The "Nintendo Games" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
On the news that the freeloader multi-region thing will let you play pal games on foreign machines, as well as the other way round, i've been making some enquiries into the panasonic q-cube...
First of all, the technical bit (get it out of the way as quickly as possible):
I'm not too sure about this, as there was a lot to read, and i got distracted. A lot. By watching paint dry.
For NTSC format, you need an NTSC compatible tv, and it has to be NTSC 3.summit, as opposed to NTSC 4.summit else (both 'summits' being other numbers after the decimal point).
If you don't have that, you might be able to use RGB, again, if your tv supports it. However, i got the impression that the Q doesn't support rgb, so it might not be possible either.
Otherwise, you'll be wanting a NTSC to PAL convertor: they vary in quality, but to some degree will reduce picture quality. I get the impression that you won't really be able to notice with a good one though.
Also, your tv has to support 60 hz mode, i think this is required whatever other connecty stuff you use. However, all NTSC-supporting tvs will definitely have it, and most others should.
You can test by trying the 60 hz mode on a normal cube or dreamcast. Or maybe something else. Or the tv's instructions should say.
Regarding power, well, US and Japanese plug sockets run at a lower voltage than European ones, so you need a step-down transformer to make it work. The wattage is also relevant - you need the transformer to be capable of dealing with an equal or higher wattage than what the q-cube uses.
Just not sure what that is yet.
If you buy through importers, they should be able to fix you up. Otherwise, try an electrical store.
Okay, end of technical bit. Don't rely on that too heavily, it's probably pretty accurate, but not definitive or incredibly well researched. Try ntsc-uk.com for more help.
If anyone wants to correct me on anything, feel free.
Now, the japanese dvd player side of things, the q is region 2, though you can buy some modded for all regions.
I think that if you play a PAL region 2 dvd (as opposed to an NTSC region 2 dvd), the cube gives out a PAL signal. Not certain about this, but if it's true, it would suggest to me that the same would be true for PAL (european) cube games played using freeloader, thus eliminating NTSC signal problems if you did only use pal games and dvds.
Also, i think if you play an imported (ntsc) game on a pal regular cube using freeloader, i believe the signal to the tv will also be in ntsc format. If this is right, it'd pretty much confirm my above theory.
Where? Well, i've tried finding a japanese online store to buy directly from, but come into some language difficulties. I might try again later, and hope i can work something out. Wouldn't be as easy as when i bought a dvd from a french site, but i could always call in some help from one of the japanese guys i play basketball with. Not sure what you'd do though..
An easier alternative would be an import/export company.
lik-sang (.com) do a (modded for multi-region dvd and step-down transformer included) q-cube for about £300, £345-ish with postage (from half way round the world, so it's probably fair enough :O) )
There are no doubt several other companies that'd do the job (feel free to mention them here), but i've not found them yet.
Finance - Well, it'll cost a lot (remember to account for the hidden extras - signal transformers, power supply transformers, global shipping, new tv, round trip to japan, customs/import tax, the freeloader disk itself ('bout £20), work out which you'll need to pay)
But remember, if you have them, you can flog your old gamecube and/or dvd to help raise the funds - Maybe £70 for the dvd, ebay has cubes + 1 game going at about £130 at the moment (there must be one you've finished with?). So you'll already be well on the way.
Buyers' Guide - Summary*:
1. Check your tv for 60 hz mode. If there isn't one, you need a new tv or a q-cube won't work.
2. If you plan on playing games or dvds from outside PAL europe, check for NTSC compatability. If not, get a good quality NTSC-PAL convertor.
3. Find a supplier, either from japan or an importers. If you don't get one included, buy a step-down transformer too.
4. Buy the freeloader disk as soon as it comes out.
And that, i think, should be it : )
*This is especially likely to be wrong here and there, and generalise a bit, but it's how i'd simplify the summary based on what i know / believe.
N.B. - If you are going to buy a Q, and use this advice, i really recommend you check everything out for yourself to make sure. Treat this as a foot in the door, not a safe passage.
Also, i'd make certain that the freeloader disk will really let you play european games on a jap/us cube, and that it's not just a rumour visciously started by import companies to clear their backlogs of jap, us modded gamecubes.
