Import gaming solutions

[insektmute]

I've been diving into my wishlist of PS2 imports lately, and have had good luck using Swap Magic to play them, but the waters get a bit muddier with other consoles. With a Genesis and PS1 due to arrive shortly, along with my old SNES, and a recently acquired Dreamcast, I figure it's time to get moving on it. Obviously, buying Japanese consoles would be the best way to go, but unfortunately, my apartment only has so much space :/

I've done periodic research on playing imports on each of these systems, but am wondering if anyone has first-hand experience with some of the usual options and can suggest the best method they've tried on these systems. Emulators are obviously an option, but I'd prefer the real hardware if possible.

I'm also interested in running PC Engine CD, Saturn, and Mega CD imports, but won't be picking up any of that stuff for a little while.

I know kimimi's a big importer, but I'd love to hear from anyone else familiar with this stuff, too!

[scott]

Your best bet for playing imported Saturn games on a North American console is to pick up a Action Replay 4M Plus. Using a few button presses on load up it'll bypass the region encoding and the 4M lets you play games that need a RAM cart.

Other than that, the only other system I have the most imports on is my DS, and that's region free, so there's no tricking the system needed.

[scott]

Oh and PC Engine CD games are region free. So you can play them on a TurboDuo without any problems I believe.

[tpugmire]

A TG-16 can be easily modded to play Japanese Hu Cards if you can solder. Oh and you can play Canadian NES games on a US system, but that doesn't really count.

[redblaze57]

for the SNES all you need to do is just remove these 2 small tabs inside the game slot and that will enable you to play Super famicom games on your SNES. What I did to remove them was take the system apart and took a dremel to the tabs sanding them down.

[sin2beta]

Your best bet for playing imported Saturn games on a North American console is to pick up a Action Replay 4M Plus. Using a few button presses on load up it'll bypass the region encoding and the 4M lets you play games that need a RAM cart.

Other than that, the only other system I have the most imports on is my DS, and that's region free, so there's no tricking the system needed.

To a degree. I would guess that Insektmute might be interested in some multidisc games based on what I've seen of his interests. If that is the case, action replay can run into problems swapping from disc 1 to disc 2. It only works on games that make a save for disc 2 at the end of disc 1. Not everyone does this. Buy a modchip from segastyle or racketboy.

Sega16 has a nice guide for the genesis. A game genie works well. But the only sure way to go is a japanese mega drive (or region switch mod) http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?10948-GUIDE-Import-gaming-on-your-Mega-Drive-Genesis

The Dreamcast has several options. There is the CDX (EDIT: Should say DC-X), GameShark, Utopia Boot disk, or just burn to a CDR (Dreamcast does not look at region on burned games).

[insektmute]

Good info so far, folks... and sin2beta is correct on multi-disc games. For the most part, it won't be a big issue, but I figured I'd wind up needing to go the modchip route in some instances as a result.

I've considered just burning copies of any DC imports, but I'll look into the other options first. The Utopia bootdisk option seems pretty simple, esp. since it doesn't require blocking any sensors like my PS2 does.

[scott]

Ya eventually, I'm gonna go with a modchip so I can played the translated Shining Force III games. but that is not going to be anytime soon it seems.

[kimimi]

If you do go burning your imported DC games just remember that GD-ROMs weren't a marketing gimmick! They really do hold more data than a CD and you may run into games that are too big to burn.

I used to own about 200 DC games, the only import that didn't work with a DC-X was Fighting Vipers 2. As such, I highly recommend getting a DC-X to play import DC games

I'm not actually much use with this sort of topic as my personal solution is to buy import hardware - that way I know I'll never have any issues. It's not practical unless you import a lot though.

[insektmute]

It's possible I'm not caffeinated enough, but I could swear I'd never heard of DC-X until now. Definitely gonna have to check it out.

I do wish I had the space for a bunch of import hardware, though. Nice as it is to even have import options at all, mucking around with swap discs and attachments gets annoying sometimes

[kimimi]

Play-Asia are currently out of stock but this at least shows the item you're looking for - link. Other boot discs are available, but none of them work as well as the DC-X in my experience.

[sin2beta]

Play-Asia are currently out of stock but this at least shows the item you're looking for - link. Other boot discs are available, but none of them work as well as the DC-X in my experience.

The DC-X bootdisk has been getting tougher to track down at a reasonable price.

[insektmute]

I think "getting tougher to track down at a reasonable price" could pretty much be the motto for the forum... or at least, half my wishlist :p

Just look up the DC-X on ebay... about $70 for one in seemingly decent shape, and $50 for one in terrible shape. Argh.

[disgaeniac]

I think "getting tougher to track down at a reasonable price" could pretty much be the motto for the forum... or at least, half my wishlist :p

Nice-looking TotFL in there, Erik!

Speaking of getting hard(er) to find & more costly...

I've got 2...I lucked into a really nice c.i.b. ~2 years ago -and- then another really nice one (just w/o the manual).

Where did you get/find your copy of it?

IMO, that game is one of the *Absolute* *BEST* dungeon-crawlers, not only on the PS2...but...it's one of my favorite dungeon-crawlers...*Period*.

Have you ever played through it, yet?

[insektmute]

Thanks! I was digging around a bit the other day, mostly just finding auctions for just the disc, or emphasizing scratched discs, but managed to score a copy in pretty decent shape on eBay for just under $40. There's a slight fold in a corner of the manual, and the price is a little higher than I'd like, but it seems to be getting really difficult to find a copy in VG/VG+ or better condition for less than that.

I played through it once, years ago, as a rental, back when I was making crap money as an assistant manager at Blockbuster. Sparked my love of the series, but I'm really kicking myself for not picking it up back then, so it'll be nice to finally have it in the collection