Kingdom Hearts 2 borderless

By Tom Bramwell Published 11 September, 2006

Squenix talks up PAL version.

Having announced that Kingdom Hearts II will be released in Europe on September 29th, Square Enix has also confirmed that the highly anticipated RPG has been given a decent PAL treatment.

That means that players can expect a borderless experience from their PAL copy, and a Square Enix spokesperson tells us that the speed of the game has been updated to match the NTSC version. It will run at 50Hz, but the experience is the same, essentially.

"The full screen and full speed experience is something we are aiming to implement in all our upcoming releases," Eurogamer was told. "We included it with Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King and it will also be in Kingdom Hearts II."

After a bit more kicking, Square Enix said the same would be true of Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, which is due out in November, too.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (43) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Rayn #1 6 years ago

    Squenix in a proper pal conversion shocker.

  • Nobuo #2 6 years ago

    Cool. I'm betting this is the ENIX effect of the merger... Square has never spent any amount of time on a decent PAL conversion before.

  • Zane #3 6 years ago

    Nice to see PAL gamers actually getting some decent treatment -slaps Ken Kuturagi for good measure-

  • Blerk #4 6 years ago

    I'm betting this is the ENIX effect of the merger... Square has never spent any amount of time on a decent PAL conversion before.

    But ENIX never bothered releasing games over here at all! :-D

  • Darren #5 6 years ago

    "Squenix in a proper pal conversion shocker."

    Just what I was about to post, a nice gesture but about five years too late, what with the PS3 just months away and, of course, hi-def which means borderless games anyway.

  • smelly #6 6 years ago

    But FFVII, etc all had pre-rendered backgrounds.

    You didnt REALLY expect them to go through and re-render everything up to the higher resolution?

    Especially when most pal gamers seemed at the time to care more about 60hz than the higher res anyhow.

  • Steroyd #7 6 years ago

    Nice to see PAL gamers actually getting some decent treatment -slaps Ken Kuturagi for good measure

    We only had to wait 6 months after the yanks. :/

    SE doing this is equivalent of Sony launching the PS3 bundled with something in Europe only like they did with the PSP giga pack.

  • StixxUK #8 6 years ago

    Good news though, mainly because it makes it likely that FFXII will get the same treatment! Yay!

  • Blerk #9 6 years ago

    You didnt REALLY expect them to go through and re-render everything up to the higher resolution?

    Square's PSOne PAL conversions weren't all that bad. They weren't good, but they weren't actively offensive.

    It was the early PS2 conversions which were shocking, and none of those (FFX, the original Kingdom Hearts, etc.) featured pre-rendered backdrops.

  • rider2006 #10 6 years ago

    What about releasing it with a 60hz option so it be a lot quicker for the game to be release. If the disc is too full to include it, they should release a 60hz only version first, then release the full screen and speed 50hz later. All TV's today support 60hz through the RGB scart socket and we can get the lead from £2 onwards.

  • smelly #11 6 years ago

    >It was the early PS2 conversions which were shocking

    ah, never played - didnt realise.

    >What about releasing it with a 60hz option so it be a lot quicker for the game to be release

    The problem isnt 60hz, it's the language. All that text has to be translated/re-recorded/etc for the european audiences.

  • Blerk #12 6 years ago

    The irony here is that the text/voices don't get re-recorded for the English release - we just get the US version 'as is'. It'd be nice to see proper regionalised releases of stuff - English version out first, foreign language versions 'to follow'.

    Of course, if the PS3 turns out to be properly region-free (and ever makes it out in Europe) then hopefully this whole sorry business will finally be over and done with.

  • smelly #13 6 years ago

    yes, but you still need to re-sub the game to sony uk (who are apparently more strict or so im told), etc etc

    There IS a lot more to it, than just putting it in a box.

    Not to mention advertising/shop promotion/etc.. And calculating how many units you need to duplicate (not easy with a global launch, but easier if you launch 6 months earlier in another territory - test water, etc).

    There is a fair whack to getting a game out.

  • itamae #14 6 years ago

    But ENIX never bothered releasing games over here at all! :-D


    /random trivia mode - engage!

    Star Ocean 2 was released over here before the Square merger. It was published by Sony in the US and Europe, and the PAL conversion was "less than optimal".

  • BrokenSymmetry #15 6 years ago

    Yes, almost all TVs support 60Hz, but many look quite bad in this mode, especially the "100Hz" sets, that rely on frequency doubling to get a better image. I have such a set, and it really doesn't look pretty in 60 Hz mode.

  • kalel #16 6 years ago

    Is this still starring Haley 'drugged and drunken driving' Osment? How Disney!

  • Zero Beat #17 6 years ago

    HURRAH!

  • absolutezero #18 6 years ago

    If its so very hard to get a game out that quickly then why do other companys manage it just fine?

