According to an official release by Nintendo Co. Ltd. in Japan, as well as a report by Famitsu's website, there are some changes being made to the GameCube in Japan.
The system's price has been modified to now include tax. The actual price points are unchanged, but tax will no longer be added on top, so this is effectively a price cut of a few thousand yen. The change will be effective on March 22nd.
Also, there are two slight modifications to the hardware. Most notably, the D-terminal ("digital" video out) port is being removed. It appears that NCL may be releasing a new component video cable which conforms to the proprietary multi-out jack, as the current D-terminal cables will not be compatible with the new system model.
The other hardware change is that the label on the top of the system will no longer be interchangeable. This feature has been rarely used in the U.S., but NCL's Club Nintendo service offers many alternative labels for gamers who register their products.
UPDATE: Today, Planet GameCube spoke with with Nintendo of America representatives about this story. Company spokesperson Beth Llewelyn has confirmed that these hardware changes will apply to all versions of GameCube, around the world. Production of the new model is expected to begin in May, but it is unclear when the rollout will begin in specific regions. There are no plans to match the price drop outside of Japan.
Nintendo has determined that less than 1% of GameCube users have employed the output jack being removed in the new model. Because the hardware is selling at such a low pricepoint, the company decided to cut its manufacturing cost by removing this feature. Although we are not sure about the existence of a new component cable apparently planned for release in Japan, Nintendo of America has no plans for such a cable. Instead, the company will create a service whereby consumers who buy the new model may trade it in for the old model, if they desire the component video feature. The actual component cables must still be purchased separately (directly from Nintendo, as always). It is possible that this is the plan for Japan as well, and that the specifics were lost in our crude translation.
We will continue following this story to provide further details and clarification.
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read some home theater forums and you will see that a boatload of people use component hookups for gaming,
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Originally posted by: joshnickerson
My GOD I think you people are over-reacting a bit.
Think about it for a second. Exactly how many game players do you know who have over $10,000 worth of progressive scan TV and equipment? Most of these game systems are more than likely plugged up to the smaller TV in the household, in the rumpus room or whatever it's called, probably a good chunk are still using the RF adaptor.
You are jumping to conclusions and whining just like I'd expect from IGNCube. Boo-frickity-hoo. GET OVER IT.
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Originally posted by: Bill
Ok, that makes no sense...Picking HD over great gameplay? And you call yourself a gamer...
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"I also want to play a complex fighting game, or a good sports game, or even a sim-type game."
If you want these games, get a different system...I hate all three of those genres, so I'm in heaven with the GC's lineup...
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Believe it or not, just because the Gamecube doesn't have the largest selection of games from every genre doesn't mean the games already available completely suck.
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For me personally, I will not buy a next gen system that does not support DD and HD.
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that again is a crock of chit. I love the games as well, but that doesnt mean that they shouldnt offer the most entertaining experience possible, especially when your direct competitors do.
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You you can call it superficial all you want, I believe color TV was once laughed at and called supficial as well.
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HD = high Def not Hard drive.
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I dont feel NINs games are any better than anyone elses, so when I make my decision, I base it on many factors, Sound and visuals being important, the games being foremost, and from my point of view NIN doesnt offer me what I want in any of the three catagories.
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Yes, I have seen most of them and cant stand them, They are not my cup of tea, nothing to do with superficial, I just dont enjoy watching them.
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To say that is superficial sounds like simple jealousy because you dont have the luxury of them, so you dont feel they matter.
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Originally posted by: Ian Sane<brProgressive Scan is an essential feature. Why? Because the other consoles have it and therefore the Cube should have it too. I wouldn't say that it's required for a good game but I would consider it a requirement for a good console. And this is different than not including a feature. It's REMOVING a feature which is much worse.
I would say that yes good games are more important than compatibility with high end equipment. But there's NO EXCUSE to not have both. Right now we have both and it's pretty sweet.
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Afterall, fun is what it is about, isnt it?
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Originally posted by: thecubedcanuck
Mouse,
The problem is this. My TV is a state of the art HD display device and has huge screen. It reproduces source material very, very accuratly. Crappy source = crappy picture, on a big screen this is really magnified. Games look great in 480P, and look brilliant in 720P, but in 480i they look like chit, even when upconverted via the TV. So it does take away from the experience and makes the game less fun to play. Afterall, fun is what it is about, isnt it?
