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.

It's really sort of bizarre when you think about it. The saga of the Wii component cables has been a long and storied one: first, they were rumored to be online-only; then Perrin Kaplan confirmed they'd be hitting retail; then they showed up online and were promised in stores by December 5th; they sold out within a day and retail dates were pushed back; finally, frustrated with the lack of an official solution, resourceful gamers made their own. The saga may come to an early end with the release of Blaze's $6.71 third-party component cables, shipping from Hong Kong on the 30th (we know, more waiting!) from online retailer Superufo.com. Until we can easily pick up a pair of Wii component cables, either online or at brick-and-mortar joints, this saga is still playing out.

[Via Engadget]

The Wii component cables are now available through Nintendo's online store for $29.99. If you want them by launch day, that's an extra $13 in shipping, bringing the grand total to $43 for high-definition Wii from day one. According to Nintendo's automated phone line recordings, component cables will not come until the second week of December. GameStop.com lists the cables as arriving December 5. The $60 "HD Premium" component cables from MadCatz are coming out until December 1.

It was just last week that Nintendo of America's Perrin Kaplan confirmed that Wii component cables will be available on launch day at retail chains, specifically citing Best Buy and GameStop as examples. Ironically, this confirmation came after she remarked that she had misspoke when announcing Wii would be region-free (turns out, that's about as far from the truth as possible).

If you absolutely need Wii in 480p from day one, order now. Otherwise, wait it out or select the cheapest shipping option.

[Via Skeptical Gaming]

[Update 1: clarified how we got the December 5 retail date.]

[Update 2: Just a heads up, many people are reporting the cables are now back ordered, rendering it not likely to arrive on launch day. Be careful when ordering.]