Nintendo's Wii component cables back in stock
by Christopher Grant 
{ Nov 30th 2006 at 10:10AM }
Those of you who've managed to get your well-lubricated hands on a Wii, but were stuck without the component cables you needed for maximum clarity, can put down the alligator clips, forget about the third-party solutions, and hop onto Nintendo's online store to order the previously sold-out official cable for the (just-this-side-of) reasonable asking price of $29.95. The ordering page proudly declares, "As of Wednesday, November 29, 2006, we will be resuming shipments of all back orders for the Wii Component Video Cable." But don't go getting greedy! These things don't grow on trees and, in order to fill back orders and accommodate new orders, Nintendo is demanding that "Wii Component Video Cables orders [be] limited to one per household. Any duplicate orders will be canceled without notification." Interested parties better hurry up before these sell out! Again.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
kiwi @ Nov 30th 2006 10:37AM
My cables are on the truck ready to be delivered today... woohoo!
Kriskb @ Nov 30th 2006 10:49AM
I am glad they are back in stock. A friend of mine was SOOO upset that he could not get his he almost took his Wii back. He is a bit HD spoiled ;). Glad I got mine week before launch when they were on big N's site.
crono141 @ Nov 30th 2006 10:27AM
ordered baby! No DIY cables for me.
Now for that arcade machine I want to make...
Mo @ Nov 30th 2006 10:39AM
Ahh finally! Ordering them as we speak!
hh360 @ Nov 30th 2006 10:33AM
Ordered! Thanks Joystiq!
Daniel @ Nov 30th 2006 11:04AM
I pre-ordered mine at EB Games, and they're supposed to be coming in on Dec. 11 :(
Why Nintendo, why?!
vc @ Nov 30th 2006 10:57AM
What a fiasco.
micky @ Nov 30th 2006 11:03AM
got mine! "order processing"
Valaris @ Nov 30th 2006 11:35AM
Thanks for the heads up. Just put an order in.
Sean Bryant @ Nov 30th 2006 11:19AM
Bla, I was one of those retards bidding on ebay, but definately not for $100+ 60- preferably which is what you pay for these with overnight shipping.
Bryan T @ Nov 30th 2006 10:49AM
Does anybody else think that Nintendo is limiting it to 1 per household so that people don't go selling them off for profits (like some previous articles I read)?
I mean, I understand one ps3 or (at the time) 360 per household, but componet cables?
Ordered, thanks Joystiq.
Bob lee @ Nov 30th 2006 11:19AM
$30 for component cables is absurd. It's amazing how much press the Wii gets for being cheap. If you have an HDTV you need the components. You also need to buy a second controller to have any fun. Together thats about $100 for a total of around $350. I just bought a 360 premium for $350. I'll probably buy a Wii when the price comes down since I do love the DS. Just please stop saying this is a cheap console!
Allen @ Nov 30th 2006 10:55AM
I ordered mine on the 22nd and they still have not shipped, it's been stuck at preparing order since monday!!!!
Nick @ Nov 30th 2006 11:11AM
Will they make Wii Sports look like Gears of War?
crono141 @ Nov 30th 2006 11:00AM
VC, you're a fiasco!
And also a festizio. See, I can make up words too.
superbagman @ Nov 30th 2006 11:00AM
Just got my cables in the mail today. Apparently the Big N had a snow day on tuesday when my cables were SUPPOSED to ship so they upgraded my shipping from 2-3 business days to overnight. So, yay for Nintendo. I can FINALLY play Zelda!
Steve @ Nov 30th 2006 11:19AM
Ordered.
Thanks, joystiq. My tv thanks you as well.
Zzzzzyy @ Nov 30th 2006 11:21AM
I ordered these last night after I saw a similar piece of news on another website. Needless to say, it looks like they sold out already because my order number now says "backordered" when I track the order status. Sigh...
Hoffer @ Nov 30th 2006 11:32AM
I got the cables yesterday. I must say that I was less than impressed.
I have a 50" HDTV. When I switch the Wii to output 16:9, everything gets crazy jaggies on it. The little Mii dudes in my plaza look awful. Then I played Zelda and WOW does that look terrible.
I can't believe I haven't heard more people complain about this. It makes me wonder if I've got something setup wrong??
One weird thing is my HDTV reports it's getting a 4:3 480p signal. Zelda has a little thing at the start of the game to check aspect ratios. There are 3 boxes on the screen that should be square. All three look square with the Wii outputting 16:9, but my HDTV reports 4:3.
Skwurl @ Nov 30th 2006 12:16PM
I'm sitting on the fence with these cables. My TV only does 480i so I'm not sure if it's worth the money...
mnugghuhx @ Nov 30th 2006 1:14PM
I'm just gonna rock out a 3rd party one from Best Buy for 25 bucks and nor shipping charge. I'll have them tomorrow!
