Sega Saturn question

[Sirgin]

I know many of you hate just smiley posts, but...

That's not the way the forum should be more active in....

[logical123]

You do realize that your post was more meaningless and off topic than mine. Let me explain:

The : laugh : smiley was used in this case because it is a well know fact that battery life in the Dreamcast VMU sucks, and the Nomad eats batteries worse that a GHIII Guitar. Cobra made that connection, and I found it amusing. Thus, the laugh smiley. I used it to show that I was agreeing with him, and that I found his post funny and meaningful. It directly relates to the topic on hand, due to the fact that he made a correlation of the Saturn's Battery life to the Dreamcast VMU and Nomad's Battery lives.

Too funny for words =  post. Not an excuse to make the forum more active.

Anywoo!!!!

The Sega Saturn is a great console. I love mine, and if you like bust-a-move/puzzle bobble, then get Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition. I feel that it is the best version of that game bar none. 
















 

[Sirgin]

The Sega Saturn is a great console. I love mine, and if you like bust-a-move/puzzle bobble, then get Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition.

I'll check it out. It got released as Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition in Europe but as Bust-a-Move Again in North America (according to Wikipedia) Is that the case?

[logical123]

Nope. How strange that wikipedia is wrong. It is called Arcade Edition here too...

[Cobra]

If you put a link up, I'll look into it and correct the wiki article.

[logical123]

If you put a link up, I'll look into it and correct the wiki article.

Couldn't we all?

[Sirgin]

If you put a link up, I'll look into it and correct the wiki article.

Here you go. They talk about the different names in the first sentence.

[Cobra]

It only came back to me today, there was another reason other than still been able to use memory carts while playing imported games that I chose to go with a mod.

PAL systems and US/JAP systems run at different speeds, so audio & visuals were slightly out of sync also. The mod I had done, has two switches installed. One for the region, the other for speed.

[Sirgin]

PAL systems and US/JAP systems run at different speeds, so audio & visuals were slightly out of sync also. The mod I had done, has two switches installed. One for the region, the other for speed.

Ah, cool. I've seen a SNES on eBay a couple months ago that also featured two switches. One for "NTSC/PAL" and the other for "50Hz/60Hz". But this guy said you could leave the last one always on 60Hz, because it makes the gameplay a bit smoother.

[James]

]Ah, cool. I've seen a SNES on eBay a couple months ago that also featured two switches. One for "NTSC/PAL" and the other for "50Hz/60Hz". But this guy said you could leave the last one always on 60Hz, because it makes the gameplay a bit smoother.

That would have been a switch for NTSC-U (America) or NTSC-J (Japan). The 50/60Hz switch is for NTSC/PAL, 50Hz being the refresh rate of PAL.

[Sirgin]

That would have been a switch for NTSC-U (America) or NTSC-J (Japan). The 50/60Hz switch is for NTSC/PAL, 50Hz being the refresh rate of PAL.

Hmmm, I'm not sure what they were for but I'm sure they were labeled as "PAL/NTSC" and "50Hz/60Hz". I still remember because he included a picture in which you could see the switches.

I don't think the only difference between NTSC and PAL is the refresh rate. I have a PAL PS2 and a TV that can display both 50Hz and 60Hz. Alot of PAL games feature the option of displaying at 60Hz, which I always select when it's there. But that doesn't mean my PS2 can play NTSC games, right?

Anyway, I don't want to make this into an arguement because I'm not an expert on the subject, I should be doing some research first (read: Check some Wikipedia pages )

Maybe a console expert can shed some light on the subject...Apolloboy, Marriot_Guy, where are you guys?

[Cobra]

Back before the Saturn & PSX, when games were released here they simply ran at the 50Hz our systems did, and had borders top and bottom. So any games for these systems run their best at 60Hz as that is what they were intended to be run at. Syncing wasn't an issue either as music/sound would also be this speed.

Move into the 32bit CD era, and it is a different story. Some developers actually optimised their PAL counterparts to take full advantage of our 50Hz systems and even be fullscreen for us. Guardian Heroes is one such title. This does however mean you can play it at 60Hz as it'll glitch graphically like you've never seen. So a speed switch is handy so you can play all games at their best.

[James]

On the older consoles, like the SNES and Mega Drive, 50/60Hz was the only difference between PAL and NTSC. However, you would need something like a composite or RGB connection instead of RF to display in colour.[Edit: In colour at the other frequency to what the console was intended] Newer consoles, possibly most disc based consoles, have chips that block foreign games from being played. Most LCD TVs have a refresh rate of 60Hz, so if a 50Hz console is used on it there can be a few problems like flickering or no colour. That's why some PS2 games have a choice of 50/60Hz.

[Cobra]

Yep, as you mention, finally new system games even now give us the choice to do so and play at 50/60Hz. The other difference of PAL & NTSC you are referring to would be the colour encoding. Don't worry, all new TVs seem to support NTSC, but this wasn't always the case.

[Sirgin]

I see.

I also thought that PAL games had a higher resolution than NTSC games. Well, until last generation atleast. And do NTSC games feature the option of playing at 50Hz? Or is it only PAL games that have that kind of option?