In this day and age of the “next-gen” craze, all we ever hear about is high-def, 1080i (or p), and HDMI. The PS3 has it, and so does the Xbox 360. But what does the Wii have that’s so “next-gen”? Well, nothing according to the hardcore tech geeks. Hell, it doesn’t even plays DVDs - yet. But nonetheless, Nintendo’s latest console powerhouse does supports last generation’s HD, the 480 progressive scan display or 480p for short. This is because Nintendo doesn’t feel that the majority of gamers in the whole world owns an high-definition TV yet - and they’re right. Most people don’t, but a large growing number are picking one up every month. So you might as well jump on the bandwagon now. The Wii comes packaged with your standard composite cables, but to actually enjoy the progressive scan display on your Wii, you’ll have to go and purchase an extra set of component cables.

Most of the Wii games available now and coming out soon will supports 480p display. Some folks considers it pointless since most Wii games have crappy graphics anyways? Also, can you really tell the differences between a progressive scan display and regular interlaced?

I sure as hell can, but thats because I’m a graphics whore. I live for the graphics, the pixels, the polygon but yet, strangely I own a Wii. Yeah weird isn’t it? And then again, there are those people who claim that they absolutely can’t tell the difference between a regular display and a high-def display. They probably need some (new) glasses. Anyways, I totally believe that component cables do make a noticeable difference in display. For the Wii games that actually do support 480p, the visuals are much more sharp and clear. Colors are more vibrant and text is much easier to read. And for the Wii, any little bit to improve the graphics help.

The other day I decide to snap some pics of a couple Wii games running in progressive mode and interlace mode. See for yourself and compare.

Metroid Prime 3 in regular interlaced display :

Metroid Prime 3 in 480p :

Resident Evil 4 in regular interlaced display :

Resident Evil 4 in progressive display :

Ok so these screenshots don’t do the progressive scan displays any justice, but I can assure everyone that there is a much noticeable difference. Not completely night and day, but enough for me to say “yep…i’ll stick with the components cables”. So if you haven’t gotten a set of component cables yet, I suggest you do and use them instead. You won’t be disappointed.

So with so many brands of component cables available out there, which one is the best to get? I personally don’t believe that anyone is better than the other - aside from brand name. Some people say the Nintendo brand component cables are the best to use and if you feel better using them, then more power to you. The component cables I’m using is the React Component Cables that I got from Best Buy for $24.99.

Ok, before I forget, make sure to actually change your “TV Resolution” settings on your Wii Settings to HD-TV in order for the progressive scan display to take effect (you shouldn’t be able to unless you have the component cables connected). You wouldn’t believe how many people haven’t figured that out…sheesh…

I know a few weeks ago I did a review on GameStop’s Wii Cooling Fan Stand- I just found out it’s actually called the “GameStop Afterglow Cooler” - heh oh well. I guess I’ll make the needed corrections. Earlier today while surfing around on IGN.com, I discovered another cooling system that we can add to the list of Wii hardware and peripherals.

Its called the Nyko Wii Intercooler. I haven’t tested it out myself since I just found out about it recently, but this new cooling system is apparently more suited for those of us who tend to keep the Wii sitting horizontally. And yes, I’ve seen people who do that just because they keep their second or third Xbox 360 that way too. Yeah thats right.

It turns out that the Wii is latest addition to Nyko’s cooling products. They’ve already made similar cooling attachments for the (surprise, surprise) Xbox 360, and the PS3. But for the Wii, it’s a tiny attachment, literally the size of the width of the Wii itself. Its snaps on to the rear vent area with a clip and a flexible cable runs to the power port, which itself has port behind it as you can see from the picture. According to IGN.com, the little thing packs a punch and really does sucks some serious air of the vents. But apparently it does makes enough noise for you to hear it from 5 feet away. Essentially “roughly equivalent to a modern laptop under light load” which not bad at all.

The Nyko Wii Intercooler seems like a nice little device to have if play the Wii for long hours at a time. However, it does not mention if it will actually stay on when you leave the Wii on standby mode with the Wii Connect 24 turned on like GameStop Afterglow Cooler does. So I don’t know if this will protect you from any Wii Connect 24 over heating issues.

The Nyko Wii Intercooler will run you $14.99.

Since the new Wii Jackets (you know, the anti-clumsy-keep-it-from-breaking silicone sleeve casing for the Wii-mote?) is being shipped with all the new Wii’s after October 15th, 2007, Nintendo has been kind enough (or sick of hearing uncoordinated gamers break their Wii-motes) to send any Wii owners up to 4 free Wii Jackets. You’ll need your Wii serial number so make sure to look it up before heading down to the official Nintendo site to order some. According to Nintendo, expect it to take 5 to 10 days for delivery. Hopefully I don’t end up breaking anything in the mean time trying to play Victorious Boxer….

Since it’s free, I suggest all Wii owners to go ahead and order some, just for the hell of it. I mean come on, its free! Apparently some folks are having some issues entering in their serial numbers so the best thing to do is to wait a few hours and try again.

Well I’ve ordered mine, how about you? Get yours here.

A few days ago I wrote about the potential overheating affects of Wii Connect 24. Well fortunately there are ways to help cool the Wii down. On my occasional searches on eBay, I would come across these weird looking illuminating crystal clear Wii stands, which also happens to cool the Wii down in the process while looking “futuristic” or sort of.  Most of them would run from about $10 to $17, which is fairly cheap but considering you’d also have to pay for shipping, the price doesn’t look too appealing anymore.  Also, the majority of them are also being shipped from China so there’s no telling how long it’ll take to arrive. And I’m a very impatient person.

So I checked out EBGames.com (i guess they’re also called GameStop now) to see if they carried any similar item and what do ya know, they sure did. Its called the “GameStop Afterglow Cooler”. I headed down there after work and picked one up for $14.99. When I got home and took it out of it’s package to inspect, the stand itself turned out to be quite simple. It was nothing more than basically…..a stand! Note that mine had the “Gamestop” logo on it. I would have prefer it to not have any logo but oh well.

The stand itself is shaped like the original Wii stand except that its crystal clear, and come with a USB attachment with it.

Upon closer inspection towards the rear of the stand, you can see the little fan that will add that extra air to cool into the air vent of the Wii. On the back of the the stand itself, there is the power port (which your USB cable connects to) and switches that allow you to set the stand settings to OFF, LIGHT, and FAN/LIGHT.  Personally, I would have rather it have a FAN settings on there also but guess you can’t have everything. I just switched it to FAN/LIGHT.

The USB connector would obviously plug into one of the Wii’s USB port and once the Wii turns on, the blue LED lighting lights up the stand which is something almost out of the movie Tron or something. And though you can’t hear it, the fan also tuns on. So once the first few seconds of the lighting gets old and kinda annoying, you’d probably want to turn it off but unfortunately, it has to stay on if you want the fan. Oh frickin well.

So how well does it work? Well for the money it does its job. It definitely kept the Wii noticeably cooler during prolong game-play. Another interesting thing it does is when you have the Wii Connect 24 on stand by, the fan also stays on. The bad thing is that the LED light also stays on. So if you like staring at the blue lighting, or is not distracted by it, or like me, have the Wii placed under the TV where I don’t really even see it, then its definitely worth getting. Any little bit always helps.

“..durable, silicone cover for the Wii Remote that provides a variety of benefits for the player..”

Apparently some people still need extra support in anyway shape or form in order to ensure that they don’t destroy something while playing the Wii. See the rest of the article here.