NTSC-UK Wii FAQ Home and Abroad

[Red_Breast]

I haven't played MP3 yet. Still playing Resi4. I am hoping to get the first 2 before playing the third. I'll get Orange Box in a few days and then there's CoD4, Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed. So I'll play those first and try to pick up the first 2 MPs as well in the meantime before playing the third.
Thanks for the Wavebird info. No rumble. Hmmm.
The Wii came from Play-Asia. Even now I'm still amazed at the tax cost. Why me?
I've never heard of Movietyme. Are they US or Canadian? I was wondering if there are any UK based shops/sites that sell US hard/software. If there is I guess there won't be much difference in price but at least you know you won't get a tax bill. The thought of that happening again scares me.

[SG]

Movietyme are US, Videogamesplus are Canadian. Order from either of these and you should never get stung again.

If the Wavebird had rumble, I'd definitely have one, but without it it's just not worth it - a crying shame really. Looks nice with the Wii and everything but rumble really does add more depth to gameplay IMO.

Yeah, really do play MP 1 and 2 before MP3 otherwise these gems will seem a bit pants in comparison.

[Red_Breast]

Finished Resi4 yesterday. The main game anyway. I do take my time in games and ended up with a 36 hour clear time. Good to see that unlike some games Resi still takes a while to complete. Even if it is a few years old. It will be interesting to see the length of Resi5. The trailer looks great. Set in Haiti. Voodoo? Is that Clair Redfield at the end? Still trying to find her brother
I find Nintendo really weird when it comes to hardware. No charger like the 360's wireless pads. I'll have to pick up a simple AA charger. I really could use a VGA cable. I found the one in the link earlier. $40. Hopefully they will ship to UK. It sounds perfect for me. I don't want the resolution upscaled. It sends out 640x480. My standard definition TV has a D-sub input. VGA 640x480 is the highest you can set it. This is how I have my 360 set up. The picture I get is quite impressive. Miles better than RGB SCART which I had to buy for Halo being a 50Hz game. I can compare the 2 connection types with Halo2.

http://www.vdigi.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=2&category_id=3&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

If they can do a D-Terminal for Japan I would of thought that the best market for Nintendo is USA. Why no D-sub VGA? Apparently the 360's D-sub cable is a great seller.
Going back there's the N64 having no RGB and being easier to achieve through modding on a NTSC console. Or no S-video on any PAL. I'd love answers to these questions as surely it's easy money for Big N.

[Lyris]

http://www.vdigi.com/index.php?page=...emart&Itemid=1

Has anyone used one of these, and can they tell us what the quality is like?

Presumably it can grab real RGBHV out of the Wii... or perhaps a tiny chip in the end of one of the connectors converts the Component output?

[Red_Breast]

Wii VDigi VGA cable review.

I will be ordering the VDigi Wii cable soon. Here's a DCEmu review. Sounds ideal for me. Any other way I'd have to pay more for a box of tricks where I'd be paying more for the ability to up the resolution which I don't want.
The D-sub apparently has 4 dip-switches on it.

http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=77946

Maybe you can help me. The dip-sitches seem to offer RGBS, which I believe is the same as SCART (composite sync), and I seem to remember some plasmas use. Then there are 3 RGBHV switches. Default, 1 & 2. Any idea why 3? How do you think the switches would need to be set for standard VGA RGBHV?

I might email them about it. I did a few days ago regarding shipping to UK.
I had my reply the next day. It's $10 normal registered airmail.
Know of any resellers with the cable?

[Lyris]

I don't know how they'll have configured the switches, but they should supply that info along with the cable.

