Nintendo of Japan apologizes for lack of component cables
by Julian Thomas 
{ Dec 4th 2006 at 9:25AM }
Don't go thinking they care about the fuzziness of your American screens, this is a Japan thing. Nintendo of Japan's official site apologized for the lack of "D terminal" component cables (Japan has two types of component cable), leaving this blogger with just such a fuzzy screen. It's hard to complain too much though, what with the Japanese Wii launch being such a painless endeavor.Local retailers are reporting that Nintendo overstocked, providing many more systems than anticipated. Accessories (that aren't component cables that is) are all readily available: Nunchuks, Wiimotes, and the lovely (not quite stateside yet) Hajimete no Wii (Wii Games) and Wiimote bundle are in abundance. Even the Classic Controller -- which comes free with purchases of 5,000 Wii points -- is readily available. After such a smooth and plentiful Wii launch, how's about you send us Japanese gamers a few more PS3s, Sony?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
benjamin @ Dec 4th 2006 9:41AM
"Nintendo of Japan apologizes for lack of component cables"
That's better. Now go to your room and think about what you've done.
skyrous @ Dec 4th 2006 9:41AM
If I remember correctly Nintendo of Japan also issued an official apology last January when they ran out of DS's. Don't know if they've done that every week since they still can't meet demand for the DS in japan.
I truly hope Nintendo has learned enough to chalk the component cable fiasco down as a mistake on their part. It should have been included with the system. Even if they intended to sell them separate in order to make money they would have made sure to have them on the shelves in quantity.
baby sea tuna @ Dec 4th 2006 9:50AM
So wait, they're the ones that ended up with all the remotes, nunchucks, and classic controllers?! Damn you Japan, why do you hate us so much?
...oh right, the bombs.
ackmondual @ Dec 4th 2006 10:51AM
Well, at least they're apologizing. Did Sony ever apologize for their shortcomings?
And I agree as well. They should've been either bundled or available during launch. No doubt a buddy I helped get a Wii back during launch date is still looking to replace the 1975-ish RF cable with the better Nin component cable
The Man @ Dec 4th 2006 10:10AM
I bought the component cables and to be honest they made the wii graphics look worse. In wii setup "wide screen" and "480p". Zelda looked worse in 480p sharpened, for instance a blade of grass now looks all jaggedy. Dissapointed.
Michael Ray @ Dec 4th 2006 10:32AM
"...oh right, the bombs."
wow thats not even funny. in such poor taste.
Xel @ Dec 4th 2006 10:32AM
I was lucky enough to get my component cables through Nintendo.com and I have to say it makes a lot of difference, I haven't played Zelda yet on it but Rayman and Wii sports is a lot sharper and looks a lot better. It def worth the purchase if anyone is considering.
Grog @ Dec 4th 2006 11:31AM
[4. I bought the component cables and to be honest they made the wii graphics look worse. In wii setup "wide screen" and "480p". Zelda looked worse in 480p sharpened, for instance a blade of grass now looks all jaggedy. Dissapointed.]
The problem is most likely your television settings rather than the component cables. All that component cables do is ensure that you get more information inputted, whereas "jaggedy" is usually a symptom of not enough information.
RUSKULL @ Dec 4th 2006 11:26AM
"...oh right, the bombs."
I actually laughed out loud here at work. Hahah!
Moogle @ Dec 4th 2006 11:01AM
Skyrous, we know they're not going to put more than one video cable in the box, right? That's just throwing money away. So which cable goes in? The one that most people can use, of course.
I would have been pretty damned miffed if I had had to buy a composite cable at launch. You can probably get composite to work, while I have nothing useful to do with a component cable.
SuicideNinja @ Dec 4th 2006 12:27PM
Come on...we all know that nobody REALLY cares about component cables.
HDMI is the future, because Sony said so. I mean, without 1080p, you're entire being is worthless. Why aren't they listening?
*laughs...incessantly*
Hopefully Nintendo smooths this out; I have full confidence in them (as opposed to that other Japanese console provider).
Earl @ Dec 4th 2006 1:50PM
A company actually admitted they were wrong AND apologized? Someone needs to take note (Sony).
It's ok Nintendo, I can live without 480p for a while, just happy I got a console.
crono141 @ Dec 4th 2006 2:20PM
I got an e-mail today saying my wii component cables have shipped (the ones I ordered when they were back in stock last week). I'll be rocking 480p wed or thurs.
