Buy ntsc snes or mod pal snes?

[Dr Tiger Ninestein]

I've got a load of U.S snes games which I have never played due to not owning an ntsc snes.


Should I buy an American snes, buy a pal snes that's been modded or mod a pal one myself?


I kind of like the idea of making a project of it and trying to do the mods myself but I haven't done any electronics work or soldering since college (15 years ago) so am unsure whether I would be capable or not.


What do you reckon?

[sigh]

If you can mod it to play all regions then go for it.

I have a megadrive that has a switch on the back to accept pal and ntsc.
My Playstation 1 is chipped to play all regions.
My Playstation 2 is chipped to play all region PS2 and PS1 games.
My XBOX360 is Asian so it plays nearly all games from all regions barring a few Japanese and US games (I cant remember which ones)

[The Last Bandit]

If you don't have any console then I'd suggest buying a US NTSC one. 


The cartridge sizes are different to the PAL & J-NTSC consoles so you've to enlarge the cartridge slot to make the US carts fits - I've yet to see this done tastefully.


Some PAL consoles are easy to mod for NTSC/60Hz others are a lot more work to do, so you need to be careful which PAL one you end up with.

[beaker]

+1 for the NTSC Snes if your TV accepts NTSC.

I don't know if it's still the case but I bought one from the US a couple of years ago for £40 delivered so it was relatively cheap. I must admit I've not used any of my US carts since buying an Everdrive though.

[Dr Tiger Ninestein]

Some PAL consoles are easy to mod for NTSC/60Hz others are a lot more work to do, so you need to be careful which PAL one you end up with.

Which PAL console should I look out for to make doing the mods easier?


The  mmmonkey guide that explains it says that there is a couple of different board layouts but it sounds like as long as you locate the correct chips, the same procedure should apply.

[Dr Tiger Ninestein]

Just been reading up and it's the 1 chip snes that is a pain to mod. I don't think I'd have any chance of pulling that one off!

[Dr Tiger Ninestein]

+1 for the NTSC Snes if your TV accepts NTSC.

I don't know if it's still the case but I bought one from the US a couple of years ago for £40 delivered so it was relatively cheap. I must admit I've not used any of my US carts since buying an Everdrive though.

The tv I use for my nes/snes is my old portable crt, it's 50hz. Will this be a problem if I hook up an ntsc snes to it.


My other tv is a Samsung smart led, do you think it would work on that?

[Bryce]

The old TV won't be able to display NTSC properly, but the new one probably will, you'll have to check the specs to see if it is NTSC compatible.

Bryce.

[beaker]

Yeah, I only get a B&W image out of my PAL Sony portable compared to full colour on the TV. I just cant stand how blocky the SNES is on modern TV's so I am actually going down the Sony PVM route which gives me a great NTSC/PAL image on a CRT display.

Although I guess Ryu did turn 50 the other day so maybe the old codger does deserve to be in Black and White these days 

I've not had a problem with my 50/60hz modded PAL Megadrive on the portable TV though.

[Dr Tiger Ninestein]

Beaker, I have the same tv as the one in your pictures and that is the one I was planning to use the snes on.


I have read on another site about using an ntsc snes on that model of tv and it will accept ntsc signal through an rgb scart cable only. They're about £8 on eBay.

[beaker]

That's interesting. I tried the scart cable I am using on the GC for sound (I am using digital for the display) but it only seems to give me an s-video signal and nothing on the RGB when I force my plasma to it. I'm guessing it might be for the N64 as that didn't output RGB. I'll see what the GC gives me and then have a look through my box o' wires to see if I've any others. Might be worth me investing in a RGB scart as well.

[Dr Tiger Ninestein]

It needs to be an ntsc cable. Search ntsc rgb scart cable on eBay.

[beaker]

Oh right, I didn't realise there was a different in the pinout between the consoles, or I guess they might need different resisters?

Was this the one you were looking it?
*RGB* Scart cable for NTSC USA SNES and Japanese SUPER FAMICOM Nintendo consoles

I'll order it tonight and let you know how it works with the TV if you want as I pretty much have the same setup you are looking to get.

[Dr Tiger Ninestein]

Yep that's the one. Cheers that would be great if you could let us know how it goes.

[beaker]

Not a bother, I am interested in seeing what it looks like on the CRT myself as I'll keep this one as a back up when the PVM arrives at the end of the month.

[beaker]

Cable arrived today.

It's not the most amazing cable in the world compared to stuff from Retro Computer Shack and mine makes a horrible grating sound as I am pushing it into the SNES but glad to say it works and looks absolutely amazing. Sorry my camera round out of battery power and the photo doesn't do it justice.

[Dr Tiger Ninestein]

Excellent, that's good to hear.


Did you import your consoles from the US btw?

[Carnivius]

Always did love that intro animation.  Ryu's never looked better.

[beaker]

Second one I did. I bought the first one from the UK with Super Metroid, Mario Kart, SFII, Shadow Run, Star Fox, Yoshi's Island, Contra III, Donkey Kong Country, Axelay, Legend of Zelda, Super Ghouls and Ghosts and an adapter to let me play PAL games for £50. Ahhh, them were the days when you could pick up stuff on the cheap.... Only problem was the Snes while not yellowed was broken on arrival so I got £40 back which covered the second one (which was very yellowed) from the US. Swapped over the case, gutted the yellowed one,  painted it in Famicom colours and turned it into a HTPC which I mostly use for GOG games 

[Dr Tiger Ninestein]

Wow, so you ended up with all those games and the adapter for a tenner.

[beaker]

And a case for my PC 

Not all good news though, they're all unboxed and none have instructions

[Dr Tiger Ninestein]

We'll I've just ordered my console from the US. Can you recommend a power supply/step down converter to get?


I've read that an old megadrive power supply works but others say that a step down converter is better.

[beaker]

I got some third party unit (as there's no Nintendo markings on the PSU) that seems to do the job. For the other foreign consoles like FM Towns Marty and PC Engine Duo I use a step down converter TC bought for me and it works great. Personally I actually prefer the step down converter these days. I can't comment on the Megadrive PSU as I've never tried it.

[Dr Tiger Ninestein]

Ok cheers beaker.

[Dr Tiger Ninestein]

Well my snes arrived from America today. I set it all up to make sure it was working which it was. Went out for a couple of hours, came back, tried turning it on and for some strange reason it wont work at all now.