The fact that it uses DIP switches makes me think that it's a transcoder rather than something that pulls RGBHV out natively, so it will probably look the same as the Component cable... but obviously be more convenient for people who can't use the Component one. The DIP switches will just be there for compatibility most likely - just mess with them until you get a picture

[Red_Breast]

I didn't address what you asked in my previous post. Nor does the review. Does the cable pull RGB from the Wii or is it transcoded?
So PAL Wii has a RGB SCART cable. The VDigi site says the cable is good for any console. I have a US Wii but I'm using S-video as I read it won't take SCART. But maybe it's still possible to get RGB from US consoles. Or not? This is going above my level of knowledge.
Wishful thinking I guess. Probably colour space converted to RGB. I read a review somewhere about 6 months back for a Mayflash YPbPr to D-Sub converter with pass-through D-Sub. Used on a Wii I seem to remember the reviewer saying what he was getting on-screen didn't seem totally in sync. This one:

http://www.mayflash.com/vgabox/vga001/vga001.htm

So apparently the D-sub part of the VDigi cable has dips but it still looks chunky. Must be a chip in it. Screws must be pretty long as well.

[Red_Breast]

Just found another review for the cable. It actually has a female D-Sub. I was wondering why I couldn't see any screws.

http://wiinintendo.net/2007/10/31/vdigis-wii-vga-cable-review/

[JP]

Wasn't sure where to post this as I don't think it deserves it's own thread really!

I'm using my Wii on a 720p/1080i TV I'm never quite sure whether I prefer running the games under 4:3 or 16:9. Due to the res the Wii produces I feel that the 4:3 picture seems sharper to me but 16:9 aspect picture often gives the full picture.

I'm wondering which way other people find better when they use their Wii's on HD TVs?

[LostHeaven]

Anyone here planing on buying BWii? I want it bad, but I need to know first how the online multiplayer mode works outs here in Europe, on NTSC Wiis...

[Roddie]

Wasn't sure where to post this as I don't think it deserves it's own thread really!

I'm using my Wii on a 720p/1080i TV I'm never quite sure whether I prefer running the games under 4:3 or 16:9. Due to the res the Wii produces I feel that the 4:3 picture seems sharper to me but 16:9 aspect picture often gives the full picture.

I'm wondering which way other people find better when they use their Wii's on HD TVs?

Hmm, I always prefer running in it 16:9 (using a 40" 1080p panel), maybe the games you're playing are 4:3? The only Wii game I remember playing through that was 4:3 only was Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, but due to the style of the game, really the only place you noticed the image being stretched was on the wrist strap notice at the start.

[MattyD]

Anyone here planing on buying BWii? I want it bad, but I need to know first how the online multiplayer mode works outs here in Europe, on NTSC Wiis...

It doesn't make any difference which region you're in. All you need is the other player's friends codes. TBH there isn't anything online with the Wii right now anyway, I think only Super Mario Strikers and the new Pokemon game have online modes.

Getting points to buy Virtual Console games is not a problem either as sites such as VG+ offer the scratch-off points cards for sale and will email you the code rather than making you wait several days for it to arrive by airmail.

[egparadigm]

Hmm, I always prefer running in it 16:9 (using a 40" 1080p panel), maybe the games you're playing are 4:3? The only Wii game I remember playing through that was 4:3 only was Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, but due to the style of the game, really the only place you noticed the image being stretched was on the wrist strap notice at the start.

I think he means he has selected 4:3 in the Wii settings because he thinks the image is sharper.

I would always prefer to have a bigger image, even if it is slightly less sharp, but I don't know if that is the case.

[JP]

Yeah, that's what I meant. It's not that the image is stretched as most are in 16:9 anyway.

The jaggies aren't quite as obvious when you're using 4:3 though even though the picture hasn't actually improved.

I think I'm going to settle on 16:9 and just sit a bit further from the screen.

I'd got rid of most of my Wii games but I'm on a hunt to get a few back again since playing Metroid and knowing Mario is on his way.

[Red_Breast]

Anyone here planing on buying BWii? I want it bad, but I need to know first how the online multiplayer mode works outs here in Europe, on NTSC Wiis...

What's a BWii?
Anyway Lyris I've ordered the VDigi cable. I'll let you know when it arrives if you have any questions and I can help.