Hi all, sorry to chime in so late on this.
back when Lik-Sang were still in business (HK-based store similar to Play-Asia), i bought what was listed as a used PAL TG-16 version of Crater Maze. it was going for about $5, no case / manual and some sticky residue on the face. i do not own a PAL unit, but thought it would be a nice pick-up for later comparison. i have never tried puting the card in a converter or my consoles, but i have to tell you this: upon visual inspection, i saw nothing that made it look any different than the NA version. there didn't seem to be anything unique about it: colors, print, etc, all seemed to be the same.
there are, as i see it, three possibilities:
1. Lik-Sang had the product listing wrong. I highly doubt this as they and Play-Asia were extremely reliable (the latter is still in business, and still as trustworthy as any online retailer i have ever dealt with).
2. the PAL card of Crater MAze looks exactly like the NA version, but is incompatible.
3. the PAL card of Crater Maze is exactly the same card that plays on the NA console.
do we have any other cards here on the list for a comparison? does, for example, the PAL version of Bonk (assuming there is one) look the same as the NA one?
-----Original Message-----
>From: "Bryan aka R.I.P." <xxxxxx@gamezero.com>
>Sent: Jun 20, 2012 12:30 PM
>To: xxxxxx@mindrec.com
>Subject: Re: PAL Turbo Grafx in the US/NTSC?
>
>As far as I know... US cards will not work in the PAL units because they
>are converted Japanese systems, so region lock-out applies.
>
>Power supply? I don't know. You'll need to compare connectors and
>voltage/amp requirements. I'm not familiar with George's listing though
>to see what you're talking about. For sure the TG-16 power-supply is not
>going to work with any of the PCE/Duo models.
>
>Can't speak to any degree about slow-down issues. I imagine there are
>games where it will be an issue though since I've seen the problem on
>other consoles from that era.
>
>The card converters only work with US systems if nothing else but due to
>the region lockout issue on Japanese systems.
>
>Personally, unless you have a really good compelling reason to buy a PAL
>system (eg, collection completion-ism) I would say just buy a Japanese
>system directly and not deal with the headaches. I just did an e-bay
>scan and see systems from anywhere from $90 to $300, fwiw.
>
>Good luck.
>
>Bryan
>
>On 6/18/2012 1:03 PM, dgalzerano1 wrote:
>> Hey, folks...
>>
>> I've a few questions which will probably amount to old hat for most of you
>> guys, but I can't seem to find answers through Googling.
>>
>> I'm debating about picking up a NOS PAL Turbo Grafx from ebay (George
>> posted a link to them on eBay quite awhile back - they're still around).
>> I'm in the US, so NTSC is the region here, of course. I know that many
>> newer CRTs will display PAL frequencies with no problems, and I know that
>> you can easily RGB mod the PCE family of systems allowing for them to be
>> used with an RGB monitor that will also easily handle the PAL frequencies.
>> Are there any other problems or caveats to using a PAL system in the US?
>>
>> What kind of power adapter would I need? Or would it work fine with my US
>> TG16 power adapter?
>>
>> Is there a problem with slow-down due to the 50/60hz frequencies? (playing
>> PAL/Japanese cartridges on my US SNES/NES systems, sometimes the games play
>> slower - SFC Return of Double Dragon does this)
>>
>> And lastly, what about HuCards? We all know about the Region lockout for
>> PCE/TG16 Hucards, but how does this work in relation to PAL units? Are they
>> compatible with US hucards or Japanese hucards? (I have a Kisado from the
>> final run that was sold through the original TZD, but don't think this
>> would be usable in anything other than a US TG16)
>>
>> Sorry for what is probably alot of stupid questions - short of my Duo-R,
>> I've never used or tried to use a system from another region.
>>
>> Thanks for any light you guys can shed!
>>
>> -David
>>
>
>