5 ms·

Bandai did the same with the Wonderswan devices, which competed against the Game Boy Color and Advance. The device was only released in Japan around '98 - '01.

by byuu 10y ago

Bandai did the same with the Wonderswan devices, which competed against the Game Boy Color and Advance. The device was only released in Japan around '98 - '01. And so now, if you want to use headphones with it (and you do; as not only do you get stereo instead of monaural sound; you get an extra channel of audio so you'll be missing certain sound effects in some games without them!), you get to buy one of these pricey ($60-80) adapters for it, plus shipping fees from Japan: http://www.ebay.com/itm/361198122142 http://www.ebay.com/itm/361198122142 Of course, if you really want to see the fun of removing standardized ports, look no further than the Gamecube's component cables, which sell for a cool $250+ today: http://www.ebay.com/itm/131939975870 http://www.ebay.com/itm/131939975870 So, yeah. I'm strongly in favor of industry standard ports, even if it adds a few pennies onto the cost or a few mm onto the device size.

BinaryIdiot 10y ago
Oh wow I had no idea Gamecube component cables are so crazy expensive now. I had a set back when I used to have my Gamecube and I gave it all away only a couple of years ago. Damn.
Jach 10y ago
The fun doubles for modders. See e.g. https://github.com/ikorb/gcvideo https://github.com/ikorb/gcvideo ; plus the FPGA and parts is cheaper than a set of cables... (And for the GBA SP it's been done more nicely than the pic in the article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0iihTSqPKo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0iihTSqPKo)
djhworld 10y ago
The Gamecube example is interesting. From the Wikipedia page: > The only cables that can output a 480p signal from the GameCube are the official Nintendo-brand YPBPR component cables, available in both RCA[note 1] and D-Terminal[note 2] variations. These cables are equipped with a unique digital-to-analog converter developed by Nintendo which has not been reproduced by any third party company. So the adapter is proprietary and I'd imagine wasn't exactly manufactured in huge numbers back then, which attracts such a high price. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GameCube_games_with_alternate_display_modes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GameCube_games_with_al...
- byuu 10y ago
  The real irony is that component is an analog standard; yet Nintendo chose to output it over their digital port by using a custom DAC. And yet they never released any true digital cable (eg HDMI) for said port. Although the image quality is said to be slightly worse; at this point your best bet is to buy one of the older, backward-compatible Wiis to get component output. Much cheaper.
  - rocky1138 10y ago
    This is what I did.
  - aboonaboo 10y ago
    Or just emulate it and get 1080p
  - joemi 10y ago
    I might have my timelines confused a bit, but I could swear HDMI was not mass-adopted back when the Gamecube was out... I think DVI was the main digital video standard back then.
    - bfuller 10y ago
      I believe you are correct. One of those awkward moments in history that look like blunders in hindsight.
    - brazzledazzle 10y ago
      Yeah but HDMI is compatible with DVI so if they had output it conversion would be a trivial dongle. I think the point they're making is that they had digital output but didn't take advantage of it. But the digital out they had at the time was probably a standard they thought was going to be the winner or long term so I don't know if I'd knock them for not knowing what is obvious with hindsight.
clw8 10y ago
Are those the cables that come stock? If so I've got some Ebay'ing to do...
- lubos 10y ago
  I bought second-hand Gamecube a while ago. I just checked and I have a cable which plugs into analog port. There is digital port too. I assume the digital port is used by component cable which I don't have. Funny, I've never noticed digital port until today.
  - arm 10y ago
    Yep, you’re right. I bought my GameCube new back in the day and it only came with the composite cable. The component cable is a separate purchase and Nintendo only sold it in Japan. In addition to that, the Digital A/V Output Port was also removed from newer GameCube models¹, lowering the probability of someone wanting the cable even further. ―――――― ¹ — https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/nintendogamecube/component.jsp https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/nintendogamecube/c...
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
joemi 10y ago
re: Gamecube... How big of a market do you think there will be for 15 year old iPhones? As expensive as they are, I think they will hold much less retro appeal than old game systems.

by byuu 10y ago

BinaryIdiot 10y ago

Oh wow I had no idea Gamecube component cables are so crazy expensive now. I had a set back when I used to have my Gamecube and I gave it all away only a couple of years ago. Damn.

Jach 10y ago

The fun doubles for modders. See e.g. https://github.com/ikorb/gcvideo https://github.com/ikorb/gcvideo ; plus the FPGA and parts is cheaper than a set of cables... (And for the GBA SP it's been done more nicely than the pic in the article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0iihTSqPKo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0iihTSqPKo)

djhworld 10y ago

The Gamecube example is interesting. From the Wikipedia page: > The only cables that can output a 480p signal from the GameCube are the official Nintendo-brand YPBPR component cables, available in both RCA[note 1] and D-Terminal[note 2] variations. These cables are equipped with a unique digital-to-analog converter developed by Nintendo which has not been reproduced by any third party company. So the adapter is proprietary and I'd imagine wasn't exactly manufactured in huge numbers back then, which attracts such a high price. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GameCube_games_with_alternate_display_modes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GameCube_games_with_al...

byuu 10y ago
The real irony is that component is an analog standard; yet Nintendo chose to output it over their digital port by using a custom DAC. And yet they never released any true digital cable (eg HDMI) for said port. Although the image quality is said to be slightly worse; at this point your best bet is to buy one of the older, backward-compatible Wiis to get component output. Much cheaper.
- rocky1138 10y ago
  This is what I did.
- aboonaboo 10y ago
  Or just emulate it and get 1080p
- joemi 10y ago
  I might have my timelines confused a bit, but I could swear HDMI was not mass-adopted back when the Gamecube was out... I think DVI was the main digital video standard back then.
  - bfuller 10y ago
    I believe you are correct. One of those awkward moments in history that look like blunders in hindsight.
  - brazzledazzle 10y ago
    Yeah but HDMI is compatible with DVI so if they had output it conversion would be a trivial dongle. I think the point they're making is that they had digital output but didn't take advantage of it. But the digital out they had at the time was probably a standard they thought was going to be the winner or long term so I don't know if I'd knock them for not knowing what is obvious with hindsight.

clw8 10y ago

Are those the cables that come stock? If so I've got some Ebay'ing to do...

lubos 10y ago
I bought second-hand Gamecube a while ago. I just checked and I have a cable which plugs into analog port. There is digital port too. I assume the digital port is used by component cable which I don't have. Funny, I've never noticed digital port until today.
- arm 10y ago
  Yep, you’re right. I bought my GameCube new back in the day and it only came with the composite cable. The component cable is a separate purchase and Nintendo only sold it in Japan. In addition to that, the Digital A/V Output Port was also removed from newer GameCube models¹, lowering the probability of someone wanting the cable even further. ―――――― ¹ — https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/nintendogamecube/component.jsp https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/nintendogamecube/c...

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

joemi 10y ago

re: Gamecube... How big of a market do you think there will be for 15 year old iPhones? As expensive as they are, I think they will hold much less retro appeal than old game systems.