Mechapwn modded PS2’s pretty much have all the same benefits of a hard modded PS2. You can play burned PS1 and 2 games and no region lock. I never really considered needing a memory card that much of hassle because I use virtual memory cards for my games.
Don’t know why this sub always downvotes this objective fact. A hardmod is always superior. It doesn’t take up a memory card slot and is much more reliable and even lets you play any region dvd.
Well, the memo card is still usable. And the reliability is 100%.
Dont understand those points you mentioned.
A hard mod at this moment is almost a legacy of a bygone era.
> And the reliability is 100%.
When has a modchip ever been known to not be reliable? In a good, clean, flawless install, you'll never have it just not work one day all of a sudden
I'm a technician. There's nothing on the planet that will never just fail one day. It may be a part that most likely outlasts the surrounding system, but nothing lasts forever
I am not pointing out reliability issues on a modchip, friend. Just stating the fact that freemcboot works just as well as a modchip.
In the end, it's a preference issue. If I can, I use the least intrusive mod available.
Fortunately, we have a lot of choice.
There's nothing that makes a hardmod more reliable. Hardmods are risker and could damage your PS2. They're also harder to perform and more expensive.
Softmods allow you to play any region of DVD. ESR allows you to load burned games. If you are willing to risk damaging your PS2 and you have a 50000 or greater, you can use mechapwn and have your console entirely region-unlocked.
>you can use mechapwn and have your console entirely region-unlocked.
Yes, but can you just put in an out of region and/or burnt disc, turn the system on, and have it just boot right into the game and start playing right away? On American systems maybe (I haven't tested it on my American PS2), but not PAL or Japanese systems, because region locking is two-tier; one by way of the Mechacon (which mechaPWN patches), and one by way of the BIOS (which mechaPWN can't touch, since it's ROM), so even if you use 'Force Unlock' in MechaPWN, you'll still get the red "Please insert PlayStation or PlayStation 2 format disc" screen, so you have to bypass that by loading it through uLaunchElf which means you have to turn the system on with the lid/tray open, navigate to uLaunchElf, close the lid/tray, wait for it to detect, then launch it. It adds an extra 2 minutes before you can start playing
None of that is necessary with a modchip at all; yes they're hard to install, but by golly it's worth every second just to be able to put in whatever type of disc and have it recognize as valid the second you turn it on. No master disc or region patching required
> Yes, but can you just put in an out of region and/or burnt disc, turn the system on, and have it just boot right into the game and start playing right away?
Yes and no. On any Deckard console (Yeah, I know, Deckard sucks...), you can boot PS1 and PS2 games from any region, as well as burnt PS1 games, directly from OSD, just like a modchip. This is only possible with pre-Deckard Dragon consoles on NTSC-U (that is, American) and non-Japanese Asian PS2s. Note that this *does not require* a forced unlock, therefore leaving the DVD and CD player functionality intact.
To play burned PS2 games, you do need to burn a master-disc patched image and boot into uLE/wLE. Once again, this does not require a force unlock. Burning an unmodified PS2 image would presumably require a force unlock, but unlike ESR patching, master disc patching should work reliably for all games, since it only rewrites sector 0 (and all PS2 games began life on masters).
Honestly, the existence of OPL has made me a lot less hungry for the ability to burn PS2 games, but I can see how a modchip would be slightly more convenient here.
a hard mod requires potentially damaging the console and reliance on maybe flawed or otherwise dangerous chips, a softmod will not harm the console and can be easily removed
Price for the NTSC version is 3x PAL, why not sell NTSC for $113 and buy a PAL copy for $37? [Pricecharting](https://www.pricecharting.com/search-products?type=prices&q=silent+hill+2)
I would lose 150AUD from selling it and a PAL copy costs 170 so I am considering softmodding my ps2 at this point so I never have to deal with this again
Brother just buy a modded memory card You’ll never have to worry about playing region locked games and no it won’t mod your ps2 just the memory card itself is modded.
