Topic: Wii S-Video/Component Cables, aka NINTENDO PHAIL REPORT

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Where the FOCK are they?

Tell me if you come across any, what store, online/offline, etc.

I'm NOT going to pay Madcatz or Pelican's riCOCKulous $40 whatever price tag for S-Video cables.

I happen to require 2 sets of cables.  One for the living room game area, the other for video captures on my desktop.

[original post Fri, Nov. 17.  Everything below is newer material.]

~~~~~

THIS WILL BE THE OFFICIAL Wii S-FOCKING-VIDEO CABLE THREAD

I WILL LIST BRANDS OF KNOWN 3RD PARTY S-VIDEO CABLES WITH DIRECT LINKS TO ONLINE RETAIL LISTINGS, CUZ NINTENDO CABLES OBVIOUSLY SUCK SO HARD THEY DON'T EXIST OUTSIDE OF THEIR CRAP ONLINE STORE

AND I WILL INCLUDE MY OPINION OF EACH CABLE, FOR THE WELFARE OF THE COSMOS

[I've eliminated my individual cable reviews.  My new guide below provides more accurate and practical info.]

~~~~~


===== Wii VIDEO CABLE Buying Guide =====

~~~ Intro ~~~

A good "premium" set of audio/video cables for your game system is supposed to serve several functions:
1. Provide improved picture/sound quality over the default cables that came with your game system.
2. Ensure it can maintain picture and sound quality during typical usage.
3. Resist physical failure due to age and/or periodic transporting (plugging/unplugging/etc).

When shopping for a premium set, it's easy to find sets that are overpriced or don't care to specify what you're paying for.  This brief guide can help you determine if a particular product is worthy of your wallet. I've bought and used quite a few Component/S-Video cables for my GameCube and Wii, and you can see my little collection [HERE] (under construction).

To see the differences in picture quality between Component Video and S-Video connections, check out this article HERE.

Disclaimer: Six Sided Video is not responsible for your actions and consequences beyond this point. POINT.


~~~ Everything Else ~~~

** Primary Features
These are the main features a typical "premium" cable set should possess.

1. Shielding -- Shielded cables minimize the sound & picture degradation by blocking mischievous electromagnetic waves. Some interference symptoms include picture noise, wavy lines, and discoloration in the video, plus hisses, hums, cracks, and muffles in the audio. The cable's packaging should specify if shielding is provided. Sometimes, shielding is only mentioned on the cables themselves, so look carefully.  (Only in rare, special cases will the shielding not prevent signal degradation--it's not that the cables aren't good enough, it's because the interference had a special, less obvious way of infiltrating your audio/video signals. It might be directly attacking your game console, your surround sound receiver, or your TV, and it'll take some detective work to figure out what's causing it. This would be a bigger problem than "bad A/v cables" since the culprit is probably adversely affecting other devices as well.)

2. Gold Plating -- Gold plated connectors minimize sound & picture degradation by improving conductivity at the plugs. Gold is more resistant to corrosion than standard tin connectors; the reduced deterioration of the connectors maintains a cleaner signal transmission over time.  There is no magickal improvement in A/V quality over decent non-gold connectors; gold's practical purpose is to help ensure video & audio continue to look & sound good throughtout the cable's life.

3. Durable Construction -- Well-constructed plugs and wires made with tough materials are more likely to last that "lifetime".  Due to gravity or the nature of your cabling setup, very sharp bends in the cable (plus wire fatigue) can can cause the conductor in the wire to break.  If one plug goes bad, the entire cable is pretty much useless.  Stiff wire jackets and reinforcement at the wire-plug junction help prevent the cable from bending at extreme angles.  Thin, flimsy cables won't survive many transports, and are more likely to be dead-on-arrival just by being tightly wound/wrapped/bent in its retail package.

Recommendations:
~ You shouldn't pay more than $25 total for a 6-ft set that meets the above criteria. My "standard" is based on [this baby of mine] (under construction).
~ If a set costs $20+ and is obviously lacking in some area after inspection (like, you found no specs list whatsoever), FORGET IT and find a different brand/model.


* Secondary Features
Other features that may influence your purchase, and explain some variations in price.

1. Cable Length -- The typical cable length is about 6-ft. Some people will appreciate having a few more feet of cable, depending on their entertainment setup. Some crazy brands will charge up to $60 for a 12-ft premium cable. Other brands are in a comfy 8 to 10-ft range, priced at $25 or more. Eventually, you'll find the 12-ft $60 cables in a clearance bin for $15 after a few months, cuz NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND bothered to cough up a RIDICULOUS $60 the first time around.

