Dumb sounding question, I know, but bear with me. I have a preview/review copy of "World Racing 2" for the PS2. Google quickly reveals this is a PAL only release. When I bought it the seller was under the impression it was NTSC, but the disc isn't marked really anything (Just "World Racing 2 PS2" in marker). Now, it didn't boot on his NTSC test PS2, but it seems to boot right up on my modded PS2. That leaves me to believe it's PAL, even though he did mention his laser was wearing out So I download the final PAL version just to see if there's any beta elements in there. Right away, I notice it doesn't fit on the screen properly, the bottom is cut off and there's a black space on the top. Now, my "review" disc fits perfectly on the screen. Does this mean it might not be PAL? Is there any definitive way to tell if it's one or the other? Thanks for any help, I'd like to know which region this is.
Any PS2 game has Sony ID as the name of ELF file in the root of the disk. In WIP versions Sony ID can be dummy like "SLPM-00000, XXXX-12345, SLES-00000". Find out your ID and it's will help to identify the region (if it not XXXX).
Yes Ok thanks, I'll check it out. I'm assuming I can find that program you've got open by googling 'HxD' Thanks, I'll try that if the Sony ID thing doesn't work out.
If there is no valid ID (as SILENT_Pavel described), then the "region" depends on how you interpret it: 1. Who made the game (might be a canned release to the other region..?). 2. The video mode used (since PAL games must support PAL, while PAL games might also support NTSC). 3. The actual region that the final game was released in. EDIT: there's another method, but you need to know how to use a hex editor. You could access the disc with it (or make a dump first, if your tool cannot access the CD/DVD drive directly) and look at the Masterdisc boot sectors (sectors 12 and 13). The boot sectors are different for all three regions. Details can be found here: http://lukasz.dk/files/ps2boot.txt Each sector is 2048 bytes in length. He could open SYSTEM.CNF to look at the boot filename too. It's not actually a BIOS as it doesn't really provide basic I/O. Hence booting a game under the different ROM regions will not make a difference (the video mode used will still be up to the game). No, you just need to insert the disc into your computer and check for the boot file (or open SYSTEM.CNF to look at the filename listed there). BTW, which video mode does your TV support, if it can display only either PAL or NTSC?
Thanks for the info! I popped the disc in and opened SYSTEM.CNF. Lo and behold, this is the exact text: "BOOT2 = cdrom0:\SLUS_536.46;1 VER = 1.00 VMODE = NTSC" So I guess that pretty much points this to an unreleased NTSC build of a PAL only game? It was developed by Synetic. I looked at the credits and there is a "Localization" line, although I haven't checked the retail one yet to see if that line is missing. My TV is an NTSC TV. So 60Hz, this game shows up as 480i. Also, does 'SLUS_536.46;1' mean anything?
Congratulations! No. They must be master-disc patched. But most of them will play pressed games from any region; the early Japanese DEX units won't play NTSC-U/C or PAL games
Thanks for clarifying, I knew he tried other burned preview discs and they worked, it makes sense it can't just play any downloaded then burned PS2 game.