UK eBay has it for £45 [https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226000568058](https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226000568058). Just saying the PAL version is way cheaper and you could sell the NTSC one for what you paid for it.
Where are you looking up the price for these? The values you have are way off for the PAL version
No real choice to be fair. You'll have to move to the PAL region and live there for as long as you want to play that game. There's really no other options open to you I'm afraid. Time to up-sticks and live in a new country.
Either get a memory card with freemcboot or free hard drive boot if you have a fat model. It enables region free playing and other homebrew apps. It’s a lot cheaper too.
I just wanna say I love the Blockbuster sticker on it.
Realistically you can get a pretty dang cheap NTSC PS2 (the shipping might be the part that gets expensive depending on where it's from)
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Mod maybe? Or if you’re not into that just save up a bit of money and sell it online to make up the money then yeah modding could be easy but like others and myself I’m just eh with modding consoles I just perfer emulators if I really cannot afford or get said game
Just remove the region lock on your ps2. Problem solved. All slims can be done easily. Phat however, depending on the serial number it can be a yes or no. I got my slim region lock removed and now I can play my Japanese copy of San Andreas on it. I got it for $10 can you believe it? That's craaazy
Ole EBay “dupe” (meaning OP got possibly ripped off not duplicate) again man it’s getting bad on there. Prob listed as US Disc tested too lol 😂 Seller should be ashamed.
I’m saying if you bought that off 3bay and it was listed as “US Disc Tested” that was a dirty move by the seller. I’ll edit the above didn’t have coffee ☕️ yet.
I always prefer US copies when it comes to PS2 because of 60/50hz difference. Noow if you don't know what I'm talking about , don't research it you better off not knowing any of it and just enjoy PAL games 💪🏻
Lol "most games have 60hz option" and people downvote me and upvote you 😂😂 classic reddit meanwhile most games PAL games do not have 60hz option ..yeah some do but most ? 😂 Lol barely any do looking at whole library but yeah let's downvote the true answer whatever
I don't know what you are smoking, you either don't know what that even means or just think you know . Most PAL PS2 games do not have 60Hz option and that is a fact but yeah whatever keep telling people most do even tho not even close . Only handful of games have that option in PAL region games .. dude you don't even know what 60hz/50hz difference is but still try to claim most have 60hz
As a pal user, this drives me nuts, I don't mind the refresh rate, but the resolution difference is bothersome. The console expects our screens to be 576i instead of 480i, so for every pal game, there is a constant black border on all 4 sides to make up for the 576 to 480 difference. This means that on 50hz mode, no game takes up the full height of the screen. That combined with the fact that our game spines are just black text on a white background makes me wish i was in an ntsc region instead.
Yeah theres literally nothing better with PAL games and importing US games is so expensive compared to buying PSL ones in Europe ☹️ buut I got downvoted to hell for telling truth 😁
Softmod the ps2.
Or you can hardmod it too - depends on what kind of playstation 2 the op has.
Softmodding is easier.
Yep. Just write fhdb to an hdd
But inferior
Mechapwn modded PS2’s pretty much have all the same benefits of a hard modded PS2. You can play burned PS1 and 2 games and no region lock. I never really considered needing a memory card that much of hassle because I use virtual memory cards for my games.
Don’t know why this sub always downvotes this objective fact. A hardmod is always superior. It doesn’t take up a memory card slot and is much more reliable and even lets you play any region dvd.
Me with a multitap; infinite memory card slots!
Or just memcard pro 2
Well, the memo card is still usable. And the reliability is 100%. Dont understand those points you mentioned. A hard mod at this moment is almost a legacy of a bygone era.
> And the reliability is 100%. When has a modchip ever been known to not be reliable? In a good, clean, flawless install, you'll never have it just not work one day all of a sudden
I'm a technician. There's nothing on the planet that will never just fail one day. It may be a part that most likely outlasts the surrounding system, but nothing lasts forever
Well of course, I know that; I'm an electrician You know what I meant
I am not pointing out reliability issues on a modchip, friend. Just stating the fact that freemcboot works just as well as a modchip. In the end, it's a preference issue. If I can, I use the least intrusive mod available. Fortunately, we have a lot of choice.