But it's probably not that, just be careful, it's a lot of money.
Good luck if you go for it : )
First of all, the technical bit (get it out of the way as quickly as possible):
I'm not too sure about this, as there was a lot to read, and i got distracted. A lot. By watching paint dry.
For NTSC format, you need an NTSC compatible tv, and it has to be NTSC 3.summit, as opposed to NTSC 4.summit else (both 'summits' being other numbers after the decimal point).
If you don't have that, you might be able to use RGB, again, if your tv supports it. However, i got the impression that the Q doesn't support rgb, so it might not be possible either.
Otherwise, you'll be wanting a NTSC to PAL convertor: they vary in quality, but to some degree will reduce picture quality. I get the impression that you won't really be able to notice with a good one though.
Also, your tv has to support 60 hz mode, i think this is required whatever other connecty stuff you use. However, all NTSC-supporting tvs will definitely have it, and most others should.
You can test by trying the 60 hz mode on a normal cube or dreamcast. Or maybe something else. Or the tv's instructions should say.
Regarding power, well, US and Japanese plug sockets run at a lower voltage than European ones, so you need a step-down transformer to make it work. The wattage is also relevant - you need the transformer to be capable of dealing with an equal or higher wattage than what the q-cube uses.
Just not sure what that is yet.
If you buy through importers, they should be able to fix you up. Otherwise, try an electrical store.
Okay, end of technical bit. Don't rely on that too heavily, it's probably pretty accurate, but not definitive or incredibly well researched. Try ntsc-uk.com for more help.
If anyone wants to correct me on anything, feel free.
Now, the japanese dvd player side of things, the q is region 2, though you can buy some modded for all regions.
I think that if you play a PAL region 2 dvd (as opposed to an NTSC region 2 dvd), the cube gives out a PAL signal. Not certain about this, but if it's true, it would suggest to me that the same would be true for PAL (european) cube games played using freeloader, thus eliminating NTSC signal problems if you did only use pal games and dvds.
Also, i think if you play an imported (ntsc) game on a pal regular cube using freeloader, i believe the signal to the tv will also be in ntsc format. If this is right, it'd pretty much confirm my above theory.
Where? Well, i've tried finding a japanese online store to buy directly from, but come into some language difficulties. I might try again later, and hope i can work something out. Wouldn't be as easy as when i bought a dvd from a french site, but i could always call in some help from one of the japanese guys i play basketball with. Not sure what you'd do though..
An easier alternative would be an import/export company.
lik-sang (.com) do a (modded for multi-region dvd and step-down transformer included) q-cube for about £300, £345-ish with postage (from half way round the world, so it's probably fair enough :O) )
There are no doubt several other companies that'd do the job (feel free to mention them here), but i've not found them yet.
Finance - Well, it'll cost a lot (remember to account for the hidden extras - signal transformers, power supply transformers, global shipping, new tv, round trip to japan, customs/import tax, the freeloader disk itself ('bout £20), work out which you'll need to pay)
But remember, if you have them, you can flog your old gamecube and/or dvd to help raise the funds - Maybe £70 for the dvd, ebay has cubes + 1 game going at about £130 at the moment (there must be one you've finished with?). So you'll already be well on the way.
Buyers' Guide - Summary*:
1. Check your tv for 60 hz mode. If there isn't one, you need a new tv or a q-cube won't work.
2. If you plan on playing games or dvds from outside PAL europe, check for NTSC compatability. If not, get a good quality NTSC-PAL convertor.
3. Find a supplier, either from japan or an importers. If you don't get one included, buy a step-down transformer too.
4. Buy the freeloader disk as soon as it comes out.
And that, i think, should be it : )
*This is especially likely to be wrong here and there, and generalise a bit, but it's how i'd simplify the summary based on what i know / believe.
N.B. - If you are going to buy a Q, and use this advice, i really recommend you check everything out for yourself to make sure. Treat this as a foot in the door, not a safe passage.
Also, i'd make certain that the freeloader disk will really let you play european games on a jap/us cube, and that it's not just a rumour visciously started by import companies to clear their backlogs of jap, us modded gamecubes.
But it's probably not that, just be careful, it's a lot of money.
