Getting MD pirates in Japanese carts

[Robyn]

I found that some sellers on eBay are selling Megadrive/Genesis pirates, but they're in Japanese shells!

 I don't wanna buy an adapter due to them being expensive (and apparently Game Genies won't work for pirates) and I don't wanna open my Megadrive model 2.

 So eh, any other ways? Could I open the cart with a Gamebit screwdriver and swap PCB's with a European cart? Let me know, I want to play Squirrel King dammit! :lol:

[Azathoth]

You can use a Game Genie or Pro Action Replay as a passthrough, only a very few games that have quirks in the programming won't work that way.

All games have a universal PCB size, so you can do like you mentioned and swap the PCB's. You may have to file a very small amount (like 1mm) off the inside lip of the cart shell since sometimes Chinese PCB's are just a hair thicker than Sega branded ones.

The easiest thing to do is just shave the plastic off where the cart slot is on the MD case. It doesn't take but just a few seconds and works perfectly. You can take a boxcutter or sharp knife and shave just a tiny bit of plastic off the left and right sides of the back sides of where the cart goes into the slot and problem solved.

I can post a picture if you need it.

[Awesome Panda]

Azathoth

Nov 4 2012, 09:12:10 AM

You can use a Game Genie or Pro Action Replay as a passthrough, only a very few games that have quirks in the programming won't work that way.[/quote]I think pirates tend to be those few games. :\