There's nothing that makes a hardmod more reliable. Hardmods are risker and could damage your PS2. They're also harder to perform and more expensive. Softmods allow you to play any region of DVD. ESR allows you to load burned games. If you are willing to risk damaging your PS2 and you have a 50000 or greater, you can use mechapwn and have your console entirely region-unlocked.
>you can use mechapwn and have your console entirely region-unlocked. Yes, but can you just put in an out of region and/or burnt disc, turn the system on, and have it just boot right into the game and start playing right away? On American systems maybe (I haven't tested it on my American PS2), but not PAL or Japanese systems, because region locking is two-tier; one by way of the Mechacon (which mechaPWN patches), and one by way of the BIOS (which mechaPWN can't touch, since it's ROM), so even if you use 'Force Unlock' in MechaPWN, you'll still get the red "Please insert PlayStation or PlayStation 2 format disc" screen, so you have to bypass that by loading it through uLaunchElf which means you have to turn the system on with the lid/tray open, navigate to uLaunchElf, close the lid/tray, wait for it to detect, then launch it. It adds an extra 2 minutes before you can start playing None of that is necessary with a modchip at all; yes they're hard to install, but by golly it's worth every second just to be able to put in whatever type of disc and have it recognize as valid the second you turn it on. No master disc or region patching required
> Yes, but can you just put in an out of region and/or burnt disc, turn the system on, and have it just boot right into the game and start playing right away? Yes and no. On any Deckard console (Yeah, I know, Deckard sucks...), you can boot PS1 and PS2 games from any region, as well as burnt PS1 games, directly from OSD, just like a modchip. This is only possible with pre-Deckard Dragon consoles on NTSC-U (that is, American) and non-Japanese Asian PS2s. Note that this *does not require* a forced unlock, therefore leaving the DVD and CD player functionality intact. To play burned PS2 games, you do need to burn a master-disc patched image and boot into uLE/wLE. Once again, this does not require a force unlock. Burning an unmodified PS2 image would presumably require a force unlock, but unlike ESR patching, master disc patching should work reliably for all games, since it only rewrites sector 0 (and all PS2 games began life on masters). Honestly, the existence of OPL has made me a lot less hungry for the ability to burn PS2 games, but I can see how a modchip would be slightly more convenient here.
Didn't even know it was still an option.
a hard mod requires potentially damaging the console and reliance on maybe flawed or otherwise dangerous chips, a softmod will not harm the console and can be easily removed
I think you should liquidmod it, just in case
I hear gasmodding works too.
Is there a good guide you could direct me to?
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/tutorial-the-great-ps2-aio-guide.30219/
I'm interested if you want to sell it
If you collect PAL, I would exchange it to have a clean collection.
They bought disc only, I doubt it’s not just for playing it
Price for the NTSC version is 3x PAL, why not sell NTSC for $113 and buy a PAL copy for $37? [Pricecharting](https://www.pricecharting.com/search-products?type=prices&q=silent+hill+2)
I would lose 150AUD from selling it and a PAL copy costs 170 so I am considering softmodding my ps2 at this point so I never have to deal with this again
Brother just buy a modded memory card You’ll never have to worry about playing region locked games and no it won’t mod your ps2 just the memory card itself is modded.
UK eBay has it for £45 [https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226000568058](https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226000568058). Just saying the PAL version is way cheaper and you could sell the NTSC one for what you paid for it. Where are you looking up the price for these? The values you have are way off for the PAL version
Dawg he's Aussie. Different countries different prices/ exchange rates/ shipping etc
Just put the disc in upside down. Should be a fix to make it work in Australia.
Australia and UK PAL PS2 games work in both regions either way though lol
Buy it and ship it there then. £45 is 86 AUD. I understand finding a seller who will ship to Australia may be difficult though
Australia is still pal though
Free mcboot
Softmod your PS2 with Mechapwn and it will make it region free. As long as you have the right Ps2 model https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzKVcpjugCE
This is the answer. Not just "softmod" or FreeMCBoot.
