Back in the day, European gamers had to deal with technical limitations that were a direct result of the PAL standard. This meant games that were originally 60Hz in Japan and America, which was the refresh rate used by NTSC, had to be slowed down, because PAL used 50Hz.
Because of advances in technology, European gamers no longer have to deal with slower game speeds, compressed graphics, and borders. Or so they thought. It has just been revealed that the Nintendo is using the old PAL standard for their Virtual Console games on the Wii U.
Below is a video, courtesy of Joystiq that demonstrates the difference in Sonic The Hedgehog. While the difference is perhaps not all that great in the grand scheme of things, it's enough to aggravate European gamers, who thought those dark days were well behind them:
According to Eurogamer, the outlet that broke the story, it's all the more perplexing since all NES games on the 3DS Virtual Console (including Balloon Fight, which was recently released on the Wii U, in 50Hz, which is how everyone discovered Nintendo's plans) runs at 60HMz.
A disgruntled gamer via the Miiverse put it best with: "This is the 21st century. Again with that 50Hz nonsense? Why must Europe still get the worst version?"
