Expert Online: What's the PAL activity like?

[CerealKiller]

I'm bloody fed up with the lack of people at NTSC, I haven't matched with more then 3 others in months and even more rarely with anyone at a similar skill level, and usually resort to running time trails, racing the AI, or dare I say it matching in the beginner world events, which is a grotesque misadventure.

Polyphony seems unwilling to do expert world events anymore (which is even more frustrating as those world Suzuka/Daytona Road events last summer were the most fun I've had with the game yet), so I'm getting really close to caving and dropping another $30 to get a PAL copy sent to Canada.

Before I do that though I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the activity level is like? Do you often get a full grid on expert events in PAL? I usually play somewhere between 21:00 - 23:00 UTC on weekdays, on weekends sometimes earlier during the day here, which is 5-6 hours ahead of Europe and thus early evening and beyond, so I'm hoping that's a pretty good time to catch some people online.

Appreciate any info you PAL owners could provide so I don't end up dropping more money into this game and sitting on near empty starting grids. Thanks!

 

[Hyper-Dan]

I think you will find a lot more action on PAL mate. We quite often get full grids. 👍

 

[z06fun]

I've had the same issue, few people running on NTSC. I just recently got my original Japenese version running again so I can play PAL. Seems like more people on there for the little amount I have used it so far

 

[TN2004S4]

I think you will find a lot more action on PAL mate. We quite often get full grids. 👍

Forgive me for asking such a retarded question, but what is a PAL and what is NTSC? Is a PAL a different version of GT5P?

 

[Hyper-Dan]

Forgive me for asking such a retarded question, but what is a PAL and what is NTSC? Is a PAL a different version of GT5P?

Yup, thats it. I know a few US guys who have PAL, Superwally, Dramakyd, EDK, Timeattack and more. Im sure they will be along soon. 👍

 

[CerealKiller]

Forgive me for asking such a retarded question, but what is a PAL and what is NTSC? Is a PAL a different version of GT5P?

Yeah, I don't really know the specifics but I understand PAL is European format and NTSC is North American, though unlike DVDs the North American PS3's can still play PAL format. I don't think there's even a very good reason for it aside from screwing stupid customers (like me) out of more money.

 

[z06fun]

You know, its funny that there are 2 different versions. I mean, I can play a PAL or NTSC version of GT5P on my NTSC PS3 on my NTSC TV/monitor. Why do they even need 2 versions?

 

[vapour]

i must say i dont get online every much with GT5 (i have my net at one place with my pc, and ps3 for when i am away from my PC and internet) i do sometimes bring the ps3 over and so far i have not had a game with less then 8 racers apart from when i was playing 4-6am i had two races with just 2 racers, then life seem to come from nowhere and was back to 8+, though as for "skill" i'm not to sure, everyone seems to run the same car and tune and will play dirty, even if your no threat to them.
sure using the same spec will keep the race close, but i since its not a organised event and random i dont really see why everyone is the same, just cos its the best setup for the race. i would take more pride in placing 4th with a less then perfect car choice then a 1st with a perfect car. but hey thats just me
to me its killed online GT5P racing and will not really bother til offical servers are up and could join a race league or team with good "polite" racing rules, if i wanted a ram race i would play burnout or grid.
by no means am i bad mouthing all PAL users its just i have lost faith in clean racing for now, maybe i have just been unluck and my game time happens to clash with school holidays or something? who knows, i would say give it a try and see if its to your liking

 

[Ardius]

They like it for region-locking (and hence stopping importing) reasons. Because of exchange rates, it can sometimes be cheaper just buy games from other countries.

If you're asking why they region lock online modes, its to help cut down lag in general for the average user.

i must say i dont get online every much with GT5 (i have my net at one place with my pc, and ps3 for when i am away from my PC and internet) i do sometimes bring the ps3 over and so far i have not had a game with less then 8 racers apart from when i was playing 4-6am i had two races with just 2 racers, then life seem to come from nowhere and was back to 8+, though as for "skill" i'm not to sure, everyone seems to run the same car and tune and will play dirty, even if your no threat to them.
sure using the same spec will keep the race close, but i since its not a organised event and random i dont really see why everyone is the same, just cos its the best setup for the race. i would take more pride in placing 4th with a less then perfect car choice then a 1st with a perfect car. but hey thats just me
to me its killed online GT5P racing and will not really bother til offical servers are up and could join a race league or team with good "polite" racing rules, if i wanted a ram race i would play burnout or grid.
by no means am i bad mouthing all PAL users its just i have lost faith in clean racing for now, maybe i have just been unluck and my game time happens to clash with school holidays or something? who knows, i would say give it a try and see if its to your liking

Thats why we have this forum
And online racing is like this in any game, most people are out to win and only seem to get pleasure from seeing themselves in the number 1 spot regardless of how they get there, if it requires dirty driving and dull car choices, so be it. So to avoid these dull people, we have forums like this one so we can organise meetings and race cleanly and for fun rather than for wins.

Don't be fooled, just because races can't be hosted, doesn't mean we can't have clean races.

 

[TN2004S4]

Yup, thats it. I know a few US guys who have PAL, Superwally, Dramakyd, EDK, Timeattack and more. Im sure they will be along soon. 👍

Ok. So how do I get my hands on one? Don't care much for the cost, just need to know where I can buy one.

 

[XTR-KingTuna]

i've heard you can get it off both amazon and ebay...my question was, can you download the PAL version off the PSN store?

