GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 Community, GoldenEye X, Nintendo 64 Games Discussion

[Wreck]

This may already be known to some people out there, but I just figured it out recently. You can play Japanese N64 games on a USA console... with a GameShark. Some of my games start up without any hitches, while others require a Keycode, and few also need a Master code. Here's a list of what games I have, and what needed to be done to get them to play.

Plug and Play
GoldenEye 007
Star Fox 64
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 (Rumble Pak Edition)

Keycode
Banjo-Kazooie [Banjo Keycode]
Diddy Kong Racing [Diddy Keycode]
Donkey Kong 64 [Zelda Keycode]
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time [Zelda Keycode]

Master Code
Banjo-Kazooie [DE000400 0000]
Diddy Kong Racing [DE000400 0000]
Donkey Kong 64 [DE000400 0000]


As you can see, the three games I have that needed a Master Code all used the same one. Diddy Kong does need four more lines (since everything is drawn backwards!), but the game was crashing when I had them activated as normal codes. GS Button type probably would have worked, but I just made the RAM changes in Memory Editor. The other games started up and looked fine, although Banjo-Kazooie eventually did crash while running around in Freezeezy Peak.

Even though I can't read anything or know what the Japanese dialogue is talking about in Star Fox 64, it's still fun. Too bad I've already played all the JAP games I own as their NTSC USA equal!
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[acceptable67]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oXjv3EiGwA

Zelda keycode for Perfect Dark as well.
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Rare wrote:

Perfect Dark Forever.

[Wreck]

Nice. I figured there must have been at least a couple of people on here who already either tried it out for themselves or read about it elsewhere.

Seems like the games use the same Keycodes for their Japanese counterparts, which is certainly helpful. I'd have definitely tested PD, but it's one that I have still yet to purchase. Though seeing as I will be running out of GE stuff to collect soon enough, Perfect Dark will be the obvious follow-up target.
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[zoinkity]

Yeah, keycodes are used to change the GS's header checksum to match what the cic chip expects, and that's why you have to reboot with them. They're specific to each version of the GS software, but otherwise the games themselves don't influence it. You can also boot PAL games using the same set of keycodes.

The only real difference in Japanese and US consoles is the cartridge dust tray. If you do something so the tabs aren't in the way you can play J and E carts normally. Without codes on, the GS acts as a passthrough adapter.
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[Rey]

If only my GS worked. I always got annoyed when some codes you need to press or hold a button at a certain time in the game. That happens alot on my action replay max. I need to press a button to activate it. I can never get it to work.
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[Wreck]

I bought those security screwdrivers to open up Nintendo related products off eBay, so I messed around some more with my import games. As I had read online, you can do two different things to allow Japanese titles to boot up without the need for a GameShark or passport type device.

1. You can unscrew the cartridge of a USA and a JPN game and swap the back halves around. This then lets the Japanese cart slide into the console without any resistance.

2. You can unscrew the console, take the top half off, then unscrew and remove the section below the dust cover flaps. With a little bit of physical manipulation (in my case, a small saw blade and a piece of sand paper), the square pieces which prevented the JPN carts from sliding in can be cut out. Now all games can fit into the console as-is. PAL games still don't boot, however.
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[Lain]

I actually have a copy of an import game where someone literally took the inserts off the cartridge! Here's a picture!


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[Wreck]

Haha, that's funny stuff there. One side looks pretty clean, while the other is really mangled. I wonder if anyone has even made a "region-free" style back half that you could use in replacement? Would certainly be an interesting product to put out.
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[Wreck]

Got a Japanese copy of Perfect Dark in the mail today. Managed to hack out a code to force the game to use the English language text files (same as the patch available on the Vault), but I can't seem to get further than the select agent screen. Not sure what Master Code is required here. Any assistance would be appreciated!

PD JAP in English
80084773 0000

The text shows up a little funny sometimes. Words, or parts of words, will be missing. This shouldn't pose a problem when voices are heard, and most of us here are already well familiar with objectives and everything else.

Edit: Strangely enough, I ended up getting it to work - with the same code that wouldn't let me past the agent select screen. I don't know if it had anything to do with me starting the game with no codes and creating a new save file on controller pak, or maybe the console hadn't recognized any saves from the cartridge yet, but when I tried again with the original code, all the saves showed up without issue. My console has been acting up lately, though. Won't boot up games first try, especially with JAP titles.

Master Code
FF72C5A0 0000

With the English text, you can easily navigate every menu to setup your game.
If this all doesn't work the first time, keep trying. Also make sure you have a controller pak save, as that might help if the gamepak saves aren't recognized.
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