Nintendo UK Customer Services Speak on 50Hz!

[SuperCoolAl]

Well whaddaya know... this stemmed off my original request for info on Lylat Wars and I didnt go off on a steaming tirade for once... I'd debate that 50Hz versions aren't really 'accurate versions,' but here you go:

Dear Customer, thank you for your e-mail.

Most of the older games only operate in 50Hz, and as the games are accurate versions of the game, derived from the originals, they are compatible in europe for 50Hz only. I am not aware of any plans to change this immediately, but I will pass on your concerns.

Kind regards,

Your Nintendo Team



From: [Me]
Sent: 11 April 2007 02:40
To: Nintendo Service Centre
Subject: RE: Virtual Console


Dear Nintendo Team



Thank you very much for your e-mail reply. I was wondering if you could answer one more query I have about the Virtual Console (this is not a release date question this time). My Wii console is set to display in 60Hz mode but for some reason my Virtual Console games still display in 50Hz mode. This causes an issue where the picture is not centered properly on my TV as my TV overscans differently for 50Hz and 60Hz signals, so if I want a properly centered picture when I play Virtual Console games I must go into the Wii console settings and manual re-center the picture every time I switch between playing Wii games and playing Virtual Console games.



In the manual it says that games display best at 60Hz so I would like to play all my games in 60Hz mode. Have I put my settings wrong?



Yours sincerely,



[Me]

[Bada Bing!]

Who did you speak to so I can echo your sentiments? Things have moved on since those games first arrived, so we need dual speed versions of those games now on VC.

[SuperCoolAl]

Mr Anonymous. Just email codestorm, keep it brief, mention a specific technical issue (i.e. my TV overscanning) and then they're most likely to reply.

[Kotatsu Neko]

Isn't this to do with ratings? The EU releases of these old games were obviously all squashed 50hz, and will have been set up to only run properly in 50hz. To run 60hz, Nintendo would need to use the US versions instead, which have never been rated in the EU.

That just means more hassle and expense and only the hardcore are likely to care/notice anyway... most of whom will have a US import Wii...

It's basically a non issue for most people, so I really can't see it ever changing.

[elkatas]

Isn't this to do with ratings? The EU releases of these old games were obviously all squashed 50hz, and will have been set up to only run properly in 50hz. To run 60hz, Nintendo would need to use the US versions instead, which have never been rated in the EU.

No, as most games in Nintendo's / SEGA's / Hudson's selection are from time when current rating system wasn't on the place.

[JamesS]

Isn't this to do with ratings? The EU releases of these old games were obviously all squashed 50hz, and will have been set up to only run properly in 50hz. To run 60hz, Nintendo would need to use the US versions instead, which have never been rated in the EU.

No, not really. They're running under emulation, so could easily be run at any framerate or output resolution without affecting the operation of the software in the slightest.

[Kotatsu Neko]

No, not really. They're running under emulation, so could easily be run at any framerate or output resolution without affecting the operation of the software in the slightest.

Completely untrue. Some games would completely fall apart if you were to change the refresh rate. These aren't PC games you know, these are designed to run on locked never changing platforms.

[JamesS]

On real hardware, yes. Not under emulation. There's no reason for the software to have any idea what real refresh rate it's running at. Games don't fall apart if you turn off the throttling on emulators, even if they're running at ten times their normal speed.

[Jay]

Completely untrue. Some games would completely fall apart if you were to change the refresh rate. These aren't PC games you know, these are designed to run on locked never changing platforms.

99% of these PAL games would run perfectly under an emulator runniing at 60hz instead of 50hz. Every emulator on PC allows for this and there's no reason Nintendo's emulators can't.

The only problems would be caused by games which are optimised, and a simple flag within the emulator could ensure that these are still run at 50hz.

[kenty]

99% of these PAL games would run perfectly under an emulator runniing at 60hz instead of 50hz. Every emulator on PC allows for this and there's no reason Nintendo's emulators can't.

The only problems would be caused by games which are optimised, and a simple flag within the emulator could ensure that these are still run at 50hz.

Yep, and the same was even true on original hardware. I've got a SNES that was modded with a physical 50/60hz switch and all my original PAL SNES carts run flawlessly, borderless and at correct speed when you switch it up to 60hz (obviously with a couple of exceptions such as Super Mario Kart and DKC as they were pal optimised).

Back in the day when Sonic first came out, we had a Japanese megadrive with the bits filed off in the cartridge slot. You could get the PAL cart of Sonic, plug it into a standard Japanese megadrive and lo and behold: it runs fullscreen and full speed 60hz. This is why the whole 'PAL versions of the games can't run at 60hz argument' just doesn't wash since it's not even an emulator trick, you could do it with original hardware (until they started making it trickier with lockout chips etc)

[kernow]

I also have a pal snes with the 50/60 switch, in 60Hz I get quite a lot of slowdown in zelda LTTP when theres say 5 people on the screen.

is this normal? it doesnt matter now as I completed it, but would it be the same on a US super nintendo?