What is Swap Magic/What does it do?
Swap Magic is a combination of two boot discs that allow either your Slimline PS2 or original PS2 to play PS2 backups, or Imported Games, or even backups of imports (Not PlayStation 1). It's an alternative to using a modchip, but other easier methods have arrived since it's release date.
Swap Magic 3.6 is a two disc set that is composed of a DVD Driver and a CD Driver disc. The DVD Driver disc is used specifically for DVD-R/DVD+R/DVD DL+R/DVD DL-R backups. The CD Driver is used specifically for any PS2 game that has been burned onto a CD-R disc.
When a person has successfully modified his/her PS2 to swap discs, he/she will be able to swap out the Swap Magic boot disc with a PS2 backup. Swap Magic can run any region. There are only a few settings Swap Magic comes with. Depending on what region your backup is, PAL/NTSC-U/NTSC-J, Swap Magic can play a backup using a specific region.
For example, if you have a NTSC PS2 running a PAL backup, Swap Magic can switch the region to NTSC, so the PAL backup will play on your PS2 and TV with corrected Y and X coordinates. It functions that way or viceversa. There is even software out on the internet that can correct the Y and X coordinates on a game so that they will match your TV correctly, just like the region of a game that matches the region of your PS2.
When it comes down to using Swap Magic 3.6, you will have to pick out the best media for DVDs, and CDs. When you burn numerous backups, you can experiment with which speeds, and brands of media your PS2 likes or dislikes. Poor media can hurt how well a game loads, or if the game loads at all. Swap Magic also isn't compatible with all PS2 games either, but it is compatible with a healthy amount of them. The online functionality is taken away once a backup is created, but there are patches that fix this problem, so it is still possible to play online with your backup(s).
One partial disadvantage to Swap Magic is, that, it becomes a hassle to wait for Swap Magic to load, switch the discs out, and load the backup. Luckily, over time you will become accustomed to this process.
A personal experience I had with Swap Magic was that, my modern day Slimline PS2 had trouble reading CDROM PS2 games altogether, so the CDROM functionality was thrown out of the window. It's recommended to keep your Swap Magic disc clean, and free of scratches of course. It needs to be concealed within it's case, because if it fails to load one day then you will have to find an alternative method of loading backups.
I will confirm that I have been using Swap Magic 3.6 on my Slimline since June 2007.
Not only can Swap Magic run PS2 backups, but it also runs homebrew applications, and emulators. It can even run modified ISOs.
With that said, Swap Magic 3.6, is a more user friendly and less complicated way, of running PS2 backups.
Price - 8
Functionality - 8
Durability - 8
Lifetime - 8
Overall: 8
Swap Magic is a combination of two boot discs that allow either your Slimline PS2 or original PS2 to play PS2 backups, or Imported Games, or even backups of imports (Not PlayStation 1). It's an alternative to using a modchip, but other easier methods have arrived since it's release date.
Swap Magic 3.6 is a two disc set that is composed of a DVD Driver and a CD Driver disc. The DVD Driver disc is used specifically for DVD-R/DVD+R/DVD DL+R/DVD DL-R backups. The CD Driver is used specifically for any PS2 game that has been burned onto a CD-R disc.
When a person has successfully modified his/her PS2 to swap discs, he/she will be able to swap out the Swap Magic boot disc with a PS2 backup. Swap Magic can run any region. There are only a few settings Swap Magic comes with. Depending on what region your backup is, PAL/NTSC-U/NTSC-J, Swap Magic can play a backup using a specific region.
For example, if you have a NTSC PS2 running a PAL backup, Swap Magic can switch the region to NTSC, so the PAL backup will play on your PS2 and TV with corrected Y and X coordinates. It functions that way or viceversa. There is even software out on the internet that can correct the Y and X coordinates on a game so that they will match your TV correctly, just like the region of a game that matches the region of your PS2.
When it comes down to using Swap Magic 3.6, you will have to pick out the best media for DVDs, and CDs. When you burn numerous backups, you can experiment with which speeds, and brands of media your PS2 likes or dislikes. Poor media can hurt how well a game loads, or if the game loads at all. Swap Magic also isn't compatible with all PS2 games either, but it is compatible with a healthy amount of them. The online functionality is taken away once a backup is created, but there are patches that fix this problem, so it is still possible to play online with your backup(s).
One partial disadvantage to Swap Magic is, that, it becomes a hassle to wait for Swap Magic to load, switch the discs out, and load the backup. Luckily, over time you will become accustomed to this process.
A personal experience I had with Swap Magic was that, my modern day Slimline PS2 had trouble reading CDROM PS2 games altogether, so the CDROM functionality was thrown out of the window. It's recommended to keep your Swap Magic disc clean, and free of scratches of course. It needs to be concealed within it's case, because if it fails to load one day then you will have to find an alternative method of loading backups.
I will confirm that I have been using Swap Magic 3.6 on my Slimline since June 2007.
Not only can Swap Magic run PS2 backups, but it also runs homebrew applications, and emulators. It can even run modified ISOs.
With that said, Swap Magic 3.6, is a more user friendly and less complicated way, of running PS2 backups.
Price - 8
Functionality - 8
Durability - 8
Lifetime - 8
Overall: 8
