Importing a Japanese PS2 questions?

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kensei

kensei

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I've been looking into this for about 2 weeks, searching here and on the web in general and haven't found definate "yes or no" answers to the questions below.

1) I'm going to buy an NTSC-J system, the asian one (this one). Now NTSC is NTSC so I should have no issue connecting this to my TV via s-video or AV cables. Correct?

2) Power supply. I need a power convertor, right? Would this do the job?

3) My current NTSC (USA) memory cards will work, right? I can save NTSC-J games to my memory cards while playing NTSC-J games with a swap disc.

4) My Logitech driving force pro wheel will work on this system, right? I can't see why it wouldn't other than some power issue, though I don't think the PS2 is giving the wheel any power, even then with that universal power convertor it shouldn't be an issue either way.

lastly...this is just out of curiousity

Will my swap magic discs work the other way around? meaning in the japanese PS2 I can boot with the swap magic disc and then play a NTSC (USA) game or DVD...?

Thanks guys.
 
I'm not sure about the swap-magic, but I believe everything else is fully compatible. After all, a PS2 is a PS2 is a PS2.. the only thing that's different is a bit of the firmware programming. Physically, a Japanese PS2 is identical to an American one. So all peripherals should work.

I'm not 100% sure about power, but I believe it's the same between Japan and the U.S.. When I was in Japan back in '95/96, I seem to recall there were several people with Playstations that ran just fine on the U.S. power systems on base. Kind of a funny story that, really... At the time, I didn't know about the Japan>U.S. delay. When I returned to the U.S., I bought myself a Playstation, not realizing that they had just come out... I'd gotten so used to seeing PS's and Saturns in the Japanese game stores for months that it never occurred to me that the U.S. didn't have them.. hehe.

Anyway, I believe the power is compatible, but you might want to Google just to make sure. NTSC/PAL is based on local power, if you read up on the history. European power runs at a frequency of 50Hz, American at 60Hz. Those numbers look familiar? That's why... early TV's were made to run smoothly with the power, so European TV's run at 50fps, American TV's at 60. And Japanese TV's are the same way, running at 60Hz, 60fps. So I would assume the power is at least very similar. I don't have any Japanese machines here, so I can't really verify it. But there are also many U.S. customers with Japanese PSP's.. would suck if they couldn't recharge them, eh? :)
 
Have you thought about using HDLoader instead of buying a brand new Japanese PS2?

I have the Japanese GT4 demo and DDR Festival running on my US PS2 just fine. DDR Festival saves without problems on my memory card.
 
If this is of importance: I can run US- and Japanese games just fine on my European PAL PS2 using HD Advance. The only thing I need for NTSC is a NTSC-capable tv though, but else it's a piece of cake. This is one of the easiest solutions I guess, and there should be a way to put GT4 onto the hdd if you have the disc. No foreign PS2, no modding, no slidecard, no swap discs.

Cheers,
the Interceptor
 
I looked into the HDloader thing but honestly couldn't figure it out. Plus I am a Mac user so I will assume it won't work for me, I do loath to boot up virtual PC with windoze.

My PS2 is 3+ years old. I want a new PS2 but only play GT, no other games. So buying a NTSC-J PS2 makes sense for me. Plus I own more NTSC-J games (4) than NTSC games (1)...so I should break down and just buy a damn NTSC-J PS2. I'll keep my current PS2 hooked up as my primary DVD player.

If GT4 ever becomes an online game I'll worry about buying a correct region PS2 then. I do wonder how OLR would work and exchanging replays between NTSC-J and NTSC 0 though I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work.

My only unanswered question left is the power supply issue. I have been reading around the web and have found that the japanese power 100v/50 is about the same is the USA 110v/60 and most places I have read said that japanese electronics can be plugged in directly with no additional adaptor in North America with no issues. (?)

Anyone have experience with the above or a "yes/no" answer?
 
I have ben importing systems since the Sega Saturn. The voltage is NOT an issue...Im REALLY anal with my stuff so I just unplug it when its not in use.

Just make sure to get a JAPANESE system instead of the Asian version. the voltage is 110 for the Japanese systems, and 220 for the asain. Its a lot easier to maintain the Japanese one...
 

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