[jeroen020]

I just received Soul Calibur 2 for my Gamecube (together with two Hori GC Soul Calibur arcade sticks...). I have an early Japanese GC with the mod switch so it plays US games too - and for the past 5 months, I've only been playing US games. I bought this modded GC one year ago here in The Netherlands.


So I switched the mod switch to the JPN position, turn the power on and... it wouldn't recognize the disk. Powering down, switching to US and US games run fine. Then trying to run SC II in US mode gives the same disk not recognized error. Trying to run another JPN GC game (Luigi's Mansion) also did not work anymore, where in the past it would...


So, apparantly, I've somehow managed to disable the ability to play Japanese games on a Japanese Gamecube... I once read somewhere that flipping the mod switch while powered on will damage the unit, but I have not done this - at least not on purpose/that I noticed.


Anybody familiar with this phenomenon? I'd love to play SC II, but I hope I don't need a new GC for it (though I'm very much tempted by the Panasonic Gamecube Q). Do you think freeloader will save my day? Will freeloader still support 480p output?

 

[Kensai]

From what I hear, freeloader should work.


Have you ever gotten a JPN region game to work before? If so, I would say you've gotten a sloppy mod. Probably just a bit of stray solder or wire that is now constantly holding the connection closed. If you can get the gamebit screws out (make sure to replace them with normal philips heads one afterwards), you might try pulling it apart (look for mod instructions to show you exactly how if you're uncomfortable) and taking a look. From the way it sounds, there may be just a bit of solder that can either be scrapped or melted (with a fairly cool soldering iron if you can borrow one) away. Either that or you've got some uninsulated wire that's gotten positioned somehow to be touching. Just lay down a layer of electrical tape under it so that when you re-assemble, it isnt' touching anything.


Oh, and another thing occurs to me now. Are you using component cables? They have a tendency to overwhelm a mod. For example, if I use component cables with my self modded JPN cube, I can only use it in JPN mode regardless of switch position.


Kensai

 

[jeroen020]

Thanks for the reply!


Previously, my Japanese games (Luigi's mansion, Mario Party 4) worked correctly when the switch would be in the appropriate position. I've always been using component cables, so that worked nicely before... I will try an SVHS connection tonight when I get home to see if that helps.


I did open up the case, but only the outside part I could do with the normal screwdriver. It seems that in order to reacht the solder points of the mod wires, I'll have to open it up completely which I haven't done before, so I'll try to find web instructions on how-to. But if freeloader works and still gives me 480p in Japanese games, I might just settle for that...


Jeroen

 

[Kensai]

You might just check around on some more console oriented sites, but from everything I've read, Soul Calibur II works fine with Freeloader. There's no reason at all it should inhibit progressive output. As for physical problems with the mod, it would have to be something fairly drastic such as the GC heading the solder up enough to make it run, which I find highly unlikely. It could be that over time, the mod has caused your Cube some sort of damage (especially since its stuck in the opposite mode from its origin; very odd), who knows. Definitely try Freeloader before you do anything more extreme. I'm guessing a new GC still costs a bit more where you are than the $150 it does here, and that is still 5x more than than Freeloader.


Good luck.


Kensai

 

[jeroen020]

Yay, the Freeloader solution works! Yesterday, I finally had time to visit a local game shop and they had Freeloader 1.06b. I popped it in, took it out, loaded Soul Calibur II and I was ready to go!


Another great thing is that I even managed to play at 480p, something I was afraid that would not work through Freeloader.


After two hours of playing, it definately seems to be a worthy sequel, nothing revolutionary but simply an evolved version of the best beat-em-up I've ever played. And the two SCII arcade sticks (made by Hori) really add to the arcade feel of the game, they're very similar in build/feel as the official Dreamcast arcade sticks.


Thanks for the tip, you were right!