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Ubbax
Village Dweller
Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 20
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| Question: OLD Game CDs & PAL Format ?? |
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Hopefully some of the UK or German members who import/collect old North American games can clarify an issue I've encountered. It seems to turn up the most when dealing with contacts in those countries. Although If anyone else has the answer please jump right in.
I've had the opportunity to pick up several pristine boxed/bagged originals of older PC games missing from my collection from various locations around the world over the years. Quite a few of these are from the good old days of Dos. A few are for Windows 95 but only run under Dos. I still maintain older PCs I built/purchased back in the old days so I may run these under their original OS. I've not encountered any problems regarding formats so far.
Lately I've received emails from various contacts or in some cases seen posted in auctions the following:
Be aware that this Game is PAL Format (not NTSC)!
This is most often in regard to original Windows 95/98 game CDs but I've also seen it for original 3.5 inch Disks . I find this odd as I was under the impression that those formats only impact DVD/TV. I imagine if a Win95/98 CD game supported multiplayer, which your video card could output to a TV, then this might become an issue.
So is anyone able to clarify this for me?
Would the 3.5 Discs and Win95/98 Cds function in my North American hardware?
Ubbax
"Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows." - David T. Wolf |
Thu Nov 10, 2005 10:29 pm |
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany |
Iīve never heard that this has any relevance for PCs. Itīs a console issue, because those are connected to a TV.
_________________
Webmaster GothicDot |
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Thu Nov 10, 2005 10:58 pm |
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piln
High Emperor
Joined: 22 May 2003
Posts: 906
Location: Leeds, UK |
Me neither... I don't believe this is an issue, even when considering using a TV out. You only need to know if your TV and graphics card will get along (for example, there are many variants of the PAL format, so some older TVs don't cope well) - if your TV-out setup works, then anything you run on the PC will show up (you can prove me wrong by messing with your video overlay settings, but let's not complicate things  ). I often buy games from the US and never have a problem in this regard. I also buy console games from the US and Japan as well as Europe, and (don't ask me why) have sometimes played them via a TV-in on my Radeon card - the regional video formats mean nothing, as the card can accept all of them and everything displays fine on whichever monitor I use. Um... that's probably completely irrelevent  ... bottom line: TVs, DVD players, consoles, etc. conform to regional video/broadcasting standards, but afaik PC gfx cards and monitors do not, and nor do PC games.
My overseas buying does not date back to the days of DOS and Win95, but I am sure the same was true back then.
I can't say why you are receiving those emails - I can only guess that the companies responsible are sending them out to cover themselves in case of customers carelessly buying wrong-region console games, and are simply lumping PC and videogames together as a product category. |
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Fri Nov 11, 2005 2:31 am |
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Ubbax
Village Dweller
Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 20
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Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I lost net connection a few minutes after posting and didn't get it back for many hours.
Thank you both for your answers. Nice to know age hasn't truly addled my brain 
quote:
Posted by piln
My overseas buying does not date back to the days of DOS and Win95, but I am sure the same was true back then.
Gahh I see I've dated myself, ah well, actually I go back to mainframe days...
quote:
Posted by Piln
I can't say why you are receiving those emails - I can only guess that the companies responsible are sending them out to cover themselves in case of customers carelessly buying wrong-region console games, and are simply lumping PC and videogames together as a product category.
Yes this is what I thought as well.
Come to think of it most of those emails or auctions where I've seen it listed are from younger gamers.
Those from the Win 98 or later era.
Once again thanks, and if I do encounter any odd problems I'll post them to make others aware.
Ubbax |
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Fri Nov 11, 2005 12:27 pm |
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