2. Plug Size -- Premium cables often have plugs that are REALLY thick and excessively fancy, like the overpriced stuff you'll find in Best Buy's HDTV section. On occasion, the innocent cable shopper will discover his/her TV's A/V input sockets are spaced pretty close together, close enough that the oversized plugs on their brand new premium A/V cables don't all fit.  There's so much needless casing built around 1 premium plug that the adjacent premium plug can't slip into the next socket, leading to customer FURY and another trip to the electronics store. It's the cable maker's fault for designing stupidly huge plugs; regular cheapo plugs should fit just fine, so be aware of the spacing/locations of the sockets on the back of your TV/equipment.

3. Dual-Layer Shielding -- Apparently there's two kinds of interference cable manufacturers want us to be paranoid about, RFI and EMI.  Having a "dual-layer" to protect against both is extra insurance.

4. Oxygen-free Copper Conductor -- Like the Gold Plating mentioned earlier, oxygen-free copper helps ensure "maximum signal transfer" and boosts the consumer's confidence in the cable. No magickal improvement in output quality, however.

5. Other esoteric technical crap -- Good for attracting the customers that don't know they're paying too much.


More Recommendations:
~ If you decide not to take the "premium" path, then get your cables cheap, AS CHEAP AS YOU CAN FIND, cuz there's many nameless 3rd-party cables that sell for next-to-nothing. If you don't mind a cable that doesn't promise much, then save a few bucks. eBay & Google are good places to start looking.
~ As far as I can tell, Nintendo's cables are not premium, yet they're priced just as high. Don't bother with them.
~ If you go premium, do the research, shop around, and get the best deal.  If you buy a $60 cable, stab yourself with a coconut.


Here's a list of brands I know of that provide Component and/or S-Video cables for Wii:

ASiD
Blaze
Cables Unlimited
CTA Digital
Dragon
ezGear
GameStop
HVG2
Intec
Just-Works
MadCatz
MADCOW
Monster Cable
Nintendo
Nyko
Panther Lord
Penguin United
Psyclone
React
Talismoon

[ShyGuy]

They do not exist, apparently. WELCOME TO NINTENDO PHAIL REPORT

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I like that idea, sir.

~~~~~

Additional Helpful Information:

>> My Wii / GameCube Video Connection Comparison <<
Screenshot comparison of the different video connection options for Wii & GameCube

[vudu]

I just got off the phone with a Nintendo customer service rep.  He told me that at this time he was not aware of any plans to manufacture an S-Video cable.  He told me that the cable was rarely utilized for GameCube and there was a possibility that Nintendo was not going to make any.

He took my name and phone number and said he would pass along my request to the proper people so they would know that there is an interest for these cables.

I urge anyone else who might want an S-Video cable to do the same.  The phone number for North America is 1-800-255-3700.

[Ian Sane]

"He told me that the cable was rarely utilized for GameCube and there was a possibility that Nintendo was not going to make any."

Sounds a lot like the rarely used component cables that just sold out online.

My N64 and SNES use a third party S-video cable.  Sadly the same cord won't work for the Wii.

If there a reason why Nintendo doesn't used standard cables (aside from the greedy benefits of selling proprietary cables)?  If the Wii used standard outputs like a DVD player does then this wouldn't be an issue at all.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

WHAT KIND OF FOCKING MORONS DECIDED THAT

DID THEY NOT SEE THE S-VIDEO CABLES THAT WERE ANNOUNCED AND PHOTOGRAPHED FOR JAPAN

MUST I GET MY S-VIDEO CABLES FROM FOCKING JAPAN

OF COURSE MOST PEOPLE DIDN'T BUY NINTENDO-MADE S-VIDEO CABLES.  NINTENDO NEVER SENT THEM TO FOCKING RETAILERS, JUST LIKE THE FOCKING GCN COMPONENT CABLES (THAT I ALSO GOT FROM JAPAN)

AND OF COURSE MOST PEOPLE WHO GOT S-VIDEO CABLES AT ALL NEVER GOT THEM FROM NINTENDO'S ONLINE FOCKING STORE, CUZ NINTENDO NEVER FOCKING BOTHERED TO EDUCATE NOR FOCKING ADVERTISE THEM

DESPITE BEING SO ATTENTIVE TO GAMERS' RESPONSES AND REACTIONS TO GAMEPLAY MECHANICS, THEY'VE GOT NO FOCKING AWARENESS OF THEIR OWN PRODUCT MISHAPS

[Smash_Brother]

I approve of Pro's post.

[RickPowers]

At the risk of angering the forum gods (I am but a mere demi-god now), I posted this in the component cable thread.

I was at Nintendo's Redmond HQ today. They only had a total of 30 Component Cables for employees, and those were gone almost instantly. No word on an S-Video cable (which I really need). No one said they weren't making one, just that it wasn't available.  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I updated the original post.

Edit: BACK-OFF!

[31 Flavas]

You know what's -focking- ri-cock-ulous? This thread.

It's bat s hit insane that video games are fun/playable or not, at least to the people in this thread, based solely on s-video or componet cable connections now. Talk about your all time whiny cry babies...  

[Smash_Brother]

There's a hefty difference (even on a standard TV) between composite and S-video signals.

Mail order only, sadly...

[NWR_pap64]

Kill me if you wish, but I think 31 Flavas has a point (although I wouldn't go to the same extend as he did...).

While it sucks that Nintendo didn't get its act together, is having S-video cables VITAL to Wii enjoyment? Unless your entertainment center requires one, can't you all wait a bit till you can order one?

S_B, I've played games on both regular connections and S-video, and the only difference I saw was that S-video was slightly darker. Other than that, the differences are rather small (at least on my eyes).

[Jin-X]

You know what's ridiculous 31 Flavas? It's the end of 2006 and Nintendo was mostly ignoring any form of good video connection and thought composite was good enough.

Well the point pap is that they should have S-Video and component cables in stores for launch instead of pretending like nobody cares about them, its as if they were acting like its 1996. S-video has been around for a long time, and most new tvs for a year or so now come with component and pretty much all come with S-Video unless its some sort of ultra bargain basement set.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Quote
Originally posted by: 31 Flavas
You know what's -focking- ri-cock-ulous? This thread.

It's bat s hit insane that video games are fun/playable or not, at least to the people in this thread, based solely on s-video or componet cable connections now. Talk about your all time whiny cry babies...

Your inferences have stretched well outside the ballpark.  I make no mention of "fun" or "playability" or product disappointment in a system i haven't even touched yet.  The commentary has solely been on product availability.  And the way Nintendo handles its non-standard first party peripherals is and has been a clear problem.

Am I taking jabs at Nintendo?  Oh of course, cuz it's fun pointing out recurring mistakes they're making.  But considering you've been on what-used-to-be-PGC for so long, I'm surprised you took the thread that seriously.

