Japanese Gamecube

[scottw182]

I'm thinking about getting a Japanese Gamecube and I'm wondering what some of the differences are. Is it pretty much the same system other than the different region lock? Will all of my US controllers, memory cards, and Game Boy Player work on the Japanese Gamecube? Thanks.

[PapaStu]

Systems are basically the same, sans region coding. All the preferials will work, sans the GameBoy Player. That will need the Japanese boot disc to run AFAIK.

[scottw182]

Systems are basically the same, sans region coding. All the preferials will work, sans the GameBoy Player. That will need the Japanese boot disc to run AFAIK.

So, the hardware of the Game Boy Player is the same, just need the Japanese boot disc? What if the system is modded with a region switch, can you then use the American boot disc? May be a dumb question but I just want to make sure.

[Mayhem]

The boot disc will need to be of the region the Cube is currently set to. The hardware will work fine regardless of region. As someone who has a switched US/JPN Cube, then it's child's play to use both regions. You just need a new memory card for the Japanese saves.

[kedawa]

I would recommend getting a Japanese GB player, since they come in all colors.

[EnforcerOfJustice]

Memory cards are not region locked but US and JPN saves can not co-exist on the same card. The only change I can think of is that the component output was removed from later consoles in both regions, if you are a videophile you may want to confirm that you are buying an early console

I'm guessing you already knew this but if you are experienced at soldering, you can buy a NTSC-U console and mod it. I believe the compatibility is perfect so there's no advantage having a japanese unit instead
http://www.gamesx.com/importmod/ngcmod.htm

[scottw182]

Memory cards are not region locked but US and JPN saves can not co-exist on the same card. The only change I can think of is that the component output was removed from later consoles in both regions, if you are a videophile you may want to confirm that you are buying an early console

I'm guessing you already knew this but if you are experienced at soldering, you can buy a NTSC-U console and mod it. I believe the compatibility is perfect so there's no advantage having a japanese unit instead
http://www.gamesx.com/importmod/ngcmod.htm

Thanks for the clarification on the memory cards, that's what I figured. Also, thanks for pointing out that component output was also removed from the Japanese Gamecube, I didn't know that.

I'm wanting one of the spice orange Gamecubes, which were only released in Japan, that's the only reason I need to know all of this. I have no interest in playing Japanese games, just want to get it to where it can play US games.

[Mayhem]

The spice version was stopped fairly early on in the Cube's life, I imagine all of them still have component output on them.