Why JAP dc over PAL?

[kyo_244]

I couldn't find this anywhere else so sorry if its already been answered elsewhere. I noticed how everyone in here loves the jap dc but apart from the cool orange swirl, whats so good about it? why not just get a pal dc and play jap games on it? It is region free is it not?

[Distant Cousin]

It's not region free, but you can get boot discs.

I prefer Jap games because of the boxart!!1! Or something...

[jimtendo]

Because of the vast amount of software the JPN console has. More importantly some games are still made for it - take for example 'Under Defeat'
I assume the amount of people that choose the JPN console is because of the shmups/ fighters that were never released over here.
Also some people prefer the nicer box art/ cases etc.

Another point you eluded to, is that the machine is region locked and not region free. You can get a PAL machine and chip it, but still some NTSC-J/ U games will display in bordered 50hz - for example Capcom vs SNK 2

You can use the DC-X swap disk for imports on a PAL machine. Im not sure about any others, but disk swapping irks me, especially as all i play is import games, so a modded JPN machine is more or less the ideal unit if you want to play Dreamcast stuff.

[nightstalker100]

Im in the process of replacing my pal dc games with their ntscj counterparts. Its hard to explain, this fascination with jap dc games, they look cooler, boxes less prone to breakage (pal dc boxes are amongst the worst ever), store more easily and of course frequently have features the pal versions don't

[muse hunter]

just the usual reasons really:

- more games on jap DC, pal DC missed out on gems such as cosmic smash, border down, the kof's, garou mark of the wolves, i can go on forever.

- better cases, the pal DC has those God awful chunky blue cases that break if you look at it, jap games have the usual pleasent easily replacable DC cases

-artwork, jap games always have beautiful artwork and full colour instruction booklets while we pal gamers get horrible artwork and boring black and white characterless booklets

-limited edition consoles, some great looking jap DC available only in japan, who can resist a hello kitty DC? i dare you to, of course you can't

[m0nk3y]

I personally prefer the blue swirl to the orange one. So, I put an NTSC-J MoBo in a PAL case, UK PSU board, 4wire mod chip and the PAL display fix mod. And an RGB Scart lead.

Best multiregion compatable DC you can get. Smashing. Bring on Under Defeat and Radilgy...

[kyo_244]

No no i wasnt meaning the actual games. I was talking about the console itself. It seems i was wrong in thinking it played all jap games without any problems.. funny i remember once downloading the capcom vs snk 2 game ages ago and it played fine at 60hz.. oh well..

[nightstalker100]

Backups typically have a patch written in to allow for non bordered play. My backups the same; the original however only playable in non bordered, 60hz mode on a pal console through a action replay disc

[Distant Cousin]

Im in the process of replacing my pal dc games with their ntscj counterparts. Its hard to explain, this fascination with jap dc games, they look cooler, boxes less prone to breakage (pal dc boxes are amongst the worst ever), store more easily and of course frequently have features the pal versions don't

lol, I thought I was the only one thinking of doing that

[Samurai Matt]

I dunno why but I prefer the the UK cases.. dunno.. i just like teh blue

[Sane]

A Codebreaker will boot every DC game in 60hz on a pal console, with the exception of 50hz only PAL games which isn't a big loss really considering you could just get the NTSC versions.

Basically, the only downside of a PAL DC if you buy many imports is the disc swapping. Personally it doesn't bother me much, and you could always get it chipped (although I don't know if you will get 60hz with all games that way). Plus, there's always VGA mode.

Anyway, at the very least a PAL DC is a very good alternative to a JP or US one considering the price difference, and compared to certain other consoles which shall remain unnamed here .

[Q-Bass]

I can only talk from personal experience but I find PAL stuff severly lacking in any of the passion and mystery that the Jap stuff effortlessly has in abundance. It's simple really, if you only want to play the games for what they are and nothing else then PAL is fine.

However, if you want to study the superb artwork, have acess to a significantly bigger DC library ( which is still growing ) compared to either PAL or USA and actually play those games as they were meant to be played i.e. no boot discs, no borders then you have to go Japanese.

Playing import stuff is a very odd thing, you may have once owned say a PAL DC or a PAL Saturn and become quite bored of it very quickly, the lack of decent titles is a common complaint from UK gamers but when you later own the Japanese equivalent a few years later, it really is like owning a totally new console.

I suppose it comes down to how pure you like your games to be, if you are happy getting a PAL DC, using a bootdisc and playing import Jap games on it then that is fine, I just like it the fact that I can own something that is a little more unusual.

[Commander Marklar]

I personally prefer the blue swirl to the orange one. So, I put an NTSC-J MoBo in a PAL case, UK PSU board, 4wire mod chip and the PAL display fix mod. And an RGB Scart lead.

Best multiregion compatable DC you can get. Smashing. Bring on Under Defeat and Radilgy...

You could have just swapped the sticker

[Team Andromeda]

I find my USA Dremcast to be the best, not only is it far more reliable (just like the Japanese model ), but it makes by far the less noise.

[Mu5]

Pal DC = Borders = ****e