N64(jap) titles?

[dan2357]

Im on vacation in Florida, and the local blockbuster has 3 jap titles for the N64 used for sale. This machine does not have acorbat so I cant look at the lists. One was a golf game and the other 2 looked like kung fu fighters of some sort. Will these play on a US N64? are they wort $14.99 each? (buy 2 get one free sale)
Thanks

[Ed Oscuro]

Can't say about "Kung Fu" but the golf game sounds like a waste of time. I honestly don't know if they'll play on your US system or not.

I think you'd be best off ignoring this one.

[Kid Fenris]

You'll need some type of converter (or system modification) to play Japanese games on your N64. The Japanese carts just have a different shape to their interface ports, so bypassing the lock-out is a pretty low-tech matter.

Any idea on what those "kung fu" games were called? I seem to remember that every N64 fighter aside from Sumo 64 was released over here.

[Achika]

There's a converter you can get on eBay usually but 14.99 for the used games sounds a little high, unless you forsee yourself to start collecting import 64 in the future I'd pass.

Some volume sellers give away the convertors with import games. Mine happened to be sold to me with Sin & Punishment.

[zektor]

If you look inside the cart slot on the n64 (open the doors) you will see the plastic tabs on each side...the USA carts have notches on each side of the cart that these go into. The Jap carts do not have these notches. THat is the only difference. Luckily there is no territorial lockout. These plastic notches are the only things that stop a Jap cart from being inserted into an American unit. If you heat up a soldering iron and have a steady hand, you can hold the doors open with one hand and simply melt off the tabs with the iron. It takes a minute and melts quite cleanly. I have performed this "mod" on a few N64 units before. After that, the Jap carts will insert into the unit and play fine.

[Ed Oscuro]

Now that that's answered...

I'll say that there's absolutely no reason to be buying used Japanese N64 games that you haven't a clue about for $15.

[petewhitley]

If you heat up a soldering iron and have a steady hand, you can hold the doors open with one hand and simply melt off the tabs with the iron. It takes a minute and melts quite cleanly. I have performed this "mod" on a few N64 units before. After that, the Jap carts will insert into the unit and play fine.

Additionally, you can cut out tabs on the cart cases themselves to fit inside the N64. I've done this with a few games (F-Zero X was MY game thanks to several months of extra practice...).