NES Cartridge Compatibility.

[MaxAlcolo]

I have a simple question.
If I was to buy a used NES console from some guy living in France, would it play the games I already own ?
I'm just not sure if any NES console will run any NES game.

[Spastic]

I know these days they have different modes for different regions. I don't think back then they had any kind of regional restrictions because people were making homebrew NES games all the time, so it's hard to imagine any heavy security put into it. It is my hypothesis that it would work, but don't hold me to it.

Edit

Well I did some googling and it looks like it will not work, however I stumbled across this article on how to disable the NES "lockout chip" which prevents any US NES from playing foreign games, here is the link if you want to check it out.

http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/nes_mod/nlockout.txt

[Urser]

http://www.high-techproductions.com/pal,ntsc.htm

This shows that a French NES can only play games that come from regions that use SECAM. SECAM is the most unpopular so I suggest either buying a PAL or NTSC NES.

I believe NTSC is a good choice though, because if you see any NES games in second-hand or collection shops in Canada/USA, they'll most likely NTSC. You would also be able to import some Japan-only games because they go by NTSC aswell. And Japan has a lot of great games.

So no, I don't think you should get that French NES. However, he may just be a French guy with a PAL/NTSC NES. So ask him which one it is.

[MaxAlcolo]

Thanks a lot for the information. I'll have a look at these 3 "kinds" of NES systems and make a choice from there.
Thanks again !