genesis 2 region mod

[Drakon]

so it's the weekend.  I was a bit bored this morning.  So I decided to try modding one of my genesis 2's to play japanese games.  I did this just for fun and the challenge.  I already have a japanese megadrive 1 haa-2510 so I by no means needed to do this.  The other reason I did this was because one of my genesis 2's is already pretty messed up (power button is a little weird and I already widened the slot) so I figured why not make it even more frankenstein.

so I used mmmmmmonkey for help with this one

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/md2switches.htm

I opened up the system.  Found leg 107, and almost cried at how G*DDAMN SMALL THE DARN THING IS!!!!  mmmmmmonkey suggest you use a craft knife....which I didn't have handy.....so I pulled out an exacto knife instead.  I had the soldering iron all heated up and ready.  I'd pushed legs 106 and 108 to the side so I could get at leg 107 easier.  I got the exacto knife behind leg 107 so I was ready to push it out while applying the sodlering iron.  And as I was approaching with the iron *plunk* the leg came free on its own.....

so after this point it was pretty simple what to do.  I didn't add a switch because well...I don't have any switches handy and I have a spare US genesis 2



here's a terrible picture of my "I'm too lazy to do a proper job" slow widening



here's the system all put back together



closeup of the awesome decals I added



and of course before putting everything back together I tested it.  You know it's working when you have no idea what they're saying



and it says this when I insert a US game



okay....what the hell does that mean?  Does it think I'm running on PAL?

Anyway this was a fun weekend challenge.  A bit tricky because of how small the stupid pins on that chip are....but not as hard as I thought it would be.

[Tiido Priimägi]

Region is defined by 2 signals :

50/60 and JP/EN

50+EN - Europe
50+JP - Asia
60+EN - USA
60+JP - Japan

And that screen you have means you're still in JP mode... and game does not like it.

I would just cut a trace and solder the wire on it instead of lifting pins... much safer...

[Drakon]

Region is defined by 2 signals :

50/60 and JP/EN

50+EN - Europe
50+JP - Asia
60+EN - USA
60+JP - Japan

And that screen you have means you're still in JP mode... and game does not like it.

I would just cut a trace and solder the wire on it instead of lifting pins... much safer...

it's still a weird message.  Because the system is running on ntsc mode.  I looked into cutting a trace it was very fine and I found this easier to do.

[Tiido Priimägi]

The system needs to be in NTSC mode AND with English language setting for that game... most games require both settings to be what they want, some only care about 50/60 or JP/EN. You will need to add a switch.

[Drakon]

The system needs to be in NTSC mode AND with English language setting for that game... most games require both settings to be what they want, some only care about 50/60 or JP/EN. You will need to add a switch.

still strange that it only works on ntsc genesis when the system is set to ntsc.  Unless that's because it's been set to ntsc-j?  Anyway I didn't bother adding a switch because a: I have japanese copies of all my favourite games.  b: all the games I like for the genesis you don't need to see what they're saying to play it.  c: I have a game genie.  And d: I have a spare US genesis 2 collecting dust if I ever feel the urge to play the games in english again

[NFG]

Unless that's because it's been set to ntsc-j?

That's exactly right.  Notice that the error said "NTSC Genesis" which is a different machine than the NTSC MegaDrive.  You must meet BOTH conditions to play: NTSC and Genesis.

[Drakon]

Unless that's because it's been set to ntsc-j?

That's exactly right.  Notice that the error said "NTSC Genesis" which is a different machine than the NTSC MegaDrive.  You must meet BOTH conditions to play: NTSC and Genesis.

oh thanks for clearing that up.  That makes sense.  For some reason I forgot it has a different name in japan.  I guess it makes sense considering it now thinks it's a megadrive.

so bare knuckle 2 seems to have the right idea when I attempt it on a genesis



this message makes sense....then I decided to try my gunstar heroes import on a genesis....



so....a japanese gunstar heroes cart runs on pal megadrives?  w....what?

[Tiido Priimägi]

The deal with SoR or BoR is called marketing, and GH then probably runs on a PAL machine then... though the game sucks in PAL... this is one game which only difference from NTSC and PAL version is the lockout screen, no optimizations are made, music is slow, gameplay is slow, its all slow...

[l_oliveira]

so....a japanese gunstar heroes cart runs on pal megadrives?  w....what?

I think it means the cart will run on anything *but* the US console (SEGA Genesis)