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How, generally, are PAL PS1 games?

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    How, generally, are PAL PS1 games?

    Back in the 32-bit era, I originally owned a Saturn from the start of it, only moving over to the N64, then the PS1 much later. During this time, there was a great deal of interest in the magazines to PAL Conversions, something that we at Bordersdown know all too well - the process of converting videogames, predominantly made in the US and Japan, in NTSC TV format, to the PAL/SECAM formats used in the UK/France.

    The Saturn was an unusual example for this, because the UK versions of some of its games differ from the US. The UK version of Sega Rally runs borderless at a higher resolution in the UK, and some of the Saturn's other games were manipulated in similar ways. It also meant that we occasionally got slightly better versions of some games (with bugfixes etc.) as we usually got them last. By the time the Dreamcast came along, consoles started to support multiple output formats, and games often let the user choose, which made this less of a problem for those of us with newer TVs.

    However, I only know this because at the time, I was an avid reader of Sega Saturn Magazine, which detailed these. I also remember them lambasting the UK version of X-Men: COTA because its PAL conversion was poor (I remember an example saying that Ice-Man's Ice-Ball attack looked more like an oval, and the game felt sluggish).

    So how were the PS1's PAL conversions? Are they generally good/bad? I was thinking about how I've recently reacquired some PS1 games I miss, and it made me wonder... Like even late titles like Vagrant Story or Metal Gear Solid, are they slower than the US versions?

    #2
    Not sure about the specific games you’re asking about but generally they were very hit and miss. Like the Final Fantasy games, for example, were bordered and slow. I think Ridge Racer games might have been too, but my memory is sketchy. I think a lot of Capcom games were also bordered and slower too. Now that I think about it, I have a feeling poor conversions were pretty standard for a long time but I can’t remember about Metal Gear Solid. I don’t remember being conscious of a difference. Same with Silent Hill actually, aside from a very deliberate removal of the children with knives so maybe Konami did a decent job?

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      #3
      Very hit and miss. The PAL version of FFX was very poor iirc so I'd assume Vagrant Story is the same way. Getting a particular sword in PAL FFIX is extremely difficult due to time restrictions and lack of optimisation and that was a 2001 release!

      I think having an EU dev/publisher increased your chances of having a good PAL conversion but it wasn't ideal. Devs like Insomniac always went the extra mile with Crash Bandicoot and Spyro iirc as well.

      I was always gutted that you couldn't region mod a PAL PSX like you could with older consoles to alter the refresh rate. It would have made things a hell of a lot easier.

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        #4
        Anything by Squaresoft wasn't optimised, or Namco as I remember (RR4 might be an exception?). Konami generally not either, but MGS was full screen and full speed bar a bit of extra slowdown at times. Silent Hill was slightly optimised for screen size I think, but not speed as I recall.

        I guess you could say anything by Japanese developers generally wasn't for the most part. Completely different story if you look at EU/UK developers of course, such as Psygnosis. I also think most of EA's output was optimised as well.

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          #5
          Borders-down....

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            #6
            This all makes me wonder if, when collecting PS1 games, I should go NTSC-U where possible. I've never really thought about it before.

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              #7
              Tomb Raider was also painful to play on PAL after experiencing the 60htz version. I stuck to USA/JPN for PS1. I can’t understand why SofN on Pal is so much more expensive than any other version, it’s so bad in 50htz. At least with PAL MD and SNES games you could force them 60htz on an import console.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Asura View Post
                This all makes me wonder if, when collecting PS1 games, I should go NTSC-U where possible. I've never really thought about it before.
                My personal preference was NTSC-J for the majority of stuff (as they tend to be cheaper), but NTSC-U for anything such as RPGs. I do have a handful of PAL titles but never bought many for the reasons mentioned above, plus prices on a lot of them are quite frankly ridiculous.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Asura View Post
                  This all makes me wonder if, when collecting PS1 games, I should go NTSC-U where possible. I've never really thought about it before.
                  Outside of the occasional PAL title or PAL Exclusive? Absolutely, 100%. NTSC-U is faily cheap to collect for and takes up less space. You can also go NTSC-J for arcade releases and save some money by using a proxy service.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I collect both PAL and NTSC-US PS1 titles.

