Are there PS2 Converters or Region Mods...?

[alidayvn]

I saw that Arkanoid thred and I wanted to know how I could go about playing Japanese PS2 games on my US Slim PS2 (short of shelling out 150 for a used JP PS2). HALP!

[GaijinPunch]

I saw that Arkanoid thred and I wanted to know how I could go about playing Japanese PS2 games on my US Slim PS2 (short of shelling out 150 for a used JP PS2). HALP!

Pro Action Replay allows this, no?

[KennyMan666]

Not sure how easy they are to get ahold of these days (got mine something like 13+ years ago), but I have a SwapMagic boot disc for PS2 that you put in, run, and then switch discs, that allows for out of region games and such to be played.

[cicada88]

Honestly, the best (read: easiest) way is just to get a Japanese console only slim. Just swap out the system when you want to play Japanese games. Japanese PS2s are dirt cheap and are compatible with all North American accessories and cables.

[Specineff]

Free McBoot. Get it. NOW.

[dan76]

I have a disc called swap magic, not sure how hard they are to find now.

[it290]

Seconding the Free McBoot recommendation. You can either just straight up buy a card with it installed (probably the easiest method), or do your own install using a swap magic type disc.

[werk91]

Free McBoot. Get it. NOW.

Yup, softmodding PS2s can't be any easier and it gives you access to a number of useful features. My favourite feature is being able to launch GSM or Xploder HDTV directly of the memory card when I need it ( from second slot as well! ). No more swapping noisy CD-rs

[Shelcoof]

HD Loader or ESR via Free McBoot

Easy Peasy

[BareKnuckleRoo]

A local shop sold modchips and installed one for about 100 bucks or so. If you don't have any local shops that do this and you're comfortable with soldering, I'd recommend it. I haven't had any problems with mine, can play all the JP imports I've bought from Play-Asia with no problems.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I'd say for as long as all the gear (laser and such) are in working order, go the modchip route.
P.S. Am I wrong suspecting the mem-card softmods not to work with PSX games? Which are a great deal of what you need a (modded) PS2 to begin with.
By the way, last time I checked, HD-loading onto PS2 was no good for PSX games either.

[it290]

I'd say for as long as all the gear (laser and such) are in working order, go the modchip route.
P.S. Am I wrong suspecting the mem-card softmods not to work with PSX games? Which are a great deal of what you need a (modded) PS2 to begin with.
By the way, last time I checked, HD-loading onto PS2 was no good for PSX games either.

idk about HD loading (I suspect it's even easier), but I have a slimline PS2 and a Free McBoot setup that loads games over Ethernet from a connected Raspberry Pi that acts as a file server. It's able to load PS1 games no problem, although I recall the setup for those being a little more onerous than just booting PS2 software.