Can I play NTSC video games on my PAL system?

NTSC Format Games
and Compatible Countries

What format is your video
game system, and is
your video game system compatible with NTSC games?

Many people often ask "Can
I play NTSC video games on my PAL video game system?". In the
past when television
was first
devised there were different "standards"
of encoding signals that were in use in different countries. These different
television standards have been maintained
for many decades and play a large role in the picture display for video games as
well. The two most common formats on a worldwide basis are NTSC (National
television standards Committee) and PAL (Phase Alternating Line). There are
other systems as well such as Secam, PAL-M, and the defunct MESCAM that was once
popular in Iraq decades ago.

PAL would generally be considered the more popular standard system on a
worldwide basis since it is used in most of Europe with France being the notable
exclusion as well as parts of Africa and many Asian countries. NTSC is used
predominantly in the United States, Latin America, the Philippine Islands, South
Korea, Canada and Japan. Admittedly, the color on PAL systems is much superior
then NTSC systems but there is an unfortunate problem for those who live in PAL
nations – the United States and Japan remain the main producers of games and
gaming systems. Remember, NTSC games would not be compatible with PAL systems
and vice versa. Because of this, a number of popular games are not made in PAL
format. This can leave a number of PAL gamers out in the proverbial cold. Or are
they really?

Yes, it is true that if you live in a "PAL oriented world" then you
will find access to NTSC games limited. Then again, while you might find such
games tough to find – if not impossible to find – on store shelves there is
always the internet as a viable method of ordering these games. In fact, through
an internet order there really is no such thing as not having access to the
aforementioned NTSC games. But, this does not answer the question of how to
actually play the games on a system that does not support the format. Well,
there really is no reason to worry, as a solution does exist.

But what happens if you live in a part of the world where the only standard
is PAL? Does this mean that you are completely out of luck when it comes to
being able to play NTSC standard games? Actually, there are still options
available to you. Granted, you will not be able to plug an NTSC console into a
PAL outlook but you can purchase a NTSC to PAL converter. At one time (20+ years
ago) a television converter would run into several hundreds of dollars. Today, a
decent converter can be purchased for less than $50 and it will open up a number
of wonderful gaming options that were previously not available. As such, there
is no reason for anyone in a PAL serviced country to despair!

So, if you live outside of an NTSC supported region you can still purchase
the video games and then play them with a converter system. There is no need to
ask "Can I play
NTSC video games on my PAL video game system?". As such, there
will be no need to feel left out or unable to acquire your favorite cheap video
game. So cheer up!