HardCore Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 This is a newbie question, so beware... :-) Is there a difference between differnt regions Atari 2600 carts? Can a cart imported from the US be played on a English PAL 2600 unit? Or the reverse? Is there a way to tell carts with diffents regions apart? I mean if I buy a used cart, is there a way to tell if it is a PAL or NTSC cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sku_u Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 There are differences in the colors as well as the number of scanlines. An NTSC game should work on a PAL set, although the colors may be off. A PAL cart can be played on an NTSC TV as long as you have vertical hold on the TV, otherwise the screen will roll. I'm sure someone can explain the technical differences better then me. Welcome to AA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARIPITBULL Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 Thats about all that I know about the difference between a PAL cart and a NTSC, but I would like to also say welcome to Atari, the best Atari web site in the world!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stingray Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 Is there a way to tell carts with diffents regions apart? I mean if I buy a used cart, is there a way to tell if it is a PAL or NTSC cart? I think I read somewhere that PAL carts have 'P' on them somewhere. I can't say this for sure, as I don't have any. -S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saikyo Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 Yeah usually there will be a black sticker with a white "P" on the back of the cart, But as this is only a sticker most of the time they have been peeled off by people who dont care about preservation, so beware! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whisper Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 Honestly, sometimes there's no way of telling which ones are PAL. It was very hard for me when I just started collecting not long ago. Here's what I found. - PAL Atari text label carts have a P behind the catalog number on the front label. - PAL 1978-1980-ish Atari black picture label carts have a P on the end-label - PAL 1980-1984 Atari silver label carts have a P on the end-label - Carts with German titles or other European languages on them are PAL - Carts with a little P sticker on the back are PAL - Activision "International Edition" carts are PAL - Activision and Imagic white and black text label carts are PAL - Activision and Imagic carts that have a catalog number starting with an E are PAL And still I can never be sure if a cart is PAL. I have a lot of 1985-1990 carts both silver and red label that have no sticker with a P or any other idication on them. Some are PAL and some are NTSC. Welcome to AtariAge by the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Tomlin Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 More than a few times, PAL labels got used on NTSC carts, simply because a company was too cheap to print up more NTSC labels at the time. Activision was the worst about this, to the point where you will sometimes find a "circle-N" sticker on carts that are really NTSC. And every now and then (when I think of this, Joust is the one that comes to mind), I'll find an Atari cart with a P on the end label. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cootster Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 Aren't the circle-N Acti carts just the Canadian editions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 - Activision "International Edition" carts are PAL "International Edition" carts were released in Canada (and possibly elsewhere), thus NTSC. - Activision and Imagic carts that have a catalog number starting with an E are PAL I have three "E" Activision carts: River Raid (EAX-020) Decathlon (EAZ-030) Pressure Cooker (EAZ-032) These are all NTSC. River Raid has an "N" NTSC sticker on it. I have three copies of Pressure Cooker, but only one is an "E" catalog number (the other two are AZ-032), but it's NTSC all the same. I also have a "C" cat number (Ice Hockey, CAX-012) which is a Canadian "International Edition" release with a bilingual label (French/English). One more way to tell PAL Atari-branded carts that I've found is that the Atari logo and name, and the part number, are smaller, and in black, on the front label of PAL carts than the NTSC counterparts, which are larger and white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
video game addict Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 One more way to tell PAL Atari-branded carts that I've found is that the Atari logo and name, and the part number, are smaller, and in black, on the front label of PAL carts than the NTSC counterparts, which are larger and white. That has more to do with the copyright date than whether it's PAL vs NTSC. Atari switched to the smaller black Atari fuji in later years. Most your 85/86/87 carts have that style label. Activision's International editions were released both as PAL and NTSC(Canadian) so you'll see the E prefix & they typically have the circle N stickers too. But they are available in both formats as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardCore Posted May 1, 2004 Author Share Posted May 1, 2004 Thanks for your answers everyone, and for welcoming me to this community! :wink: So there are a regional difference then. Seems like the best way to go is to get two 2600 units, one PAL and one NTSC then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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