How many NTSC games are avialable for the Amiga??...

dave4shmups · 06 May 2009, 19:01

I'd like to purchase an NTSC A1200, but I'm wondering how many games I could get in NTSC format. I know that the Amiga was huge in Europe, but it was no slouch here in the US.

Amiga1992 · 06 May 2009, 19:07

A1200s can switch to PAL frequency for running PAL software. Almost everything runs this way.
There were as far as I know none or very few NTSC games, actually I really can't think of ANY NTSC-exclusive software.

Your problem will be getting a television set that will properly display 50Hz NTSC signals. US televisions a re usually very shit and don't support anything but 60Hz NTSC.

killergorilla · 06 May 2009, 20:24

I know that the following games have NTSC-specific versions available:

Arkanoid
Bubble Bobble
Dr. Doom's Revenge
Ghostbusters 2
Globdule
Revenge Of The Mutant Camels
Robocop 3
Stormlord

Retro1234 · 06 May 2009, 20:31

Magic Pockets
Gods

Id like to get my gruby hands on Gods NTSC IPF or pre-WHD installed.

dave4shmups · 07 May 2009, 00:56

Ok, thanks the input, and that game list. AFIK, there's no NTSC or PAL designation in game information on the main HOL database. If there is, I'd like to know where.

Does it depend on what model of Amiga we're talking about? For example, the A1200 sold a lot better in Europe.

How many of these games were released in NTSC format?:

http://shmups.classicgaming.gamespy....les/amiga.html

Amiga1992 · 07 May 2009, 02:21

I would still suggest you to be looking at a proper TV set rather than NTSC games. You will loose on most of the Amiga software making it a very bad purchase!
Get a 1200 that switches to PAL and NTSC, expand it a little with memory and hard drive, and you have a killer WHDload machine that can let you enjoy most every game.

Hey, that is MY website

Maybe some of the US publisher games will run in NTSC mode, but I must stress on the futility of looking for NTSC versions of software when an A1200 can run in PAL just fine. You will miss on Uridium 2, Disposable Hero or Battle Squadron, three of the best shmups for the paltform.

An A500 cannot switch between PAL and NTSC so I would recommend against it.. I don\'t like A500s anyway, not even the Plus.
There's loads of US A1200 models, I had one for years and ran ALL PAL software I had...

dave4shmups · 07 May 2009, 03:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akira

I would still suggest you to be looking at a proper TV set rather than NTSC games. You will loose on most of the Amiga software making it a very bad purchase!
Get a 1200 that switches to PAL and NTSC, expand it a little with memory and hard drive, and you have a killer WHDload machine that can let you enjoy most every game.

Hey, that is MY website

Maybe some of the US publisher games will run in NTSC mode, but I must stress on the futility of looking for NTSC versions of software when an A1200 can run in PAL just fine. You will miss on Uridium 2, Disposable Hero or Battle Squadron, three of the best shmups for the paltform.

An A500 cannot switch between PAL and NTSC so I would recommend against it.. I don\'t like A500s anyway, not even the Plus.
There's loads of US A1200 models, I had one for years and ran ALL PAL software I had...

Ahh, it's good to see you again on a forum; I totally forgot that was you! Someone on the shmups.com forum suggested that I get a 1084 monitor that can output PAL.

Off-topic, I suppose the C64 got a lot more NTSC games.

Amiga1992 · 07 May 2009, 05:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave4shmups

Ahh, it's good to see you again on a forum; I totally forgot that was you! Someone on the shmups.com forum suggested that I get a 1084 monitor that can output PAL.

Off-topic, I suppose the C64 got a lot more NTSC games.

Hey man!
With a 1084 you don't have to worry about PAL or NTSC anymore.
If you have any RGB monitor (like an arcade one, or an XRGB2 etc) that can sync at 50Hz, you can use an Amiga 1200 in PAL mode without any problems.

The C64 is different but still, i wouldn't be looking at these issues!

demoniac · 07 May 2009, 08:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akira

You will miss on Uridium 2, Disposable Hero or Battle Squadron, three of the best shmups for the paltform.

Maybe I'm getting Battle Squadron confused with Hybris, but Battle Squadron had an NTSC version. Also, many crack groups removed NTSC locks from pre-93 PAL games.

Quote:

An A500 cannot switch between PAL and NTSC so I would recommend against it.. I don\'t like A500s anyway, not even the Plus.

Not true. You'd need an A500 machine that has the 1MB Fatter Angus to use Degrader to change between PAL/NTSC.

john4p · 07 May 2009, 10:58

Note that the NTSC-versions of Battle Squadron and Arkanoid are vastly inferior to their PAL counterparts.

musashi5150 · 07 May 2009, 11:00

Qix was only released in the US, so add that to the list

killergorilla · 07 May 2009, 11:00

Fire & Ice CD32 supports NTSC too.

fryguy · 07 May 2009, 12:59

Double Dragon 2 was available in NTSC.

r.cade · 07 May 2009, 13:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by john4p

Note that the NTSC-versions of Battle Squadron and Arkanoid are vastly inferior to their PAL counterparts.

