Is PAL better than NTSC?

[Chadwicksracing]

Hey guys,

Its your local CWR here to give you my spread on PAL as a game. Not just PAL but how PAL rates to NTSC. Some will agree with me and some will not, however you cannot have an (accurate) opinion about this unless you have BOTH PAL AND NTSC! So please if you comment, only comment on your experience from both.

Scale from 1 - 10

PAL
User Experience: 7
Racing Quality: 7
Punting: 7
Disconnects: 5

NTSC
User Experience: 5
Racing Quality: 3
Punting: 10
Disconnects: 8

PAL:

Lets make this simple. I bought PAL because I hate NTSC version. I was feed up with the crappy races, disconnects and the punters. When I first played PAL I thought the quality of the average joe was x3 better. I couldn't keep up for the first few races. With that said, with quality of average joe up, one could only guess that the quality of racing went up as well. PAL is far more competitive. There are def more people in PAL that know what they are doing. In contrast NTSC doesn't have near the quality as PAL does.

We all know that races get disconnected. It happens even when you play PAL! wow. However I felt that because the racing quality was better, fewer people were going off the track. Therefore fewer babies to disconnect the race.

The punters, yes oh my there are punters in PAL... But not near as bad as NTSC. I figure because the average NTSC player lacks the skill to compete with the big boys, they feel they need to punt to get ahead.

I get punted way less in PAL..but thats not the say I don't get punted. I just get punted less because more unstand how to control their stuff.

NOTE:
Now I know that all of this is circumstantual. But with that said this is what I experiance.

Lets discuss this to figure out which version is better to play if you are a GTP'er.

 

[G25RJ]

I'm looking for a pal version for me too, the EUA servers are so empty

 

[sxboyd]

The punters, yes oh my there are punters in PAL... But not near as bad as NTSC. I figure because the average NTSC player lacks the skill to compete with the big boys, they feel they need to punt to get ahead.

I get punted way less in PAL..but thats not the say I don't get punted. I just get punted less because more unstand how to control their stuff.

NOTE:
Now I know that all of this is circumstantual. But with that said this is what I experiance.

Lets discuss this to figure out which version is better to play if you are a GTP'er.

Most of the drivers I've raced against have been clean, fair, and competent. I keep a running list of good opponents, bad opponents (fence riders, short cutters, and punters), those to which I must apologise, and hosts that quit (so I can explain to them that they shouldn't).

My list of good drivers is much larger than my other lists put together. I admit that we have WAY too many punters in the good ol' US of A, but to disrespect the entire US GTP_ gang and all of the others because the antics of a few poor sports is just pitiful. So don't be surprised if everyone just ignors your post.

 

[kart racer]

I find this interesting as I have only the NTCS version. I would like to know were you can get a PAL version in Canada? Of coarse I hope that when the full version of GT5 comes out we will be able to race against all versions with out spending extra cash.

 

[superwally]

I've been using both copies since they were available.

I can only speak for Suzuka 600 and 750, that's pretty much all I have time for. Generally speaking, the NTSC races have fewer people racing, so the fun factor is down a bit, but I've had just as much fun and excitement when there are a pack of racers, and others have the same experience (see the "epic 600 PP race" thread). Who you are racing is heavily time-dependent.

I mostly play PAL, but that's because I know when others I like to race with will be on (generally), there are probably a dozen I'm familiar with and see out there quite frequently. There are other tagged drivers (GTRP, GTNDC, etc) who are clean and fast and provide great competition.

My assessment? PAL=Easier to find great racing, just because there seem to be more people playing at any given time. NTSC=Great racing, but spotty-seem like 11PM-3AM EST is when the action happens.

In either version, when the right people are on the track, the racing is stellar. I think the PAL "advantage" lies purely in the number of people playing and the more organized fashion some of the tagged groups use to meet for races. Remember, GT5P was essentially unpromoted in the US, the UK had a freaking promotion where you could compete in-store to win goodies, and the EU has GT Academy as a running promotion.

I'm glad I have both.