                    On the whole, PAL tend to be worse. Although there are a surprising amount of optimised full screen 50hz, and speed fixed titles out there- and in some cases they actually look better than their US counterparts- but this is the exception rather than the rule.

                    Alot of it is nostalgia from playing them as a child, they tend to be for collecting rather than playing- like owning all the Capcom fighters, there is no point in playing them as theyre bordered and slow, but hey ho. Lets not forget the sheer number of unreleased Squaresoft RPGS/titles in PAL regions. It got better towards the end around 99-00, when Square started chucking out Vagrant Story, Ehrgeiz, Chocobo Racing etc - But we still missed out on Einhander, Brave Fencer Musashi, and criminally- Parasite Eve.

                    Its also interesting to see that we would get patched/fixed versions of games, and also changes like the aforementiond Silent Hill- so its interesting to pick up some of the differences. Plus we used to get alot more collectors editions/extras to make up for the wait between regions- things like the SOTN limited edition (although weirdly the non limited edition without the CD and artbook is more rare- but it does exist!)

                    To answer the original questions specific examples - MGS is optimised - full screen and speed, as is Vagrant Story. In fact I believe Vagrant Story PAL is the superior version.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by MrKirov View Post
                      I collect both PAL and NTSC-US PS1 titles.

                      On the whole, PAL tend to be worse. Although there are a surprising amount of optimised full screen 50hz, and speed fixed titles out there- and in some cases they actually look better than their US counterparts- but this is the exception rather than the rule.

                      Alot of it is nostalgia from playing them as a child, they tend to be for collecting rather than playing- like owning all the Capcom fighters, there is no point in playing them as theyre bordered and slow, but hey ho. Lets not forget the sheer number of unreleased Squaresoft RPGS/titles in PAL regions. It got better towards the end around 99-00, when Square started chucking out Vagrant Story, Ehrgeiz, Chocobo Racing etc - But we still missed out on Einhander, Brave Fencer Musashi, and criminally- Parasite Eve.

                      Its also interesting to see that we would get patched/fixed versions of games, and also changes like the aforementiond Silent Hill- so its interesting to pick up some of the differences. Plus we used to get alot more collectors editions/extras to make up for the wait between regions- things like the SOTN limited edition (although weirdly the non limited edition without the CD and artbook is more rare- but it does exist!)

                      To answer the original questions specific examples - MGS is optimised - full screen and speed, as is Vagrant Story. In fact I believe Vagrant Story PAL is the superior version.
                      I always thought this got a release, I didn't realise it was just the sequel! Very strange and a shame all round, the first game is amazing.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Cepp View Post
                        I always thought this got a release, I didn't realise it was just the sequel! Very strange and a shame all round, the first game is amazing.
                        Loads of weirdness like that. Although it's PS2, similarly, we got Xenosaga II but not I or III.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Asura View Post
                          Loads of weirdness like that. Although it's PS2, similarly, we got Xenosaga II but not I or III.
                          Christ, that's even worse

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Asura View Post
                            So how were the PS1's PAL conversions? Are they generally good/bad? I was thinking about how I've recently reacquired some PS1 games I miss, and it made me wonder... Like even late titles like Vagrant Story or Metal Gear Solid, are they slower than the US versions?
                            A good example would be if you have a Playstation Classic, a number of those games were the 50hz PAL versions and people moaned at how bad they were, if you have it modded you can test and see the differences between the PAL/NTSC version's of those games, obviously you could also add more and test PAL vs NTSC versions that way before commiting to buying the original release in either region.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by Cepp View Post
                              Christ, that's even worse
                              Yeah, it came with a DVD which had all the cutscenes from Xenosaga I mashed together as a movie... But with no context between them, so it was really disjointed. It would be fine for anyone who'd played the first game and wanted a recap, but useless for anyone coming to it new.

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