PAL PS2 Games

[Eihwaz]

All right, so I'm vaguely interested in picking up a PS2 sometime in the future, possibly when I go off to college in a few years. Anyway, I am also interested in picking up the game ICO, but the problem is, I want the PAL version, not the NTSC version. The PAL version has some really boss extra features, not to mention sexier box art. >_>;

So, apparently, PAL games won't play on a US style PS2, so exactly what do I need to play a PAL copy of ICO in a US PS2? Mod chip? Boot disk?

[Zelutos]

What's ICO?

[anwserman]

Basically - you'll either need to mod your PS2 or do swap tricks, both of which are unable to be discussed about here.

Basically, I'd find somebody who is good at soddering and get a modchip - however, how and where to buy I can't disclose.

Or, wait for the PS3 to arrive, mod that, and then you'll be able to play all sorts of nifty games then. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

[Eihwaz]

On 2005-08-08 20:11, Zelutos wrote:
What's ICO?


This. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ico) It's one of the few PS2 games I'm interested in, so it figures I'd have to import the PAL version to get all the special extras. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_disapprove.gif

Also, thanks for your help anwserman, I'll do some research on swapping and things like that. I guess I could wait for a PS3 and "fix" that up. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Eihwaz on 2005-08-08 23:59 ]</font>

[Deathscythealpha]

I think its going to be a lot harder for you to find a decent copy of ICO itself then mod out your PS2 to play it.

The game apparently didn't sell well here, even though it got some really good reviews. Now a decent preowned copy is going to set you back a bit.Ive heard of them going up to £80 on Amazon auctions, and we sell them for about £35-£40 in my shop if we ever get a copy in.

[BrokenHope]

Even if you could boot PAL ICO on your US PS2, US TV's don't like PAL or 50hz scan rate so you wouldn't get a picture, or if you did it would be black and white and/or unstable.

[Stan]

Isn't there something like freeloader for the PS2?
It works fine for my American GC PSOepIII (don't know if it works the other way around).
And as alpha said, you'll have a hard time on finding it (for a reasonable price). I've never seen a copy in the stores here, so maybe it sold so bad that it wasn't released in the Benelux. Is it actually still produced?



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Stan on 2005-08-09 13:49 ]</font>

[Eihwaz]

I found a few copies at Amazon.co.uk. :3

[neko-chan]

Actually ICO sold quite well in Europe but didn't do the same in other regions, so that's why SCEE distribuited only a rather small amount of copies here (around 200.000 if I recall correctly).

"If there is only one PlayStation 2 game you play, make it this one. (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=2734)"

The EU version has the case covered of cardboard and contains a few illustrated postcards. It's quite hard to find now, and prices are high up.

As BrokenHope said, PAL games are usually set to 50 Hz, but many PS2 games support 60 Hz screen re-fresh rate as well. I don't remember if ICO runs at 60, I guess I'd have to pop my copy in and check myself.

The gameplay differs a bit from the US version, expecially when you re-play the game and

*SPOILERS*



















Yorda and the Queen dialogues are sub-titled and you can get a blue light saber instead of the mace. If you pop-in an additional controller, a second player can join and play as Yorda. Also, I remember something about carrying water-melons during the very last scene of the game O_O but can be wrong. ^_^;

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: neko-chan on 2005-08-09 17:48 ]</font>

[Deathscythealpha]

On 2005-08-09 15:28, neko-chan wrote:
The EU version has the case covered of cardboard and contains a few illustrated postcards. It's quite hard to find now, and prices are high up.


There is also a standard edition of ICO that comes in a normal DVD case. It's not worth as much and is no where near as impressive to behold.

[Eihwaz]

Huh, I did a bit of research, and apparently if you hold down X and triangle as the game starts up, the game asks if you want to switch from 60 Hz to 50 Hz, for PAL ICO and other games too.

That will DISPLAY the game normally, but you still need something to actually PLAY it. I think I found something that would work, but I should still keep my eyes open.

EDIT: Yeah, neko-chan, those are enticing enough for me to want to go to all this trouble. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Eihwaz on 2005-08-10 05:24 ]</font>