 

[Chadwicksracing]

Most of the drivers I've raced against have been clean, fair, and competent. I keep a running list of good opponents, bad opponents (fence riders, short cutters, and punters), those to which I must apologise, and hosts that quit (so I can explain to them that they shouldn't).

My list of good drivers is much larger than my other lists put together. I admit that we have WAY too many punters in the good ol' US of A, but to disrespect the entire US GTP_ gang and all of the others because the antics of a few poor sports is just pitiful. So don't be surprised if everyone just ignors your post.

Oh I am sorry I guess I forgot that I mentioned GTP at all. I guess I have to ask you this? Where did I mention GTP NTSC players? I believe I used the phrase 'average joe'. This post is not about them, its about the quality of a game. Pay attention.

I'm looking for a pal version for me too, the EUA servers are so empty

NTSC is dying. You might want to get on board with the PAL gang. Ebay is good place to start looking. So long as you are willing to use Euros or Pounds. lol

I find this interesting as I have only the NTCS version. I would like to know were you can get a PAL version in Canada? Of coarse I hope that when the full version of GT5 comes out we will be able to race against all versions with out spending extra cash.

Of course you can get the PAL version in good ol' Canada. NTSC is for North America SD TV's. As long as you have a HD tv you can play PAL. I promise you if you buy it from ebay you won't spend more than $25 USD on the game.

@Supperwally

Thanks for the comments. I agree a lot of it has to do with being in the right place at the right time. It just shouldn't be like that.

 

[Ravenmaven]

Good thread. I'm sure this will answer a lot of my PAL questions. 👍

 

[Biggles]

Funny that you should post this CW, as your enterthegame link has totally changed the equation for NTSC!

As far as quality of the participants is concerned, I'm happy enough with our bunch of GTPers - if they were any faster I wouldn't be able to keep up!

Punting: much less of a problem than before in 600 PP. Still a problem in 750 PP because people don't have the skill or experience to control the ferocious acceleration & speed - it's easier to "catch-up" & punt at every major braking point.

I think the ideal number for a good, fair race at the minute is 5 or 6 cars. Any more than that gives too much of an advantage to the front of the grid. This would change with longer races.

BTW: I would really object, in principle, to having to buy another copy of GT5P.

 

[H20HYBRID_GT]

The threat title is quite wrong assuming you meant Northamerica Vs. Europe versions .
However NTSC runs naturally faster, so it wins any comparisons regarding gameplay.
The best races are on JAPANESE NTSC game, if you know which time ( around 10.00h - 15.00h German time) theres plenty of competitors, majority of them very quick and super fair. The very best thing about is theres is almost NO LAG even up to 16 players!
Maybe change thread title, cuz I play lots of NTSC but sure not on American servers ...

 

[Ardius]

Funny that you should post this CW, as your enterthegame link has totally changed the equation for NTSC!

As far as quality of the participants is concerned, I'm happy enough with our bunch of GTPers - if they were any faster I wouldn't be able to keep up!

Punting: much less of a problem than before in 600 PP. Still a problem in 750 PP because people don't have the skill or experience to control the ferocious acceleration & speed - it's easier to "catch-up" & punt at every major braking point.

I think the ideal number for a good, fair race at the minute is 5 or 6 cars. Any more than that gives too much of an advantage to the front of the grid. This would change with longer races.

Bigger grids were fine with rolling starts but, yes, I think for bigger grids to be truly worth it, we should have some kind of qualifying.

As for this whole NTSC vs. PAL thing, well, I cant really comment being on the PAL side, but it is an advantage to have more GT fan forums and this in turn does give us some degree of extra clean racing. But having not played the NTSC version, and probably never will, I can't really say that theres any more or less clean racing.

 

[Robin]

The best races are on JAPANESE NTSC game, if you know which time ( around 10.00h - 15.00h German time) theres plenty of competitors, majority of them very quick and super fair. The very best thing about is theres is almost NO LAG even up to 16 players!

Yeah I agree, if you get the time right you get some great races with the JPN crowd.

Robin

 

[Kryz11]

It be nice to race with Fellow European drivers but I just wait for Private rooms patch.

