Non-US collector's collecting NTSC U games

I have noticed that many of us seem to be non-US citizens, but collect NTSC U games. In particular, I have noticed the systems of choice tend to be SNES and PlayStation / PS2 games. I know there are some of us who also collect Japanese games, but I am more intrigued about the American collecting habits rather than the Japanese collector's.

What is the appeal of NTSC U games to us non-US collector's? I share a passion for collecting certain US games, but this is mainly due to two factors:

A) There are certain games, especially for PlayStation and PS2, that appeal to me simply because they were never released in the UK. Mostly RPG's from Atlus, Enix, and Squaresoft. The same could also be said for the SNES too, which I think could be a reason many of you collect them. Plus there's the fact that sealed American SNES games are far easier to get hold of than their European counterparts.

B) The exchange rate. We all know that in reccent times it has become much easier to get hold of more expensive games from the US due to the exchange rate to the Pound and Euro. This can also be a contributing factor towards why collecting NTSC U games is more appealing.


As I mentioned above, the majority of the NTSC U games I own are games that were unreleased here in the UK. Others I bought simply due to getting them at a good price, and some simply because I like the franchise / game. I am quite passionate about my sealed US PlayStation collection, and wish I had the time to put the effort into gaining more PlayStation & PS2 games. For me, collecting US games is something special which I do as and when I feel the urge, whereas PAL games are my main priority. For me, it actually started due to certain games I wanted were almost impossible to get hold of as a PAL copy. Blood Omen, Tombi II, and Breath Of Fire III were the first three US games I bought, all of which I have since gotten hold of in sealed condition as a PAL copy

I cannot speak for a European, as I'm from the US, but to me, collecting from the US is much easier because of all the regional variations that come with PAL and Europe in general. German Vs Spain Vs AUS Vs French. I suppose the same could be said of Canada and Mexico on this side but it doesn't seem as prevelant in collecting. That's my two cents anyway.

Startyde wrote:I cannot speak for a European, as I'm from the US, but to me, collecting from the US is much easier because of all the regional variations that come with PAL and Europe in general. German Vs Spain Vs AUS Vs French. I suppose the same could be said of Canada and Mexico on this side but it doesn't seem as prevelant in collecting. That's my two cents anyway.

Obviously if you're from the US then it's logical to collect US games, in the same way it is logical for me to collect UK games as I am from the UK, and Pascal to collect German PAL games as he is from Germany. I especially like collecting PAL Nintendo games as we have the unique red tear strip which makes it much easier to buy a genuine factory sealed copy of a game


I understand what you mean by regional variations that we have for our PAL games though, which could also be another reason why other people here prefer to collect the American games, with the exception of a few where there may be a Mexican or Canadian alternative version available.

I know for PAL Dreamcast games, some developers tend to release multiple variations of a game. Some games may be released country specific (One version per country with just one language), and others as multi-language versions (One version with several European languages). Capcom, for example, seem to prefer to release a North and South European version of many of their games, with one having English, German, and French; And the other having English, Spanish, and Italian. Sometimes they may even release a Scandinavian variation as well.


Australia is slightly different. Sometimes they get the exact same release we get here in the UK. Other times they may get releases ahead of us or even get releases we don't. In the case of Animal Crossing, the game has eReader support, whereas the UK and European version did not, not to mention the fact that we also had to wait 18 months for the game to come to our shores - Until then, most people had to import either the Australian PAL version, or the US version

If price is what you're concerned about, wouldn't it make sense to buy NTSC-J??

Those are usually cheaper than NTSC-U as well. If the game is also available in PAL and is the same price, I have no idea why ppl would buy the NTSC U version. Does anyone even do that?

striker wrote:If price is what you're concerned about, wouldn't it make sense to buy NTSC-J??

It's not so much price, but rather ease of getting hold of items and in the condition you want them. Yes, Japanese games are cheaper to buy, but harder to get hold of. PAL games are much easier to get hold of (Either in stores or on eBay.co.uk), but are slightly more expensive.

For me, price is not really a factor, as I was buying NTSC U games before the exchange rate dropped. For others though, the change in the US exchange rate may be more appealing to purchase games from the US, especially games that don't get released over here, or games which there will be a considerable delay in being released in the UK and Europe.

If the game is also available in PAL and is the same price, I have no idea why ppl would buy the NTSC U version. Does anyone even do that?

I do own some games in both PAL and NTSC U format. Some, like FFX for instance, I prefer the cover artwork of the US version. As with some of the other games I mentioned in the post above, I bought the US version of FFX and then later tracked down a sealed PAL version.

Some might argue that the US version of some older games run faster (60hz) opposed to the PAL version (50hz), which might be a reason why some people may choose the US version of a game over a PAL version even though they are priced the same. Some people I know prefer to buy their games from the US rather than waiting months for the UK release