~~~~~

Cable listings soon to follow.

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: Jin-X
You know what's ridiculous 31 Flavas? It's the end of 2006 and Nintendo was mostly ignoring any form of good video connection and thought composite was good enough.

Well the point pap is that they should have S-Video and component cables in stores for launch instead of pretending like nobody cares about them, its as if they were acting like its 1996. S-video has been around for a long time, and most new tvs for a year or so now come with component and pretty much all come with S-Video unless its some sort of ultra bargain basement set.

I agree that's the sucky part of the deal.

What I mean is that while Nintendo gets their crap together, the Wii should be playable with the regular cables. From the sounds of it, its mainly a preference issue, something that adds a slight edge to the graphics, but isn't vital.

I am still wondering what the difference is. Like I said, I've seen games run on S-video, regular and digital projection and it all looks the same to me (except Digital projection for obvious reasons).

[Crimm]

Does anyone know where I can get a coax rfu adapter?

[31 Flavas]

i've got both componet and RF cables for my flat pannel TV. You can easily tell a difference, but it not such a huge difference that it warrents ALL CAPS posting, insults, and swearing. That's just inane prattle. You'll survive until you get the cable you need.

[Smash_Brother]

Quote
Originally posted by: pap64 S_B, I've played games on both regular connections and S-video, and the only difference I saw was that S-video was slightly darker. Other than that, the differences are rather small (at least on my eyes).

I've noticed a COLOSSAL difference between the two.

On the right TV, the quality is definitely noticeable.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Quote
Originally posted by: Crimm
Does anyone know where I can get a coax rfu adapter?

I doubt there's an RF adapter for Wii, or ever will be.

Either:
1) Use the default Wii composite cables, connect them to a VCR, then rout a regular RF Coax cable to the TV.
2) Visit a local store like Target or Walmart and pickup an "RF modulator", which basically takes the place of the VCR in the previous statement.

[Crimm]

I'm surprised they still make those at all.  I seem to recall the NES being the last time I used one.

[BigJim]

S-Video and Composite Compared

Scroll down to Pro's Wind Waker and Tales s-video and composite comparisons. The S-video benefit is pretty distinct when you see them side by side.  

[31 Flavas]

I'm not claiming there isn't a difference between them. I'm just saying you'll survive without them until they arrive. There is no need to have a temper tantrum that they aren't available on day one.

Professional is going quite a bit overboard if, as he says, this is just a sarcastic thread.

[blackfootsteps]

Wow, the difference is amazing especially on Wind Waker. I now join the rabid ranks of those who are raving for S video cables.  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Cable listing updated last night/this morning on the 1st page.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Updated list with Nintedo 1st party cables.