We got our Wii component cables in yesterday and while the picture is amazingly better, there is also a slight downside for my model of LCD TV that I’m still trying to workout. When playing Wii games, or in the Wii Channels menu, there is a 1/2″ black border around every side of the screen and it doesn’t fill my entire 37″ LCD. I’ve fiddled with settings on the TV and even found someone else on the internet in a HDTV forums with the same issue so I think I’ll just write it off as a nuisance, but by far nothing that would make me go back to the composite A/V cables.

The picture quality is much better across all games, almost too good in older N64 games like Zelda:OoT where some textures are very, very sharp to the point their faults stick out instead of blur just a bit the way they did using a standard definition TV with composite A/V cables. You’d have to see it to understand I suppose and again, it’s nothing that would make me not want to use the cables and 480p settings as the game overall looks much better. Super Nintendo games look incredibly sharp, certain icons and wording that used to be blurry or “smudged” looking is now crystal clear to the pixel. The colors look much better and overall Zelda:Link to the Past looks better than ever playing with the setup. I checked out Excitetruck and Wii Sports as well and they both looked much better, in Wii Sports Tennis, there is grass on the court that I hadn’t noticed before. Overall, if you have the component inputs on your TV, HD or not, get the cables and make the best out of the system and your TV.

Some interesting things going on in the world of the Wii, starting with that Blazing Angels rumor of it having online play and some other news I’ll be covering in the Wii Bits for today:

- John Dvorak has nothing but praise in his latest article titled “Ode to the Wii”. In it he discusses the unique controller, games that have caught his heart from the system, and the future of gaming and how the Wii sits.

- I’m still looking for a better source on this, but according to DigitalBattle.com, Epyx has announced they will be bringing a few of their Commodore 64 games to the Wii VC. Some possible games include Ballblazer, California Games, Final Assault, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Jumpman, Space Station Oblivion, Summer Games, and more.

- ComputerandVideoGames.com has an article up where Geoff Thomas, producer at Radical Entertainment has let them know that Scarface will make great use of the Wii, even rivaling the PS2 and XBOX version at times. He’s quoted as saying, “The Wii has a lot of horsepower under the hood and we’re making full use of it.” It will be interesting to see how the game turns out on the Wii system, I found it quite enjoyable on the XBOX personally.

- Would you like a Sheik figurine from the Legend of Zelda series? First4Figures has you covered with this 9″ tall figurine of the Shiek. Better get it quick as only 2,500 are going to be made.

- Couple of rumors going on as to what may be coming on Monday for the US VC release. First up there’s this post at GoNintendo.com saying Tecmo Bowl may be coming and then there’s this post at GoNintendo also talking about Super Ghouls N’ Ghosts showing up on a secret page. If true, these would be some fine additions for the VC for Monday. I’m hoping they bring one of the Punch-Out’s soon as those were some of my favorite games for the NES and SNES.

- And for the last bit here, check out this gameplay video from Alien Syndrome: