NTSC to PAL converters (help!!!)

[PjWarrior]

The problem with owning a PAL Saturn, N64 and Snes is that you get cut off from the great games such as the vast array of shooters for Sat and the rpgs for Snes (which being the rpg whore that i am...).

I thought i would buy the US and Jap versions of the consoles but that turned out to be financially impossible to me.

So here i come asking for solutions:
1-whats the best converter to the Snes, one that will surely work with all or almost all of the games (if it can work with Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger and Earthbound, i am a happy man)?

2-i heard on this forum people talk about something called Action Replay 4-in-1 that would allow to play import Sat games , act as a memory unit and of course as an action replay...does anyone here knows about it?what can you tell me? are there other ways to play imports without modding?

3-do handheld consoles (namely the GB Advance and the Neogeo Pocket) have any lock that prevents you from playing games from other regions (US/JAP) or are handhelds region free?

4-Are there any converters for the n64?

Thanks for your time.

[Jorpho]

Well, offhand...

3. The Game Boy and its various descendents have always been region-free. I think the same goes for the NGPC.

4. I think the N64 is just a physical lockout - bits of plastic get in the way for foreign carts (ref (http://assembler.roarvgm.com/Black_market/Grey_N64/grey_n64.html)).

[LiquidX01]

- i heard on this forum people talk about something called Action Replay 4-in-1 that would allow to play import Sat games , act as a memory unit and of course as an action replay...does anyone here knows about it?what can you tell me? are there other ways to play imports without modding?

Are there any converters for the n64?

On the N64 I use something called Adaptor Wonder. I havent been abale to find any of these online but a similiar ones can be found here.

http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=177&products_id=98&

Look around the site for Saturn converters, they have them too.

Also, take a look at the Import Mania thread here on DP. You will find a great list on different converters at the top of the page. Sorry cant figure out how to link it correctly...

Oh and my mom told me that she misses your country and she cant wait to be back. Immigrated here from Lisbon, Portugal in the 60's....
:roll:

[dreamcaster]

1-whats the best converter to the Snes, one that will surely work with all or almost all of the games (if it can work with Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger and Earthbound, i am a happy man)?

Look out for the Honeybee Magic Game Converter or the Super Key Adapter. These are just the two most common examples. There are heaps of different converters for the SNES. The only thing they won't run are games that use the Super FX chip (Starwing, Stunt Race FX etc.). But for the games you're describing they should work fine.


2-i heard on this forum people talk about something called Action Replay 4-in-1 that would allow to play import Sat games , act as a memory unit and of course as an action replay...does anyone here knows about it?what can you tell me? are there other ways to play imports without modding?

Firstly - modding is a waste of time. Don't do it. Get an Action Replay 4-in-1. It plugs into your Saturn's cartridge slot. It acts as an import enabler, memory unit, memory manager and cheat cartridge all in one. I have one, and I use it to play all my Saturn imports. The only imports it won't run, are Japanese Saturn games that use the 1MB/4MB RAM expansion. However, these games aren't very common, and 99% of import Saturn games don't need the RAM expansion. If you really do need it though, there are 5-in-1 Action Replays which have all the features of the 4-in-1, with the addition of offering RAM expansion.


3-do handheld consoles (namely the GB Advance and the Neogeo Pocket) have any lock that prevents you from playing games from other regions (US/JAP) or are handhelds region free?

ALL handheld consoles are region free. Feel free to import anything and everything! The only exclusion to this is the Sega Nomad. It will only play US-NTSC Sega Genesis games.


4-Are there any converters for the n64?

Play-Asia.com and Liksang.com both have the N64 Passport III adapter. Get your hands on one of these and you'll be able to play all NTSC N64 games on your PAL system.

Link --> http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-5-70-2q.html


I think the N64 is just a physical lockout - bits of plastic get in the way for foreign carts

This is only true for Japanese and US N64's. PAL N64's won't run NTSC games without a converter.

I have tried - Japanese and PAL N64 games are the exact same shape - however, they won't run on their non-native region N64's.

[anagrama]

Firstly - modding is a waste of time. Don't do it.

I'd very much disagree with that - as long as you're half-way competent with a soldering iron, modding is almost always the best way to go. No convertor carts offer 100% compatibility, and seeing as we are discussing PAL mahines, any imports played with a convertor will still be in greatly-inferior 50Hz.
Check out www.gamesx.com. for guides to modding most PAL machines for 50/60Hz and multi-region mods.

If you don't like the idea of soldering then by all means go for convertor carts, but it's not really anything to be scared of as long as you're careful.

[The Manimal]

Does ROCKMAN AND FORTE (SNES) use the FX chips or whatever on the sides? I ask because I noticed my Honey Bee converter doesn't have connector pins for the side FX cart board parts... so I tried playing STARFOX which has those, and other games with those side pieces, and none worked. :(

I bought this Honey Bee converter so I wouldn't have to clip my SNES or the carts LOL I want ROCKMAN AND FORTE most of all....

[dreamcaster]

Firstly - modding is a waste of time. Don't do it.

I'd very much disagree with that - as long as you're half-way competent with a soldering iron, modding is almost always the best way to go. No convertor carts offer 100% compatibility, and seeing as we are discussing PAL mahines, any imports played with a convertor will still be in greatly-inferior 50Hz.
Check out www.gamesx.com. for guides to modding most PAL machines for 50/60Hz and multi-region mods.

