Sokko
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 336
Registered: 02-25-2003
IP: Logged

I recently read about and saw a game that I would really like to get. Only problem is, it's a Japanese game and they won't run on English systems because of something stupid called a regional code. Basically the American manufacturers are greedy and only want you to buy stuff from them, so they make it so that you can only play games from a certain country if you bought your PS2 in that country.

There are various methods of defeating the regional protection, allowing you to play games from any region, but the PS2 has established itself as a major pain in the ass to do this on. The cheapest solution is a Magic 3.1 chip; this is a mod chip you install inside your PS2. The problem with that approach is you have to make over 20 solders to contacts that are no more than 2mm square, with others right next to them. Obviously, the possibility of failure is immense. There is another version of the Magic chip (3.6) that requires fewer solders, but they are still there.

There are other solutions though. There are special "no solder" mod chips which simply have a ribbon cable that plugs into the PS2 main board. These are an attractive and inexpensive option, yet there's a lot of weirdness about them. For instance, one site claims that a certain modchip version is for V5 and V6 PS2 boards, while another claims that it's for V7 as well (my version is V7). Also, some of the sites hint that you may have to buy additional discs or a gameshark to make them work; again, this is all very fuzzy.

As an alternative to voiding my warranty, I could buy the Swap Magic 2.0 disc set; this uses a special disc and a slide tool which catches a certain doojigger inside the disc tray so you can swap out the special disc with your import/backup disc. That's all well and good (plus it's version-independent), but I don't know if it works as good as it says, plus it would be a pain to be constantly swapping discs to play my import.

So, if you have a modchip or something like that (even better if you have a V7 PS2*), tell me what exactly it is and whether it works well or not, and how easy it is/was to operate/install. Just trolling for opinions here. Also note that if you don't live in the US you shouldn't bother, since it's a totally different situation overseas. :wink:



*You can look at the back of your PS2 and see a model number that begins with SCPH. If the number after that starts with 3900, you have a V7 board.

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trick
Level: Legendary Smitemaster
Rank Points: 2580
Registered: 04-12-2003
IP: Logged

Isn't there PAL/NTSC issues as well ? NTSC (used in US and japan, i think ?) has a 60 hz screen refresh, while PAL has a 50 hz screen refresh. So, running NTSC games on a PAL console could possibly result in jerky movement and/or out-of-sync (or completely destroyed) video, unless the makers of the game kept NTSC/PAL issues in mind so it's auto-detected and fixed on the fly. In other words, even if you removed the region protection, the game might not work. There may be PAL fixes available around the net, though, so you can patch and burn a PAL-compatible cd.

I haven't tried running any NTSC games on my PAL PS2 (there are some NTSC-only games i'd like to have, though, like the Chrono Trigger playstation remake..), so i don't know for a fact that this is a big issue with PS(2) games. So, correct me if i'm wrong

Mattcrampy
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2388
Registered: 05-29-2003
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I'm in a PAL territory, and I fix these issues fairly easily.

I use an emulator with a gamepad. No region issues, and you only have to patch FF9. Of course, that means you can only play PS1 games, but I'm willing to wait.

Incidently, the NGC is one of the easiest consoles to work with doing importing - some smartalec came up with a disc that does the job of a modchip on the fly, which is good as PAL isn't getting Animal Crossing for some god-forsaken reason. Now if only they had the library of the PlayStation...

Matt

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Sokko
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 336
Registered: 02-25-2003
IP: Logged

Way ahead of ya. There are more issues between PAL and NTSC than just refresh rate, but the shop is kind enough to mention that the game is NTSC, and I have (big surprise, since I live in the US) an NTSC PS2.

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How many boards would the Mongols hoard if the Mongol hordes got bored?