So I found this game at a local Thrift store the other day among a few other foreign games (Terminator game and another one I can't remember). I've been a fan of the Ape Escape series for a while so I decided to buy it since it was cheap enough. Upon getting home though I realized that this version of the game is a bit different from the standard NTSC-J game. I'm rather curious as to what the actual deal is with the game. After googling what the actual NTSC edition of the game looks like I've found almost all to look like this: (http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb...c/c1/Ape_Escape_Pumped_Primed_Japan_Cover.jpg) (http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb...336px-Ape_Escape_Pumped_Primed_Japan_Back.jpg) and the only picture I can find of the disk is here (https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/...l-NbfvUDBc-5KKx6ymIBlnd0nv938X1nGlJJsnEpE75Fg) unlinkable. Now the version that I found and purchased is very different. The only actual reference image I could find of it comes from play-asia and I really can't tell what the deal is. (http://www.play-asia.com/gacha-mecha-stadium-saru-battle-paOS-13-49-en-70-pdf.html). Additionally I've posted images of the copy I bought below. Images of my copy are uploaded here: http://imgur.com/a/NGx0x#DwPlL0e As you'll see some of the main differences are: The front cover background is red as opposed to the normal blue background. Additionally the developer on the front of the blue case is the developers logo whereas in the version I bought it looks like straight up foreign text. I'm unsure of what it reads but may still be the developers name. On the back cover the black box that normally says Japan only states "For home use only", as well as the white box to the left instead of being all foreign, says in English "Action" and then underneath that says the language is Chinese and Chinese English. Additionally instead of a red disk the disk in my copy is blue. I'm not doubting the legitimacy of the disk as it's extremely well put together. The disk has the Playstation logo on the bottom of the disk in the center, the booklet is both there and thick. I'm just not quite sure what the deal with this copy is. I can't find any information on it. My guess would be it's just a version of the game in Chinese instead of Japanese but some of the features just seemed so strange I'm left to wonder. Unfortunately my PS2 is currently out of commission so I'm unable to test play it for a little while to see how it plays. I can dump the .iso if that could help. Just hoping someone might have some information on the game I picked up. Thanks for your help! -Mike
You got the Asian release of the game instead. The NTSC-J region is also shared by the Asian consoles. The text on the lower left-hand corner of the box reads "Simplified Chinese version". I have problems understanding the leading two characters, but it is definitely the Chinese-language version. The disc ID begins with SCAJ, so it is definitely an Asian release.
I would agree with sp193. That version that you have seems to be a Chinese version of the game. According to the box, the game and the manual are supposed to be in Chinese.
hmm thanks for the information guys! I didn't realize that Japan and China were both NTSC-J. I've never seen a Chinese game like this before. Just found it strange that there was very little information about it on the internet. Are these common kinds of things? Thanks for the info guys!
Yep. It's kinda common to see official Chinese versions of Japanese games. It's basically on everything from PC games to Sony/Nintendo and even Microsoft games.
In the root of the disc, there's a SYSTEM.CNF file which contains all the info. Open the file with a text viewer/editor, and you'll get the exact version (what you're asking is the edition.).
Just for being factually correct, this should be the correct answer: China never got a PlayStation 2 release, until very late into the console wars. Their first console appears to be a SCPH-50009, NTSC-C unit, but I do not know whether they made any newer releases after that one. They were reluctant to start selling the PlayStation in China, with piracy and market penetration difficulty as the cited reasons. The asian territory code appears to be classified under "Hong Kong/Singapore", which is region 06 for the PlayStation consoles. I'm not sure whether they have further generalized it or not, since there used to be separate regions for other asian countries like Taiwan (07), Korea (05) and China (09). For example, SCPH-77006 is a HK/SG NTSC-J unit, while SCPH-77000 is a Japanese NTSC-J set. Also, China does not use traditional Chinese. My bad. :/ According to Wikipedia:
