Swap
Magic For Slim Playstation 2
by:
Jeromy
Recently my Japanese PS2 that
I got way back at the Japan launch
died on me. Seeing as I need to
have a machine that plays Japanese
PS2 games I went looking around
at prices for a new one and unfortunately
found the price tags to be in
the $180 range. With that in mind
I set out to find a more cost
effective method of playing import
games. I’ve always been fond of
tinkering with my consoles which
is evidenced by my blue see through
modified Dreamcast and the mod
switch on the side of my Gamecube,
so I looked around at the current
PS2 mod options since I already
own a Slim US PS2.
I’m absolutely terrible at soldering
and I’m not a fan of the PS2 modchip
scene seeing as it’s rampant with
piracy so I didn’t want to install
a modchip. After searching a bit
I came across the Swap Magic product.
It looked interesting but upon
further inspection I realized
that it required opening up the
console to install. I looked a
little further and found a new
version of the product which required
zero modification to the console.
This looked to be the solution
to my problems. Luckily I had
the PS2 version it supported,
the Slim PS2, so I took the plunge
and ordered it up from
ModChip.Com.
Then I got to play the waiting
game. I waited for weeks for this
thing to be delivered before I
finally gave up on it. I also
tried many times to find and e-mail
the staff of this website store
but their support e-mail is so
well hidden, if existent, on their
website that I could never find
it. So with one scam under my
belt I looked for a more reliable
store. I found that store at
modchipstore.com. It took
less than three days to arrive
and the product was in perfect
condition. With the import enabler
in hand, I set out to play some
Japanese PS2 games on my US Slim
PS2.
The kit comes with a CD, for
CD based games, a DVD, for DVD
based games, and three small plastic
parts which are to be inserted
into crevices under the popup
cover of the Slim PS2. There were
no instructions included in the
package so I headed over to the
website in search of directions
but came up with only a dead link.
After about a half hour of searching
the web I finally found a PDF
with instructions that were very
detailed and contained great pictures
of the installation process. With
instructions in hand, so to speak,
I give the installation a try.
The first thing I had to do is
install the three small plastic
pieces. The first plastic piece
required that it be pushed into
a small hole. My fingers alone
didn’t do the job so I had to
grab a screw driver and shove
it into position. After quite
a bit of fiddling, it finally
stayed in place. The next piece
had to be slid in between a latch
of some sort and was somewhat
difficult to make stay in place.
The third piece slipped into place
easily. With all the plastic pieces
installed the physical work was
done. Unfortunately I dropped
the PS2 after this and all the
pieces flew out. I tracked them
all down, reinstalled them, and
was ready to go once again.
When all the plastic pieces are
in place the next step is to go
ahead and boot up the swap CD
or DVD. The game I was testing
with was a CD so I popped in the
swap CD and turned on the PS2.
With the plastic bits in place
you don’t have to keep the flip
top closed, so I left it open.
A flash screen appears followed
by a second screen that allows
you to adjust the video mode.
If you are using a US PS2 set
the video mode to NTSC and not
the default “Normal” mode otherwise
it won’t boot the game you’re
trying to play.
Playing
Next the swap CD or DVD will
stop spinning and you’re ready
to swap in your import PS2 game.
With the import game placed in
the PS2 all you have to do execute
the load command from the menu
on screen and the game will start
up spinning and load. Once I had
the game loaded it played and
looked perfect. Another big plus
is that you don’t have to buy
another memory card just for import
games due to the fact that you
can save all different regions
of save games on one memory card.
Swap Magic for Slim PS2 has allowed
me to play import PS2 games for
a fraction of the price of a new
Japanese PS2 and I have to say
it works great. I have yet to
come across a game that doesn’t
work using this product. That
said, it’s not something for the
lazy out there as it does require
swapping discs every time you
want to play a game. So if you’re
short on cash and already have
a USA or PAL Slim PS2 then get
this product but if not and you
have the cash go ahead and grab
a Japanese PS2.
Pros
* Relatively Easy Install
* Low price
Cons
* Requires Some Effort
* Requires A Slim PS2
Overall Score
9.2
