SNES pass-through adapter

[andykara2003]

Hi, I'm having my PAL SNES modded to play US NTSC carts but I don't want to have the cartridge slot widened so as to preserve the original look of the console.

So I'm guessing my only option is to find a straight pass-through adapter that I can plug an NTSC cart into that will in turn plug into my pal SNES (running in NTSC mode obviously).

I would imagine there are no converters specifically designed to do this as there would be no point in plugging an NTSC cart into an unmodded PAL console without conversion circuitry.

I've found quite a few different versions of these though:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Famicom-S ... 1282159338

They are designed to play super famicom (NTSC) games on an NTSC super nintendo and vice versa.

This is a straight though-pass converter - I'm wondering if it would work for plugging into my modded PAL SNES (in NTSC mode) so I can, as I say, plug NTSC carts into it?

Would anyone be able to help me with this?

Cheers.

[blizzz]

A straight adapter will work, but it will also look ugly. If you're only playing US games then the widened slot is the better looking option.

[andykara2003]

A straight adapter will work, but it will also look ugly. If you're only playing US games then the widened slot is the better looking option.

So this will work on a PAL SNES even though it's designed for a super famicom?

PS. You're probably right - I might end up doing the slot widening anyway - the challenge is finding someone that will do a good job..

[Ed Oscuro]

It looks like it would work, physically. It's also not THAT ugly - ugly (and not 100% reliable) is when you use a Game Genie out of its shell as a passthrough adapter.

[blizzz]

You will end up with a plastic piece on top of your SNES and then the whole NTSC cartridge on top of that. I'm not a fan of stacking stuff on consoles, especially if each piece is made from a differently colored plastic.

Of course I could also think of solutions that are worse. For example the SuperUFO Pro 8 will allow you to use (most) NTSC games, but it will be so shaky that it causes problems all the time. It will also delete your savegames if you touch the cartridge and it loses contact.

[kel]

Personally I would go for the converter that you linked to rather than cutting up my SNES. I've done things like that in the past then years later regretted it. At least with the converter you can just take it out when you are not using it.

The plastic does look a bit cheap on the one in that listing but I suppose you could just find some vinyl dye that matches the US NTSC cart color and dye it to make it look the part.

I think that blizzz has a good point regarding the cartridge and adapter sticking out of the SNES though. It seems both methods have their pros and cons.

[Ed Oscuro]

The only possible downside to this is from a metal mismatch (possible corrosion if left in for long periods of time). Depends on how it's made. Rather doubt it'd be at issue though. Having the piece sticking out wouldn't bother me at all - it'd look a lot stranger to me to have the console hacked-up looking, if that's what the alternative is here. Ultimately that's up to the user and not really worth spending a lot of text debating.

[andykara2003]

Personally I would go for the converter that you linked to rather than cutting up my SNES. I've done things like that in the past then years later regretted it. At least with the converter you can just take it out when you are not using it.

The plastic does look a bit cheap on the one in that listing but I suppose you could just find some vinyl dye that matches the US NTSC cart color and dye it to make it look the part.

I think that blizzz has a good point regarding the cartridge and adapter sticking out of the SNES though. It seems both methods have their pros and cons.

My thoughts exactly. I just like the idea of having the console as Nintendo intended it. As you say, there are pros and cons to both approaches.

If I was to go with a slot conversion, I quite like the look of this finish:

http://www.otakus-store.net/en/super-ni ... ltime.html

They've replaced the flaps with a new one which looks quite nice (they only do modding for in-France customers) but the work on the slot looks a little rough. I wonder if there's a company/modder that can do a really excellent, almost factory-perfect type job.

[andykara2003]

The only possible downside to this is from a metal mismatch (possible corrosion if left in for long periods of time). Depends on how it's made. Rather doubt it'd be at issue though. Having the piece sticking out wouldn't bother me at all - it'd look a lot stranger to me to have the console hacked-up looking, if that's what the alternative is here. Ultimately that's up to the user and not really worth spending a lot of text debating.

Thanks Ed - I think the answer is to do some research to find the best quality converter available.

[Taiyaki]

I also have a Super Famicom. That's what my parents got for me when I was a kid (I'm of half Japanese background) and actually most of my games have been NTSC US, so I have always been using pass through carts and yes it doesn't look good. But no I have never had any issues of loosing saves or anything like that. It can freeze the game if you bump it accidently though but that shouldn't happen since you shouldn't be touching the cart when it's running anyway.

If someone in the US ever figures out a mod like the one done in the link above I would certainly consider it too. Looks pretty good.

[andykara2003]

I also have a Super Famicom. That's what my parents got for me when I was a kid (I'm of half Japanese background) and actually most of my games have been NTSC US, so I have always been using pass through carts and yes it doesn't look good. But no I have never had any issues of loosing saves or anything like that. It can freeze the game if you bump it accidently though but that shouldn't happen since you shouldn't be touching the cart when it's running anyway.

If someone in the US ever figures out a mod like the one done in the link above I would certainly consider it too. Looks pretty good.

Thanks for the input Taiyaki. I've bought a converter now. I just couldn't hack up the SNES!

[micro]

I'm not sure if this information is still useful to you but you can make your own adaptor if you can find the right cart slot:
http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5440

[andykara2003]

That's a really neat solution actually. I just don't have the time to do it as well as to source the cartridge slots (which sound hard to get hold of). He seems to suggest that a standard import adapter or action replay can act as a pass through though. That would be useful but I would have thought that there would always be some circuitry involved rather than a straight through connection like in the project you linked to as nearly all import adapters are designed to play NTSC games on PAL consoles.

It seems to be much harder to find a decent basic pass-through converter. They are made for playing Japanese games in US consoles and vice versa but are usually either really crap or very expensive and old/rough looking 3rd party ones.

Maybe someone on here knows of a source for a decent unit?