To clarify, does "Force NTSC" make imports playable?

[BurningJello]

Question's in the title.

[James0x57]

Response is in the title.

[hetoan2]

Statement in the title.

[BurningJello]

So Gecko OS isn't the application that makes the Wii "region free", then?  I haven't heard of the exact thing that does.

[Arudo]

Gecko OS allows you to play games from other regions. The force-NTSC thing is for your TV settings more so than game settings.

[dcx2]

Yeah, Gecko OS ignores the region restriction.  So you can play games from any region.

However, the game still outputs PAL (50 Hz) if it's from Europe.  That's why Mathew said if you have a TV that supports PAL input (e.g. most modern LCDs) then you don't have to change anything at all.

If your TV only supports NTSC inputs, then you may have to use Force NTSC on PAL games, and it may or may not work, which is what James meant.

I believe that Japan uses NTSC too, so if you play imports from that region you won't need to Force NTSC.  They should Just Work.

[BurningJello]

Ah, I was wondering if it was related to region-unlocking as well as output.  Thanks.

[WiiPower]

As said before, you only need the "force NTSC" option if you play PAL games with a TV that is not PAL compatible. If your tv supports both regions, then >95% of games will work fine, and if you use the language, vidtv and country string patching*, there are only 1-5 games not working on all Wiis.

*Not included in Gecko OS, but in Gecko OS mod. It makes Punch Out PAL/NTSC-U playable on a japanese Wii for example.