Well not really, but it does support what is known as enhanced definition (EDTV). The Nintendo Wii does not come with an EDTV cable, this is not unusual; Sony do not provide a HDMI cable with the PS3. Upgrade cables are required for both to get the most out of these consoles when used with High Definition televisions. After wasting £40 on a HDMI cable for the PS3 I was reluctant to spalsh out on an EDTV cable for the Wii. However, some of the professional Wii gamers over at Wii Talk convinced me that I would notice the difference, so I went along to my local Game shop and bought a generic £12.99 Gameware EDTV cable for the Wii.

To be honest I couldn’t really see much of an improvement, but perhaps it is just me. The EDTV on the Wii is 480p format. The ‘p’ stands for progressive which means all rows are updated every second rather than every other row when using a standard cable; this is known as interlaced. This should give a sharper picture, but I couldn’t really see it. Additionally, as the component cables used in the Wii cable have five wires, two more than the provided cable, you get a much richer picture as information about hue and saturation can also be sent to the television. Please note that your TV has to have a component input to get the benefits from EDTV. Finally, if you do buy one of these cables make sure you go into your Wii settings and change the ‘TV Type’. I have included some before and after pictures below:

Wii Standard Cable

Wii EDTV

Can you see the difference?  £12.99 well spent?