Playing UK games on US Gamecube

[joshnickerson]

I figured this would be the best place to find this out...

I want to import the European version of Donkey Konga 2, because the song list is SOOO much better than the American version. But I know that the European TV format is very different from the US/Jap format.

I would like to know if I would be able to play a European Cube game without any problems on a US Gamecube console and TV (using a Freeloader, of course). :D

[McBacon]

As long as your TV supports 60 Hrz, it should be fine.

Find out about import games here:
http://www.ntsc-uk.com/index.php?menu=tech

[Cauterize]

This i can tell you exactly how to do, as up until a year, i had a US/JAP switched GC and alot of PAL games, with no PAL GC!

First of all you need a Freeloader

Once the Freeloader has booted up, press Z and select "Euro"

Swap the Discs as per usual

Then hold "B" while its loading up
(This forces "Some" games to offer you the choice of 60hz, which you will need or ull be playing your PAL game in black and white)

And obviously, select 60hz on the screen which pops up!

And that should be it my friend ;)

[Mayhem]

It's a bit different for playing PAL games in the US as opposed to playing them here Cauterize ;)

I should know... I've tried a few PAL games both here and when visiting QoF.

Firstly, you'll need a very recent version of Freeloader. Anything 1.06B (with a capital) or later is probably required. You can also get it on Action Replay as well.

Version 1.06B still has the facility to choose your region within it. You WILL need to do this, as I've tried the autodetect method with Donkey Konga PAL and it failed. Manual region select (to the blue Euro flag) worked though, by pressing Z (or Y if using the version in Action Replay) to bring up the choices. Any version of Freeloader 1.08 and more recent has improved the detection code and no longer has region select.

Secondly, you'll need a fairly recent TV. Anything in the last 2-3 years may well be okay here. Connect your Cube to your output device either via a modified RGB cable (which is probably impossible to find in the US as you'd need a device that accepts RGB input!) or component. Using composite or S-video may not be guarenteed to work.

Thirdly the game in question needs to support 60Hz mode. Mainly because TVs in the US don't have 50Hz support! Fortunately both PAL Donkey Konga games are playable in 60Hz mode. When booting up, they will actually ask you which frequency you want to play in.

Btw if the game doesn't support 60Hz, the picture will roll. Black and white picture occurs when there is no direct PAL colour frequency support (what Cauterize said is wrong here, this is the correct diagnosis).

All this is based on my experiences of getting both DK PAL games working on my NTSC Cube, and when taking them with me when visiting QoF and trying them on her TVs.

[joshnickerson]

Thanks for the info everyone! :)