K-Tel Vulture Attack - NTSC vs PAL Help Needed

[iglesd]

I had bought a boxed Vulture Attack on Ebay that also came with a loose Spider Monster by K-Tel. 

 

Neither game works on my Atari and I believe they are PAL. The seller is claiming they are NTSC and had this to say. 

 

"Space Monster and KTEL Vulture Attack were coded to 290 scanlines worldwide. NTSC is 262 scanlines.
Which is why you may have display issues on some Atari 2600 consoles, this is a normal variant.
After a title dispute all of the USA released Condor Attack labels were covered with Space Monster and KTEL Vulture Attack labels.
In fact to this day you will find NTSC Condor Attack labels underneath many of them.
These were on consignment from a Canadian buyer and they are definitely NTSC along with that box which is most of the value.
All of these titles are the same, they are just rare label variants."

 

He is willing to refund me but if they are NTSC I prefer to keep them.

 

I see boxed NTSC pics have a blue Canadian sticker on Atarimania but this one doesn't and says Taiwan on the side of the box. I don't even see Spider Monster listed as an nstc game on Atari  Age or Atarimania.  I've attached pics.

 

Does anyone have a boxed NTSC Vulture Attack with no blue sticker and says made in Taiwan on the side of the box? 

 

According to Digital Press the scanlines for an NTSC Vulture Attack are 264 vs 312 for PAL so that doesn't check out either. 

 

I really appreciate any expertise that can be provided. 

 

Dan

[jhd]

 

I am certainly no expert in these obscure titles, but I can tell you that K-Tel was a Canadian company (based in Winnipeg, Manitoba), and that we use NTSC format video. 

 

 

[BONEMAN]

As far as I know, Spider Monster, or Space Monster as seen in your picture, were never released in NTSC.

[+SpiceWare]

The colors are different for NTSC, PAL, and SECAM 2600s. You can run the ROMs in Stella, use CONTROL + F to switch the display format from PAL to NTSC, and compare with the colors you see with your actual cartridge.

 

NTSC

 

PAL

 

 

PAL running on an NTSC 2600

 

NTSC running on a PAL 2600

 

[iglesd]

1 hour ago, SpiceWare said:

The colors are different for NTSC, PAL, and SECAM 2600s. You can run the ROMs in Stella, use CONTROL + F to switch the display format from PAL to NTSC, and compare with the colors you see with your actual cartridge.

 

NTSC

 

PAL

 

 

PAL running on an NTSC 2600

 

NTSC running on a PAL 2600

 

Thanks for the response. Two of my tv’s say mode unsupported and doesn’t play the game at all. Another tv via cable in displays the game in black and white with a stripe down the left side. Tried a few other games and they display in normal color. Assuming no color at all would mean PAL?

 

 

[+SpiceWare]

No color for PAL happens when an odd number of scanlines are sent to a PAL TV, so wouldn't be the problem.

 

How far down the screen the score is, plus the Funvision at the bottom, implies it's the pirated PAL version.

[iglesd]

10 minutes ago, SpiceWare said:

No color for PAL happens when an odd number of scanlines are sent to a PAL TV, so wouldn't be the problem.

 

How far down the screen the score is, plus the Funvision at the bottom, implies it's the pirated PAL version.

Thanks for your input.