Playing Imports

The problem with the playstation is that any attempt to modify it is always linked to piracy, rather than the hardcore gamers will to play Japanese and US games. Another problem, is that all three territories are clearly defined, so unlike many other consoles, you can’t play US games on a Japanese machine, or vice versa. Thankfully, at least all PAL territories are compatible with eachother.

Chipping your console

Largely outlawed now by Sony, thanks to the connection with copied disk. However, a recent law suit in Australia could see chipping come back with a vengence. It was suggested to Sony that it is illegal to prevent someone changing their machine to play software unavailable in their country. The ruling could also speed up world wide release dates. If you do find someone to chip your machine, it’s just about the best solution. It makes playing games from any region as simple as playing your local games. 

Serial Adaptors

These dodgy little gadgets allow you to play import games with the old disk swap technique. Problem is that it only works with earlier versions of the Playstation which had a serial port. It also requires you to disk swap, which is a pretty laborious technique.

Import Machines

The best sollution, but probably the most expensive, is to get import machines from each territory. Remember you can play all original Playstation games on the PS2, and getting hold of US and Jap PS2’s isn’t that hard. You will need a step down transformer in the UK or Europe, and preferably an AV cable, as there are some problems with black and white output through cheap scart leads.