Help out a brutha without the ability to play imports!

black flag nc · Post by **black flag nc** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 12:57 am

I live in the US. I have a SNES, Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, and GBA. I'm wondering how I can build a worthy shmup collection without importing.

Is it hard to mod the systems I have? Is it worth it to invest in a Japanese system? I'm not the most tech savvy person. Thanks!

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:04 am

SNES: cut out the restricting tabs or use a Game Genie/PAR
DC: DC-X swap disc
PS2: Swap Magic or mod chip (easy soldering)
Xbox: don't know, don't care
GBA: plays all regions from the get-go

themachinist · Post by **themachinist** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:20 am

PS2 swap magic is the easiest.

Post by **spadgy** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:31 am

If you're really new to it all black flag nc, swap discs are cheap, easy to use, easy to get hold of and reliable. Perfect starting point, and then you get import shmups for the PS2 and DC, which gives you a huge range of great, essential shmups...

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:29 pm

Does Swap Magic work with PS1 imports? If not it may be worth your while to get a JPS2, as it allows you to play both PS1 and PS2 imports.

Pixel_Outlaw · Post by **Pixel_Outlaw** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:43 pm

No Swap Magic is only for ps2 games. Also some time ago there was some mention of the bad sectors in the Swap Magic disks being bad for your PS2 lens.

black flag nc · Post by **black flag nc** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:02 pm

Thanks guys. How much does a JPS2 go for?

Hardstepah · Post by **Hardstepah** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:15 pm

they have slims at play-asia.com for about 160 i think it was. i'll tell you this much, imports are where its at. USA gets screwed on what gets released over here. the best release USA has ever had is ikaruga on gamecube.

stuminator · Post by **stuminator** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 7:55 pm

If you're interested in getting a Saturn, they're one of the easiest systems to make import friendly. Just put a PAR 4-in-1 in the cartridge slot and you're ready to go.

Post by **undamned** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:00 pm

Ganelon wrote:PS2: Swap Magic or mod chip (easy soldering)

Which PS2 mods are easy soldering? I did a Magic V and became a man.
-ud

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:42 am

Alright, easy probably isn't the right word, but it's not really much challenge (say, compared to a Wii mod) as long as you have a gun with a small point. The PS2 modchips all pretty much have the same connecting areas and 15-20 points.

I got my Messiah on the first try without any trouble just using a single diagram and I didn't solder for years prior. Granted, I was being careful but it still took me under 30 minutes to do.

antron · Post by **antron** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 12:14 pm

I always throw this in these conversations: HDLoader. You can still buy the real games, just rip them to the hard drive with a PC and put the games on a shelf for display.

overkill55 · Post by **overkill55** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 5:40 pm

undamned wrote:
Ganelon wrote:PS2: Swap Magic or mod chip (easy soldering)
Which PS2 mods are easy soldering? I did a Magic V and became a man.
-ud

+1, I got owned trying to solder in a chip. Not recommended unless you actually know what you are doing

nem · Post by **nem** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:38 pm

Ganelon wrote:Xbox: don't know, don't care

There are solderless modchips for Xbox. I have one, very easy to install and works like a champ.

Should you get one for imports? Not really

black flag nc · Post by **black flag nc** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:41 pm

Seems like an awful lot of trouble. Maybe I should just stick with what was released in the US, huh?

Thanks for your help guys!

clp · Post by **clp** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:17 pm

black flag nc wrote:Seems like an awful lot of trouble. Maybe I should just stick with what was released in the US, huh?

Thanks for your help guys!

are you kiddin? putting a disc in a dreamcast for 15 seconds until it tells you to put the import game disc in to load is no trouble AT ALL

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:51 pm

black flag nc wrote:Seems like an awful lot of trouble. Maybe I should just stick with what was released in the US, huh?

Thanks for your help guys!

The key word in your original post is "Worthy". How can you make a worthy collection of shmups if your going for domestic releases only?

Thats like saying you want to collect cars that have right hand drive, but you live in the States. So your choices are a post mans van and.......

black flag nc · Post by **black flag nc** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 12:51 am

neorichieb1971 wrote:
black flag nc wrote:Seems like an awful lot of trouble. Maybe I should just stick with what was released in the US, huh?

Thanks for your help guys!
The key word in your original post is "Worthy". How can you make a worthy collection of shmups if your going for domestic releases only?

Thats like saying you want to collect cars that have right hand drive, but you live in the States. So your choices are a post mans van and.......

Well, I just don't know how to do any of the modifications you guys are talking about. The Dreamcast bit seems easy enough, but when you get into tech talk, I'm lost.

I'm more of a camping and sports kinda guy. I don't have the patience to learn the ins and outs of video game hardware. Tha't why I prefer consoles to computer gaming. Nice and easy. Just throw that shit in and play.