Karen @ Nov 30th 2006 11:20AM
Any word yet on the S-video cables?
My TV doesn't have component input.
kiwi @ Nov 30th 2006 11:23AM
"$30 for component cables is absurd."
What do you call the $40 charged for the Xbox360 component cables?
Skwurl @ Nov 30th 2006 11:23AM
"I just bought a 360 premium for $350. "
Keyword: just.
As for as launch prices go, Wii is indeed the cheaper system.
superbagman @ Nov 30th 2006 2:25PM
Kiwi, to be fair, the 360 comes with component cables. At least the premium model does, I'm not sure about the core. But the PS3 doesn't come with HDMI OR component cables, so...yeah.
Darkness @ Nov 30th 2006 11:58AM
"'$30 for component cables is absurd.'
What do you call the $40 charged for the Xbox360 component cables?"
Or what about the $100 wireless adapter?
gurnb @ Nov 30th 2006 12:02PM
"What do you call the $40 charged for the Xbox360 component cables?"
The 360 componenet cables are packed in the box, where do you get the $40?
Keeko_ca @ Nov 30th 2006 11:37AM
WTF??? I ordered mine the Monday following launch...LAST WEEK!
They have yet to ship. What gives? I am in Canada...any fellow Canadians have any luck ordering form the online store yet? They were supposed to ship on Tuesday.
Is this delay because of Vancouver being hammered by snowfall?
Bruce @ Nov 30th 2006 11:52AM
"You also need to buy a second controller to have any fun. Together thats about $100 for a total of around $350. I just bought a 360 premium for $350. "
And didn't have to buy a second controller for the 360? That's another $40-50 dollars.
bramptonrob @ Nov 30th 2006 12:53PM
i think zelda looks great on my regular tv, but im just wondering how much better it looks on an hdtv in 480p. would it be worth buying an hdtv for this case?
FernandoRocker @ Nov 30th 2006 11:40AM
Hoffer: You have to change the settings of the Wii to display the images in 16:9, and you have to change the settings of the resolution to HDTV in the Wii Settings.
Construction Management Software @ Nov 30th 2006 11:43AM
I was one of the lucky ones to get the first run of component cables. I'm running them on a 42' HD plasma. I tried out both composite and component cables now, and I can definitively say it makes a noticable difference, and one i feel is worth the price. With any HDTV, there is signal upconversion for the Wii output. With 480p, there is just more information used to do the upconversion, so it scales better. The components add clarity (especially in any text on screen) on textures, and the colors pop much more. If you're any sort of videophile, you'll want the best possible signal possible from the wii, and components do it.
BTW Zelda rocks with the components. It made me care less that it took me 3+ hours for the first temple because I ran around looking at everything ;D
Wilson @ Nov 30th 2006 12:00PM
I ordered mine on the 20th and finally got a UPS tracking#.. looks like I'll get it either next week since I'm 2 days away from Washington (I'm assuming they ship it there) ..
Finally!!
Zatch @ Nov 30th 2006 1:31PM
GENERIC ERROR on the site
:(
Neil @ Nov 30th 2006 11:46AM
Enjoy, America - these are the European supplies which have been diverted to the US to fill demand.
The rest of the world will just be over here, sobbing.
Hoffer @ Nov 30th 2006 2:15PM
FernandoRocker
I guess I don't say it directly in my first post, but I do have it set to 480p(HDTV) and 16:9. I've triple checked it.
Ritz @ Nov 30th 2006 12:05PM
I just got my cables in the mail. Took Canada Post almost a whole week to get it out of the sortation plant in Calgary before I got it though. The improvement is definatly noticable going from 480i on composite to 408p on component. The Twilight Realm doesn't hurt my eyes anymore! Yaye! The texture quality also got a nice boost.
Ritz @ Nov 30th 2006 12:33PM
480p, I mean.
gurnb, I imagine thats the price if you just got a core system =(
Skycap @ Nov 30th 2006 2:01PM
I, for one, actually refused to play Zelda until I get my component cables which have been "In Processing" since about last week.
Now since they are in stock, most will probably go to eBay resellers and the rest to True Nintendo Wii fans.
*sigh*
Going price for the cables is about 150 dollars...
juicebytim @ Nov 30th 2006 3:03PM
I got my component cables two days ago and I can happily say it makes a HUGE difference. I have a 46" Samsung DLP. I played Zelda for about 7 hours with composite, before I got the component cables, and the whole time I was wishing I ordered the cables before they went on backorder. Playing felt like I was half awake most of the time because everything was so muddy/blurry with composite. Now that I have the component cables, I have advanced about 4 hours further and everything is crisp and beautiful.
The difference in claritiy is one of the largest I have experienced with just switching cables. It's compairable to watching a standard DVD on an HDTV to and HD-DVD.
