I have a 1chip SNES and I just realized that the Game Genie I picked up for a few dollars doesn't work with it because it's 1.0 and only the 2.0 works with 1chip systems (and with some limitations). Actually finding a 2.0 bios Game Genie would be basically a luck of the draw on eBay, and if the seller knows he's got the more desirable version, he'll want a premium price for it. In theory, replacing the BIOS on a Game Genie should be exactly the same as swapping out the ROM chip on any other SNES cartridge, including which pins on the EPROM should get swapped, right? I'm interested in taking this approach because from where I'm standing it looks cheaper and easier than trying to find an actual Game Genie with the 2.0 bios. I've made other reproduction cartridges before (although I wasn't able to make the EPROMs myself), so if I approach it like any other SNES reproduction cart the end result should work out fine, right?
Replacing the ROM version might not work. The Game Genie hardware that does the magic might have been updated/changed to fix whatever prevented the older version from working. But maybe it will work, I can't tell you for sure.
I tried to do this a long time ago and it does appear there are additional components that will prevent you from just swapping the ROM so instead bought an even harder to find Action Replay MK3. If I can find the sources I will edit this post later to contain them.
Alright thanks for the advice. I guess my best bet is to try and hunt down a version 2.0 unless I can find an Action Replay MK3 (which seems pretty unlikely). I am in good standing with the local game shop so I am sure they'd let me test to find out which version is on their shelf if they have any in stock, but I don't know what level of rarity the 2.0 is in comparison to the 1.0. I certainly don't think I want to shell out for an Action Replay MK3 looking at the eBay prices.
