NTSC titles on PAL 2600

[Loccy]

The subject line says it all really - I've looked in the FAQ, but it seems to be oriented towards NTSCers with PAL cartridges. So, will NTSC titles run on a PAL 2600? My TV is capable of displaying NTSC, but as my Woody is a UK/PAL model, is there anything I need to know or do, or should I just avoid NTSC cartridges? (the ebay marketplace seems busier for NTSC )

[Michael_]

I´ve never come across a game (NTSC) that didn´t work on my PAL units. The colors are usually somewhat off, but that´s a minor detail.

[Dino]

The subject line says it all really - I've looked in the FAQ, but it seems to be oriented towards NTSCers with PAL cartridges. So, will NTSC titles run on a PAL 2600? My TV is capable of displaying NTSC, but as my Woody is a UK/PAL model, is there anything I need to know or do, or should I just avoid NTSC cartridges? (the ebay marketplace seems busier for NTSC )

 

If you are not in an NTSC country, then the shipping cost is likely to make buying common NTSC carts prohibitive.

[Loccy]

Actually, there's not a lot in it, especially given that auctions for batches of games seem more common over the pond - ebay UK seems to deal more in individual games.

 

Ebay USA has an auction for a 32 game packages that finishes in a few hours and is currently at $36USD. Let's say it goes for $50. That's £25 - less than a quid a game.

 

Postage per game - note worldwide postage per game! - is $6.99 USD for the first game, and $4.99 thereafter. That's £3.50 and £2.50 respectively.

 

That works out no more expensive - possibly cheaper - than most ebay UK auctions. Most people on there charge a couple of quid postage per game anyway and that's within the UK!

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of rip-off Britain combined with the pound being particularly mighty against the dollar at the moment.

Edited December 20, 2006 by Loccy

[Spirantho]

NTSC carts work fine in PAL machines as long as your TV can support a PAL-60 signal. To test this try it on a Gamecube or something that has a specific PAL-60 mode. This is because your console is doing the colour encoding (hence PAL) and the game is doing the frequency (hence the 60Hz).

 

You will possibly find the signal will be black and white, though... and even if it's in colour the colours will be quite wrong - as long as you don't mind your Pitfall trees to be blue you'll be fine though.

 

Your best bet is to use an actual NTSC machine, but if you do that you'll need it modified for composite video almost certainly else you'll get no sound.

 

If you want a (composite modified) NTSC console or some NTSC games let me know, I've got stacks of 'em... and yes, 60Hz Atari is much more fun that 50Hz. It's worth doing, especially as it opens up the world of the rare NTSC games.

[Mayhem]

Most NTSC carts I have work fine on my TV, just with the colours altered. Only a few exhibit graphical or raster glitching, like the picture can't sync properly.