Whats point of a PAl console?

[WazMeister]

Just curious whats the point of a PAl console?

I had a NTSC Cube and got games cheaper and earlier than UK did, only problem was could not borrow many games off friends (which i hardly do anyway).

I have a 360 PAL, and the benfits Id have if I got a USA one are great.
Games are slightly cvheaper, out sooner!!!!! and xbox live works the norm............

I might flog my Pal 360 and get a USA one.

What do you guys think on the subject?

I be Defo getting a USA Wii

[capcom_suicide]

Just curious whats the point of a PAl console?

I had a NTSC Cube and got games cheaper and earlier than UK did, only problem was could not borrow many games off friends (which i hardly do anyway).

I have a 360 PAL, and the benfits Id have if I got a USA one are great.
Games are slightly cvheaper, out sooner!!!!! and xbox live works the norm............

I might flog my Pal 360 and get a USA one.

What do you guys think on the subject?

I be Defo getting a USA Wii

I will await the results of Spatials NTSC 360 retrun to manufacturer before I decide on what's best for a 360.

For the Wii and PS3 I would imagine the vast majority on these boards will import.

The "Nearly" region free aspect of the 360, the poor hardware reliability, & the reasonable release dates made many of us buy PAL. Recent JAP only releases have changed that balance.

[tom-nook]

I've got a US 360 and the only reason I bought it was for US sports games. Otherwise I'd have just gone for a PAL 360.

With the odd exception (Dead Rising by a month) PAL/ US release dates are pretty much the same or very close. US games cost me on average approx. ?35 & you can pick up UK releases with that kind of price if you use the online discount codes that usually do the rounds.

By the time you pay for courier delivery, import duties etc. buying a US 360 will be expensive. imo the 360 there aren't all that many compelling reasons to import which is a 1st (excluding modded PAL machines).

[kernow]

because PAL60 is better than NTSC I dunno

plus I'd rather use RGB and stuff

[thebuddahman]

The only thing I can think of is if we want to pick something up on impulse from the local GAME or GS then we can.

[andrewfee]

Convenience.

With the 360, most games are released within a week or so of it coming out in USA, so once you've waited for shipping, you tend to get the games at the same time. 60Hz is required on the 360, 50Hz is not, so games are all going to be running at the same speed / resolution. (no removing progressive scan as we've seen in the past)

Not only that, but I can take a chance on games that I wouldn't have bought at all, and if they're crap, they can go back to the shop. When I'm done with a game, I can trade it in towards the next one, and buying gets me points towards getting money off my purchases.

I don't have to deal with stepdowns, or worry about what happens if the hardware fails.

[MattyD]

You can't buy cheap pre-owned games without a PAL machine. Most of my PS2 collection had a "two for ?20" sticker on it at some point, and I've also bought loads of bargains like Gregory Horror Show and Psyvarier for ?2 each. A few days ago I got King of Fighers 2000 / 2001 for a fiver in Blockbuster. There's defeinatley something to be said for being able to walk into a shop and walk out with something the same day. I suppose that's not much of a reason if you're well off enough to buy new games all the time.

[Psyduck]

yeah, price definitely. I've not paid more than ?30 for a 360 game, and paid ?20 or less for quite a few. The 2nd hand price will keep coming down too, like matty says with PS2 games.
Also, to get rid of them, you can walk to gamestation and trade them in, often getting more or at least the same as you'd get selling on here, with less hassle. I've got a US copy of MGS3 that I can't shift, noone's interested in it for a price worth selling for...

[tom-nook]

^^^^^^
What Psyduck said.

Selling US games can be tricky at the best of times. It's even worse with the 360 (speaking from experience) as there is absolutely no market for them. At least with the PS2, Xbox et al people with modded/ import machines are willing to take a punt on stuff. With the 360 modding isn't an option yet and more people than usual (here esp.) have opted to buy a PAL machine rather than import. You practically need to give 'em away unless it's a niche title (JPN mainly) that isn't out here....

[Salsa Party Animal]

PAL -

Advantages

Cheaper games, easier to trade in/sell and you can play the games in 20 minutes assuming the shop is about 15 minutes away. Also easier to play/shares games with friends.

Disadvantages

You don't get quality japanese games or American sports games ie college / baseball and nasty pal conversion which had ruined many PS2 games.

NTSC consoles

Advantages

Get games earlier, and cheaper
More choice
Better boxart and development.

Disadvantages

Paying postage
Import duty bills
Waiting for a week for delivery
Japanese language
Need imported consoles (if not modded)
Difficult to sell games (especially microsoft consoles)
Can't trade in NTSC Consoles or games for new consoles.
Need a step down transformer

I got PAL XBOX 360 due to easier access to games and PES 6

[sj33]

As far as 360 goes, I'd say the PAL machine is fine, as you don't have the old 60Hz issue to contend with, MS are very good with release dates, and there are only a few titles that don't hit the UK.

With Sony and Nintendo, I go NTSC for sure because it's the polar opposite.

[labrat]

If the PS3 and Wii are going to be region free, is there any point in importing a NTSC console?

[sj33]

If the PS3 and Wii are going to be region free, is there any point in importing a NTSC console?

The Wii is not going to be region free, I don't know where you heard that.

As for PS3, Sony did say that, but it's assumed it will be like the 360, where Sony titles are region free but other publishers get the option to region encode if they want. As a person sitting here waiting for the PAL release of Dead Rising, I say don't be fooled.

[kernow]

I'm getting PAL all round, because I prefer PAL60 to NTSC, and my TV is fussy so I know if I buy a PAL60 machine and a scart cable, I'll have colour.

NTSC gaming only interests me relating to older machines like neo or whatever.

[fahrenheit]

RGB SCART is neither PAL, PAL60 or NTSC, seeing as you can use an RGB SCART cable with any of the regional consoles, your preference in moot.

If your TV isn't RGB compliant, then that might be your problem.