If you don't like the idea of soldering then by all means go for convertor carts, but it's not really anything to be scared of as long as you're careful.

Well, I was only expressing my opinion on modding, as I personally prefer converter cartridges. If you wanted to, you could hunt down an Japanese or US NTSC Saturn, and use the converter cartridge to play your PAL games. Then they'd be 60Hz (along with your NTSC games).

And I disagree that 50Hz is 'greatly inferior'. It's a trade off.

50Hz = slower refresh/higher resolution
60Hz = faster refresh/lower resolution

I know on some games where the 60Hz mode doesn't offer any speed benefits, the 50Hz mode looks much better than the lower res 60Hz.


Does ROCKMAN AND FORTE (SNES) use the FX chips or whatever on the sides? I ask because I noticed my Honey Bee converter doesn't have connector pins for the side FX cart board parts... so I tried playing STARFOX which has those, and other games with those side pieces, and none worked. :(

I bought this Honey Bee converter so I wouldn't have to clip my SNES or the carts LOL I want ROCKMAN AND FORTE most of all....

Hmm, I was under the impression that all Honeybee connectors were the same. However, looking at mine, I can see it has the extra pin slots for the wider SFX cart connector.

Which means it should run the SFX games. ^_^

[anagrama]

And I disagree that 50Hz is 'greatly inferior'. It's a trade off.

50Hz = slower refresh/higher resolution
60Hz = faster refresh/lower resolution

I know on some games where the 60Hz mode doesn't offer any speed benefits, the 50Hz mode looks much better than the lower res 60Hz.


You mean you can't see those f*cking great big black borders that are distorting the picture in 50Hz? O_O

[The Manimal]

dreamcaster: but is it just plastic on the end pieces? that's the way it is on mine...

[Pedro Lambrini]

So here i come asking for solutions:
1-whats the best converter to the Snes, one that will surely work with all or almost all of the games (if it can work with Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger and Earthbound, i am a happy man)?


No PAL convertor will play Mario RPG. The only way to play this game is to play it on a NTSC SNES (which I'm going to buy for myself just as soon as I can afford it ;)). I bought the game for a small fortune a while back and tried everything, including hardware mods but it just doesn't work. I've also had no luck playing FF II, this game just freezes after the intro screen. For the SNES the best solution seems to be to save up and just buy a NTSC one - you could buy 2 for the amount of money that you'll end up spending on Mario RPG :)

[dreamcaster]

dreamcaster: but is it just plastic on the end pieces? that's the way it is on mine...

*checks*

Nope! Mine has pins on both the import cartridge port, and the console connector.

I must have one of the later model HoneyBee's.


You mean you can't see those f*cking great big black borders that are distorting the picture in 50Hz?

Well, yeah, I admit that pre-90's PAL gaming is totally crap.

I was referring to more N64-onwards where we start to see some great PAL conversions being done. With current games, (with the exclusion of 2D fighters) I'd much rather be playing on the 50Hz mode.


No PAL convertor will play Mario RPG.

Is there a reason for that? How is it different from other SNES games?

[Roganjohn]

i believe the lockout chip on Mario RPG is the reason you cannot use it with a convertor. it's just too hard to get past.

as for a high quality SNES convertor, get the universal Datel electronics 'Universal Adapter'. it kicks the honey bee's arse. :)

[anagrama]

The original Datel Universal Adaptor has all the same compatibility problems of the Pro Action Replay (1) since they use the same technology. I'm not sure whether updated ones were released alongside the PAR2 or 3.

[Pedro Lambrini]

No PAL convertor will play Mario RPG.

Is there a reason for that? How is it different from other SNES games?

The game constantly checks for the 'region' of console it's in. Most games only check, if at all, when the console is first switched on and that's it, these ones you can play on a modded SNES - just flick the switch to 60Hz after it's checked the console (Super Metroid is a good example of this). Mario RPG is always checking so you can't simply bypass it. I think there's more complicated tests it does as well but I can't quite remember what they are. Suffice to say that Nintendo managed to create the perfect region locked game (bastards!) with this one... :(

[KJN]

Anyone seen this snes converter (http://www.tradera.com/auction/aid_7339380)? The seller claims it can handle Super Mario RPG, is it true or just a claim?

[EnemyZero]

personally I just bought the jap systems and bought a voltage converter. I got my jap saturn on ebay for 30 bucks + 10 S&H...but then again saturn and DC are the only 2 machines I think are worth importing for ( at least jap games)

[davidleeroth]

Anyone seen this snes converter (http://www.tradera.com/auction/aid_7339380)? The seller claims it can handle Super Mario RPG, is it true or just a claim?

I haven't tried that exact adapter but I'm fairly sure he's making that up. It could boot and even play for a while but eventually it would crash.
Further, as I recall, the last adapters (and the best) used another cartridge to rob the lockout by-pass from and I don't see a second slot in this one.

[Ruudos]

Look out for the Honeybee Magic Game Converter or the Super Key Adapter. These are just the two most common examples. There are heaps of different converters for the SNES. The only thing they won't run are games that use the Super FX chip (Starwing, Stunt Race FX etc.). But for the games you're describing they should work fine.

Not true, there are also converters that support Super FX, such as teh Fir Super FX converter, or the AD-29 Universal Adapter.

I can only play to a certain point in Super Mario RPG (a boss who is shooting arrows), when you defeat him the game freezes. For this reason I haven't played Final Fantasy III, because I fear the same will happen.