Premodded PS2s--where?

[Endymion]

There used to be beaucoup of places selling mod-chips for and even pre-modded PS2 consoles, most of them outside of the USA. A lot of them seem to have closed up shop. I'm sure I could find one on ebay or just get a mod-chip and go to town, but having just recently screwed up a CPU in an attempted overclock I'm not so confident of soldering anymore. (And those PS2 chips have a lot more wires than what I messed with on my [now futzed] computer.)

I know it probably goes against the ethic of this do-it-yourselfer site but does anybody have a reliable source selling pre-modded PS2s?

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

eh, it's my understanding that ps2 modchips are on the no no list here, but I could be wrong.

[NFG]

I allow this as a kind of gray area, since PS2 mods are necessary for imports.  Please avoid the topic of backups or the use/need/availabilty of them or the tools to use 'em.  

IMO copying games is like smoking pot.  It's not something you should discuss with anyone but those you're very familiar with.  Announcing your illegal intentions to a forum filled with strangers is rude and/or stupid.

[Endymion]

And how. Sony's had such tight asses about interoperability that a mod chip is the only way to go for international games. I'm well off but I'd rather not have two consoles to play the same effin hardware. I have a Playstation with a mod chip for the Japanese games I own. Now I'd like to retire it to the closet space but that means no more Einh�nder, Gunners Heaven, etc. etc. for me unless I can get the PS2 modded. Reading the instructions on the mod chip installation, just disassembling the PS2 is a jigsaw puzzle of screws and tabs and garbage, then it's on to a kama sutra of wireage. That's to say nothing of the different chips for different PS2s--I'm still having a good old time just trying to figure out which model I own!

I'd love to find a source for a pre-modded PS2 but it's looking more like I'll have to plug this one myself all the time.

[NFG]

I don't mind doing my own mods, but trying to find a reputable dealer with reasonably priced chips (ie ones that aren't 50% of the system cost) that don't need to swap and play 100% of imports on a particular model is a right pain in the ass!!

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

gamegizmo WAS good... but they haven't been around for a while.  I know that I have a friend who attempted to mod 2 different ps2's and both of them died.  He did pull it off on a third, but it took him 8+ hours of work to do it, and he's no slouch with a soldering iron.

[Nip-Ring]

Sorry, but now i've got to throw my own question in here. Will a modded PS@ play ONLY import PS2 games or will it also play import PS1 games. I have 1 import PS1 that i bought like 3 years ago and never even played yet. I never got around to checking on the answer to this question.

[Endymion]

Well, as of this writing I only have Japanese Playstation games, don't have the first international PS2 game yet (and it's a little questionable that will happen either), so you had better believe that this is a goal of mine as well. As soon as I know the answer, with a pre-modded PS2 price tag that I can live with, you'll hear about it here for sure.

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

I'm fairly certain it would.  I know it plays backups of ps1 games, so I don't know why it wouldn't play import ps1 games.  If I can get my hands on an import game I'll post whethor it works or not on my friends ps2.

[matt]

If you're looking for a modded PS2, feel free to shoot me a PM or e-mail.  Although I don't spend too much time looking at how much other people charge, I imagine my prices are reasonable enough since I get regular requests for them.  (Lawrence, if you don't feel this is appropriate, feel free to kill this post).

Some general answers:

- Yep, they'll play Japanese PS1 games just fine.  Some mod-protected games aren't too happy with the chips, however, but most mods have a disable function that can be used to get around this problem.

- It's true that PS2 mod chips are a royal pain in the butt to install.  All of the properly functional models have at least 20 wires to connect, and the solder points can be extremely tiny (depending on the motherboard revision).  Unless you're really good with soldering, I wouldn't recommend attempting it (ie if it takes you 8 hours to do, you are not good enough).  That said, it's not rocket science and if you know what you're doing you should be OK.  I've never broken a PS2 out of several dozen I've modded so far.

- You do need to be very picky with the sort of chip you get.  So far, there have been ten different models of PS2, and each of them have their own set of quirks with the various brands of chip.

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

just outta curiosity, I remember my friends biggest problem was soldering to the ic's, you have any suggestions on how to do that?

[UnKn0wN]

Hey man, go to www.gocybershop.ca they have pre modded ps2s there

[matt]

just outta curiosity, I remember my friends biggest problem was soldering to the ic's, you have any suggestions on how to do that?

Be very careful, and practice a lot on stuff you don't mind breaking.  Of course, make sure your wire (and the pin if possible) are well tinned beforehand.  That's about it, really.