PAL N64 region free

[Virdoo]

Hi,

I've noticed that only NTSC N64 is possible to mod to play Japanese games. Now, what about european consoles? Is there a way to mod them so I can play US games? Also, i'm not talking about any kind of adapters. I've read that nowadays TVs can play both PAL and NTSC. Any infos about that?

 

[KiiWii]

Afaik no, the internal hardware is different NTSC/PAL I believe, hence why a pass through adaptor is required.

 

[Virdoo]

No soldering method available?

 

[Lumstar]

Swapping parts between consoles is one way. I don't think it's been reverse engineered to make a modchip.

Even then a video mod like RGB may be needed to play in color. N64 wasn't intended for PAL60.
(on the flip side, an NTSC N64 would try to display PAL games in NTSC50. or something to that effect.)

 

[Virdoo]

So it's easier to import cheap console from Japan then and mod it....

 

[Lumstar]

Whichever costs less, N64 consoles are mostly identical in Japan, Korea, and North America.
You have several options for converting between NTSC-US / NTSC-J that don't require permanent modding:
converter cartridge
swap the backs of your games
remove or replace the blocking piece.

Overall there isn't much purpose to buy a PAL N64. Only a few games were really PAL only. (like F1 World Grand Prix II, or Premier Manager 64)

 

[Virdoo]

I'm from Europe so it happened suddenly...

 

[luk_pop]

Cool mod:
http://www.retrovideogames.de/mods-adaptors/nintendo/n64-multinorm-single-switch-mod-overclocking/

@Virdoo buy N64 NTSC J from ebay, and cut socket - work all NTSC games. N64 from Japan cost 30-40$ with shipping to EU.

 

[SG6000]

I used to use a Passport III adaptor on my PAL N64 without issue - with only one game that I never managed to boot (JPN Excitebike 64). All games were in colour and in full screen. These days I use a US N64 but until I bought an Everdrive I used the Passport III to play my old PAL carts. It's an awesome tool but have no idea if its still in production.