 

[P3nT4gR4m]

Punting: much less of a problem than before in 600 PP. Still a problem in 750 PP because people don't have the skill or experience to control the ferocious acceleration & speed - it's easier to "catch-up" & punt at every major braking point.

Strongly disagree - you only need to take 1 corner, reasonably quickly and the average punter will never be seen again in 750. In 600pp, however he'll be right behind you, right up til he knocks you off the track

 

[diedro]

I bought a PAL version of the game for many of the same reasons mentioned in the OP's post. I find the NTSC (NA) version "better looking" (subjective I know), but the PAL version has "better handling/racing" (again subjective). Cars seem to handle differently in the PAL version (contrast the feel and performance of the Type R in both to see). Also grass/sand seems much less harsh in the PAL version (i.e. if you accidently brake with one wheel or a tiny bit of the wheel off track it's not an automatic trip to the wall.) I prefer the "feel" of the NTSC version, but the PAL differences make online racing easier/better...more margin for error if you will.

Online racing, when you do synch up to European time/players, is better and cleaner. I've not seen as many proper punters like the NTSC version, but I have noticed many more drivers like to tap your rear bumper going into a corner. Not enough to spin you, but enough to make you unstable and get you offline so they can pass. That takes some skill to do right, still dirty in my book, but less so than ramming someone into the sand. Lastly I've noticed the penalty system on PAL to be more consistent. Maybe this is something PD fixed with the recent refresh of online races but I've not had any of the mysterious "bumped from behind and I get the penalty for ramming" ones that seem to be very common in the NTSC version.

 

[Earth]

Strongly disagree - you only need to take 1 corner, reasonably quickly and the average punter will never be seen again in 750. In 600pp, however he'll be right behind you, right up til he knocks you off the track

What if the punter is ahead of you in 750pp? I've seen drivers use the ENTIRE road naviagting corners, swerving everywhere in 750pp because they can't handle the cars. Try and pass at your own risk.

Even yesterday I was in a race with fairly quick Tuned Vipers, and they ran me off in spoon and didn't flinch one bit.

It all comes down to respect. Who is more disrespectful, NTSC or PAL drivers? I can tell you not one, NOT ONE driver outside of GTP has ever stopped for me after punting me in NTSC.

I'm a NTSC driver, and I can tell you it's very rare for someone to make a clean pass on you without using you as a cushion in a turn, using you as a brakes, or punting you. This happens at every track and pp in NTSC.

Some will even brake check you or run you off the road if you threaten their position.

 

[91hondawagon]

Who you are racing is heavily time-dependent.

I would guess that this is because the NTSC region = US and CA while the PAL region = almost everywhere else (EU, Oceania, South America, etc.).

The NTSC region only has 4 major time zones, so people are at work or going about other business at roughly the same time, so most racers are online at the same time. That's why it's pretty full in the evenings and dead during the daytime.

PAL has many more time zones, so people are on at all hours of the day. Racers in Australia are usually not on at the same time as racers in France.

I can tell you not one, NOT ONE driver outside of GTP has ever stopped for me after punting me in NTSC.

For me they have, many times. Many more don't, of course, but there are plenty of good drivers out in NTSC that realize they've screwed up and will wait. I guess you're just unlucky.

It be nice to race with Fellow European drivers but I just wait for Private rooms patch.

👍 Hopefully, the regions will be unlocked for private rooms, so we can race with our PAL friends without spending 40 USD for another copy of Prologue.

 

[GTP_chemicaL]

Hopefully, the regions will be unlocked for private rooms, so we can race with our PAL friends without spending 40 USD for another copy of Prologue.

Can they do that?

 

[Ardius]

Can they do that?

Oh yeah, lol, why not? Many online games have this ability already....

Anyway, people are generalising hugely in this thread.

 

[Biggles]

Strongly disagree - you only need to take 1 corner, reasonably quickly and the average punter will never be seen again in 750. In 600pp, however he'll be right behind you, right up til he knocks you off the track

Strongly disagree - in 750 PP the difference between top speed/acceleration & corner speed is much greater so that there's more likelihood that the punter will catch up & hit you when you brake for the corner. In 600 PP the following driver does not have the acceleration to catch you so easily as you brake for the next corner.

