/vr/ - Retro Games

>>10184926
The Gamecube component cables were available by mail-order only. I remember because my family were early adopters for HDTV and I specifically asked for them for Christmas because I wanted to see the progressive scan effect that I read about in Nintendo Power. At some point Nintendo unilaterally decided that HDTV was not the future and that because the vast majority of TVs in homes were still low-res CRTs, it was going to be that way for the foreseeable future. They were dead wrong because HDTVs got so cheap over the next few years that everyone ran out to replace their low-res screens with them. Meanwhile, Nintendo removed the digital out port from late Gamecube models and designed their next console (the Wii) around 480i content with the only considerations for HDTVs being more readily available 480p options and 16x9 support for all games.

Essentially, Nintendo bet against the future and lost, but they didn't lose any sleep over it because the Wii made them a fuckton of money which unfortunately had an enabling effect on their tech-stagnant culture, which they wouldn't really overcome until the Switch. They saw HDTVs as being a niche high-end item and believed so hard that it would stay that way, that they removed the ability for their console to use it altogether.

If you are looking for Gamecube component cables today, my best advice is don't. A much better investment right now is one of the third party options, whether it's an external module or an internal modification (both are good options, it depends on what you want and how much you care to spend), or hold out for the new third party cable that's on the way that should cost less than $100. Gamecube component cables were even more expensive before these options became available, and now their cost is more due to being rare rather than because there's no other way to get a good picture from the system.