Does Gamecube outputs 1080i (HDTV) ?

[vulcanman]

I read that for certain games Gamecube can output in native 1080i format .. eg. Rogue Squatron 2

Could someone please tell me if this is true ?

I have a HDTV and the criteria is that the games play in 1080i format (Ok ... maybe wishful thinking)

Please let me know ... thanks

max

 

[Adul]

well i think the gamecube offers that support.

 

[Maverick]

I know the Xbox can only handle 480p or whatever it is with no progressive scan capability. I would assume its pretty costly to implement 1080i support since only a handful of DVD players even support it. And those cost $500+

As for the Gamecube, given the main target audience (kids between the ages of 5-12)...I doubt they'd put such a costly feature into it. Its highly unlikely that many 5-12 year olds will have HDTVs to hook up to their Gamecubes. Until HDTVs become more common (say in 5 or so years), there's little reason for a game company to support them.

 

[vulcanman]

<< I know the Xbox can only handle 480p or whatever it is with no progressive scan capability. I would assume its pretty costly to implement 1080i support since only a handful of DVD players even support it. And those cost $500+

As for the Gamecube, given the main target audience (kids between the ages of 5-12)...I doubt they'd put such a costly feature into it. Its highly unlikely that many 5-12 year olds will have HDTVs to hook up to their Gamecubes. Until HDTVs become more common (say in 5 or so years), there's little reason for a game company to support them. >>



You probably misread my question ... it was not about DVD playback ... it was about games only.

FYI:
- Xbox does support 1080i output ... via the optional connector assembly ($15). Xbox has a switch that will allow you to choose the mode depending on the TV. But this applies only to games ... the DVD playback still is only 480p.

- Nintendo cannot (I just called them) output more than 480p. It does not have the capability to do more than that.

So I am going for the Xbox.

 

[Thorstadt]

I am almost positive that the XBox supports up to 1080i resolution, but I am not sure about Gamecube. Though I would imagine it would be something like that.

 

[DaveK]

No DVD player that I know of will output 1080i, even if it does, it would be scaled, as normal DVDs don't have nearly that many lines.

Anyway...Xbox games - 1080i if the game supports it
Gamecube - 480p

DaveK

 

[noninterleaved]

<< - Xbox does support 1080i output ... via the optional connector assembly ($15). Xbox has a switch that will allow you to choose the mode depending on the TV. But this applies only to games ... the DVD playback still is only 480p.

- Nintendo cannot (I just called them) output more than 480p. It does not have the capability to do more than that.

So I am going for the Xbox. >>



Games on Xbox will run at 480i, 480p, 768i, 768p (dunno about this one), and 1080i.

It will ONLY play dvd's at 480i. Apparently there is some issue where the licenses cost more to be able to play the 480p picture... so you won't get this out of the $30 kit...

 

[Soccerman]

noninterleaved that number is 720p/i, not 768p/i, becuase we're not talking about computer resolutions which work in 4:3.

btw, fyi, you should read the Anandtech article on the Xbox.. if it is accurate (I don't trust reviews on consoles, as I don't even understand how the PSX can output 480i with it's puny memory), though I think basically Anand said this: the rasterizer can render at fairly high resolutions at the expense of memory-bandwidth. so I personally don't think we'll see anything higher than an internal rendering of 1280x720 progressive. FYI I think the XBox memory bandwidth is something like the GF3 Ti200 (but shared with the P3, which can take about 1 gigabyte/second), which is 128 bit 200mhz DDR by default if I know my specs correctly. the GF3 Ti200 works perfectly fine at 1024x768, and probably does fine at 1280x1024 in 3D applications, but I don't expect it to go any higher (1920x1080 interlaced) due to memory bandwidth AND size restrictions (framebuffer gets pretty large!).

