I'm a confused little boy.

[m4dc0w]

Hey, im a bit confused here. I just bought a PlayStation 2, and borrowed GTA3 from a friend. A few things. Is it possible to copy PS2 games and play them on my PS2? (Not that im going to for GTA3, just wondering if it's possible, for future reference ;), and what are these NTSC to PAL (and vice-versa) patches? What do they do? I'm a bit confused heh. Thanks.

[xboxps3gba]

u have 2 take stuff out for DVD games but for Compact Disc games u can fit it all

[m4dc0w]

But do i need anything special to copy and play them?

And what do the NTSC -> PAL patches do?

And are there any other tricks to the PS2 that could be useful?

-Nick

[charlie_ps2]

Cop this lot and read it twice. It answers all your questions.

I'll assume you have an original game to copy and wish to protect. You'll need a modchip for your PS/PS2, copying software & the right PC hardware for the burning job - e.g: Yamaha 2100/2200S (or E) CD-RW for optimum read/write compatibility with the recommended copying software. An EIDE connected burner, should be placed on the secondary IDE channel else the device will slow down the hard disk & buffer under-runs are likely to occur on non-burn-proof devices.

http://www.megagames.com, http://www.psxcopyworld.co.uk and http://www.ps2ownz.com provide detailed advice.

The basics are:

1/
The PS/PS2 should be chipped to allow backups to play. http://www.kanection.co.uk or http://www.madeiragames.com provide/install chips (UK). Get it done professionally if you're not a soldering whizzo. An internal mod is recommended for maximum functionality. You could also visit http://www.modchip.com for their solution in USA & http://www.modchip.ca for Canada.

2/
You'll need copying & patching software.Two programs are required: CloneCD & CDRWin. CloneCD makes 1:1 copies (tutorial at http://www.psxcopyworld.co.uk). If the game is of the same denomination as your PS/PS2 (e.g. PAL), CloneCD does the job perfectly. If you need to patch the game for any reason (http:/www.megagames.com lists games for which there are patches & the type of patch required), you would use CDRWin. CDRWin stages the CD copy to your PC's hard disk so that you can patch the game as necessary (per PPF-O-MATIC.EXE downloaded from megagames.com together with the patches); then you burn the game back to the CD with CDRWin. EA Sports games can be a challenge; if possible use CloneCD to avoid complex patching & booting methods.

3/
For the above to work properly, your CD-RW MUST be fully compatible with the burning programs. The sites from which you download the programs list compatible devices. CDRWin requires an ASPI layer to be present and this can be downloaded from http://www.goldenhawk.com

4/
If you copy games from one TV standard (like NTSC) to play on another (like PAL) then the game might not play in colour. There are patches to change this (don't always work); or you could buy a fully loaded Scart cable or a convertor that sits between your TV and the PS/PS2. The problem is easier to solve for PAL TVs than for NTSC.

5/
DVD games provide a challenge. DVD games can be backed up with PrimoDVD or NERO 5.5.6.4 on the Pioneer DVR A03 (tutorial on http://www.psxcopyworld.co.uk ). You can also downsize some DVD games to CD-R via a very complex hit/miss process. This is the DVD Rip method and a search on the forum with this key will reveal all.

6/
To boot backup games on PS2, you will need to load them behind special boot programs called Action Replay 2, Gameshark 2 or DVD Region X (tutorial on http://www.psxcopyworld.co.uk ).

7/
Why is this all necessary? Sony have tried to stop you using copied games by going through some clever pre-boot stuff that identifies from data pressed into the CD/DVD whether or not the media is original. So we must boot with compliant media, pause the process, swap in the backup game (patched for NTSC/PAL or copy protection defeat if not burned with CloneCD), & carry on.

This forum has more than 25,000 subscribers. Most started off like you. It's easy when you've done it once, especially with CloneCD.

Good luck & keep the Forum posted.

[m4dc0w]

Wow, lengthly process. thanks for the detailed answer, you are very kind to have taken that long to respond :)

Well, i guess i wont get into the backupping biz :P

1) I dont wanna pay for a mod chip
2) I dont wanna screw with my PS2 hardware any. If it screws up somehow, i'm fucked.
3) I'm too impatient to do all that :P

But thanks for the response :)

[dust2dust]

lol charlie is copy paste king
his hardrive full ps2 inf
:)
we r so lucky