PS2 import help

[pooch]

Hi guys,

Did a search but couldn't find what I'm after. Was surprised to find how unhelpful Google was too.

I've never had a PS2, but I've decided that should change. I'm in the UK so PAL would be convenient, and at a rough glance of the sorts of games I want I'd say a good portion of them are PAL, another lot JAP, and a few US. So I'll need some region-free solution.

Unlike my Dreamcast with its boot disc, a quick search reveals a complex world of different model consoles, and various chips and disc swap solutions. But surely one is just the best - could you tell me which?

Again, as I don't actually have a PS2, on your advice I could buy the best model / one that is already pre-modded etc.

I'd prefer to get a PAL one if possible to avoid having to get a step-down, but please advise me if JP would be better. Again, I'd say about half of the games I want are PAL, though there's defo a lot of JP ones too.

Cheers for any advice!

[Fudoh]

easiest thing would be getting a chipped PAL PS2. They are really easy to find, especially since you're in the UK. The problem is simply that eBay kicks modded systems and many forums don't allow trading in modded systems either.

The only downside of a chipped PAL PS2 is that earlier chip versions had problems running NTSC PS1 games correctly....

[spongdangly]

easiest thing would be getting a chipped PAL PS2. They are really easy to find, especially since you're in the UK. The problem is simply that eBay kicks modded systems and many forums don't allow trading in modded systems either.

The only downside of a chipped PAL PS2 is that earlier chip versions had problems running NTSC PS1 games correctly....

Don't bother getting yourself a modchip. The PS2 has been soft-modded for awhile now with Free McBoot. I highly suggest you do this and purchase the ps2 network adapter (connects to phat ps2 only) so you can boot games straight from the hard drive (list of compatible IDE drives here).

[pooch]

easiest thing would be getting a chipped PAL PS2. They are really easy to find, especially since you're in the UK. The problem is simply that eBay kicks modded systems and many forums don't allow trading in modded systems either.

The only downside of a chipped PAL PS2 is that earlier chip versions had problems running NTSC PS1 games correctly....

Don't bother getting yourself a modchip. The PS2 has been soft-modded for awhile now with Free McBoot. I highly suggest you do this and purchase the ps2 network adapter (connects to phat ps2 only) so you can boot games straight from the hard drive (list of compatible IDE drives here).

Thanks for your inputs people.

Spongdangly - it sounds like buying a ps2 network adapter and hard drive is more expensive and time-consuming than simply buying a chipped PAL PS2. Is there any reason why I would do this? Putting it another way - are there any downsides of simply buying the chipped PS2?

[kamiboy]

The HD solution is for people who want a ethereal collection of games residing on a hard drive.

If you are anything like me you prefer to have the actual physical games themselves, box, art, manual, disc and all. If for no other reason than because when presented with the option of playing a 100 odd games you will end up playing none.

If you want to collect actual games, not burned discs, or just disc images then go with the chip solution. Chips for the PS2 have been around for ages and thus have had plenty of time to mature. It is the ultimate hassle free way to boot retail games from all regions, you don't have to do anything, just put in the game and off you go.

I suggest you do search online for anyone in your vicinity that does mods and find out their price. Then just hop into your local HMV or what have, pick up a new PS2, the model does not matter and go down to get it done.

Alternativally if you are capable of soldering and have the right tools you can always just order the chip itself online and do it yourself. But I suggest just ponying up the funds and have someone with experience do it.

The only thing you have to take into consideration is that playing NTSC games will put out a NTSC signal, so your TV has to support that, but think it will. Also remember to pick up some component or RGB SCART cables to go with your PS2, you do not want to play through composite.

[pooch]

The HD solution is for people who want a ethereal collection of games residing on a hard drive.

If you are anything like me you prefer to have the actual physical games themselves, box, art, manual, disc and all. If for no other reason than because when presented with the option of playing a 100 odd games you will end up playing none.

If you want to collect actual games, not burned discs, or just disc images then go with the chip solution. Chips for the PS2 have been around for ages and thus have had plenty of time to mature. It is the ultimate hassle free way to boot retail games from all regions, you don't have to do anything, just put in the game and off you go.

I suggest you do search online for anyone in your vicinity that does mods and find out their price. Then just hop into your local HMV or what have, pick up a new PS2, the model does not matter and go down to get it done.

Alternativally if you are capable of soldering and have the right tools you can always just order the chip itself online and do it yourself. But I suggest just ponying up the funds and have someone with experience do it.

The only thing you have to take into consideration is that playing NTSC games will put out a NTSC signal, so your TV has to support that, but think it will. Also remember to pick up some component or RGB SCART cables to go with your PS2, you do not want to play through composite.

That's very useful Kamiboy, I think this is the advice I was looking for. I am very much like you - I like to have the physical items.

Only thing left now is to find someone local to sort me out, if I don't find one online or whatnot

[gray117]

It depends;

Personally being a fellow uker my favoured solution is the softmod hd route - booting from a memory card - no noisey slow disks, no expensive dropped/scratched disks - they're there on my shelf. hard drive game loading is region free.

There are some games that don't work right this way - so if you could use esr to play patched copies of your games [also makes it region free].

Alternatively you may find an import ps2 may simply be the thing to do.

Which ever way you go - a great tool to use is the memor32 memory card. It makes it very simple to backup and import from your memory card [basically just plug it into your pc once drivers installed] - of course handy for softmod but imho vital if you are an rpg type - especially if you want to keep a lot of specific plot points on save, not to mention avoiding the disaster of a corruption or a faulty save.

[drauch]

I've always just preferred the flip-top method. Finding a slim PS2 nowadays can be reasonably cheap, and to get the flip-top gear and install it is easy as pie.

[Sparda]

Dont bother you with a modchip, just install FreeMCBoot. I've my 2 PS2 (JP and PAL) softmodded with FreeMCBoot since many months (year) and this is simply perfect, no disc needed, you can edit your menu/apps. You just have to buy a Memor32 (or just make the installation on an official Memory Card, then plug a mlcro usb stick with all your apps, maybe emus, and HDLoader versions). You just have to find an Ethernet adapter, and a cheap IDE HDD (250 or 320 go are generally a good choice). So i dont use my original disc anymore..so no scratches, bruises on Ibara or DaiOujou ^_^..just dump your games on the harddrive....Some games are not working with HDL (like Gungrave), but you can still try with OpenPS2 Loader (Gungrave works fine with). Also, dont forget that PS2 lens are cheap, and after some years, reading backup is a pain in the @**...so the better option is simple..combo FreeMCBoot + Ethernet adapter + IDE HDD.