  • Galvanizer #19 6 years ago

    Can't wait for this.

    Oh and incase you don't know. FFXII is gonna be a launch title for the PS3 here in Europe! :-P

  • The12thMonkey #20 6 years ago

    Blimey, so this is why I saw that pig go past the window this moring.

    I hope it bodes well for FFXII, but I'll not hold my breath until I hear confirmation.

    Oh, and PS1 conversions were just as bad. FFIX being prime culprit. I could make tea in the time the PAL version would take to load battles.
    Edited by 1 at 11/09/06 @ 16:37

  • coojam #21 6 years ago

    Is that sarcasm? Cos isn't XII a PS2 game?

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #22 6 years ago

    id assume it was sarcasm based on zelda becoming a wii title,

  • adman123 #23 6 years ago

    Awsome to hear its been given some sprucing to ensure it runs as smooth as poss.

    I can't wait for this game, I absolutely love the first one and this one looks set to be just as amazing

  • Blerk #24 6 years ago

    I could make tea in the time the PAL version would take to load battles.

    Uh... what do the loading times have to do with the PAL conversion? Loading times should be identical regardless of region.

  • Steroyd #25 6 years ago


    Is that sarcasm? Cos isn't XII a PS2 game?

    Yeah with the PS3's Backwards Compatibiity every PS2 game is considered a game for the PS3.

    The Zelda:TP thing is wierd though because that's getting shipped in both wii and gamecube formats seperately even though the Wii can play Gamecube games. :/

  • dudefella #26 6 years ago

    This is great news! Now if it only hadn't taken them over half a year I'd still bother with getting the bloody game! My excitement is all but gone! Yay! I suspect we won't see FFXII here before December at the soonest either. Bollocks to Squenix.

  • Nobuo #27 6 years ago

    "You didnt REALLY expect them to go through and re-render everything up to the higher resolution?

    Especially when most pal gamers seemed at the time to care more about 60hz than the higher res anyhow. "

    A 60hz option doesn't require any rerendering, the game is just outputted at a lower Vres and sped up by 10hz. If they needed to rerender don't you think they'd have rendered it to fill the screen in the first place? The only exception to this is FMVs which need to be encoded with both 50 and 60hz versions or else get played back too quickly.

    "Square's PSOne PAL conversions weren't all that bad. They weren't good, but they weren't actively offensive.

    It was the early PS2 conversions which were shocking, and none of those (FFX, the original Kingdom Hearts, etc.) featured pre-rendered backdrops."

    I'm not sure how you can tolerate the PS1 conversions but not the PS2..? They were both identically slowed down and identically squished.

    "Uh... what do the loading times have to do with the PAL conversion? Loading times should be identical regardless of region."

    Not true. When the conversion is completely unoptimized like Square released in the past, the entire game is simply slowed down by 17.5%, so even though it's unnecessary we get longer load times.
    Edited by 1 at 11/09/06 @ 18:01

  • Syneisha #28 6 years ago

    You know what it is, this doesn't bloody matter anymore! I got so sick of SE Europe I just went and bought a US PS2 and imported KH2 (among other SE titles that have never even been thought of released here, a list that is now quite long).

    In addition, I'll also be happily playing FFXII come November, but have we even heard anything about a European launch?

    It is way too late in the day for SE Europe to get their act together, with the PS3 making most of these issues academic.

  • PS3lol #29 6 years ago

    Meh, I've been playing borderless games on my Xbox and 360 for the last 5 years. One reason why I hate PS2 in Europe, tons of crappy pal ports.

  • kissthestick #30 6 years ago

    good shit, i was worried ffxii and kh2 would get the black borders

  • Pirotic #31 6 years ago

    Great to see them making an effort, but it's still no substitute for a 60hz option.

    The PS2 doesn't have enough vram to produce a full size PAL frame-buffer, even the most pal optimised games have a small slither (about 4% each) at the top and bottom of the screens. secondly, it'll be running at 25fps instead of 30fps, which means animations are going to look less fluid as they'll end up skipping frames every few ticks.

  • Scimarad #32 6 years ago

    The battles took forever in the US version of IX - I'm not sure it's a problem with the PAL conversion.

  • Syneisha #33 6 years ago

    Is that really the case Pirotic? If so then there is going to be some nasty slowdown in the NTSC version that is going to be made even worse :(

  • Nobuo #34 6 years ago

    "Great to see them making an effort, but it's still no substitute for a 60hz option.

    The PS2 doesn't have enough vram to produce a full size PAL frame-buffer, even the most pal optimised games have a small slither (about 4% each) at the top and bottom of the screens. secondly, it'll be running at 25fps instead of 30fps, which means animations are going to look less fluid as they'll end up skipping frames every few ticks."

