Xbox 360 "pal" - Can Run All Games Or Not?

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

I have been offered an Xbox 360 for cheap, already chipped. However it is from the U.K so it is a "PAL" version. While my television certainly supports both PAL and NTSC the question is are there PAL games available here in Thailand or do others work as well..?

Also, in order to play a game, does the thing need to be on the internet?

I never owned a game console before but this one sounds good for the price and there are some really nice racing games available for it.

Kind regards......

Thanh

[mjperry]

Hi.

I have been offered an Xbox 360 for cheap, already chipped. However it is from the U.K so it is a "PAL" version. While my television certainly supports both PAL and NTSC the question is are there PAL games available here in Thailand or do others work as well..?

Also, in order to play a game, does the thing need to be on the internet?

I never owned a game console before but this one sounds good for the price and there are some really nice racing games available for it.

Kind regards......

Thanh

If really depends what 'chip' is in the box there are many available from my understanding and what they have done to it. Perhaps best to ask the person you'd be buying it from what they have actually done to it and what chip is in it and if they know the answer to your question?

One thing is certain though, if you have a chipped box you do not want to be connecting it to the internet, if you do and even subscribe to Xbox Live your account will be banned eventually if not immediately.

[lor]

As the other poster said DO NOT connect it to the Internet. Although this may be OK now to play copied games you will not be able to get all the future updates for that box.

It will not be able to play all games but can play most. There is a good internet site that shows which games it will play and which it will not. As I cannot post web addresses here I will send you a PM with the site.

Chris

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

Many thanks for the replies, specially to Chris for the web site link.

Of course, the only games that i like (Burnout) will NOT play on that thing so i won't get it. Simple. The person selling it is a girl at my office, her boyfriend brought the box from UK and neither of them has any idea what type of chip is in it, all they know is "it plays the cheap games but out of 20 from Chinatown, 18 don't work because the box is PAL".

The reason why i asked for the internet stuff is because i read somewhere yesterday that some games would require the box to be online......

Out of curiousity, what is the usual price for a used, chipped, Xbox 360 now in Bangkok? I have no clue where to look for them or what they cost new, i just thought that this one sounded cheap - she offered it to me for 4,000 Baht.

Kind regards......

Thanh

[basjke]

A modified box doesn't necessarily have to be "chipped".I modified my box myself and it is solely a modification of the dvdrom firmware.Plays all the 150 baht games I tried so far and no problem receiving updates.Four thousand baht is not expensive but not cheap either as it is the wrong region.I think if you do a search on the classifieds sites you will find a similar deal,however I would prefer the new version with the new chip as it has less heat issues.

[mjperry]

Of course, the only games that i like (Burnout) will NOT play on that thing so i won't get it. Simple. The person selling it is a girl at my office, her boyfriend brought the box from UK and neither of them has any idea what type of chip is in it, all they know is "it plays the cheap games but out of 20 from Chinatown, 18 don't work because the box is PAL".

The reason why i asked for the internet stuff is because i read somewhere yesterday that some games would require the box to be online......

Out of curiousity, what is the usual price for a used, chipped, Xbox 360 now in Bangkok? I have no clue where to look for them or what they cost new, i just thought that this one sounded cheap - she offered it to me for 4,000 Baht.

I think you have answered the question right there, out of 20 games they bought only 2 worked. That 360 is PAL, meaning it is region locked to only play games for that region, the usual mod of flashing the DVD drive will not get around the region coding to play NTSC region coded games. What you will need to find is a clueful shop in Chinatown that knows how to check if the game is PAL/NTSC for you using abgx360 or take a laptop and check them out yourself, as the covers they have saying PAL/NTSC can't be believed, of course you can check the Play Asia site which is what i guess Chris sent you to check for the known region free games that will definitely work as well.

[mjperry]

Of course as the previous owners found out the majority of games sold in Thailand are NTSC region coded, so with this box you will be severely limited to which games you'll be able to pick up locally in any case, so you will either have to learn to download and burn yourself the PAL version of games or consider picking up an NTSC region coded unit instead.

[Benjie]

It's nothing to do with the PAL/NTSC signals like on the old days (50/60Hz).

Its more to do with regional encoding of the games. There are 3 regions, American (referred to as NTSC-UC), Japanese (referred to as NTSC-J) and European/Australian (PAL).

Not ALL games are region locked, some locked for 2 regions etc...

A list of the regional locking for almost all games can be found here Xbox 360 Game Regions