Even though PAL games are inferior to NTSC, some are still very valuable.

[Reynardine]

There are basically no games that hit 60fps on n64
So the 50hz vs 60hz makes no difference

And the s64 decomposed discovered that the ntsc version wasnt compiled with 02 optimizations which resulted in frame dips in certain areas.

The pal version doesnt suffer from this

Haha, you made feel a bit better about playing on my pal console now!
I should hook it up again sometime...

Also, sorry if I derailed this thread with my questions.

 

[Deleted User]

I never cared much. Even when I buy old games for my collection I always stick to the European copy of available. In most cases the difference is minimal.

Assuming you live in Portugal (hence the flag), it's not surprising you have to favor EUR versions over USA as importing every game would end up costing a lot. CeX opened various branches in Portugal so used gaming is a bit easier to buy than before (there was GAME, but they seem to have closed down and their prices were probably high as usual) as CeX tends to have decent prices.

In U.K., CeX Online can have really good deals that no one notices and that's a good thing for me.

By the way, the CeX in Forum Barreiro, Portugal is pretty darn good and clean. Haven't been to any others because they're either too far or don't have time when I'm there.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I used to collect PAL games of NES, SNES, N64, NGC, Wii, Xbox, PS1, PS2 but since I needed space I just sold them on eBay a few years ago and I'm okay with it considering the NTSC run at better performance than PAL copies do.

However, despite that PAL are a downgrade from NTSC their value remains the same as before, which is not surprising (it never lost its value). I reckon folks who're buying are collectors than to actually play it.

Examples:

#1

Spoiler

#2

Spoiler

Nowadays, I admit I pirate games, but I always pick NTSC-U/J copies to play the games at the correct performance.

A comparison of Tekken 2's NTSC vs PAL running speed:



I always thought it was strange how everything was so slow, and turns out it was because I was playing an inferior copy. ^^"

That is true for N64/PSX and earlier, but GC games usually let you choose to run in PAL60 and Wii almost always support PAL60. Also, many people prefer playing games in their native language, and the PAL versions have more language options. Also, games only ran slower due to laziness where they didn't bother to optimize for both 50hz and 60hz. That's not a problem on GC and up, and not even a problem on every game on earlier consoles.

 

[Deleted User]

That is true for N64/PSX and earlier, but GC games usually let you choose to run in PAL60 and Wii almost always support PAL60. Also, many people prefer playing games in their native language, and the PAL versions have more language options. Also, games only ran slower due to laziness where they didn't bother to optimize for both 50hz and 60hz. That's not a problem on GC and up, and not even a problem on every game on earlier consoles.

Some games on SNES PAL were optimized, but that wasn't the case for all, unfortunately. PAL games have the advantage of multiple languages whereas NTSC are generally just English or EN/ES/FR (for example).

Super Dragon Ball Z's PS2 PAL version features a 60 Hz option so if I play that, that's what I pick. And I prefer the PAL version of SDBZ because it features the Japanese audio with English subs, while the NTSC is English dub only.

 

[duwen]

I did the multi-region switch mod for my Eur Megadrive, and while I generally run everything on the Japanese setting I'm often surprised by how many PAL titles run at the same speed regardless of the consoles settings. It seems that a lot of European and Japanese developed titles did bother with region optimisation, while NA developed titles are more likely to overlook any optimisation.

 

[Deleted User]

This website has a list of PAL PS2 which say if it runs in 60 Hz or not — http://www.benoitren.be/60hz-palps2.html

There are games that oddly run somewhat faster in PAL than they do in NTSC.

Example #1: Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi 3 (PS2)


Example #2: Super Mario World (SNES)


Ultimately, I just go with NTSC-U/J copies to be assured it runs at the proper speed and I don't have to look it up if it does or doesn't.

 

[LightBeam]

Some games would adapt their games to 50hz correctly and yeah sure you wouldn't be running at 60fps but 50fps but the game was still as fast as it should be
But it was easier to just run the games « worse » and it even made some people believe that europeans were « slower people » lmao

 

[Jayro]

a 60Hz refresh rate hurts my eyes as it is... I couldn't imagine murdering them further with a 50Hz refresh rate.

 

[delycache]

The main reason why I always — if possible — get PAL games is the multi-language support. Even though I have no problems with playing games in English, I prefer playing games in my mother tongue when the option is available.
Besides that, playing in 50Hz never bothered me and I never really noticed (apart from some rare cases where it’s really noticeable, Sonic the Hedgehog for example)