    Not sure where you got this from. I think you mean it'll be running at 50fps instead of 60fps. Which is exactly the point, 60fps = 60hz = NTSC. And no offence but that VRAM remark is very misguided, a console with NO dedicated VRAM can fill a screen.

    And a PAL optimized game ALWAYS looks better than a 60hz option. All the 60hz option will do is get the smaller NTSC image and stretch it, and if the games PAL option is optimal, what advantage does this bring? Compare the two options of Tekken 5 side by side and see which you stick with.

    "The battles took forever in the US version of IX - I'm not sure it's a problem with the PAL conversion. "

    That's true, it was a slow paced game. But I own both versions and trust me, the PAL version is even slower. It's literally the difference between bearable and unbearable once you've played them both.
    Edited by 1 at 11/09/06 @ 23:29

  • Aretak #35 6 years ago

    "60fps = 60hz = NTSC."

    Er... no.

  • Talha #36 6 years ago

    Would anyone talk about the game around here?

  • Scimarad #37 6 years ago

    "It's literally the difference between bearable and unbearable once you've played them both."

    Point taken - I do own both versions but played them quite far apart.

  • Blerk #38 6 years ago

    I'm not sure how you can tolerate the PS1 conversions but not the PS2..? They were both identically slowed down and identically squished.

    They were both identically slowed down but they weren't identically squished. The PS2 games have much, much bigger borders than the PSOne games.

  • Pirotic #39 6 years ago

    Nobuo,

    No, the the refresh rate and the frame-rate are two totally different things, but in order for the frame-rate to be consistant it has to be fit neatly into the refresh rate, for example, a 60hz game would run at either 60fps, 30fps or 15fps in order to be vsynced (every screen refresh, every other, and every fourth). In order to convert a game to PAL and prevent tearing and frame-skipping, you would have to go for either 50 or 25fps. the NTSC version of Final fantasy runs at 30fps on a 60hz screen, so the PAL conversion will be running at 25fps on a 50hz screen, as the animations and sprites will all have been designed for a 30fps/NTSC resolution, unless you re-create a lot of the assets for a PAL output (the animations etc) you're going to end up getting a small amount of distort and animation frames getting missed out because of the vsyncing to a slower frame-rate.

    it's all been covered a few thousand times before, and the conclusion was always that a game designed in japan, for a 60hz NTSC output. is always best played with just that, even the best PAL conversion has it's niggles.

  • v3rtigo #40 6 years ago

    HA HA HA... only taken them a WHOLE CONSOLE GENERATION for them to sort their act out. Well done Square Enix!!!!

  • Nobuo #41 6 years ago

    Nobuo, you really dont know what you're talking about. PAL and NTSC frame sizes are physically different, meaning that if you suddenly add an extra number of horizontal display scanlines you suddenly need either a taller source image (bigger framebuffer) or to stretch the image vertically on output (and end up with ellipsoid suns, clockfaces etc). Any bitmapped image is effected by this. "

    ...That's exactly what I said isn't it? Which of my points are you trying to contradict? The only thing I'd argue against there is "end up with ellipsoid suns, clockfaces etc", because distorted shapes is exactly what you DON'T get when you stretch the image to fill a PAL screen. If you left it squished, THEN you'd have ovals instead of circles.

    "Also, anything thats not specifically frame-synced runs identically speed-wise regardless of the video-standard so load times need not be affected. "

    That is true. But unless I'm mistaken, isn't that not the case when the developer hasn't gone back to reoptimize the loads and has simply slowed the entire game down? In any case for the scope of this discussion: SE's old PS1 games suffered longer load times in the PAL versions for whatever reason, as anybody with both versions will testify. OK?

    Pirotic, I'm following you now, I was wrong. Sorry all.
    Edited by 1 at 12/09/06 @ 12:21

  • sopaman #42 6 years ago

    Is it me or the PAL DQVIII isn't as sharp as the NTSC one? I own the NTSC version and tried the PAL game and I have the impression that the PAL version runs at a slightly slower framerate and that the image is somewhat blurred. I might be wrong but something tells me that they didn't increase the resolution but they chose to stretch the image instead.

    It also seemed to me that the characters appeared a little squished in the PAL version, but just a little (not nearly as much as in the horrid PAL versions for PSOne and PS2 final fantasy games), but maybe that was due to the small borders in the PAL version versus the totally borderless NTSC one.

  • Les #43 6 years ago

    I don't care about borders to be honest, as long as the game itself is fine. I liked the original as well as GBA game a lot. Can't wait for this one to arrive!

  • Lex_Luthor #44 6 years ago

    It's awesome I assure you. Just don't expect anything too much like the original is all.

    Hope Squenix can finally pull off a decent conversion, but as we learned when they promised to release games faster in Europe, they can talk out their arse with the best of them.