The Wii Mini Is Real, Arrives December 7 — In Canada [Slashdot]

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

The other thing I don't understand is that for six years, people have criticized the Wii for only outputting 480p...but now all of a sudden, people think the Wii Mini could've made a perfect Netflix streaming box. Huh?? Just buy a $79 1080p Roku 2 XD instead.

Well, not a PERFECT one, but a potentially more attractive prospect for casual users looking for a set-top Netflix streaming device and who also happen to like/want a Wii.

It could have been something to help market the thing.

[kedawa]

The GB micro is the most comfortable handheld ever.
I think the backlit SP is a great machine, but it is quite painful to use for extended periods of time. The corners just dig into my palms, the stiff dpad makes my thumb sore, and those awkward shoulder buttons give me cramps. I don't have any issues at all with the micro or original GBA.

[c0ldb33r]

I bought my wii mini today. I hope to be able to play with it this weekend. :)

[Leo_A]

The GB micro is the most comfortable handheld ever.
I think the backlit SP is a great machine, but it is quite painful to use for extended periods of time. The corners just dig into my palms, the stiff dpad makes my thumb sore, and those awkward shoulder buttons give me cramps. I don't have any issues at all with the micro or original GBA.

The Model 1 is my favorite from a comfort standpoint. It's just too bad the screen is so horrible. But it's actually my dedicated controller for the Game Boy Player these days thanks to the form factor and offering an ideal button layout for all GB/GBC/GBA games.

I avoid playing games that rely on the shoulder buttons more than just occasionally on my backlit SP (Mario Kart for instance) and stick to the Game Boy Player for such games. But other than that, I think it's a comfortable handheld.

[c0ldb33r]

The box is bigger than I was expecting, and heavier - here is the wii mini next to a wii game for scale.

http://i.imgur.com/QxCST.jpg?1

[joshnickerson]

Hey, Coldb33r, what's the OS like? Is it just like the Wii Regular, or has the main menu been altered?

[kedawa]

There are videos of it on youtube.
It's just the same menu with many of the default channels removed.
I think all it has is the disc channel, the mii channel, and some instructions.
It seems kind of cheap to just use the same old menu, considering the fact that all those pages of empty channel slots will never have anything in them.

[c0ldb33r]

Kedawa is right. Its very stripped down version of the original OS.

[c0ldb33r]

WARNING!

Don't get a Wii mini. The damn thing only supports composite video!

I tried to get it to work with my current Wii's component cable but it wouldn't work. So, I hooked it up with the composite cables that it came with and it worked normally.

I went into the wii menu and the only option was to select between 4:3 and 16:9, it has no option to choose 480p/480i.

So I checked online - other people seem to have the same issue. There must be a solution I thought.

Nope. Check the manual - see where they labelled IMPORTANT all in caps.

http://i.imgur.com/r7lB9.jpg

If it's so fucking important why didn't they tell us on the fucking box!

The only warning on the boxes are that the internet doesn't work and gamecube doesn't work. Nothing about component. I honestly can't fucking believe this in 2012.

I was so jazzed about getting this little wii I was thinking about getting the Wii U next year. Fuck that Nintendo you can't be trusted. I'd expect this from Sony, but not the big N :(

edit: I just called Nintendo, they confirmed that there are no plans to make it component capable (since it can't be connected to the internet) - so it will forever only have composite output. The woman I was speaking with was quite friendly but she basically just told me to return it to EB Games.

[PreZZ]

WARNING!

Don't get a Wii mini. The damn thing only supports composite video!

I tried to get it to work with my current Wii's component cable but it wouldn't work. So, I hooked it up with the composite cables that it came with and it worked normally.

I went into the wii menu and the only option was to select between 4:3 and 16:9, it has no option to choose 480p/480i.

So I checked online - other people seem to have the same issue. There must be a solution I thought.

Nope. Check the manual - see where they labelled IMPORTANT all in caps.

http://i.imgur.com/r7lB9.jpg

If it's so fucking important why didn't they tell us on the fucking box!

The only warning on the boxes are that the internet doesn't work and gamecube doesn't work. Nothing about component. I honestly can't fucking believe this in 2012.

I was so jazzed about getting this little wii I was thinking about getting the Wii U next year. Fuck that Nintendo you can't be trusted. I'd expect this from Sony, but not the big N :(

edit: I just called Nintendo, they confirmed that there are no plans to make it component capable (since it can't be connected to the internet) - so it will forever only have composite output. The woman I was speaking with was quite friendly but she basically just told me to return it to EB Games.