I should also mention that Wii Sports also looks a ton better as well.
Now the only thing Nintendo is lacking is Digital output for sound. That and 720p of course.
Wii Component Cables = love.
The ZeroCorpse @ Nov 30th 2006 12:44PM
I miss the old days when the back of a video game console didn't have a proprietary connector, and instead had industry standard video connections. Whether it be the firs generation's RF connector, or the later generation with their composite video option (see the first PlayStation, TG-16, and other of that era) we didn't have to go out to buy a standard video connector with a weird dongle on one end.
There's no reason for console designers to do this, other than to force us to buy from them. I do give credit to Sony for putting some standard connections on the PS3 (even if they don't all work the way they should in regards to HD signals) and I appreciate that having the lone connector on the 360/Wii saves space and makes it cheaper to produce, but wouldn't it be nice if they all had just ONE normal industry standard connection on the back so that when we can't get a hold of the company's cable-with-special-dongle, we could at least hook up our game system and- y'know- USE it?
What happens when I want to hook up my 360 in fifteen years, and the cables no longer exist? Am I S.O.L.?
I'm begging the console manufacturers: Put ONE standard connector on all your consoles. Computers do it. ALL video equipment does it. Why can't game consoles?
Steve @ Nov 30th 2006 12:16PM
Back in stock? Limiting one per household? But, but, but Nintendo, I thought no one had a HDTV! How can this be?
[/sarcasm]
I hope this fiasco is a good wakeup call for Nintendo. It's too late to modify the system to output hi-res graphics, but it's not too late to mandate publishers support widescreen and progressive scan in their games.
Of course at this time I'd rather have a Wii that doesn't load the screen with dozens upon dozens of black and white dots than my component cables :(
wei @ Nov 30th 2006 12:49PM
Weird. I placed an order an hour ago and my order status is "Backordered". Anyone else getting this?
coffee @ Nov 30th 2006 1:30PM
Just called Nintendo World Store in NYC today. They said they will have it in stock tomorrow. Check it out if you are in NYC area.
zjunk @ Nov 30th 2006 1:16PM
This whole article's pretty useless because nothing's changed for those who didn't order the cables before Nov. 22nd.
I just got off the phone with a Nintendo rep.
Although the message on the component cable page did change, they mean the same thing - orders placed before Nov. 22 are shipping now, all later orders are shipping after Dec. 18. This is what the rep just told me and what was previously on that page.
Interestingly, he also mentioned that stores are now expecting the cables even later - Jan. 2007! (Used to be mid-December) I'm not sure if that's true or not... let's hope not.
Hinkmania @ Nov 30th 2006 12:27PM
Mine shipped yesterday but won't arrive until monday. Another weekend without cables! And it is likely next week that my additional controller+nunchuk will arrive. Alas!
timdc @ Nov 30th 2006 1:23PM
I ordered mine this morning, and paid an extra 13 bucks for overnight delivery. Of course, now my order has a status of "backorder"...so I'm wondering what the point is of paying extra for shipping...'cause it might be weeks before I even recieve them.
So I called nintendo. The guy there looked at my order and said that since I did overnite shipping, I will jump ahead of anyone who did not...
Bob lee @ Nov 30th 2006 1:25PM
"What do you call the $40 charged for the Xbox360 component cables?"
Or what about the $100 wireless adapter?"
The xbox wireless adapter is absurd too. I personally use a wired connection so the lack of Ethernet on the Wii would cost me more.
I don't know why anyone thinks the xbox cables cost $40. They are in the box, and you can buy them separately for $20 at most.
I don't think you need an extra controller for the Xbox, but I did buy one for $30. It's still half the price of a Wii controller.
I'm not a Nintendo hater. I'm just saying the Wii's reputation as a cheap console is not deserved. The Wii is overpriced for what it is. I guess it's fair to compare the Wii to launch consoles, but I think it makes more sense to compare to available consoles.
kiwi @ Nov 30th 2006 1:19PM
"The 360 componenet cables are packed in the box, where do you get the $40?"
The core system comes with composite cables only. If you search Amazon for component cables, you'll see that the official Microsoft cables are 39.99.
Skwurl @ Nov 30th 2006 12:54PM
"I'm begging the console manufacturers: Put ONE standard connector on all your consoles. Computers do it. ALL video equipment does it. Why can't game consoles?"
Because there are essentially only 3 flavors of videogaming consoles - and they all know it. PC's and video equipment don’t have the advantage of forcing consumers that way.
Also, videogame consoles traditionally only served one function - to play games. There was never a giant demand to have standard outputs – the cables came in the box, and it plugged in the TV. However, now that Microsoft and Sony are aggressively pushing the multi-media devices (plus the rise in HDTV), you will probably see standard outputs being used - in fact, you already are.
Oh yeah, it’s also an incredibly easy way to make money.