How hard is it to mod a Gamecube?

[Dahne]

I've been thinking about getting a Cube for a long time now, as it's the systenm where the great majority of interesting titles are going. Donky Konga is one I'm really looking forward to. Anything that requires a peripheral set of bongos, maracas, or a pad you jump around on like there's ants in your pants is fine by me. However, I ran across a preview in Gamepro that had this to say:


For the Stateside release, the list of tunes has changed dramatically. Gone are the obscure (to Western players at least) J-pop songs of the Japanese release, and in their place are relitively faithful renditions of "Rock Lobster" by the B-52s, "Whip It" by Devo...

GAAAAH. I put up with enough stupid American crap in Dance Dance Revolution! I've always played with the idea of modding a system to play Japanese games, but I've never had the luck to find a mod chip (PS1) or the courage to try the knife mod (PS2). How difficult is it to modify a Cube? Keep in mind you're talking to somebody who considers getting the screws out of the case a major accomplishment.

[-hellvin-]

As far as I know, you can use a utility called a freeloader to just switch out the games or something along those lines. I remember they were really popular around the time of viewtiful joe because everyone wanted to import it when it came out in japan. I've really heard nothing else of them since, I believe something better came along but can't remember what it is.

[sisko]

Yep. Freeloader or Action Replay will work. I have an extra of both that I can part with. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

[Mayhem]

EXCEPT... not for Donkey Konga! That isn't a fault of Freeloader, just a condition of the game that requires a properly formatted Japanese memory card. So the only way to play it properly and have it save properly is to have a proper Japanese Cube (either native or region switched) to play it on, like I do.

Region modding a Cube isn't hard actually... well if you're a professional at that sort of stuff. Damn easier than doing the same for PS2 or Xbox. Doesn't even need a chip. You can probably still get region switched Cubes from PlayAsia or LikSang, and just sell the one you currently have.

[dj898]

also there are several titles incompatible with Freeloader although AR seems to be more compatible than FL. Still several EU titles won't work and vice versa.

there used to be a web site listing these incompatible titles...
not sure it's still around...

cheers

[EnemyZero]

Yeah I tried freeloader and action replay and it wouldnt play certain games (they have a listing somehwere that tells you what won't work) so I sold my cube and bought a japanese one, saved me some time, but now...I love my GC, with games like Donkey Konga , Naruto, One Piece, and DragonDrive...you cant go wrong...and yeah the jap version of Donkey Konga is awesome...because I too hate how they americanize DDR