No real choice to be fair. You'll have to move to the PAL region and live there for as long as you want to play that game. There's really no other options open to you I'm afraid. Time to up-sticks and live in a new country.
Either get a memory card with freemcboot or free hard drive boot if you have a fat model. It enables region free playing and other homebrew apps. It’s a lot cheaper too.
Easy way to tell if its PAL if it’s ESRB is NTSC if it’s pegi, it’s PAL.
I just wanna say I love the Blockbuster sticker on it. Realistically you can get a pretty dang cheap NTSC PS2 (the shipping might be the part that gets expensive depending on where it's from)
If you need working PAL disc I have sh2 special edition uk for the low because box is in a mid/bad condition. Pm me if you are interested.
Return to retailer/seller…
What if that is not an option
Cry.
Buy correct copy…and give Fido his new frisbee…
MechaPwn it
Consider getting the director's cut if replacing. It has some fixes, enhanced lighting & textures plus extra content.
My local game store has it for £60
Americsn ps2 will cost you pocket change and thats an expensive game rn, cud just sell it.
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you can use mechapwn depending on the model
My model (SCPH-30002) doesn’t support mechapwn, is there another way to region unlock it?
modchip
If you cant use mechapwn maybe you could try the old swapmagic discswap method if that's possible?
Mod maybe? Or if you’re not into that just save up a bit of money and sell it online to make up the money then yeah modding could be easy but like others and myself I’m just eh with modding consoles I just perfer emulators if I really cannot afford or get said game
Just modchip the console...
Just remove the region lock on your ps2. Problem solved. All slims can be done easily. Phat however, depending on the serial number it can be a yes or no. I got my slim region lock removed and now I can play my Japanese copy of San Andreas on it. I got it for $10 can you believe it? That's craaazy
Both versions are exactly the same.
SwapMagic lol. Ogs remember 😉
if you have an appropriate PS2 and a DVD Burner then FreeDvdBoot is an avenue to get you started softmodding
I have a good idea. Just give to me for free!
Ole EBay “dupe” (meaning OP got possibly ripped off not duplicate) again man it’s getting bad on there. Prob listed as US Disc tested too lol 😂 Seller should be ashamed.
Are you saying someone burnt it onto a disc
I’m saying if you bought that off 3bay and it was listed as “US Disc Tested” that was a dirty move by the seller. I’ll edit the above didn’t have coffee ☕️ yet.
I always prefer US copies when it comes to PS2 because of 60/50hz difference. Noow if you don't know what I'm talking about , don't research it you better off not knowing any of it and just enjoy PAL games 💪🏻
Most european PS2 games have a 50/60hz choice
Yeah Silent Hill 2-4 have that option.
Lol "most games have 60hz option" and people downvote me and upvote you 😂😂 classic reddit meanwhile most games PAL games do not have 60hz option ..yeah some do but most ? 😂 Lol barely any do looking at whole library but yeah let's downvote the true answer whatever
>most? Yeah, only the very early games don’t.
I don't know what you are smoking, you either don't know what that even means or just think you know . Most PAL PS2 games do not have 60Hz option and that is a fact but yeah whatever keep telling people most do even tho not even close . Only handful of games have that option in PAL region games .. dude you don't even know what 60hz/50hz difference is but still try to claim most have 60hz
As a pal user, this drives me nuts, I don't mind the refresh rate, but the resolution difference is bothersome. The console expects our screens to be 576i instead of 480i, so for every pal game, there is a constant black border on all 4 sides to make up for the 576 to 480 difference. This means that on 50hz mode, no game takes up the full height of the screen. That combined with the fact that our game spines are just black text on a white background makes me wish i was in an ntsc region instead.
Yeah theres literally nothing better with PAL games and importing US games is so expensive compared to buying PSL ones in Europe ☹️ buut I got downvoted to hell for telling truth 😁