I notice that even skilled & principled GTP drivers do much more (unintentional) bumping in 750 PP than in 600 PP.

 

[91hondawagon]

Can they do that?

Yes. It's called region-free, and many games with online compatibility are not region-locked. For example, all of the Tom Clancy series games for Xbox are region-free. The lockout forces consumers to buy region-specific electronics which might be more expensive, which can give producers an economic advantage.

In a note to all NTSC players in the US who bought an PAL version: you are breaking the law. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act prohibits the bypassing of any copyright protection system. Sony and the US government don't particularly care if you bought a PAL version; the law is more for stuff like illegal DVD cracking. I just thought you'd be interested to know that you are all felons .

But yes, the regions can be unlocked.

 

[Biggles]

Excuse my ignorance: can Japanese users show up on the same NTSC servers as NA users? I've never encountered a Japanese driver (as far as I know). I actually have no idea how this works: in general, it seems like I encounter a disproportionate number of Canadian drivers. Is that because of where I am???

I notice that Japanese drivers pretty much dominate in the TT rankings.

 

[91hondawagon]

Excuse my ignorance: can Japanese users show up on the same NTSC servers as NA users? I've never encountered a Japanese driver (as far as I know). I actually have no idea how this works: in general, it seems like I encounter a disproportionate number of Canadian drivers. Is that because of where I am???

I notice that Japanese drivers pretty much dominate in the TT rankings.

Yep. NTSC is divided into different subregions:

NTSC-J = Japan
NTSC-U/C = US and Canada
NTSC-C = China

There are others too. Different subregions aren't compatible with each other in Prologue, so you can't race all the JP people without buying an NTSC-J copy.

 

[Kryz11]

👍 Hopefully, the regions will be unlocked for private rooms, so we can race with our PAL friends without spending 40 USD for another copy of Prologue.

I hope so too. What if GTPlanet creates some kind of championships with few servers, and lets say they are all European servers and Region would be locked that would suck because I would Have to buy the Euro Version..

By the way Do I really need Euro version? Can't I just Make a European PSN? or that won't work?

 

[Ardius]

I hope so too. What if GTPlanet creates some kind of championships with few servers, and lets say they are all European servers and Region would be locked that would suck because I would Have to buy the Euro Version..

By the way Do I really need Euro version? Can't I just Make a European PSN? or that won't work?

No, the actual games are locked, it doesnt matter what PSN you use.

 

[angelx]

Yep. NTSC is divided into different subregions:

NTSC-J = Japan
NTSC-U/C = US and Canada
NTSC-C = China

There are others too. Different subregions aren't compatible with each other in Prologue, so you can't race all the JP people without buying an NTSC-J copy.

Really, that sucks but makes sense.

 

[Biggles]

What about the Canada thing? Canadian population is about 10% of the U.S., but there seem to be way more than 10% Canadians in my online experience. Is there any "local" bias to the system?

 

[slicecom]

What about the Canada thing? Canadian population is about 10% of the U.S., but there seem to be way more than 10% Canadians in my online experience. Is there any "local" bias to the system?

I think Canadians just have better taste in games.

 

[superwally]

I struggle to understand how I'm breaking laws-I just insert the disc and it plays. I've cracked nothing!

 

[Juice476]

How about just unlocking it and letting us set up are own room's? The F word game alow's for it I know this is just a demo and thats a full game but still. Sony hasent figured out that outside of Japan its all about online play.

 

[Ardius]

How about just unlocking it and letting us set up are own room's? The F word game alow's for it I know this is just a demo and thats a full game but still. Sony hasent figured out that outside of Japan its all about online play.

Clearly Sony has figured that out.....sounds like someones complaining just for complainings sake.

Anyway, the reason they haven't "just unlocked it" is to limit lag. I know most of the time you can have games with players on the other side of the world fine most of the time, but I think they've locked it for now to ensure online play quality is higher.