I dont know why you would expect that from sony, you could always use the same component cable since the original model ps2 on any system afterwards. Not mentioning this on the box and not having 480p output in 2012? Only nintendo could do this... Seriously they are digging their graves with dick moves like this, I am so pissed with them right now... They dont realise that everyone who bought Wii U are mostly hardcore adult gamers, and they continue to make decisions to keep us away. Too many bad decisions lately with Wii U and eshop etc, if you are an adult gamer who bought wii u i would like to know how you feel about the console.

[c0ldb33r]

Hey youre absolutely right now that I think of it - actually Sony's had component since ps2 and their slimmed down version worked with component just fine.

Damn Nintendo. I don't care if you want to omit component, but just put it on the damn box.

[Rob2600]

WARNING!

Don't get a Wii mini. The damn thing only supports composite video!

I was so jazzed about getting this little wii I was thinking about getting the Wii U next year. Fuck that Nintendo you can't be trusted. I'd expect this from Sony, but not the big N :(

Why not return the Mini and buy the regular, fully-functional Wii instead?

[c0ldb33r]

I thought of that, but the collector in me wants to keep it (my own stupid decision).

So - I'll change the warning to, if you're going to get the wii mini, be aware that it uses the same video output method as the NES.

[PreZZ]

if you're going to get the wii mini, be aware that it uses the same video output method as the NES.

Man, when you think about it, it uses the same output in 2012 as a system released in 1985... wow, good job nintendo

[PreZZ]

I wonder if it would work with a wii2hdmi adapter, i bought one on ebay and it works great with the regular wii

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Jesus, what are they saving per unit in production cost by not including component output? Pennies?

[kedawa]

Not even. A single penny could be melted down and used to make the copper traces needed for component output on dozens of these things.
I'm assuming s-video is out as well?

[Leo_A]

If people remember the GameCube component cables, they were more than just cables. Some kind of a device that I don't remember the name of that was necessary to get component video out of the system was embedded into the cable itself. That's why they were more expensive and that's why no cheap 3rd party alternatives sprung up.

I imagine the cost savings with no component video on this Wii redesign is that they're able to eliminate the equivalent of that chip inside of the Wii. Edit - It appears that the chip would be called a video encoder. So my guess is that component video is gone here not to save on a couple of copper traces but to eliminate that chip. And to Nintendo and to most of the consumer's that purchase this, that's what is important. I don't see many people buying this new Wii six years after the initial launch actually going out and buying a better cable for their system anyways. Many probably don't even know what a component cable is.

The people that cared about something like its GCN compatibility, WiFi capability, DLC, having the best audio/video cable possible, and progressive scan by and large already bought their Wii years ago.


I wonder if it would work with a wii2hdmi adapter, i bought one on ebay and it works great with the regular wii

As far as I know, that device utilizes the component capabilities of the console to convert it into a HDMI signal. And since this has no component support, you'd be out of luck.

You'd be stuck with 480i out of the Wii even if it does work.

[theclaw]

It's likely digital video is internally encoded into composite. There's a reason Gamecube output digital AV, yet Wii did not (notice the lack of Wii SPDIF mod). Though I forget the details...

[Leo_A]

I'm not sure just what that means in relation to my post, but I'll take your word for it either way. :)

Right or wrong, it was just a guess. They very well could've just been lazy I suppose instead of having anything to do with cost cutting. It's not out of the realm of possibility that they view component as a superfluous option for most of the market they're going after these days (A fair guess I'd say) so they simply just didn't bother to support it.

There's certainly precedence for such a thing. Even though the people buying $50 Super Nintendo's late in its life probably weren't likely to get the highest quality video cable they could, it still appears like the addition of S-Video support to the Super Nintendo redesign would've cost Nintendo nothing more than perhaps a few hundred dollars during the entire production run of the system.

Yet it lacked S-Video support even though supporting it would've been essentially free.

[c0ldb33r]

I assume Nintendo didnt include component because they want to be sure this competes with the Wii U as little as possible.

only having composite video helps them on that front.

[theclaw]

I'm not sure just what that means in relation to my post, but I'll take your word for it either way. :)

Right or wrong, it was just a guess. They very well could've just been lazy I suppose instead of having anything to do with cost cutting. It's not out of the realm of possibility that they view component as a superfluous option for most of the market they're going after these days (A fair guess I'd say) so they simply just didn't bother to support it.

There's certainly precedence for such a thing. Even though the people buying $50 Super Nintendo's late in its life probably weren't likely to get the highest quality video cable they could, it still appears like the addition of S-Video support to the Super Nintendo redesign would've cost Nintendo nothing more than perhaps a few hundred dollars during the entire production run of the system.

Yet it lacked S-Video support even though supporting it would've been essentially free.

Gamecube component cable has an entire digital-to-analog transcoding circuit. That port provides digital AV, as stated right on the back of the console. But Nintendo never released a cable to make the digital into any usable form.

