'P's and lower case

[kevthrev]

Sorry for the basic questions,but we all have to start somewhere.What is the significance of the letter 'p' on the end of some cartridges and why are some carts in lower case lettering and most in capital?Thanks for any help,from Kev in rainy London.

[Albert]

The 'P' is supposed to indicate that you have a PAL cart so as not to confuse them with their NTSC (as sold here in the US) variants. However, Atari wasn't very consistent with the labeling of PAL carts in this fashion, so just because you have a cart without a 'P' doesn't mean it's NTSC. And most manufacturers didn't even make an attempt to label their carts differently for PAL/NTSC, so the only way to know for sure is to test them out.

 

As for upper and lower-case text labels, Atari used lower case labels on their early titles and started using upper-case labels on their later games? Atari switched label styles several times over he years. Usually they were consistent within any one style, but even then there are many minor variations to be found. I suggest you take a look at the 2600 Lable Guide page to get an idea of the major label styles, especially those from Atari.

 

Take care,

 

..Al

[kevthrev]

Thanks for your help Al,i think im going to get hooked again,like i did 20 odd years ago.

[liveinabin]

So Kev, what were the games you really liked 20 years ago?

Oh yeah, that PAL thing - I don't know if you already know this, but you can also play NTSC carts on a UK Atari, the only difference you see is that some of the colours come out wrong (ie. on my Actvision Skiing, the snow is still white, but the trees are dark blue)