Good luck if you go for it : )
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
On the news that the freeloader multi-region thing will let you play pal games on foreign machines, as well as the other way round, i've been making some enquiries into the panasonic q-cube...
First of all, the technical bit (get it out of the way as quickly as possible):
I'm not too sure about this, as there was a lot to read, and i got distracted. A lot. By watching paint dry.
For NTSC format, you need an NTSC compatible tv, and it has to be NTSC 3.summit, as opposed to NTSC 4.summit else (both 'summits' being other numbers after the decimal point).
If you don't have that, you might be able to use RGB, again, if your tv supports it. However, i got the impression that the Q doesn't support rgb, so it might not be possible either.
Otherwise, you'll be wanting a NTSC to PAL convertor: they vary in quality, but to some degree will reduce picture quality. I get the impression that you won't really be able to notice with a good one though.
Also, your tv has to support 60 hz mode, i think this is required whatever other connecty stuff you use. However, all NTSC-supporting tvs will definitely have it, and most others should.
You can test by trying the 60 hz mode on a normal cube or dreamcast. Or maybe something else. Or the tv's instructions should say.
Regarding power, well, US and Japanese plug sockets run at a lower voltage than European ones, so you need a step-down transformer to make it work. The wattage is also relevant - you need the transformer to be capable of dealing with an equal or higher wattage than what the q-cube uses.
Just not sure what that is yet.
If you buy through importers, they should be able to fix you up. Otherwise, try an electrical store.
Okay, end of technical bit. Don't rely on that too heavily, it's probably pretty accurate, but not definitive or incredibly well researched. Try ntsc-uk.com for more help.
If anyone wants to correct me on anything, feel free.
Now, the japanese dvd player side of things, the q is region 2, though you can buy some modded for all regions.
I think that if you play a PAL region 2 dvd (as opposed to an NTSC region 2 dvd), the cube gives out a PAL signal. Not certain about this, but if it's true, it would suggest to me that the same would be true for PAL (european) cube games played using freeloader, thus eliminating NTSC signal problems if you did only use pal games and dvds.
Also, i think if you play an imported (ntsc) game on a pal regular cube using freeloader, i believe the signal to the tv will also be in ntsc format. If this is right, it'd pretty much confirm my above theory.
Where? Well, i've tried finding a japanese online store to buy directly from, but come into some language difficulties. I might try again later, and hope i can work something out. Wouldn't be as easy as when i bought a dvd from a french site, but i could always call in some help from one of the japanese guys i play basketball with. Not sure what you'd do though..
An easier alternative would be an import/export company.
lik-sang (.com) do a (modded for multi-region dvd and step-down transformer included) q-cube for about £300, £345-ish with postage (from half way round the world, so it's probably fair enough :O) )
There are no doubt several other companies that'd do the job (feel free to mention them here), but i've not found them yet.
Finance - Well, it'll cost a lot (remember to account for the hidden extras - signal transformers, power supply transformers, global shipping, new tv, round trip to japan, customs/import tax, the freeloader disk itself ('bout £20), work out which you'll need to pay)
But remember, if you have them, you can flog your old gamecube and/or dvd to help raise the funds - Maybe £70 for the dvd, ebay has cubes + 1 game going at about £130 at the moment (there must be one you've finished with?). So you'll already be well on the way.
Buyers' Guide - Summary*:
1. Check your tv for 60 hz mode. If there isn't one, you need a new tv or a q-cube won't work.
2. If you plan on playing games or dvds from outside PAL europe, check for NTSC compatability. If not, get a good quality NTSC-PAL convertor.
3. Find a supplier, either from japan or an importers. If you don't get one included, buy a step-down transformer too.
4. Buy the freeloader disk as soon as it comes out.
And that, i think, should be it : )
*This is especially likely to be wrong here and there, and generalise a bit, but it's how i'd simplify the summary based on what i know / believe.
N.B. - If you are going to buy a Q, and use this advice, i really recommend you check everything out for yourself to make sure. Treat this as a foot in the door, not a safe passage.
Also, i'd make certain that the freeloader disk will really let you play european games on a jap/us cube, and that it's not just a rumour visciously started by import companies to clear their backlogs of jap, us modded gamecubes.
