PAL breakdown with PS Plus: New subscription model starts bumpy
Created: 05/25/2022, 16:55
By: Jonas Dirkes
Sony is making itself unpopular with PS5 fans.
PS1 games that are obtained via the new PS Plus Premium are anything but smooth.
Hamburg – Sony is currently giving its PS Plus subscription service a complete overhaul.
The new price levels PS Plus Essential, Extra and Premium are now already available in Asia and this also allows European players to get an insight into the revised system.
If you subscribe to the most expensive PS Plus Premium level, you get access to PS1 classic players on PS5 and PS4.
As reported by IPPEN.MEDIA ingame.de, these are not showing their best side.
name of the service | PS Plus (PlayStation Plus) |
Monthly charges | 8.99 euros |
Offerer | Sony Interactive Entertainment (YOU) |
advantages | 2 monthly Free games, access to PS4/5 online multiplayer, exclusive PlayStation Store discounts, 100GB online storage |
Active Memberships | 48 million users (as of December 2021) |
PS Plus: Trouble with PAL versions of PS1 games for the premium subscription
What problem do fans have with the PS1 games on PS Plus?
Actually, the joy of the catalog of games for the PS1 in the new PS Plus Premium was great.
Unfortunately, Sony has probably chosen the worst possible version of the PS1 classic for the subscription.
As the Polygon colleagues report, games from the PS1 era are probably only available in their PAL and thus 50hz versions.
Why are the PAL versions of PS1 games so unpopular?
In case you're not sure what
PAL
and
50hz
means exactly, here's a simplified refresher.
Old televisions used two different standards in Europe (PAL) and America (NTSC): while PAL ran at 50hz and 25 FPS, games on NTSC devices could be enjoyed at 60hz and 30 FPS.
The latter, at five extra frames per second, is the preferred experience for gamers around the world.
PS Plus: New PS1 games in premium subscription make big mistake © Namco
The fact that Sony is now using the PAL variant for PS Plus as the basis for PS1 games is a source of irritation to the community.
The affected games appear somewhat jerky when played on modern televisions than in the NTSC version.
Sony's strange choice for PS Plus is therefore annoying and met with incomprehension, especially for fast games and speed runs.
So far, Sony has not let it be known whether ignorance, technical problems or a low budget are to blame for the PAL debacle.
PS Plus: Sony has already foisted PAL versions of PS1 classics on players
There has been trouble about PAL versions of PS1 games:
In the broader picture, Sony turns out to be a repeat offender when it comes to the strange preference for PAL versions of PS1 games.
Most recently, the PS5 manufacturer has already selected PAL versions of various games for the PlayStation Classic.
Even then, gamers complained about the unfortunate choice for the mini-console.
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However, players still have one last straw.
Sony has not yet confirmed whether the slow PAL versions will also be used when the new PS Plus appears in Europe.
With a bit of luck, Sony will still learn from the cautious reactions to the new old PS1 games for PS Plus Premium.