How so?

andreas · 07 May 2009, 14:21

Baby Bug (the version I have [PNA])
Dragon Lord (Dragon's Breath US version)
Fighter Duel Pro 1.0 (US)
Forgotten Worlds
Game Of Harmony (E-Motion US version)
and
Robocop 2 (the version I have [SKR?])

should be true NTSC too.

Mad-Matt · 07 May 2009, 14:24

I dont know if it counts but street fighter 2 had ntsc option in game . The speed up made game abit better

kipper2k · 07 May 2009, 14:41

Hi Dave,

I'm in Canada and it is a lot better getting a PAL Amiga (A1200) and using the indivision card to be able to display all the NTSC\PAL games perfectly on any computer monitor or TV with VGA input.

The A600 is close to being capable of the same features, and i believe the A500 also. There are not too many NTSC games that are catalogged in TOSEC, mostly PAL.

There are also some VGA devices/scandoublers that will allow you to use your A500\600\1200 on a VGA monitor (http://www.ambery.com/rgbcgatovgac.html). Quality is pretty good, and the NTSC A500 can be very easily modded to switch between NTSC and PAL

alexh · 07 May 2009, 17:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by kipper2k

NTSC A500 can be very easily modded to switch between NTSC and PAL

Depends which motherboard / chipset it has. AFAIK very early NTSC A500's are NTSC only.

john4p · 07 May 2009, 19:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by r.cade

How so?

The playfield in the PAL-versions of Battle Squadron and Arkanoid is 28% larger than in the NTSC-versions. The PAL-versions utilize the full 320x256 pixels whereas the NTSC-versions only have 320x200 pixels which is very disadvantageous for a vertical scrolling shoot'em up and a vertically oriented Breakout-game.

paranoid · 08 May 2009, 21:43

I'm from the US so figured I'd chime in. Yes, early A500s were NTSC only because they had the old Agnus (I think old PAL 500s were PAL-only, as an aside). The later 500s (and 2000s) had the 1 meg Fat Agnus. By default, they were 512 chip/512 fast and NTSC, but one could use Palboot, which would change the screenmode and reboot. This, however, was not 100% compatible.

Close to the 68000 chip were a couple traces on the motherboard that you could wire up a couple of switches to. I had mine poking out of the expansion port on the left so I could have it hardware boot PAL/NTSC and 512 chip/1 meg chip. I do believe, for all intents and purposes, it was a PAL Amiga. The only game that ever gave me trouble was Robocop 3, as far as trying to get the right combination (but I think that was an unusually picky game to begin with).

There should be a way, with a Fat Agnus (1 meg) in a PAL Amiga, to boot into NTSC or perhaps add a switch. It would make sense anyway, though this is a guess.

A Fat Agnus can be installed to replace the 512 chip, too; a friend of mine had an old 2000 and did this. I don't think you can do this with a 1000 though.

In the US, we had problems with PAL games because sometimes the bottom was cut off. The music would also be off (faster I think..). A lot of groups would put out NTSC 'fixes' as well, so an NTSC game you spot these days, may not originally be NTSC, so you have to be on the look-out for that. But it would be advantageous to run an NTSC game on an NTSC Amiga because of the music (the screen wouldn't be an issue, since a PAL screen is bigger).

Having said all that, with my 1084, I almost always ran my Amiga in PAL mode. Even Workbench, bit of flicker, but the screen space was nice.

06 May 2009, 19:01	#1
dave4shmups Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Centennial, Colorado, USA Posts: 75	How many NTSC games are avialable for the Amiga??... I'd like to purchase an NTSC A1200, but I'm wondering how many games I could get in NTSC format. I know that the Amiga was huge in Europe, but it was no slouch here in the US.

06 May 2009, 20:31	#4
Retro1234 Phone Homer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: 5150 Posts: 5,773	Magic Pockets Gods Id like to get my gruby hands on Gods NTSC IPF or pre-WHD installed. Last edited by Retro1234; 06 May 2009 at 22:11. Reason: hands!

07 May 2009, 00:56	#5
dave4shmups Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Centennial, Colorado, USA Posts: 75	Ok, thanks the input, and that game list. AFIK, there's no NTSC or PAL designation in game information on the main HOL database. If there is, I'd like to know where. Does it depend on what model of Amiga we're talking about? For example, the A1200 sold a lot better in Europe. How many of these games were released in NTSC format?: http://shmups.classicgaming.gamespy....les/amiga.html Last edited by dave4shmups; 07 May 2009 at 00:58. Reason: Forgot to mention my favorite game genre on the Amiga!

