Having previously played my Wii on a regular old television I was more than happy with the graphics in game. However upon moving house and purchasing a Samsung LCD TV which is HD compatible, I figured buying a component cable couldn’t hurt and I had heard good things about its effect upon games. I did not have the money at the time to purchase the official Nintendo one, and when talking about it with the kind and helpful assistants in GAME, they assured me theirs was just as good and a fraction of the price. I had never been let down by them before so I bought it and went home straight away to see the effect it would have, especially on games with already spectacular graphics like Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy.
Difference in Picture Quality
Being unsure of the effect it would have, I performed a blind test with a friend, asking him to guess whether the picture he was looking at was with the component cable or the
regular cable. I repeated this test three times to see if there was a major difference, he guessed correct in time and there is an obvious difference when it is used. I have heard from some that the component cable has no effect on screens under a certain size (30inch or less), this is crazy talk! With games with mediocre graphics it made them look sharper and more colourful, however where it really improved things was with already great looking games, such as Super Mario Galaxy. The already amazing and clear graphics were notched insignificantly, everything looks more colourful and crystal clear and for lack of a better way to describe it, it looks like more information is being shown on screen. I am no graphics junkie, but even I could fully appreciate the increase in graphical quality when the component cable is used. Top notch! 5/5
Look and Feel
It feels as you would expect really, though it does strike me as being heavy for a cable. One end slots into the Wii and the other has 5 plugs to go into the 5 sockets available on the pack of newer TVs. It is identical in colour to the rest of the Wii cables, being a medium matt grey colour. If being plugged into the back of a TV, it needs to be 3-4 inches away from the wall at least, as the wires come back quite a bit from the TV and it would be unwise to bend them too much. There isn’t really much to see or feel, tough it is a shame it sticks out from the TV so much, more so than some other cables, meaning your TV has to be pushed away from the wall quite a bit. 4/5
Robust and Durable
Normally not required for a cable, but an incident I had proved its durability. Whilst unpacking more of my stuff, I left the cable on the floor, and accidentally dropped a heavy metal DVD storage case on it. Whilst the cable had no marks or damage at all (despite it landing on the connector pins) the floor was dented. During normal (and abnormal) usage it is certainly robust enough to withstand most things you can put it through (not that it should need to, it should be sitting in your TV out of the way) Unlike some GAMEware items I have used, this is made of top quality plastic and feels as robust as it is. 5/5
Value for Money
The increase in sharpness and quality of graphics does give Wii games that extra graphical power and for £10 it is very good value for money. Personally I think the Wii is graphically good enough anyway, but even I would (and did) pay £10 for better graphics on the games I love. It notably made Metroid Prime 3 look even more amazing than it already did as did Battalion Wars 2. For £10, it is surely a must buy for anyone who owns both a Wii and a HD compatible TV. 5/5
Manual
Unusually for a GAMEware accessory, you don’t have a hefty book to tell you how to use it. However everything that is necessary is given to you clearly in the instructions. Naturally after buying and fitting the cable, you need to go to the Wii settings and change the Wii from 50/60 Hz to EDTV/HDTV. After this you will notice a sizeable increase in the graphical quality of games. The manual describes everything that has to be done and is very clear and concise. 5/5
Overall
The GAMEware component cable performs the same job as the official one, but at a fraction of the cost. For some games on the Wii, the graphics will make a moderate jump in sharpness and become more colourful. For those with already great graphics, they will experience a very noticeable difference in crispness and smoothness of gameplay. I very highly recommend this for anyone with a Wii and HD compatible TV, you will notice the difference in graphical quality and the GAMEware cable works perfectly, at a fraction of the cost of the official one. 5/5
Thanks for reading, any comments you have will be gratefully received. Also on Dooyoo.
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