Play import games on PS1
How do I do this? Is there any way to do it besides modding my system? I have one of the early PlayStations with the extra port on the back of it. Can I just use a GameShark? If so, will any version of the GameShark work, or do I need a specific one? I just found an import game that I want to play on it.
I know there are some boot disks that you can try using too. Try looking around an import game site like NCSX or Play Asia under PSX accesories and I'm sure that you can find something there.
I have a device called a "Goldfinger" (or something similar) and all i need to do is plug it into the extra port on my PSX. It might require some disc swapping but i dont have Import PSX games as of yet to try out with it.
However it didnt work with my orginal (first gen) PSX so i had to buy a later model to get it to work.
Possibility is infinity! You must be satisfied!
You just can't handle my jawusumness responces. -The Sizz
Yeah, I saw that.... looks kinda dodgy though
Well I found the Goldfinger on NCSX, along with some other options, so it looks like I have plenty of choices. The Goldfinger appears to work on the same principal as the original PSX GameShark, so I'm sure that a GameShark would work just as well, and probably much better too. I've been looking at getting a GameShark for my PSX anyway, so I'll probably just get one of those and try that idea out first. I use a GameShark for DC to play all my DC imports, so I'm willing to bet that the PSX version works just as well for PSX.
Now the problem is figuring out which PSX GameShark might do the job for me. I checked and found out that I have the 1001 model. This may be a problem. None of the current GameSharks seem to work with the 1000 model, from what I've read, but I dunno if this means the 1001 model also. It seems that you need the original PSX GameShark for these models, and they are tough to find because they're no longer being produced anymore. I think only the GameShark CDX version acts the same as a boot disk, but it's also the version that's not supposed to work with 1000 or 1001 models.
So the Goldfinger may not work for me either, and I can't afford to just buy a new system. Plus alot of the GameSharks don't seem to work with the 9000 model PSX either, which I believe is the newest model. So I'm not sure if having the 1001 is good or bad yet. Hopefully it's good. I recently saw a PSX GameShark brand new at Circuit City for only $1.99. I hope they still have it, because for that price, that's the first thing that I'm gonna try. But they only had one left though, so I'm gonna have to get over there soon.
I have a "Action Replay Pro". Didn't buy it. I got it from my cousin who just gave it. I never tried Goldfigner or Gameshark so I dont have the mental capacity to compare it to anything.
It plays imports and CD-R's.
There's a certain order to the whole process. Thing is, you gotta have a spring to hold down the CD spinner. Or just put lots of small pieces of tape on it and close the PSX lid as hard as you can and it'll stay down. Be sure the switch on the right hand side of the ARP is in the UP position.
1. Put in an American PSX CD. The Action Replay Pro BIOS menu will come up when you turn on the machine. Go down and select "CD-ROM",
2. After the loading screen is done, when it shows the list of data of the game you put in, press select. The CD will stop spinning and will switch to a black screen.
3. When the black screen appears, take out the American PSX disc and put in the Japanese disc and press start.
4. Go back to the main menu and press "GAME START".
Enjoy your PSX import.
Well, I spent $2 on a GameShark V5, but it may only let me cheat with it. The manual says that it wasn't designed to let you play imports, but I hope that's just a disclaimer. Anyway, it's just a CD. I thought that it would plug into the parallel I/O port, like the old ones did. So I may need one of the older versions like that to do it. If I can get one cheap, I'll try it just to see.
I know there's at least 2 different versions of it that plug into that port. The Original and the Pro. I think that they quit making them and Sony did away with that port because it was working and people were playing imports with them. So they're very hard to find now, and in high demand. Stupid Sony.
I dunno if the Goldfinger will work for me or not. There's several different Action Replays and similar cheat devices that are supposed to work too, but all the choices boggle the mind. And of course the methods that really work reliably are the hardest to find, because everybody wants them for that.
Anyhow, I don't even have an import game to try it with yet, but I will have one soon. So as soon as I have a game to test this GameShark with, I'll get to testing. But I probably don't even need anything with my model though.
I believe that the 1000 and 1001 series could just do what they called the swap trick. There's a small round button inside the the CD tray that gets pushed down when you close the lid. This tells the unit there's a game in it. If you open the lid, the button comes up and the unit will reboot it again.
So you tape something in there that will hold that button pushed down. Now when you open the lid, the unit still thinks there's a game in it. So you boot with an American disk and swap it out with a Japanese disk after the unit has already booted. That way it thinks it's running an American game.
But I hate to rely on such methods. I've always used a GameGenie or a GameShark before, and it has always worked without any problems. But that was before Sony. I know they're all assinine about preventing people from playing imports for some reason. God knows why. Just translate all the damn games in Japan, if you don't want people playing imports. Otherwise, don't be surprised when people import whatever you don't translate. It's simple.
Anyway, I'm definitely not modding this unit. I'm lucky that it still works. I probably have one of the only 1000/1001 series models that's still alive and never had any problems. But then I never have played it very much, so it's not my primary console. I'm sure that lack of use helps to preserve it alot.
If you know of any other methods that work reliably, please post them here. I'm curious just how many different ways you can do it without modding your system. Especially if you have the 1001 model, like I do. They seem to be the one with the most options for imports, from what I've heard so far.
All the 1000 models are assumed dead. They all overheated and died. So you don't want that one. The 1001 model fixed the overheating problem, but they let you play all the imports you wanted. And in lots of different ways, including the swap trick. Sony hated that. So they introduced the 9000 series, AKA the PS1. No more parallel I/O port, no more swap button, no anything. Paranoid efforts to prevent playing imports. Get a clue, Sony!
There's still a way around it, if you have a 9000, but I think that you have to mod it somehow. I don't think there's any other way. Just like the PS2. You simply can't do it without some kind of modding. I'll be looking into that soon too. I don't have a PS2 yet, but there's a couple of PS2 imports that I want.
