The PAL region is a video game publication territory which covers Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and varying European countries. PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is a colour -encoding system used in Broadcast television systems in large parts of the world A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The majority of games designated as part of the region will not play on NTSC-U/C or NTSC-J region consoles because of regional lockout. NTSC ( National Television System Committee) is the Analog television system used in the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico NTSC-J is an analog Television system and video display standard for the region of Japan. Regional lockout is the programming practice code chip or physical barrier used to prevent the playing of media designed for a device from the country where it is marketed on the While this is the most common occurrence, some Xbox and Xbox 360 games are region-free encoded, since Microsoft's policy is for publishers to decide. The Xbox is a sixth-generation Video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. The Xbox 360 is the second Video game console produced by Microsoft, and was developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, and SiS. Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational Computer technology Corporation, which rose to dominate the Home computer PlayStation 3 Blu-ray games are region-free. All Nintendo home consoles have region locking either by software encoding or physical differences in media and consoles.
As most handheld consoles use their own proprietary display system, incompatibilities of differing television systems are not relevant. However, the same regions often exist for localization and distribution purposes. Sony has a similar policy for the PSP, but most publishers choose not to encode a region on their UMD games. is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest Media conglomerates with The PlayStation Portable (officially abbreviated PSP) is a Handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The Universal Media Disc ( UMD) is an Optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on the PlayStation Portable. Nintendo handhelds are region-free, along with most other historical systems (Neo-Geo Pocket, Sega Game Gear, etc. is a Multinational corporation headquartered in Kyoto Japan founded on The Neo Geo Pocket was SNK 's first hand held video game system, released in Japan in late 1998 The Sega Game Gear is a Handheld game console which was Sega 's response to Nintendo 's Game Boy. ).
Contents |
Release area
The scope of the PAL region varies with systems and publishers. The following countries and areas are normally included in a PAL region release:
.svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small}
However, the region can include Middle Eastern, African and other European territories. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. SECAM, also written SÉCAM ( Séquentiel couleur à mémoire, French for "Sequential Color with Memory" is an analog color television system Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland ( India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East.
60 Hz operation
During the mid-90s the practice of modifying consoles such as the SNES and Mega Drive to allow 60 Hz operation became somewhat common among PAL gamers, due to the rise in NTSC/60 Hz capable PAL TVs and the relatively simple nature of the modifications. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES (also called SNES and Super Nintendo) is a 16-bit Video game console that was The is a 16-bit Video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988 North America in 1989 and the PAL region in 1990 [1] Beginning with the fifth generation of consoles, which introduced more powerful hardware and 3D graphics, developers had the ability to output at full PAL resolution without borders or stretching, although games still typically ran slower and all ran at 50 Hz. The fifth-generation era (more commonly known as the 32 bit era and occasionally after the release of the Nintendo 64, the 64 bit era and more rarely Beginning with the Dreamcast and continuing through the sixth generation of consoles, developers began including PAL60 modes in their games. The is Sega 's most recent Video game console and the successor to the Sega Saturn. The sixth-generation era (sometimes referred to as the 128-bit era; see "Number of bits" below refers to the computer and Video games Games that run at PAL60 are produced with the same colour encoding system as 50 Hz PAL signals, but with the NTSC resolution and field rate of 60 Hz, providing an identical gaming experience to their NTSC counterparts. PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is a colour -encoding system used in Broadcast television systems in large parts of the world NTSC ( National Television System Committee) is the Analog television system used in the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico
Criticism of PAL region video games
Games ported to PAL have historically been known for having game speed and frame rates inferior to their NTSC counterparts. Frame rate, or frame frequency, is the measurement of the Frequency (rate at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames The Since the NTSC standard is 60 fields per second but PAL is 50 fields per second, games were typically slowed down by approximately 17. 5% in order to avoid timing problems or unfeasible code changes. FMV rendered and encoded at 30 frames per second by the Japanese/US (NTSC) developers was often down-sampled to 25 frames per second for PAL release - usually by means of 3:2 pull-down, resulting in motion judder. Full motion video based games, usually abbreviated as FMV-based games, are Video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV -quality movie or Telecine (ˈtɛləˌsɪni/ /ˌtɛləˈsɪni/ ˌtɛləˈsɪnə also /ˌtɛləˈsiːn/ — "tel-e-Sin-ee" "tel-e-Sin-a" as 'cine' is the same root as in 'cinema' In addition to this, PAL's increased resolution was not utilized during conversion, creating a pseudo letterbox effect with borders top and bottom, leaving the graphics with a slightly squashed look due to an incorrect aspect ratio caused by the borders. Letterboxing is the practice of transferring Widescreen Film to Video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. This was especially prevalent during previous generations when 2D graphics were used almost exclusively. Video games were introduced as a commercial entertainment medium in 1971, becoming the basis for an important entertainment industry in the late 1970s/early 1980s in the United The gameplay of many games with an emphasis on speed, such as the original Sonic The Hedgehog for the Sega Mega Drive, suffered in their PAL incarnations. is a Platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis system The is a 16-bit Video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988 North America in 1989 and the PAL region in 1990 [2]
Despite the possibility and popularity of 60 Hz PAL games, many high profile games, particularly for the PS1 and PS2 console, were released in 50 Hz-only versions. Square Enix have long been criticized by PAL gamers for their poor PAL conversions. is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its Console role-playing game franchises which include the Final Fantasy series the Dragon Final Fantasy X runs in 50 Hz mode only, and 17. is a Console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) and the tenth installment in the Final Fantasy series 5% slower and bordered that while prevalent in previous generations was considered inexcusable at the time of release. [3] In stark contrast, the Xbox featured a system-wide PAL60 option in the Dashboard and the overwhelming majority of PAL games offered 50 and 60 Hz modes with no slowdown. The Xbox is a sixth-generation Video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. Current generation PAL consoles such as the Xbox 360 and Wii also feature system-wide 60 Hz support. The Xbox 360 is the second Video game console produced by Microsoft, and was developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, and SiS.
Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console service has been criticised due to PAL games running in 50 Hz only, despite the ability to run in 60 Hz mode. is a Multinational corporation headquartered in Kyoto Japan founded on Virtual Console, sometimes abbreviated as VC, is a specialized section of the Wii Shop Channel, an online service that allows players to purchase and download [4]
In recent times, several PAL releases have lacked the standard PAL mode and offered 60 Hz only, including Metroid Prime 2 for the Nintendo Gamecube and Dead or Alive 4 for the Xbox 360. Metroid Prime 2 Echoes is a first person action-adventure Video game developed by Retro Studios and published The, often abbreviated as GCN, is Nintendo 's fourth home Video game console and is part of the sixth generation console era. Dead or Alive 4 ( DOA4) is a Fighting game developed by Team Ninja for the Xbox 360 Video game console. The Xbox 360 is the second Video game console produced by Microsoft, and was developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, and SiS.
See also
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is a colour -encoding system used in Broadcast television systems in large parts of the world NTSC ( National Television System Committee) is the Analog television system used in the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico SECAM, also written SÉCAM ( Séquentiel couleur à mémoire, French for "Sequential Color with Memory" is an analog color television systemDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic