#svideo

So we finally got some pickups, did I mention finally? Finally.

It’s been a little dry again though and I was thinking about the systems themselves and how to improve the playing experience. I did some research on video quality and how to improve it on retro systems. Resulting from that research, I bought a new video cable for my Wii on Amazon. I know, I know, retail price!? GASP! But I don’t think I’ll take this out of the game hunting money. It wasn’t a find at a yard sale, flea market, or thrift store. This is simply to improve the picture I get from the Wii when I play. For the actual enjoyment of the games, not the hunt itself.

I read that component cables are superior to the composite that the standard cables come with. This is an obvious statement, and I knew this to be true, but I was not aware that the Wii supported component output. That was the real find for me during that reading. Because of this, it will allow you to play GameCube games at 480p on games that support it. The game that triggered all of this for me, F-Zero GX, supports it, as well as Mario Kart Double Dash and quite a few others. The thought of having my face melted from F-Zero GX at 480p wide screen was too good to pass up.

I hooked up the cable to check it out and Super Mario Bros. Wii looks a lot better. It’s sharper, clearer, and there is a little more detail and better coloring on it now. Very happy with the purchase as it was only $6.30. It is a Monoprice cable, and is pretty good quality. It should last a long time. Very nice to get that kind of a price on a new cable.

This is definitely the best choice for the money to play your GameCube games that support 480p mode. Use a Wii with a cheap component cable. Even if you have to buy the Wii it would still cost you less than 20% of the component cable for the GameCube. Which weighs in at a colossal $250 by itself. Even if you are not in the market for the GameCube game clarity, and just own a Wii and Wii games, the component cables are a really nice improvement for playing just your Wii. The 480p mode will become available in settings.

I took a couple screenshots that I felt kind of showed the difference, this is a camera taking a picture of my TV up close, this is not going into a capture device or anything like that. Something like that might show a bigger difference, but I don’t have that capability.

The left is Composite, and the right is Component.

The definition around the arrow, the crack in the sign, the stone floor, all clearer. The overall picture has a crisper look to it as you are playing, it is well worth the six dollar price tag for this. If you have component on your TV and you are still playing a Wii (or certain GameCube games on a Wii) with the bundled composite cables, I highly recommend upgrading. The differences are only a little better than subtle (at least on my TV), but can definitely be noticed, and appreciated. At $6.30, you can’t go wrong.

While on this topic as well, let’s discuss the Wii’s predecessors. Specifically, GameCube, N64 and SNES. I did not know this until researching recently, but all three are capable of component.

What!?

You need a special cable for the SNES, that you can get from HDRetrovision. I believe it is about $55. It can output component just with that cable alone, no modding of the console needed. Though soldering a certain capacitor in the right place removes a band from the middle of the screen. This is not needed to enjoy component on the SNES.

As for the N64, there are Component and HDMI mods. But now you are getting a little crazy on the cost, I believe the HDMI mod is about $140 for just the kit, let alone knowing how to solder it, or getting it soldered for you by a modder. That will run over $200. The component mod is a little cheaper, between $25 and $30 for the amplifier board, and then you’d still need one of HD Retrovision’s cables. So probably $80 - $90 by the time you are done.

The GameCube has an HDMI option too, but it is about the same cost as the N64′s. Which would still be cheaper than trying to buy a component cable for your GameCube I suppose, but still.

Ouch!

So what do you do if you are a regular schmo on a tight budget?

Upon more research in to improving picture quality on those two consoles I discovered that both can output S-Video natively. No mods! You just need the right cable. Which they make, and sell. On Amazon. For cheap. $7.63 to be exact.

I bought one of those too.

I should have done this a long time ago. The only catch is this does require a TV with an S-Video port. Those are not as common today as component or HDMI. Lucky for me the TV in the room where I play these older systems was bought in 2008, and has S-Video. So before buying one of these cables make sure you have the port. If you do, it is well worth it. As I understand it, Composite runs the entire video information across one wire, while S-Video separates the color information from the monochrome (or, black and white) information. This manages to clean up the video noticeably. While not as good as separating each color individually like component, it is still a difference.

I picked up this one:

Its a Gam3gear one. I am not paid by them, I am just saying what I used, and had good luck with. This works with the SNES, N64 and the GameCube with no modding of the system whatsoever.

Avoid the ones that have S-Video and Composite on the same cable, my extensive reading on the subject showed that these are very shoddily produced and the wiring is poor, thus producing very poor video output.

Here are a few screenshots of my systems using the above cable. Top picture Composite and bottom S-Video in each stitched photo, again taking a picture with my phone close to the TV, no capture cards.

SNES 1 - Super Mario World:

SNES 2- Super Mario World:

You can see cleaner, more defined lines and pixels. Especially in the photo of the copyright 1990. Definitely an improvement.

N64 - Mario Kart 64:

This one is a great example, that S in the diamond is so much clearer in the S-Video photo. No contest here.

When you view the entire image as a whole while you are playing it looks crisper, more clean, and defined. A lot like the improvement you get on the Wii moving up to Component, though maybe not quite as good.

Here is a close up of the title screen of Mario Kart Double Dash. Same format, top Composite, bottom S-Video.

GCN - Mario Kart Double Dash

Differences are subtle, but the irises in Mario’s eyes are more defined, colors pop a little more, and the subtle shadings everywhere in general are a little more apparent, like between his eyes and on his nose. I would imagine an HDMI mod or the $250 1st party component cables would look better, but if HDMI is a 10/10, like the best quality you can get from the GameCube, I’d put the component cables approximately at a 9/10 and the S-Video would fall at a solid 8. The composite would score in at a 4, maybe a 5. So the biggest jump for the cheapest cost has to be the S-Video cable.

If you have an S-Video port on your TV I highly recommend this cheap upgrade for your un-modded SNES, N64 or GameCube.  It is arguably not as good as Component or HDMI, but it is a very budget friendly nudge to the clarity of your games. Something to note about the GameCube though, if you have a DOL-101, the GameCube with only the single video output, S-Video is not supported. You will get audio, but no video. So if you are in the market for a GameCube, and are thinking of going S-Video, make sure you get the first model DOL-001. Additionally, if you have a GameCube and an S-Video port on your TV, and are thinking of buying a cable, even as cheap as they are, make sure your ‘Cube is DOL-001 before you invest.

No pickups or finds of late. One yard sale I stopped at specifically because it said Wii Games, and they indeed had Wii U games, but they were complete crap games. So I passed. Other than that, nothing to report.

Still rocking $47.09 game hunting money.