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View Full Version : Atari 7800 NTSC vs. PAL Game BoxesManuals



megasdkirby
10-12-2008, 09:19 AM
I know PAL version of 7800 games won't work on a NTSC console.

But what differences or similarities do boxes have?

I know that Activision/Absolute games in PAL format were released by a different company, so the difference is obvious.

But what about Atari made games, like Centipede, Fatal Run, etc?

I have tried searching online to no avail. I would love to see scans of both the front and back of the following games, both in NTSC and PAL format:

Motor Psycho
Mean 18 Golf
Planet Smashers

Also, what about the manuals? How do the differ?

ApolloBoy
10-12-2008, 01:05 PM
There's pretty much no difference between NTSC and PAL boxes/manuals. Occasionally you'll see them with a "P" (for "PAL", obviously) sticker, but otherwise they're the same.

Mayhem
10-12-2008, 05:27 PM
I think I mentioned this over on AtariAge, but yeah Atari pretty much used the NTSC printed boxes in PAL land as well.

megasdkirby
10-12-2008, 05:35 PM
Ok so if I have a game with manual and cart but no box, I can cheat my way using a PAL box? :)

Mitch
10-13-2008, 01:38 PM
Ok so if I have a game with manual and cart but no box, I can cheat my way using a PAL box? :)

Yeah, you can't tell the difference. It's nice because some of the rare NTSC 7800 games are commons in PAL land.

Mitch

Mayhem
10-13-2008, 03:49 PM
And vice versa...

megasdkirby
10-13-2008, 04:39 PM
Yeah, you can't tell the difference. It's nice because some of the rare NTSC 7800 games are commons in PAL land.

Mitch

I was thinking the same thing. I can buy, for example, Mean 18 Golf (cart only) and buy a really cheap PAL version. Then I can simply use it's box and manual and BAM! CIB game!

Too bad the same can' be said for Absolute/Activision games...

Also, what about the manual?

Mitch
10-14-2008, 12:29 PM
I was thinking the same thing. I can buy, for example, Mean 18 Golf (cart only) and buy a really cheap PAL version. Then I can simply use it's box and manual and BAM! CIB game!

Too bad the same can' be said for Absolute/Activision games...

Also, what about the manual?

As long as you don't get a German or French language manual then you should be fine. The English language manuals are the same.

Mitch

megasdkirby
10-15-2008, 08:40 PM
Thanks for the information.

I would love to see comparisson pictures. For example, the box for Alien Brigade/Mean 18/Motorpsycho both in US and UK versions. I noticed that US versions have that NEW sticker on the box. But I would love to see the other boxes, just in case.

Is there some sort of repository that has scans of every version of a game, including the manuals? This would be very helpful. Or if anyone has the PAL and/or NTSC versions and could scan them, that would be great as well. :)