HOWEVER, even if it internally renders at 480i, you can set the XBox to upconvert that picture into 720p or 1080i becuase it has a sort of TV out chip. at best, it might help quality with a line-doubling effect (going from 480i to 480p) which also halves framerate though that doesn't really matter since we're talking about such low resolutions with a chip capable of pretty high resolution images (which means basically that it will run as fast as it can, unless the software prevents it from doing so)anywho, as a result, the GPU potentially could be rendering 120 FPS and sending that to the TV out chip which performs a line-doubling technique and consequently halves the framerate...

that is, IF I understand this Xbox in the first place

 

[CZroe]

<< As for the Gamecube, given the main target audience (kids between the ages of 5-12)...I doubt they'd put such a costly feature into it. Its highly unlikely that many 5-12 year olds will have HDTVs to hook up to their Gamecubes. Until HDTVs become more common (say in 5 or so years), there's little reason for a game company to support them. >>



My GOD it's so obvious when you run into a "Jock" gamer suckered into games by Sony trying to make its-self look "cool." The GCN is FAR from a 5-12yr old target audience! Nintendo has totally abandoned that & tried to make it as obvious as possible (With PUBLIC STATEMENTS, but people like you tend to ignore those huh?). Though the launch titles are not far from their roots, they have specifically "bought" all of Capcoms most "adult" games for years to come as GCN exclusives. Not only that, but even the mighty N64 wasn't exactly a kids system (Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Resident Evil 2, the profane Conker's Bad Fur Day, the list goes on). The PS One & all it's crappy Rugrats & dancing games filling the shelf is a real put-off. The N64 was Nintendo ONLY "kiddie" system if you could ever even call it that, and yet some people just get blinded by the past. NES was for everyone, and only cosindered for kids because ANY thing with the word "game" in it was considered "kids-stuff" back then. SNES didn't get the "cool" popularity of the Genesis, but was far more advanced, had better games & all of the same good violent adult games that Genesis had (Though it's true Mortal Kombat 1 didn't have red blood, but who cares) & out-sold the Genesis. The GameBoy was targetted at adults with "Tetris" being it's first pack-in game & Pokemon is the only "image ruining" aspect, though Tetris games still out-number Pokemon games on the GB series of hand-helds. You aren't stereotyping Nintendo because of Pokemon are you? Because Sony has about a million things it can be stereotyped for too...

 

[Maniac9127]

So let me see if I got this right, you're getting the Xbox over the Gamecube because some games might support 1080i?

 

[vulcanman]

<< So let me see if I got this right, you're getting the Xbox over the Gamecube because some games might support 1080i? >>



Ok ... maybe I should have made it clear ... I have a pretty high end home theater ... but I get only four channels of High Definition channels from my cable company ... after having watched HD ... I find it difficult to watch anything else.

I am not a gamer ... the only game I truly enjoyed on my PC was the Need For Speed Porsche Unleased .. with the force steering wheel.

I figured that if Xbox does native 1080i output (via the optional connector) then I would be willing to buy it ... probably they will someday have a NFS-PU sorta game for the XBox.

I am too old (I have a 5 yr old son) for Shoot'em games ... the NFS-PU allows me to experience a little bit of what I feel on the SCCA track events I attend ...

Sorry for my boring lifestory.

max

 

[CZroe]

Isn't 480p better than 1080i? I HATE interlaced video. Wouldn't the loss of quality experienced with interlacing make 480p better?

 

[Pacinamac23]

The cube does not support that resolution. There isn't even any adapters that you can buy that would support that, as far as I know. I know there are loads of adapters yu can buy for the Xbox that will output games at that res. Thing is, no games are supporting it because the fill rate would be much higher then at their normall 480i res.

 

[Dug]

All xbox games do 480p if your tv can support it. Other wise it's output is 480i. Not all games will do 1080i. Although the xbox is capable of displaying 1080i, this has to be programed by the developer. I have yet to see any game on the xbox that has anything but 480i, 480p, or 1080i, meaning no 720p.
The dvd output is only 480i, though I think somebody will find a hack for that, because the hardware is there.

Gamecube can do 480p, but no support for 1080i.

If you have a high end home theater system, definately get the xbox. One of the big pluses is the 5.1 dd sound. It is absolutely amazing how good games sound with this format.

 

[Chad]

"I know the Xbox can only handle 480p or whatever it is with no progressive scan capability. "

Dude, you contradict yourself in the same sentence. See that little p at the end of 480? That means progressive silly.

Ok, here are the facts, as there seems to be some confusion and a lot of you are saying wrong things.

Xbox cann *officially* output in 480i (normal TV), 480p (progressive), 720p (HDTV progressive) and 1080i (HDTV interlaced).

GameCube 480i and 480p ONLY!

PS2 480i only.

