Is there a way to play Japanese Mega CD games on a US Sega CD without doing a region mod the system?
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Is there a way to play Japanese Mega CD games on a US Sega CD without doing a region mod the system?
No, it is impossible to play all legit Mega CD games on a stock Sega CD/Genesis, although a Mega Cart would enable most games.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0ZESM1KHAg
I have evolved in my knowledge.
...unless you use a flashcart with a BIOS replacement, e.g. the Everdrive. Then some games will work. I haven't tried many, but have had about a 50% success rate so far, including Anet Futatabi and Earnest Evans.Quote:
Originally Posted by Breetai
My understanding is that some games have more aggressive lockout schemes or depend on features in the Japanese BIOS. I don't know which ones, though.
BTW what's the equivalent of ConvSCD for BIN/CUE images?
Just use WinISO+ConvSCD.Quote:
Originally Posted by goldenband
You can convert Bin+Cue to ISO+WAV using WinISO, then you are ready to convert the region with ConvSCD.
Use Sega Cue Maker to build a new .CUE file for the new ISO + WAV.
Then mount the ISO using Daemon Tools (with the .cue file by Sega Cue Maker) and you are ready to burn it copying from the virtual drive to the burner on the fly.
OK?
The NeoFlash MD Myth also handles CD BIOS replacement. All my Japanese CDs work, but I don't have a lot of discs, so I can't really say what the percentage would be overall... and the Japanese BIOS only has ONE feature not in the US BIOS - CD+G support in the built-in CD player. CD+G was a popular format in Japan for Karaoke, so the MegaCD was designed to give folks a home Karaoke system. They even sold an add-on to go with it that gave you the mic for singing along, mixing with the CD audio. There are no BIOS functions accessible to the programmer that depend on any specific version of the BIOS.Quote:
Originally Posted by goldenband
Wow that seems like a lot of work I have never tried to copy a Sega cd game. All I want to do is play my Japanese Sonic CD game I like the music on the Japanese version better. Do you have any links where i can down load those programs and give it a try?Quote:
Originally Posted by agostinhobaroners
I'll give that a shot, thanks. Right now my only Windows machine is down for the count, so it may take a while.Quote:
Originally Posted by agostinhobaroners
Has anyone ever tried just listing the addresses and hex values, so that these changes could be made with a hex editor? I've hardcoded lots of Game Genie region codes into ROMs, but have never seen the equivalent for Sega CD.
Two that I remember wouldn't work were Sengoku Densyo and Wondermega Collection. However, these also weren't originals, so all bets are potentially off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chilly Willy
WTF is up with you people? A Mega Cart is by far the simplest (and best IMO) way to play imports. Just stick the cart in and play any region CD game. Oh yeah, and it will also back up the pitifully small internal save memory.
Seconded.Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyteknohed
Both ConvSCD and SCDConv are very spotty when it comes to J/US conversions. If you're looking to play just one particular game and it's confirmed that game is compatible with one of those programs, then you're in good shape. Otherwise, stick with the Megacart.
Don't forget that it's also an optional 24m flashcart!
Somehow I didn't realize this existed! Wow... and Fonzie is even behind it. I know the previous carts that allowed CD imports did not work on all games. According to the website, this looks to still be true of the Mega Cart:Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyteknohed
Anyway, I posted without thinking I guess on my previous post. I'll edit it so it doesn't mislead others as much.Quote:
Q. When I try to run a bios or a game with different nationality
than my system, i get an error message, is that normal?
A. Yeah, some games or bioses require your megadrive or genesis to be modified
A Frequency and Region modification should let you run any kind of things
Didn't somebody create a region-free replacement BIOS for the Sega CD? I remember hearing something about it, but alas I cannot find much info on it. If it can be found, we could burn it onto EPROMs, which we then could install in our Sega CDs. Last I checked, the Sega CD BIOS is socketed, so it would be really easy to do the swap.
Yes, the MultiBios. It's my goal to do a machine like that someday but I haven't the time yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Guntz
The big one with info is here: http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/megacd.htm
But the BIOS files aren't showing up anymore so there would need to be some research into where to find them.
The most amazing thing I've ever seen though, is a multibios modded Wondermega from a guy in the PCEngineFX forums. That thing looked amazing. 0_0
Did Krikzz ever get the Everdrive to support multi-region bios on US Sega CDs? I haven't bothered to look, but thought I would see an announcement if he did. I know he said it was going to require a firmware update.
Well...:)Quote:
Originally Posted by sheath
My hardware config is Model 2 + Model 2 CD, and using the BIOS downloaded from Krikzz's site I've had the 50% success rate described above.Quote:
Originally Posted by goldenband
Having said that, it still sounds like a BIOS replacement gets the system to boot an out-of-region CD, but doesn't keep the CD from checking the system using additional lockout code. Is that correct? And if so, will a region switch for the Genesis + BIOS replacement cart fix things, or is actual surgery needed on the Sega CD unit?
So my question is: is there anyone out there that is trustworthy and still doing region mods for the Genesis and/or X'Eye?