[Leo_A]

As far as I'm aware, component carries analog signals and not digital. And there was a component cable for the GameCube.

I'm still not sure what it is you're getting at. But I'm assuming you're saying that component video on the Wii is achieved in a different manner without an equivalent to the video encoding chip that was embedded into the GameCube component cable being present inside of the Wii.

So the lack of component support on this Wii revision isn't a result of wanting to save money by eliminating such a chip since it wasn't there in the first place.

Correct?


I assume Nintendo didnt include component because they want to be sure this competes with the Wii U as little as possible.

only having composite video helps them on that front.

Do you really think that the relatively few people that will be purchasing this Wii redesign this late in the platform's life for $100 or less would have any effect on Wii U sales if it supported progressive scan on Wii games?

Seems extremely far fetched to me. Why wouldn't they just discontinue new Wii hardware completely if they're so worried that a 6 year old game console might cannibalize an extremely small fraction of potential Wii U sales in the next year or two?

They could add an HDMI port to the Wii, allow it to internally upscale Wii software, return every feature that was ever stripped out of the console, and add some extra bonuses like the ability to connect to the Game Boy Player and then sell it for $100 and it still wouldn't have a significant effect on Wii U sales I bet.

People considering a brand new console for several hundred dollars are very unlikely to be swayed by a budget release of a console from over half a decade ago.

[theclaw]

As far as I'm aware, component carries analog signals and not digital. And there was a component cable for the GameCube.

I'm still not sure what it is you're getting at. But I'm assuming you're saying that component video on the Wii is achieved in a different manner without an equivalent to the video encoding chip that was embedded into the GameCube component cable being present inside of the Wii.

So the lack of component support on this Wii revision isn't a result of wanting to save money by eliminating such a chip since it wasn't there in the first place.

Correct?



Do you really think that the relatively few people that will be purchasing this Wii redesign this late in the platform's life for $100 or less would have any effect on Wii U sales if it supported progressive scan on Wii games?

Seems extremely far fetched to me. Why wouldn't they just discontinue new Wii hardware completely if they're so worried that a 6 year old game console might cannibalize an extremely small fraction of potential Wii U sales in the next year or two?

They could add an HDMI port to the Wii, allow it to internally upscale Wii software, return every feature that was ever stripped out of the console, and add some extra bonuses like the ability to connect to the Game Boy Player and then sell it for $100 and it still wouldn't have a significant effect on Wii U sales I bet.

People considering a brand new console for several hundred dollars are very unlikely to be swayed by a budget release of a console from over half a decade ago.

Technically it's not a component cable. Gamecube hardware doesn't generate component. That cable turns a proprietary signal into component.

Wii, I'm not exactly sure. They might've saved money by using a simpler design video chip on Wii Mini. No reason to include transistors responsible for component if the console won't output it.

[kedawa]

I believe the video encoder is part of the GPU, so unless they were making other changes to the GPU, it would make no sense to change the design at this point.
The only thing I can think of is that eliminating 480p might mean that size of the frame buffer could be cut in half, since the rest would never be needed.

I'm curious to know if the AV port even has the pins for component, or if only the composite and audio pins are there.

[c0ldb33r]

Is this something I could take a picture of, or do you mean internally?

[Jorpho]

Stupid question, but does 480p really look that much better than 480i ?

[theclaw]

Not as much as composite vs component obviously. That's a way more crippling quality issue for HDTV users.

[Jorpho]

Huh? I thought 480i vs 480p was composite vs component.

[RP2A03]

Huh? I thought 480i vs 480p was composite vs component.

Not really. Component can be 240p, 480i, 480p, or even resolutions higher than 1080p. Of course with the Wii you are limited to just 240p, 480i, and 480p.

[theclaw]

Yeah 240p is very *very* rare on the Wii. Supported only for backwards compatibility. Some VC games use it, and Gamecube version Megaman X Collection.

[Leo_A]

Stupid question, but does 480p really look that much better than 480i ?

The big advantage with 480p is it eliminates your HDTV's scaling chip from having to deinterlace games prior to upscaling them. So that's one less thing in has to do to the signal that could hurt the quality of it.


Technically it's not a component cable. Gamecube hardware doesn't generate component. That cable turns a proprietary signal into component.

Wii, I'm not exactly sure. They might've saved money by using a simpler design video chip on Wii Mini. No reason to include transistors responsible for component if the console won't output it.

The GameCube component cable is still a component cable. That the last step in outputting component video actually takes place in a chip embedded into the cable doesn't change the fact that they're still component cables and that the tv is receiving a true analog component signal from the console when it's used.

As for the rest, in other words you don't know and don't have a clue what you're talking about?