P.S. I agree, Nintendo very much is targetting 5-12 year olds and anyone who denies that *FACT* is simply in denial. Yes they would love to have all ages, but they ARE "targetting" kids. Period. I don't care what you say because you're having some complex about playing on a system that is targetted for youths, that is YOUR problem. Note: This does not in any way make the GC a bad system or make you a "little kid" because you play it.

 

[Eug]

<< Isn't 480p better than 1080i? I HATE interlaced video. Wouldn't the loss of quality experienced with interlacing make 480p better? >>

Not necessarily.

Anyways, even if a game did run in 1080i I just wonder how slow it would be with the XBox hardware.

 

[Linux23]

<<

<< So let me see if I got this right, you're getting the Xbox over the Gamecube because some games might support 1080i? >>



Ok ... maybe I should have made it clear ... I have a pretty high end home theater ... but I get only four channels of High Definition channels from my cable company ... after having watched HD ... I find it difficult to watch anything else.

I am not a gamer ... the only game I truly enjoyed on my PC was the Need For Speed Porsche Unleased .. with the force steering wheel.

I figured that if Xbox does native 1080i output (via the optional connector) then I would be willing to buy it ... probably they will someday have a NFS-PU sorta game for the XBox.

I am too old (I have a 5 yr old son) for Shoot'em games ... the NFS-PU allows me to experience a little bit of what I feel on the SCCA track events I attend ...

Sorry for my boring lifestory.

max >>




Welcome to the HD Elite club. After watching programs in 720p (my monitor supports that, hehe) i hate to go back to regular broadcast television.

I may get an X-Box as well, but I think I'll wait until MS releases Service Pack 2 on that console.


BTW, have you setup a HTPC for your HDTV to playback DVD video in progressive format?

 

[Damascus]

<< If you have a high end home theater system, definately get the xbox. >>



How about getting something for the games?

 

[SithSolo1]

"P.S. I agree, Nintendo very much is targetting 5-12 year olds and anyone who denies that *FACT* is simply in denial. Yes they would love to have all ages, but they ARE "targetting" kids. Period. I don't care what you say because you're having some complex about playing on a system that is targetted for youths, that is YOUR problem. Note: This does not in any way make the GC a bad system or make you a "little kid" because you play it. "

I'm sorry but your fact is based upon thin air.

Of the 17 games out for the GC right now, 6 are rated T.

T as defined by the ESRB: Titles rated Teen (T) have content suitable for persons ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violent content, mild or strong language, and/or suggestive themes.

Last time I checked 13 was older than 12.

So already 1/3 of the GC games are not targeted towards 5-12 year olds. But we're not done yet.

The remaining 11 games a rated E.

E as defined by the ESRB: Titles rated Everyone (E) have content suitable for persons ages 6 and older. These titles will appeal to people of many ages and tastes. They may contain minimal violence, some comic mischief (for example, slapstick comedy), or some crude language. This rating formerly was known as Kids to Adult (K-A).

Nowhere in that definintion does it say for kids only.

And another thing. Of those 11 games 7 are sports games (I count Xtreme G 3 as a sport, you may not). Sports games are truly for everyone.

Now that leaves us with 4 games.

Pikmin
Luigi's Mansion
Super Monkey Ball
and
Tarzan Untamed

Now out of those the only one that would be specifically for the 5-12 age group is Tarzan Untamed.

SO if you can prove me wrong after reading this, by all means do it. If not, go back to your pit of negatism and stay there.

 

[Chad]

Proof is in the games released by Nintendo themselves, which will tell you who *NINTENDO* is targetting with their system. Just becase another developer may try to cash in some bucks does not change who NINTENDO is trying to get to buy the system.

Kids. Deal.

 

[SithSolo1]

Ok Chad, lets talk about just Nintendo.

They have 3 games out now.

1 is rated Teen which is not the demographic that you picked.

the other 2 are rated E.

I believe Pikmin is geared more for the 9 and up demographic.

Luigi's masion on the other hand is more for the 6-12. Yes, I think that this game is "kiddy" but that doesn't mean older people can't enjoy it.

So no, Nintendo is not aiming for the 5-12 demographic you have ingrained in your head.

 

[Sunner]

<< Super monkey ball >>


Now THAT sure doesn't sound like a kids game