Playstation 2 and PAL 60hz modes... this is the way Sony should go!

This is a petition for a subject that will surely strike a chord with any PAL console system user out there. For years now, we PAL users have been made to put up with shoddy conversions of games: games that run slower than their NTSC counterparts. For those that don't know, NTSC games (mainly US and Japanese ones) run at "60hz" while PAL games run at "50hz". Without going into too much technical detail, when many games are released onto PAL systems, we end up with shoddy games that are sometimes a shadow of their former selves. That's not to mention the fact that they also have big black borders at the top and bottom of the screen most of the time; this means that many games looked severely squashed (Gran Turismo UK version for the Playstation 1 being a good example).

So, what can be done about this? Well, Sega definitely seem to have the right idea and since the launch of its Dreamcast console, they have asked developers to include a 60hz option in their PAL games. By doing this, gamers can CHOOSE whether to use either 50hz or 60hz. This is necessary as some TV's aren't compatible with 60hz modes (all modern TV's are though), but anybody with a decent TV set that does support it can play the games the way they are meant to be. I have a lot of respect for Sega for doing this as it is the first time anybody has bothered to help us PAL users out!

Unfortunately it seems as if not everybody has the same idea. I just recently purchased a PAL Playstation 2 and I am very disappointed that none of the UK games I tried had this option. Although I am no technical wizard, I would imagine that the PS2 is capable of running in a PAL 60hz mode, so why won't you ask developers to include it??? Personally, I can see no good reason why not...

So, that is basically what this petition is for; to ask YOU to ask all PS2 developers to include a 60hz option in their games. Now, I am sure that there are a lot of people out there (including myself) that are disgusted with the shoddy conversions that we recently got of Tekken Tag and many others. We would really like to get something done about it, so that we no longer have to go out and buy imported machines/games, just to play them properly!

Thanks for reading. I trust that you will take our opinions into consideration.

Stuart Reynolds
"Kazuya_UK"