13 replies to this topic

[smsforce2k3]

Does anyone know how to get a Japanese import game to load on a NTSC/US Dreamcast? I thought the boot disk would work, but it doesn't. I'm guessing that modding my DC or ripping the GD-ROM to cd would work, but I don't want to do either of those if I don't have to. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Brett

[Happy_Dude]

Have you tried the Gameshark or Action replay ?
I don't own a US DC but a friend has a US game and it doesn't work with the
utopia boot disk, even though Jap games do (on our PAL consoles).
I never thought Jap and US NTSC where so different.

[smsforce2k3]

I never thought of that. I'll try it later tonight and see what happens (if I can find the Gameshark and Action Replay disks)
Brett (smsforce)

[Lost Monkey]

It depends on which game you are trying to play... is it a Windows CE game?

The simplest mod is the one where you desolder one of the legs on the internal battery and then swap discs out... I haven't done that for years though, so I can't really remember the procedure for the swap.

[smsforce2k3]

The game in question is the original "Godzilla Generations." I'm not sure if it's CE based or not.
Brett (smsforce)

[smsforce2k3]

Hi all.
I just wanted everyone to know that both the Action Reply and Gameshark booted this import game up nicely. Both bootdisks recognized it, but would not properly boot it. Go figure. Thanks again for the help!
Brett (smsforce)

[Ze_ro]

The Utopia boot disk supposedly works for some games, but not all of them. I don't have any imports myself, so I'm just telling you what I've heard.

There's also a product called DC-X, which is a boot disk for imports, I remember EB selling this thing for $50, which seemed like far too much to me. At least a Gameshark has other uses that help to validate it's price. You can probably still buy DC-X from some online stores.

--Zero

[Happy_Dude]

Ze_ro said:

The Utopia boot disk supposedly works for some games, but not all of them. I don't have any imports myself, so I'm just telling you what I've heard.

There's also a product called DC-X, which is a boot disk for imports, I remember EB selling this thing for $50, which seemed like far too much to me. At least a Gameshark has other uses that help to validate it's price. You can probably still buy DC-X from some online stores.

--Zero

http://www.lik-sang....hp?category=42

[Raijin Z]

I would think you could rip the game, crack it, and burn it onto a CDR with a dummy file so it will auto-boot with no problems... but I'm much less familiar with cracking DC games than I am with changing the regions on Saturn games.

[ubersaurus]

Godzilla is a pain to load up on all region DCs too. It's a bizarrity.

[smsforce2k3]

Raijin Z said:

I would think you could rip the game, crack it, and burn it onto a CDR with a dummy file so it will auto-boot with no problems...

- I have the coder's cable, but I haven't had the time to rip it.
Brett (smsforce)

[Ze_ro]

Raijin Z said:

I would think you could rip the game, crack it, and burn it onto a CDR with a dummy file so it will auto-boot with no problems...

Well, ripping a DC game requires special hardware (a BBA or coders cable at least...) that most people won't have... plus, although it's actually fairly easy to make it region free, there are additional problems such as fitting the whole thing onto a normal CD, and taking care of any weird checks that the software might do to detect piracy. Heck, even making a self-boot DC disk is a little complicated.

An easier way might be to just pirate the game completely. Since you have the original, you can probably avoid any moral dillemmas, and all of the above problems would already have been solved for you.

--Zero

[sdstuff64]

My gameshark code disk has booted up every import game that I have tried to boot up.

[Sanriostar]

ubersaurus said:

Godzilla is a pain to load up on all region DCs too. It's a bizarrity.

The only Import DC game I have is GG, and it works fine using a FULL DC Gameshark. *not* a DC Gameshark Lite. Apparently there is a difference. (using a N.Am DC, in case there's a question)