I saw YJ auction not so long ago passing 5000 yen for it... having Sega Wondermega I have no plan to do any mod with this thing but any adaptor that bypass the region lock would be handy... so far I've heard of Datel CD-X(?) or something but haven't heard Magic Key III. Being III I assume there were MK and MK II??? Anyone with information can shed some light? TIA
I believe the Magic Key III (not sure if there was a 1 or 2) was the fabled cart that let you boot CD-Rs on a Saturn.
If it is the card that allows you to boot saturn CDRs then he's not going to have much luck using it on his Wondermega I thought magic card is the Saturn one? I'll have to check to see what mine says on it. I'm sure Magic Key were those Mega Drive cards with the dip switches on the back. Yakumo
so with Wondermega there really is no option but burn CD-R with region changed to JPN with PAL/US ISO? Huh? dip switch on the cart? That's interesting? Never seen import cart like that before... I might get around to get the MagicKey III in future if I ever see one for less than 5000 yen... That is bit too much for my liking - maybe 2000yen or there about... looks like getting Genesis and mod it for JPN/PAL would be easier... or maybe not... ???
Yes, they're out there. The first one I ever saw was when Yuu Yuu Hakusho came out on the Mega Drive. The cart sat inside your Mega Drive slot with the import in the top just like all the others. On the back of the converter cart were 5 or 4 dip switches. These could fool the Mega Drive in to thinking that the game cart was PAL or NTSC, US or Japanese or a combination. I'm sure these converters were called Magic Key. Yakumo
Yep, Very easy mod to do - I managed it! Cut 2 tracks, install 2x SPDT switches, one to control language (English/Japanese), one to control frequency (50/60Hz) US: English and 60Hz JP Japanese and 60Hz PAL English and 50Hz 6 wires total to be soldered I did it on a Mega Drive 1 - I believe this is slightly easier, but could be wrong
Yep they have dip switches to by-pass region lock outs. Pictures here: http://www.genesiscollective.com/ShowPage.php?GameLink=1351
thanks for the picture and the short instruction... I will give it a shot when I get a cheap Megadrive... should I get PAL Megadrive or US Genesis in this case by the way?
I don't think it really matters - although, if you just want to play JP and US games, probably a genesis as it would only need one switch - Alternatively, if you just want to play US and PAL games a PAL megadrive as it would only need one switch. Don't forget also that a fair few mega drive games have no region protection - its only the more recent ones - theres a list floating around the internet somewhere. One thing to remember though if you embark on this mission is that the cart slots are different on JP mega drive and US/PAL systems - So you need to file down the cart slot
or the passthru adaptor I saw at lik-sang - honey-bee or something? obviously I will need full JP/US/PAL support as well as 50/60Hz... guess this will be yet another one to put on my To Do list...
I actually have the Magic Key III. It's works really well, I've yet to find a Mega Drive (PAL or JPN) game that wouldn't boot on my Genesis or Nomad... be aware though that it won't work with a 32X installed.
Hmm... sound great! I will definately going to get MagicKey III then... and spare MegaDrive for mod down the track...
Um Saturn dealy is "Magic Card V2", Magic Key is just a region-changer thing for MD and it REALLY shouldn't cost more than $15.
well I'd had quick look around and it seems no online sellers have this one for sale anymore... Can't even find any previous eBay sales on this one either... maybe one day I will stumble upon one... ...that or I will find dirty cheap Megadrive for mod job... ;p
The good thing about the Mega Keys though is that it makes the system appear as whatever you want to the game so you can get a 50Hz game to run in 60Hz without actually having to switch video modes, still that doesn't mean the game will run properly but with a switch, you'll have to flip back and forth.
Tristar are shitty IMO, don't bother, especially the Tristar 64. the SNES cloned chips have exceptionally bad audio, I have a clone SNES and I think it's really weak (it must use the same chips as Tristar) stick with the real consoles for quality audio/video. Should get this one Japanese composite Famicom video mod off YJ, it's so awesome, makes old famicom's video look AV Famicom good!
Famicom and SFamicom are the two that I never involved at all... for some reason they never got me interested... if I find/get a cart that interest most I may pick one up but that's very unlikly... with already too many consoles and what not.
the mod is not hard, though i did end up breaking a genesis by cutting too deep in the board(the first one i had was an odd late model 1 rev 7), still i tried it on another model 1 genesis i bought from someone down the street, and got the mod to work, must say i was happy to have a switch made and all(though dont have any japanes mega drive games to use with it).
