD playback(unmodded). When you do the math, it works out about the same.
I believe the GC was released 2 days after the XBOX, so I'm not certain how that is so late. I agree that coming out a year after PS2 has been hard on both XBOX and GC. Hence both companies plan to launch near the release of the PS3 to be more competitive next gen.
Last I checked the GC was in second place in terms of world wide console sales. But, for all intents and purposes it's a very close race for second place between XBOX and GC and that doesn't seem to be changing any time soon.
I would say the GC was very well designed to compete. It has strong graphical capabilities that many consider on par with the XBOX, although after seeing Resident Evil 4 in action I'm thinking the GC's graphics can surpass that of the XBOX.....although I admit that it's not so much the hardware as it is the talent of the developer. Still, RE4 is the prettiest game I have seen on ANY console.
The GC can produce good audio in games and it supports Pro Logic 2(games like rebel Strike and Eternal Darkness sound great).
It has the ability to go online but Sega was the only developer who seemed to want to take advantage of that feature.
And the console is all priced very competitively.
I think the main reason that the GC isn't a bigger success today is because they didn't really have a strong software lineup when they launched. While they have somre pretty great games exclusive to their console now, that lack of a strong software lineup cost them ALLOT.
Hopefully Nintendo has learned many a lesson this gen and can hit the ground running next gen.
Yes, no digital audio on the GC. However, many GC games support Pro Logic 2(87 games I believe) and often sound better than their PS2 counterparts, and the PS2 DOES have a digital audio cable. I will admit that XBOX games do tend to sound the best though making use of full 5.1 sound.
There are more 480p games for GC than there are for PS2(GC has 129 games that are 480p). Nintendo is removing the port from the back of future consoles, but has said that they will make GCs with the port available to the people that want one. They never mentioned about removing support for 480p games, just trying to cut costs on the hardware. I agree that it stinks, but there's no use jumping to conclusions at this stage because we just don't know what's going to happen. As I mentioned before, many of the GC's key titles (RE4, Prime 2, Paper Mario 2, etc.) are going to support 480p.
The GC does have online capability, it just happens that Nintendo chose not to actively support it. The GC going online is no different than PS2 going online. It requires you to purchase an additional adapter and then setup your ISP info on it for games like PSO. Unfortunately since Nintendo didn't want to support their own games for online play, it gave little incentive for 3rd parties to support online gaming for GC. It sucks as many of Nintendo's games would've translated well into the online world, but if they feel they can't make money on it then they need to focus on what they can make money on. For what it's worth I've already heard of one of the games EA is making for all the next gen systems(including Nintendo's) and online play is a HUGE portion of it, so it seems as though the next Nintendo will be better supported for online gaming.
Yes, the GC doesn't have DVD playback. However, it is also $50 cheaper than the XBOX and PS2, so you can buy a separate DVD player for that much. From what I've read, the PS2 DVD playback isn't all that great and the XBOX requires you to spend an additional $20-$30 for their DVD kit and the XBOX only supports 480i DVD playback(unmodded). When you do the math, it works out about the same.
I believe the GC was released 2 days after the XBOX, so I'm not certain how that is so late. I agree that coming out a year after PS2 has been hard on both XBOX and GC. Hence both companies plan to launch near the release of the PS3 to be more competitive next gen.
Last I checked the GC was in second place in terms of world wide console sales. But, for all intents and purposes it's a very close race for second place between XBOX and GC and that doesn't seem to be changing any time soon.
I would say the GC was very well designed to compete. It has strong graphical capabilities that many consider on par with the XBOX, although after seeing Resident Evil 4 in action I'm thinking the GC's graphics can surpass that of the XBOX.....although I admit that it's not so much the hardware as it is the talent of the developer. Still, RE4 is the prettiest game I have seen on ANY console.
The GC can produce good audio in games and it supports Pro Logic 2(games like rebel Strike and Eternal Darkness sound great).
It has the ability to go online but Sega was the only developer who seemed to want to take advantage of that feature.
And the console is all priced very competitively.
I think the main reason that the GC isn't a bigger success today is because they didn't really have a strong software lineup when they launched. While they have somre pretty great games exclusive to their console now, that lack of a strong software lineup cost them ALLOT.
Hopefully Nintendo has learned many a lesson this gen and can hit the ground running next gen.
This is the first time I've seen this thread. I don't own the GC, but after seeing the E3 footage of RE4 I plan on buying one solely for that game. I'm sure I'll pick up more games once I have the GC, but right now RE4 looks excellent, and is a good reason for me to buy the system.
I've gathered from this post, but want to be sure, in order to purchase a GC that has progressive scan out, I need to contact and purchase directly from Nintendo?
Also, is there a cut-off date of the units that DO have pro out? As in, can I go into a B&M store and ask for a Gamecube that was delivered in February?
-JR
I've gathered from this post, but want to be sure, in order to purchase a GC that has progressive scan out, I need to contact and purchase directly from Nintendo?
Also, is there a cut-off date of the units that DO have pro out? As in, can I go into a B&M store and ask for a Gamecube that was delivered in February?
-JR
Juice,
Last I read Nintendo planned to start shipping new GC's without the digital port in May. So, chances are if you were to go out today to any store and buy a GC it would still be an older one and have the digital port. However, if you wait then you certainly increase the chances of the older GC's getting sold out and being replaced by the newer ones.
I understand you wanting to wait til RE4. If that's what you decide, then yes, give Nintendo a call and find out how you can buy a console that has the digital port on it. There's always a chance you can go to a store come Nov and pick up an older GC that just hasn't sold that has the digital port on it, but your're better off calling Nintendo to ensure you get the right one.
Last I read Nintendo planned to start shipping new GC's without the digital port in May. So, chances are if you were to go out today to any store and buy a GC it would still be an older one and have the digital port. However, if you wait then you certainly increase the chances of the older GC's getting sold out and being replaced by the newer ones.
I understand you wanting to wait til RE4. If that's what you decide, then yes, give Nintendo a call and find out how you can buy a console that has the digital port on it. There's always a chance you can go to a store come Nov and pick up an older GC that just hasn't sold that has the digital port on it, but your're better off calling Nintendo to ensure you get the right one.
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