 

[TN2004S4]

i've heard you can get it off both amazon and ebay...my question was, can you download the PAL version off the PSN store?

ok, so you search for GT5P PAL version or how do you phrase it to ensure that you are purchasing the right version.

 

[CerealKiller]

ok, so you search for GT5P PAL version or how do you phrase it to ensure that you are purchasing the right version.

I see a few results on ebay searching for gran turismo 5 prologue PAL.

 

[vapour]

And online racing is like this in any game, most people are out to win and only seem to get pleasure from seeing themselves in the number 1 spot regardless of how they get there, if it requires dirty driving and dull car choices, so be it. So to avoid these dull people, we have forums like this one so we can organise meetings and race cleanly and for fun rather than for wins.

Don't be fooled, just because races can't be hosted, doesn't mean we can't have clean races.

very true but for a casual online race here and there, like how i must play for a while its far from ideal, its just me being lazy since i cant be bothered lugging all my stuff around, on the off chance i could be around for a organised event. and i cant check the forums to see whats happening til i am already where my net is, i did get a dvi-hdmi cable so i could use my monitor but could not get it to work(tried everything) so that means i have to bring a tv as well.. i will be doing all that to see how these races go, since i am new to the forums, hopefully i will soon be able to race nightly or atleast couple a week online, the other thing is i dont have anywhere for my G25 where my PS3 is.
its all pretty bad timing for me and on top of the bad drivers it pushed me right away from GT5P online, though it was a reason i joined the GTP forums, to try to relight that GT fire that once burned inside

 

[Ardius]

i've heard you can get it off both amazon and ebay...my question was, can you download the PAL version off the PSN store?

Technically yes, I don't know if it works when you play it, but you could download it if you created a new PSN ID with a PAL-region nationality. Then you'd have to use a PAL-region debit or credit card to buy the items from the store. I don't know the specific card companies that let you do this but I know they exist.
You could do it with Store cards, but unfortunately they don't yet exist overhere in PAL-land.

Its far easier just to import a disc version really though, saves a lot of hassle and I don't know if the PAL download version would work in other regions or not.

 

[TN2004S4]

I see a few results on ebay searching for gran turismo 5 prologue PAL.

just went on amazon and all they have was: (Gran Turismo 5 Prologue(Japan game) by SCE (PLAYSTATION 3)). I'm assuming that this is not what I'm looking for. Will try ebay now..👍

 

[XTR-KingTuna]

Technically yes, I don't know if it works when you play it, but you could download it if you created a new PSN ID with a PAL-region nationality. Then you'd have to use a PAL-region debit or credit card to buy the items from the store. I don't know the specific card companies that let you do this but I know they exist.
You could do it with Store cards, but unfortunately they don't yet exist overhere in PAL-land.

Its far easier just to import a disc version really though, saves a lot of hassle and I don't know if the PAL download version would work in other regions or not.

is the japanese version PAL? i know alot of the north american cats over at the gt forums were using the Japanese version before the american came out, and i know of at least one that was using the downloaded version. anybody know for sure?

 

[Vaxen]

There are three main regions, and region locked events will only match with users from those regions:
- PAL (mainly Europe and Australia)
- NTSC-U (North and South America)
- NTSC-J (Japan)

I bought my PAL disk from Gameplay, and had a good experience. YMMV.

 

[Ardius]

is the japanese version PAL? i know alot of the north american cats over at the gt forums were using the Japanese version before the american came out, and i know of at least one that was using the downloaded version. anybody know for sure?

What Vaxen said, they are also NTSC but they are in their own region. Really, we should actually to each region by its DVD Number because technically the variations in TV coding don't matter anymore, but I suppose it makes sense seeing as PAL gets lumped together with servers anyway despite being different DVD regions (I think?).

 

[superwally]

I purchased mine using a US based credit card and address from www.play.com.uk if I am not mistaken.

 

[Rusty*]

Yeah PAL version has been really great lately, very little punter's and some great races with fast driver's. I would suggest to get yourself into a large chat that way you can easily organize some great racing! In the last 2 weeks I have had the best racing on PrologueI ever have, nearly no punter's makes the track clean for fast racing!:tup:
Rusty*

 

[GTP_Tzayed]

I purchased mine using a US based credit card and address from www.play.com.uk if I am not mistaken.

www.play.co.uk

 

[Johnhannibal]

And I think you need a HDTV to play both versions, otherwise you will only be able to play in black and white.

 

[z06fun]

There are three main regions, and region locked events will only match with users from those regions:
- PAL (mainly Europe and Australia)
- NTSC-U (North and South America)
- NTSC-J (Japan)

I bought my PAL disk from Gameplay, and had a good experience. YMMV.

Ahh so I had it wrong, I was thinking my original Japanese version was PAL. So basically I have 2 different NTSC versions. Wish I could trade one for PAL

 

[jpro01]

my question is.if i buy PAL GT5P can i use game saves from my NTSC gt5p?so i dont have to beat the game allover again.thanks

 

[Jack]

my question is.if i buy PAL GT5P can i use game saves from my NTSC gt5p?so i dont have to beat the game allover again.thanks

No you cant. But there are saved games here to download.

 

[Luxy]

One thing I didn't see mentioned yet: if you want to play PAL GT5P in North America, you'll need to have an HDTV. A PAL disc won't work on a standard definition NTSC tv.

FWIW, I also bought a PAL disc from http://www.play.co.uk. Cost about $40 CAD and took about a week to get here. Lots of great racing/full grids/etc as long as you play earlier in the day. Grids start thinning out after 7-8pm ET (i.e. around midnight in the UK/europe).