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Will the old composite cables that come with the systems (including the SNES, and N64) still work with the new Gamecubes?
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Originally posted by: mouse_clickerQuote
Afterall, fun is what it is about, isnt it?
You keep giving me easy stuff to use, Cubed. Yes, fun is what it's about- if you'll ignore fun because it doesn't look or sound as good as possible, then yes, you are being shallow. I've really said all I can say, Cubed, and I'm guessing you've said all you can say- let's not spam this thread any more than we already have.
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I'm sorry mouse but if he does not have fun playing a game because it looks bad to him, then that is his perogitive. We all have our own tastes, and for people to say that someone is shallow because they like things to look better, is like calling someone shallow because he likes the cinematography more than a plot in a movie. Both veiws are valid, neither more than the other, because these are forms of entertainment.
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Speaking of DD, I want to clear up some confusion with that. The problem is encoding not decoding Digital that led Factor 5 and Nintendo to choose PLII instead. Decoding is done by the home theater, and as someone noted, is no problem at all. However, encoding the signal is apparently more taxing than PLII, causing a relative delay in the sound. Some Xbox developers have it running in-game though, which is probably a combination of the machine's extra horsepower and some tricky programming. I think that with the next set of processors, it won't be as much of a problem.
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Originally posted by: KDR_11k
I'd guess it causes a severe performance impact (the only thing I can compare is Homeworld since there's no 480p equivalent in PAL). If your game is near the limit upping the res could kill the framerate.
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Originally posted by: thecubedcanuck
"720p and 1080i are higher resolutions, which is why in some XBOX games there is a performance hit when using these modes."
I have never noticed such a hit. I played MLB 2004 all night Saturday in 720P and played flawlessly smooth with a picture quality that blew everyone who was over away.
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Originally posted by: thecubedcanuck
"Of course there isn't a true widescreen option when you're running in that mode either."
thats ok, the Toshiba I have has the BEST stretch modes available. TW1 stretch looks as if it were true widescreen.
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Originally posted by: KDR_11k
I vote for a "Canuck vs. Clicker Arena" forum, where CC and MC can talk their arguements out and other users can throw things into the ring...
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Originally posted by: KDR_11k
30FPS might not be impacted by progscan, but 60FPS will clearly be. Since each frame would have to be only half of the lines, you don't need to render the other half, saving performance. Progscan would demand you to render the WHOLE picture every time, that might be a reason some games don't support it.
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Originally posted by: KDR_11k
If a game is running at 60 FPS (i.e. 60 images per second) that does not mean the TV displays two fields per game-frame. Displaying 120 fields per second would toast your TV. Keep in mind that FPS here means "images output by the game", not "full screens drawn by the TV". The framerate of the game can slow down under high load, the framerate of the TV is constant.
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Originally posted by: evilnate
You're correct, but my point is that if a game is running at 60fps, the console has to render then entire frame, which contains all the information for two fields.
60fps = a refresh rate of 120hz (120 fields/60 frames per second)
30fps = a refresh rate of 60hz (60 fields/30 frames per second)
If the console was only rendering half of the image every 1/60th of a second, then it's actually running at 30fps, not 60, and you wouldn't get the added smoothness that a game running at 60fps provides.
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Originally posted by: KDR_11kQuote
Originally posted by: evilnate
You're correct, but my point is that if a game is running at 60fps, the console has to render then entire frame, which contains all the information for two fields.
60fps = a refresh rate of 120hz (120 fields/60 frames per second)
30fps = a refresh rate of 60hz (60 fields/30 frames per second)
If the console was only rendering half of the image every 1/60th of a second, then it's actually running at 30fps, not 60, and you wouldn't get the added smoothness that a game running at 60fps provides.
No. Just plain No. There are games that run at 60FPS for the Cube, but thoe don't overclock your TV to 120Hz (which is dangerous). Those games deliver one frame per field. 60 half-images/sec appears smoother than 30 full images/sec because each frame of a movement is visible for less time.