HAHA, I'm beginning to answer alot of my own questions now. I guess I'm bored. But this is good for everyone who reads it, so I'll continue to post my progress and what I've learned here. Surely something will work eventually.
http://www2.gvsu.edu/~brittedg/PSXImports.html
That should get you going. As far as I know, you can use at least one of these two approaches with pretty much any Playstation.
Model 1000? Does that refer to PSX systems made from 1995-1996?
I was one of the people that got a PSX in it's launch season 9 years ago, when Ridge Racer was the pack-in game. And it still works. I'm keeping it for my imports.
Thanks Dave, that's what I thought, ye olde swap trick will always work in a pinch. I'd still rather find a way to do it without any taping involved though.
I'm also wondering how on earth the GameShark is gonna manage to let me swap out the GS disk and insert a game disk, so I can use some cheat codes with it, while simultaneously preventing me from inserting an import disk and playing that instead though. The only way I can think of is if the GS itself verifies that the disk I insert is the same as the game I select, but then I still should be able to select an import game, so I think the GS manual is lying. I think it'll let me play import games just as well as it lets me play other games.
Lord Contaminous, the model number is located in the center of the bottom of your Playstation. You almost definitely have the 1000 model. I didn't get mine until about a year after launch, when they had the first price drop, so I ended up a 1001 model. I'm not sure what all the differences are between the 1000 and the 1001, but I know that the 1001 was made to address the overheating problem, and I believe that they slightly altered the chipset too.
Trust me, they don't care. Heh. It's true that it won't boot imports out-of-the-box, but that's what sticking down the lid switch fixes. It boots whatever you throw at it, and lets the PS1's disc identifying routines do the dirty work when you actually insert a CD. All the modern Game Shark/Action Replay discs I've tried stop the motor when they get to the main menu, and booted imports/CDRs just fine.Originally Posted by Iron Draggon
Well, my first PSX import will be Assault Suit Valken 2, which cost me about the same as what I had to pay for Assault Suit Leynos 2 for Saturn recently. From what I understand, it's a tactical strategy RPG, similar to Front Mission. I hope that I can figure out how to play it well enough without knowing any Japanese. I found a strategy guide for it, but of course it's all in Japanese too, so I dunno how much use it would be. But perhaps I can give it a try and get some clues from the screenshots, if I end up needing help with it. I may go ahead and order it later anyway, just to see if it includes any artwork.
So good old Yamatoku will be sending me another order already, and I still haven't even received my first one yet. I wish that I had spent a little more time browsing their auctions before I paid for the other Assault Suit game, but I had already waited almost a week before I paid them, and I didn't wanna keep them waiting too long on my first order. I told them I was still browsing, but I was only browsing Saturn at the time, I didn't check PSX. So another $4.20 for airmail, now I'm glad I didn't pay $12 for EMS. I would've been alot more upset about not combining the shipping if I had paid more.
I've got a model SCPH-1001 or maybe it's a 1000 (I'll have to check.. it's in storage.) that my friend gave me last year.. with less than 20 hours on it. He just gave it to me since he figured he didn't need it anymore (has a PS2). He bought it at full price years ago (was that $299?) when it first came out. I have 5 or 6 PSXs.
The model SCPH-1xxx (unmodded)
2 model 5xxx's (1 hard-modded)
1 model 7xxx.. I believe
1 model 9xxx (hard-modded)
The teeny white PSOne
I just got another off eBay the other day that was advertised as modded (Yeah they occasionally slip under the radar); but after talking with the seller.. deduced that it came with a Goldfinger type device and she doesn't know how to use it (probably doesn't have the spring). It hasn't arrived yet (coming from Canada) and I don't know what model it is. Goldfinger's were also known as Game Hunters.. I have one of those as well.. but it doesn't work on most of my machines 100%.
Looks like I'll now have another one as well. Tell you what ID.. if it works OK.. you can have one of mine.. just pay shipping. It's worth a try.
Hmmm.. I guess that 7.. isn't it?
heh
I've managed to resist the temptation on getting multiple PSX so far - still look out for blue debug PSX though...
however at one stage I've had 13 Saturn although I've managed to sell some of them to reduce down to 8 including two CartDevRev.B setups.
Mine's chipp'd one that I got from someone who had no idea it was chipp'd.
works fine although I suspect the mod chip is old type since certain anti-mod titles won't load on my PSX.
cheers
I have three Saturns now.
Model 1 domestic
Model 2 domestic.. chipped (or is it the other way around?)
Model 2 White JAP
.. that's all I need.
Funny thing.. all my modded consoles have been bought off of eBay (except for one of the PSXs).. you just have to be fast.. before they get yanked.
Well I'm just waiting until I have enough money to get a Gold Finger and try it out now. I was gonna go with a PS-X-Change, but the Gold Finger sounds like it's alot easier to get it to work with multiple disk games, and also easier to update it with new codes, through the comm port. So I sure hope that it works for me, because I really wanna get started on ASV 2 as soon as I can. But right now, I've got too many other things that I wanna import that I can play right away, because I already have everything that I need for them, so it may be a little while still before I spend all the money for another new game on a new converter. I'll get one eventually, but it may be a few weeks.
Sorry to bring up the old post, but hey, its relevent...what's a good version of game shark to use? Mine is CDX 3.3 and it makes you open and close the lid when it says insert a game. Is this ok? It doesn't sound right...
Yeah, sounds like you've got one of the older ones that's not suitable for swapping. I think I might have that exact same version too. Anything fairly recent should work.
The only thing I can't figure out is that the keeping the lid open won't do anything for gameshark because it requires you to open/close the lid to play a game..
Newer ones don't require that, which makes them ideal.
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