Nintendon't: No HDTV support for revolution
By Richard Lawler 
posted Nov 10th 2005 8:28PM
posted Nov 10th 2005 8:28PM
According to this CNN report, it's a done deal, no HDTV support for the revolution. I, like Matt,
am very surprised. If you've hooked up any of your consoles to an HDTV
through an S-video cable or less, you know that there is often
significant artifacting or blurriness. With my PS2, I had to upgrade
from composite to S-Video just to be able to read the in-game text in
some game,s and once I switched to component cables the picture was
sharp again. When I later purchased an Xbox, I made sure to grab the high definition cables too.I think Nintendo is making a serious mistake here. As HDTV's become increasingly more common over the next few years, if people hook up their Revolution and notice a stark contrast in comparison to other next gen consoles, no amount of accelerometer-equipped controller trickery will get them to stick with it.
Totally agree with you. How can Revolution's graphical capabilities be to par with the Xbox 360 and PS3 if they arent in HD. Tell me that! It just doesnt make any sense, pure hype. To me this is the final nail in the coffin for Nintendo. Its like they dropped a nade on their foot on purpose....oh wait they dont know much about FPS's...umm its like they threw Link's boomerang and forget to catch it and let the boomerang slap them right in the face...yea they should understand that : P Nintendo R.I.P.
It really is a shame that Nintendo is excluding the growing HDTV crowd from it's plans. I imagine calibrating the 'remote controller' would be more difficult if the Revolution had to consider two different aspect ratios, though. I'll probably still get one, though. I was planning on getting the system almost solely for the back-catalog that Nintendo will be offering, and I definitely wasn't expecting HD output of SNES games. Bottom line: not the best move, but not a system-killer either.
"One thing's for sure: The Revolution will not support high definition video, a marked divergence from the path Microsoft (Research) and Sony (Research) are taking. And it's not something the company is re-thinking, despite the fervent hopes of some hardcore gaming fans."
That does NOT say that the Revolution won't support HD games. Only HD video. Not a big deal in my opinion.
"If you've hooked up any of your consoles to an HDTV through an S-video cable or less, you know that there is often significant artifacting or blurriness."
What does this have to do with anything? So just because the Revolution isn't supporting HD, we're going to go ahead and assume that the best it will have is an S-Video output? All they are stating is that they won't be supporting HD video with the Revolution. That means no 1080i or 720p. Just FYI, the Revolution is going to be fully backwards compatible with Gamecube games. Considering that the cube supported 480p and 16:9, it stands to reason that the Revolution will also. If you're going to make commentary about HD related news on an HD themed site, it would help to be somewhat informed on what you're talking about.
I personally think it's a mistake to ignore higher resolutions, especially since these consoles are supposed to last 5-6 years, and in that time frame HD sets and content are going to start becoming cheaper and more readily available. But Nintendo has a plan, and that plan is to conuter-market the competition with a cheaper, and different gaming experience. If that means 480p only, then I'm cool with that.
Actually, any Gamecube you buy today does NOT support
480p, although some games do.
They specifically removed 480p capabilities from the Gamecube and until they say otherwise, have no reason to believe it will be back in the Revolution.
Check nintendo's website:
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/nintendogamecube/component_faq.jsp
Nintendo GameCube Component Video Questions
The Digital A/V Output port was removed from systems produced after May, 2004 (these systems will have a model number of DOL-101). If you have a Nintendo GameCube without this port, and you wish to play your games in progressive scan, you may be able to obtain a system that was made prior to the removal of the Digital A/V Output port. Please call our Consumer Service department at 1-800-255-3700 to discuss available options.
Additional Information:
*
Why have you removed the component video feature from the Nintendo GameCube?
On newer models of the Nintendo GameCube, we opted to remove the digital A/V out port from the system because we found that less than one percent of all Nintendo GameCube players used this feature.
*
Will future Nintendo GameCube games continue to have the progressive scan feature?
About one-third of licensee-published titles and over 90% of Nintendo-published titles currently have the progressive scan feature. We expect that most Nintendo-published titles will continue to support progressive scan. Each licensee will continue to make the decision of whether or not to include this feature in their future games.
I thought we knew this earlier this summer? Maybe I missed something...
http://www.hdbeat.com/2005/09/23/revolution-specs-leaked-hd-still-up-in-the-air/
It's been doubtful, but they kept saying they hadn't decided yet.
I don't recall saying that every Gamecube game supported progressive scan. Hold on, let me check. No, no I didn't.
"They specifically removed 480p capabilities from the Gamecube and until they say otherwise, have no reason to believe it will be back in the Revolution."
You have no reason to believe it won't be back either. The fact of the matter is, no one knows what the Revolution will have. So assuming that it will only support S-video out is just that, an assumption.
Yes, it is an assumption. Not having ever gamecube game support 480p is nothing, but the fact is the actual system itself that is on the shelf in stores, does not support 480p.
Until Nintendo sells a system that outputs in 480p, I'll continue to assume they have no plans to.
You are completely forgetting that Nintendo isnt going for hardcore gamers. They are going to try and bring in new gamers, ones of which would rather a pick-up-and-play experience over flashy graphics.
Although I'm a little disheartened over the no HD announcement, we can still hope for 480p, right?