Tell Me About PS2's PAL Convertions

[Big A2]

After I got my GameCube, I pretty much neglected my PS2, but now that I'm older, I've grown interest in games like Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest and the like.

I used to think that almost all PS2 games got proper conversions when released here, like with the GameCube and Xbox. Then I heard about Final Fantasy X, and then I read on some blog that very few PS2 games got proper conversion, and run in 50hz with slower gameplay than their NTSC counterparts, just like most games from the 80s and 90s did, which brought me to some of the threads here about this matter, but most of them are from around 2003 or earlier.

So now that the PS2 is done and dusted, can anyone give me an idea of the state of PAL games? Did it improve as the console's life went on? Are there any definitive lists that state what PAL games were optimised, what support 60hz, and what ones were rushed ports that should be avoided? That would be huge help.

I should probably also ask what would be the easiest and cheapest way to play NTSC games on my PAL PS2?

[Wools]

Their was no watershed moment with PS2 PAL versions, just some games were optimized and others were not.

Generally all of the first party stuff like Ico, God of War and others were 60hz but the majority were not done to their NTSC counterparts.

[Kongster]

Capcom games bar Devil May Cry 1 have a 60hz option.

[JazzFunk]

If I remember rightly, both of the PAL PS2 God Of War games lacked a 60hz option (I was pretty surprised at the time) but I do think that God Of War 2 has a 'hidden' prog scan option.

I also found this list dating from 2005, not perfect by any means but it's worth a look:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/915821-playstation-2/faqs/29981

[rmoxon]

Capcom games bar Devil May Cry 1 have a 60hz option.

Wasnt the first Onimusha 50hz only as well?

I own/have owned quite alot of PS2 games in the past and to be fair most of them were in 60hz, but there are a few that have Horrible conversions.

PAL Devil May Cry is truley terrible.

[JazzFunk]

^Yeah, it was, had a similar effect to DMC in terms of how it affected the game.

[Big A2]

Wasnt the first Onimusha 50hz only as well?

I've read that Capcom vs SNK 2 was pretty bad as well. And scrolling through the list JazzFunk posted, I saw Street Fighter EX3 was given the same treatment. Thanks for the list by the way, too bad it doesn't have any info on speed optimized 50hz games...

[nakamura]

I've read that Capcom vs SNK 2 was pretty bad as well. And scrolling through the list JazzFunk posted, I saw Street Fighter EX3 was given the same treatment. Thanks for the list by the way, too bad it doesn't have any info on speed optimized 50hz games...

That list is rather old, you best bet is to just ask in here really or other forums.

Capcom SNK2 was ok on PAL, I seem to remember it ran pretty much full screen but it has some nasty 50hz flicker that 2D images suffer.

There are loads of 60 hz games or loads of properly coded 50hz titles.

GT3-4, God of War 1-2, WRC, Codemasters games and plenty of other stuff coded in europe tends to run full screen.

Ico, most later Capcom stuff and more is 60hz. Some Konami is full screen 50 or with 60hz.

As you can see it is a real mixed bad. The worst offenders were Square until late 04 I think. Their stuff was converted like a SNES game, lazy, slow and chopped top and bottom.

[Big A2]

Yeah, I've heard Square was the worst. Square (and Enix) have always treated Europe like ****. No Final Fantasy until VII, no Dragon Quest until VIII, no Chrono Trigger, no Super Mario RPG, and it looks like that when we did start getting games, they had huge delays and horrible conversions.

Too bad they make good games.

So, about making my PS2 region free... I've heard of something called SwapMagic that lets you load their disc and then eject it and put the disc in you want to play, or would it just be easier to mod it? (I actually already have it open, I was cleaning the laser)