Nintendo says HD is not the future.
First they removed component video support from the GameCube; now Nintendo has confirmed that the Revolution will not be supporting high definition video outputs, such as 1080i and 1080p. Sony and Microsoft have already announced support for such formats with their respective next-gen consoles.
Nintendo of America supplied the following comment on this issue:
"There currently are no plans for Nintendo Revolution to support high-definition video output. We have thoroughly considered the best means of video output for the system and are dedicated to delivering the best hardware possible to meet the demands of our consumers. Please stay tuned for more details on Nintendo Revolution to be revealed soon."
-- Perrin Kaplan, VP, Marketing & Corporate Affairs, Nintendo of America
At this point, it remains unclear what resolutions Nintendo considers to be high definition. For instance, the 480p format is not enabled on most older television sets, but since it is only a progressive-scan version of the standard 480 line resolution, it is often not considered to be "high definition". Since GameCube supports 480p output (although new hardware units do not included the required interface), Nintendo may support at least that format with the Revolution. This possibility is further bolstered by the fact that the Revolution prototypes at E3 2005 featured an output jack that looked exactly like the now-removed "digital output" jack on the GameCube.
Jonathan Metts, Contributing Editor