07 May 2009, 14:21	#15
andreas Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Germany Age: 50 Posts: 5,857	Baby Bug (the version I have [PNA]) Dragon Lord (Dragon's Breath US version) Fighter Duel Pro 1.0 (US) Forgotten Worlds Game Of Harmony (E-Motion US version) and Robocop 2 (the version I have [SKR?]) should be true NTSC too. Last edited by andreas; 07 May 2009 at 14:35.

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06 May 2009, 19:07	#2
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,643	A1200s can switch to PAL frequency for running PAL software. Almost everything runs this way. There were as far as I know none or very few NTSC games, actually I really can't think of ANY NTSC-exclusive software. Your problem will be getting a television set that will properly display 50Hz NTSC signals. US televisions a re usually very shit and don't support anything but 60Hz NTSC.

06 May 2009, 20:24	#3
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	I know that the following games have NTSC-specific versions available: Arkanoid Bubble Bobble Dr. Doom's Revenge Ghostbusters 2 Globdule Revenge Of The Mutant Camels Robocop 3 Stormlord

07 May 2009, 02:21	#6
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,643	I would still suggest you to be looking at a proper TV set rather than NTSC games. You will loose on most of the Amiga software making it a very bad purchase! Get a 1200 that switches to PAL and NTSC, expand it a little with memory and hard drive, and you have a killer WHDload machine that can let you enjoy most every game. Hey, that is MY website Maybe some of the US publisher games will run in NTSC mode, but I must stress on the futility of looking for NTSC versions of software when an A1200 can run in PAL just fine. You will miss on Uridium 2, Disposable Hero or Battle Squadron, three of the best shmups for the paltform. An A500 cannot switch between PAL and NTSC so I would recommend against it.. I don\'t like A500s anyway, not even the Plus. There's loads of US A1200 models, I had one for years and ran ALL PAL software I had...

07 May 2009, 10:58	#10
john4p Competition Moderator Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Posts: 4,756	Note that the NTSC-versions of Battle Squadron and Arkanoid are vastly inferior to their PAL counterparts.

07 May 2009, 11:00	#11
musashi5150 move.w #$4489,$dff07e Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Norfolk, UK Age: 42 Posts: 2,351	Qix was only released in the US, so add that to the list

07 May 2009, 12:59	#13
fryguy Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Skarabörg, Sweden Age: 44 Posts: 1,019	Double Dragon 2 was available in NTSC.

07 May 2009, 14:24	#16
Mad-Matt Longplayer Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Lincoln / UK Age: 44 Posts: 1,846	I dont know if it counts but street fighter 2 had ntsc option in game . The speed up made game abit better

07 May 2009, 14:41	#17
kipper2k Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Thunder Bay, Canada Posts: 4,323	Hi Dave, I'm in Canada and it is a lot better getting a PAL Amiga (A1200) and using the indivision card to be able to display all the NTSC\PAL games perfectly on any computer monitor or TV with VGA input. The A600 is close to being capable of the same features, and i believe the A500 also. There are not too many NTSC games that are catalogged in TOSEC, mostly PAL. There are also some VGA devices/scandoublers that will allow you to use your A500\600\1200 on a VGA monitor (http://www.ambery.com/rgbcgatovgac.html). Quality is pretty good, and the NTSC A500 can be very easily modded to switch between NTSC and PAL

08 May 2009, 21:43	#20
paranoid Phone Zen Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Banned Age: 52 Posts: 234	I'm from the US so figured I'd chime in. Yes, early A500s were NTSC only because they had the old Agnus (I think old PAL 500s were PAL-only, as an aside). The later 500s (and 2000s) had the 1 meg Fat Agnus. By default, they were 512 chip/512 fast and NTSC, but one could use Palboot, which would change the screenmode and reboot. This, however, was not 100% compatible. Close to the 68000 chip were a couple traces on the motherboard that you could wire up a couple of switches to. I had mine poking out of the expansion port on the left so I could have it hardware boot PAL/NTSC and 512 chip/1 meg chip. I do believe, for all intents and purposes, it was a PAL Amiga. The only game that ever gave me trouble was Robocop 3, as far as trying to get the right combination (but I think that was an unusually picky game to begin with). There should be a way, with a Fat Agnus (1 meg) in a PAL Amiga, to boot into NTSC or perhaps add a switch. It would make sense anyway, though this is a guess. A Fat Agnus can be installed to replace the 512 chip, too; a friend of mine had an old 2000 and did this. I don't think you can do this with a 1000 though. In the US, we had problems with PAL games because sometimes the bottom was cut off. The music would also be off (faster I think..). A lot of groups would put out NTSC 'fixes' as well, so an NTSC game you spot these days, may not originally be NTSC, so you have to be on the look-out for that. But it would be advantageous to run an NTSC game on an NTSC Amiga because of the music (the screen wouldn't be an issue, since a PAL screen is bigger). Having said all that, with my 1084, I almost always ran my Amiga in PAL mode. Even Workbench, bit of flicker, but the screen space was nice.

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