N64 ADAPTOR WONDER

[Thierry Henry]

I'm having an argument with a guy trying to sell me one of these, and I'd appreciate your input on this.

He probably is reading what he is telling me from the back of a box, or something, but is quite adamant about it. His comment is that "this adapter allows most Japanese and American games to work on European consoles and vice versa. Protects the cartridge slot on the console"
But only the latter part of that statement is true, right?

So my line of thinking is that this device simply acts as just a pass-through cart for the cartridge port.
Basically what it does is it bypass a couple of tabs at the bottom of the cartridge slot in the N64 console. There's mainly only a physical lockout between US and Japanese carts. So it's great for bypassing that. But the adapter itself does nothing more than that, there's nothing inside the adapter that does any tricks.

So it's great for playing US N64 games on a Japanese console or vice versa, without the need to remove the tabs. But it doesn't bypass the region lockout of PAL → NTSC or NTSC → PAL. One of those Passport Plus adaptors could do that, but not this device.

Am I right?

[Hobie-wan]

According to this post, just a pass through.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthr ... post936367

Dunno beyond that.

This says the same, just pass through.

http://www.nesworld.com/n64-adaptorwonder.php

[Thierry Henry]

Yeah thanks, Hobie-wan.
That last link is what kinda confirmed it for me and where I got some of my info from. But I wasn't 100% sure so I thought better to ask the guys here.

So looks like I'm going to pass on this guy's sale.
I already have a GameShark device for US to Japanese compatibility, so no need to be getting this if it only does the same thing.

[cookie monster]

I have the super 64 adapter it does the same thing Its just a bypass i ended up just moding one of my systems to play my jp games so it had a cleaner look.
I have never come across any pal games to try mine on i tried to sell my adapter on here but no one was intrested.

[CRTGAMER]

I prefer to use the backs out of extra NTSC-U game carts to play Japan games. The cart notches helps to align the game to the console tabs so I will not mod my N64. Going the back swap route also prevents an extra connection of the passthru cart.

That pass thru in the OP should physically allow the carts to plug in, the issue is converting the NTSC signal to PAL.

[Hobie-wan]

I prefer to use the backs out of extra NTSC-U game carts to play Japan games. The cart notches helps to align the game to the console tabs so I will not mod my N64. Going the back swap route also prevents an extra connection of the passthru cart.

The cart is still going to hit all 4 sides of the tray around the connector as well as the slot in the top of the machine being the same size as the cart. The notches aren't going to really make a difference. Swapping backs is all well and good, but it will also create more clutter unless you get rid of the J cart that now has a US back on it. And we all know that most of the people on the forum here aren't going to do that. It might not be a big deal for 1 or 2 carts, but it is less feasible the more you have between buying crap games and storing them.

[Thierry Henry]

Not to get too off topic, but the same seller is now making a pitch for "US N64 s-video cables. Works for all makes and regions of the Nintendo 64 system"

Don't you just hate it when folks don't know what the f they're selling.

If I owned a PAL N64 and wanted ultra-bright and over saturated colors, then yeah, those cables would be right up my alley.

[shmuk]

I suggest you get a N64 passport. It works for most game that were released prior to 1999. But it really doesn't look like it bypasses regional lockout. Japanese and American games have the same lockout, but different cartridge shape, so if you have an American N64, it should allow you to play Japanese games.

[Thierry Henry]

I suggest you get a N64 passport. It works for most game that were released prior to 1999. But it really doesn't look like it bypasses regional lockout.

The Passport and Passport Plus adapters do in fact bypass that lockout. Not on all the games, but most of them work fine on it.
Why I was wishing the other adapter cart would work was because it wouldn't have needed those darned game codes to be input when you want to play a game. I hate that! Looking for codes and shit. Give me plug-and-play and I'm a happy camper.

[theclaw]

I prefer to use the backs out of extra NTSC-U game carts to play Japan games. The cart notches helps to align the game to the console tabs so I will not mod my N64. Going the back swap route also prevents an extra connection of the passthru cart.

That pass thru in the OP should physically allow the carts to plug in, the issue is converting the NTSC signal to PAL.

Perhaps that could be said about the Japanese and PAL console. But an American console has its tabs in the corners where no connections are even present.

Besides the dust cover just unscrews. You don't have to "mod" anything to find out for yourself how well it'll go.