But it's probably not that, just be careful, it's a lot of money.
Good luck if you go for it : )
First of all, the technical bit (get it out of the way as quickly as possible):
I'm not too sure about this, as there was a lot to read, and i got distracted. A lot. By watching paint dry.
For NTSC format, you need an NTSC compatible tv, and it has to be NTSC 3.summit, as opposed to NTSC 4.summit else (both 'summits' being other numbers after the decimal point).
If you don't have that, you might be able to use RGB, again, if your tv supports it. However, i got the impression that the Q doesn't support rgb, so it might not be possible either.
Otherwise, you'll be wanting a NTSC to PAL convertor: they vary in quality, but to some degree will reduce picture quality. I get the impression that you won't really be able to notice with a good one though.
Also, your tv has to support 60 hz mode, i think this is required whatever other connecty stuff you use. However, all NTSC-supporting tvs will definitely have it, and most others should.
You can test by trying the 60 hz mode on a normal cube or dreamcast. Or maybe something else. Or the tv's instructions should say.
Regarding power, well, US and Japanese plug sockets run at a lower voltage than European ones, so you need a step-down transformer to make it work. The wattage is also relevant - you need the transformer to be capable of dealing with an equal or higher wattage than what the q-cube uses.
Just not sure what that is yet.
If you buy through importers, they should be able to fix you up. Otherwise, try an electrical store.
Okay, end of technical bit. Don't rely on that too heavily, it's probably pretty accurate, but not definitive or incredibly well researched. Try ntsc-uk.com for more help.
If anyone wants to correct me on anything, feel free.
Now, the japanese dvd player side of things, the q is region 2, though you can buy some modded for all regions.
I think that if you play a PAL region 2 dvd (as opposed to an NTSC region 2 dvd), the cube gives out a PAL signal. Not certain about this, but if it's true, it would suggest to me that the same would be true for PAL (european) cube games played using freeloader, thus eliminating NTSC signal problems if you did only use pal games and dvds.
Also, i think if you play an imported (ntsc) game on a pal regular cube using freeloader, i believe the signal to the tv will also be in ntsc format. If this is right, it'd pretty much confirm my above theory.
Where? Well, i've tried finding a japanese online store to buy directly from, but come into some language difficulties. I might try again later, and hope i can work something out. Wouldn't be as easy as when i bought a dvd from a french site, but i could always call in some help from one of the japanese guys i play basketball with. Not sure what you'd do though..
An easier alternative would be an import/export company.
lik-sang (.com) do a (modded for multi-region dvd and step-down transformer included) q-cube for about £300, £345-ish with postage (from half way round the world, so it's probably fair enough :O) )
There are no doubt several other companies that'd do the job (feel free to mention them here), but i've not found them yet.
Finance - Well, it'll cost a lot (remember to account for the hidden extras - signal transformers, power supply transformers, global shipping, new tv, round trip to japan, customs/import tax, the freeloader disk itself ('bout £20), work out which you'll need to pay)
But remember, if you have them, you can flog your old gamecube and/or dvd to help raise the funds - Maybe £70 for the dvd, ebay has cubes + 1 game going at about £130 at the moment (there must be one you've finished with?). So you'll already be well on the way.
Buyers' Guide - Summary*:
1. Check your tv for 60 hz mode. If there isn't one, you need a new tv or a q-cube won't work.
2. If you plan on playing games or dvds from outside PAL europe, check for NTSC compatability. If not, get a good quality NTSC-PAL convertor.
3. Find a supplier, either from japan or an importers. If you don't get one included, buy a step-down transformer too.
4. Buy the freeloader disk as soon as it comes out.
And that, i think, should be it : )
*This is especially likely to be wrong here and there, and generalise a bit, but it's how i'd simplify the summary based on what i know / believe.
N.B. - If you are going to buy a Q, and use this advice, i really recommend you check everything out for yourself to make sure. Treat this as a foot in the door, not a safe passage.
Also, i'd make certain that the freeloader disk will really let you play european games on a jap/us cube, and that it's not just a rumour visciously started by import companies to clear their backlogs of jap, us modded gamecubes.
But it's probably not that, just be careful, it's a lot of money.
Good luck if you go for it : )