There are two systems of television broadcasting, and they both require different kinds of television sets to work. The US and Japan use NTSC for some obscure reason, while the rest of the world uses the better quality PAL TV.
Unfortunately, because Japan and America are the leaders in TV and video game technology, they get all the games and shows first, and they must be converted to PAL for Europe, Australia and Britain (not to mention several other regions).
This conversion can take about a month generally, BUT the video game industry has started treating us badly as far as game releases go. We haven't got Kirby Crystal Shards, Banjo-Tooie, or Paper Mario yet...
Proof of how mistreated we are can be found in the Game Boy system - where there is no PAL or NTSC... games are delayed for no reason whatsoever. We're still waiting for Pokémon Gold and Silver for crying out loud. The only good thing about the Game Boy is that importing is a lot easier because:
a) The games are the same
b) The console is the same
c) The power source is the same
The big consoles don't offer the same freedom and need all sorts of power converters and whatnot to set it up on a UK TV.
Come GameCube, I expect I'll import. I'm fed up with these unnecessarily long release delays in PAL territories. Nintendo have lost a large fan base and are losing a lot of respect in Europe and Australia because they don't treat us as an equal market.
Pocket Monster Island -
http://fryguy64.tripod.comPokémon guides, downloads and info.
