How easy is it to play imports on PS2?

[Hobie-wan]

You can use the HD Loader in FreeMCBoot and a HD/Net adapter in a PS2 Fat. Dump your game to the HD via FTP or with HDLDump with your PC. This is the method I use for my PS2 imports. Dumping to the HD takes a bit, but once it's there it loads faster.

[dsheinem]

You can use the HD Loader in FreeMCBoot and a HD/Net adapter in a PS2 Fat. Dump your game to the HD via FTP or with HDLDump with your PC. This is the method I use for my PS2 imports. Dumping to the HD takes a bit, but once it's there it loads faster.

I also have Free McBoot (for emulators and media mostly), but it doesn't allow you to play imports (at least not easily)

[Hobie-wan]

You can use the HD Loader in FreeMCBoot and a HD/Net adapter in a PS2 Fat. Dump your game to the HD via FTP or with HDLDump with your PC. This is the method I use for my PS2 imports. Dumping to the HD takes a bit, but once it's there it loads faster.

I also have Free McBoot (for emulators and media mostly), but it doesn't allow you to play imports (at least not easily)

Shush your noise you!

Ok fine I'm a computer nerd so hooking up the HD and dumping the discs is easy for me. Doing that every now and then if you get a new game seems less overall hassle than juggling discs every time you want to play an import.

[corn619]

Would the Swap Disks play PAL games as well as UTSC-J games on a U.S PS2? Siren 2 and Demon Chaos among other games were released in Europe but never in the U.S. I've been wanting these games for ages now. Experiencing them in english would be the ideal way to play them. Oh yeah, and nice Bagel Hobie-Wan.

[Ziggy]

I was gonna say, using HD Loader or HD Advance will let you play imports off a hard drive. It might take a little more to set up initially, but after that it's much easier than having to swap discs all the time to play imports. If you're gonna buy swap magic, you might as well buy HD Advance instead. Either that or use HD Loader.

With HD Advance you can use the slide tool or flip top case to rip an import to the hard drive. Or you could take the hard drive out of the PS2 and link it to your PC (either internally or with a USB adapter) to dump games on it. But the best option, in my opinion, is hooking the PS2 up to you computer or network. If you do this, you just have to set it all up once then forget about it. You can dump games to the hard drive right from your computer. No messing around with hard drives, slide tools or flip tops. And like Hobie said, once the game is there you don't have to worry about swapping discs and it will also load faster. Not to mention you wont be putting wear and tear on the PS2's optical drive.

[D.D.D.]

One thing too is that Swap Magic doesn't support dual layer games. I found out the hard way and ended up with a laser head scratched disc. :

[Ducky]

I use HDLoader to play my imports (which I managed to get working with some help from some kind fellows on this forum), however a problem I've come across is with certain NTSC games not playing properly on my PAL PS2. This has happened with Persona 3, Persona 4 and Kingdom Hearts, so far. They just don't function properly on the TV. I applied some screenfix patch, but it seemed to have also slowed the games down to 50hz, which is exactly what I was trying to avoid in the first place. D: Ahh, well... If anybody knows how to keep a picture and maintain the 60hz smoothness of NTSC games on a PAL PS2, let me know!

But to answer your question, the HDLoader method is pretty fiddly, admittedly. You'll have to carry those .iso's via FTP or by plugging the HDD into your computer. It pays off, I think, because you don't have to cut into the shell of my PS2 (which sounds like an absolutely horrid idea to me).

[dsheinem]

Will HDD loader work with a slim? Do y'all just place your hard drive on top of the unit?

One thing too is that Swap Magic doesn't support dual layer games. I found out the hard way and ended up with a laser head scratched disc.

I find swap magic to be a very easy method, and it has played everything I've thrown at it with zero problems. The current version (3. supports dual layer discs.

If you're gonna buy swap magic, you might as well buy HD Advance instead. Either that or use HD Loader.

Don't you have to buy swap magic if you want to use it, as a burned copy won't work?

[Ziggy]

What I mean is, if you're gonna pay for something, I would go with HD Advance over Swap Magic.

In regards to using a hard drive with a Slim model, I don't know about HD Loader but there's a version of HD Advance for that called USB Extreme. You just use a USB hard drive.

http://www.hdadvance.com/hd_xtreme_whatis.htm

[noiseredux]

What I mean is, if you're gonna pay for something, I would go with HD Advance over Swap Magic.

I'd rather just play from the actual disc than load onto a harddrive.