Catchup Quickie: HDMI and consoles

ARS TECHNICA asks: "How important is HDMI for consoles?"

Before I offer my opinion, let's look at it this way. Before the Xbox 360 Elite, 66% of the next generation consoles had HDMI output. Shouldn't that answer the immediate question?

It's not that simple, but funny nontheless.

This about sums it up:

if I showed you an image being pushed through component and HDMI I don't know how much of a difference you would be able to pick out.

Do you want to know why I want a 360 Elite with HDMI? So I can free up a component input on my TV for the PS2. Why do I need that? So I can go progressive scan in Guitar Hero 2, which doesn't work on the PS3.

Other than that, sure, 1080p is a benefit, but from what I've seen on the PS3, it's not a significant jump from 1080i.