please educate this noob.

[dj2times]

just gettin into the collecting aspect of the video game world... noticed alot of NTSC and PALs gettin slung around the forums... anyone feel like takin the time to explain to me somethin that seems obvious? noticed a guy selling a single cartridge for $730 ("THE NTSC Version, not Pal")... just wanna be on the same page as everyone else...

[Lady Jaye]

Hmm, that's because sometimes a cart released in a given market (say, North America, which is NTSC) would be way rare, while its European (and PAL) counterpart is common as dirt.

Anyway, this is not the right forum for this... swooch into the classic gaming forum (sure it also concerns the modern gaming world, but let's cover all grounds here, shall we?).

[Nukie]

For a very basic breakdown, and this isn't complete just a general, North American releases (Canada and US) are NTSC, while European are Pal. Games like Stadium Events (which would go for that possibly) are rarer as NTSC format.

[GarrettCRW]

NTSC and PAL are the major television standards used on the planet. This, in a nutshell, is what you need to know about both:

NTSC-Used in Japan and North America. Runs at 30 frames/second, allowing (using some horrendous math that can work a number on picture quality) for transfers of TV shows and movies shot on film to run at their proper speed. Color performance (added in the early '50s) is inconsistent from TV to TV.

PAL-Used in Europe, Parts of South America, and other places that used to be colonies of the major European powers. Runs at 25 frames/second with higher resolution and color consistency, but at the cost of the correct playing speed for anything shot at 24 frames/second (read: most motion pictures and many American and Japanese TV shows), or designed with the NTSC format in mind.

[dj2times]

are there physical features on the cart. that let you know if its either pal or ntsc?

[GarrettCRW]

are there physical features on the cart. that let you know if its either pal or ntsc?

Generally speaking, yes. Most game systems uses codes printed on the cartridge/disc/disk, box, manual, and the like that includes "PAL" or "NTSC" somewhere near the end. (Though NTSC carts will usually have NTSC(J) or NTSC(U) to separate the games from the Japanese and American versions, which often have region lockouts put in by the companies that made the system in order to keep you from buying the Japanese version several months early.)

[dj2times]

are there physical features on the cart. that let you know if its either pal or ntsc?

Generally speaking, yes. Most game systems uses codes printed on the cartridge/disc/disk, box, manual, and the like that includes "PAL" or "NTSC" somewhere near the end. (Though NTSC carts will usually have NTSC(J) or NTSC(U) to separate the games from the Japanese and American versions, which often have region lockouts put in by the companies that made the system in order to keep you from buying the Japanese version several months early.)

*looking at games now.... * not seein that

[GarrettCRW]

*looking at games now.... * not seein that

Which system are the games you have for?

[dj2times]

*looking at games now.... * not seein that

Which system are the games you have for?

NES.

[Speedy_NES]

For NES there are two PAL formats, PAL-A and PAL-B. PAL-A = Italy, United Kingdom, and Australia. PAL-B = remaining European countries. PAL NES games will just about always have an A or B stamped in the bottom right of the box and cartridge. The region code will also always differ from the US one (with the exception of the Dutch Athletic World which has a USA front label). US games always have USA at the end of their region codes: i.e. NES-XX-USA. PAL games will have other region codes at the end: ESP, FRA, HOL, ITA, etc.

Also, PAL-A and PAL-B games will only work on PAL-A and PAL-B NES consoles, respectively - unless you modify the NES and make it universal.

[McBacon]

Change in cart? An actual physical shape change isn't very common, apart from SNES. Compare this to your SNES games:



PAL games are sometimes stored in different sized boxes (such as Dreamcast, PSOne and DS games that are stored in significantly larger cases due to the manual being larger - 5 languages instead of 1 (or 2, for canada).

And of course, you get the crazy complete changes such as the change of the orange Dreamcast brand to blue for europe, the design of the Super NES reflecting the rounded Super Famicom over here in the Europe and our Genesis taking the name of the Japanese counterpart, the Megadrive.

[Balloon Fight]

Just wanted to add that NTSC and Pal apply specifically to Televisions. You can play all handheld games (game boy, game gear) on any system. The only handheld system to my knowledge that would act like it was a NTSC or Pal machine is the Turbo Express. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.)