Now my question about the cable fiasco is why couldn't they have 1 cable that has all the video outs: component, s-video, and composite. The Pinouts on the wii have been mostly mapped, and each output has its own pin on the connecter (Y, Pb, PR, composite, L audio, R audio, with a short to allow 480p option). This seems the most logical case to me. Build 1 cable that can do everything and bundle it.
The only reason I can see this is not done is because they wanted to sell the component cables with significant markup (because 29.95 is SIGNIFICANT markup).
Stupid almighty dollar...
Rob @ Dec 4th 2006 1:27PM
The Man, Just TURN DOWN YOUR TV'S SHARPNESS. This will most likely help with the "jaggies" you are seeing. If not then you most likely just have a really big tv (42" or above) and in that case, that just comes with the territory
Hoffer @ Dec 4th 2006 2:11PM
I don't understand one thing with the Wii. I have it, the component cables and an HDTV. I set the Wii to output 480p and 16:9. My HDTV says it is getting a 480p 4:3 signal.
Why is Nintendo smashing a 16:9 image into a 4:3 space?? Doesn't that lose data?
benjamin @ Dec 4th 2006 2:45PM
FWIW SuicideNinja, I'm not a Sony fanboy by any means and I have to admit that I really like HDMI.
The simplicity it offers with a nice, compact interface for both HiDef video and audio in one cable is really nice.
I have a DVD player that supports it and I'm really pleased with it. I only hope that TVs in the future will start carrying more component and HDMI ports for all the devices out there. ^_^
Brian Sexton @ Dec 4th 2006 4:11PM
Michael Ray wrote:
"wow thats not even funny. in such poor taste."
I disagree on both counts; there is humor to be found in many places and war is no exception. Do not confuse situational humor with something other than what it is.
If you are going to go all David Hume on us, though, and apply your standard of taste, would you please be so kind as to explain how your standard of taste is the objective standard of taste in this context so we can all rise to your level? I want to have such a perfect notion of ethics that I no longer need to bother with using proper capitalization and punctuation when imposing it upon other people without even the slightest justification.
BillDoE @ Dec 4th 2006 1:56PM
"I truly hope Nintendo has learned enough to chalk the component cable fiasco down as a mistake on their part."
Hell no they did it to us early HD users with the GameCube. It was no mistake. Regie said straight out they don't think there will be much demand for such a cable. yeah thats why it took 2 months to backorder the first one for the GC. Nobody wanted it.
PiratePete @ Dec 4th 2006 2:14PM
"...oh right, the bombs."
lol, funny ^_^
nick @ Dec 4th 2006 4:09PM
What jerks. They should apologize to their fanboys in America who are still waiting on friggin component cables so we can play Zelda without the blur and color distortion of composite cables.
Hell, they should ship every person free component cables who ordered it early November on their site and still havent received the damn things.
karmaghost @ Dec 4th 2006 5:38PM
I thought Japan got a little screwed with the late launch date, but 5,000 Wii points = a "free" classic controller? Goddamn...
Josh @ Dec 4th 2006 6:04PM
Hoffer (#15), I believe that's because there really is no "16:9" 480p resolution. Rather, it's always the standard 720 x 480 or whatever, while if you want a widescreen picture, it has to be "jammed" into the resolution, then re-stretched out into the 16:9 aspect ratio. The GameCube does this, the Wii does this, all anamorphic widescreen DVDs are exactly like this. It's just how standard definition signals are. You don't start getting into native 16:9 signals until you reach 720p, which is 1280 x 720, of course.
m @ Dec 5th 2006 8:44PM
"If you are going to go all David Hume on us, though, and apply your standard of taste, would you please be so kind as to explain how your standard of taste is the objective standard of taste in this context so we can all rise to your level? I want to have such a perfect notion of ethics that I no longer need to bother with using proper capitalization and punctuation when imposing it upon other people without even the slightest justification."
So, if we were the game system developer, and we didn't get enough cables to afganistan, and the joke was "why didn't we get cables? Oh yeah...we killed 3000+ people in the twin towers... LOL"...you'd say that's funny?
I guess some of us don't see the mass slaughter of large numbers of people as the perfect backdrop "joke" for pouty consumers and their petty woes. Apparently, though, you do.
And the punctuation issue...it's frivolous. You're grabbing at straws.
Off topic BS aside...the component cables make a huge difference. I'm loving mine. :)