Best way to make old PlayStation 2 region free?

December 14, 2012 11:23 AM

Best option to mod an old PlayStation 2?

I have an old PS2 (Region 1- North America) and some DVD movies that are Region 2. What's the best option for mod'ing the PS2 so that I can watch any Region DVDs on my Region 1 PS2?

Are there good sources in the USA for mods?

The PS2 is an old "fat" one from 2002.

*Note - I did some searched but found old info; thinking there may be better options available.

posted by nickthetourist to technology (7 answers total)

if you have a PC you can find online a program called DVD Shrink. You can rip the DVD and burn another one that is region-free. I'm pretty sure other programs can do similar things.
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 11:38 AM on December 14, 2012

Shooting off the hip:

The console mod scene is weird, in that it sets out to accomplish its goal, and once it does it it moves on to new challenges.

It's quite opposite the emulation scene, which is always working to capture a perfection that by definition cannot exist.

So, the old info you have on PS2 modding may very well be due to the fact that
a) the people who wanted to watch foreign-region DVDs made that happen and moved on
b) found greener pastures to play around in, rather than continue to reinvent the wheel

I am open to being wrong; this is just an educated guess.

No clue on hardmod materials. Racketboy is a popular online modshop though, so maybe check there.
posted by Poppa Bear at 11:58 AM on December 14, 2012

Clarification: The old info may very well also be the "new" info, if you take my meaning.
posted by Poppa Bear at 12:04 PM on December 14, 2012

The PS2 mod scene is basically dead. The information you can find on the forums that are still around is probably current, assuming you can actually find the chips for sale anymore. The state of the art is probably exactly where it was when the PS3 came out in 2006, and the Sony-focused modding community moved on. That's just how they work.

There were solderless mod chips for early PS2s, although I think they were mostly for playing DVD-R games rather than out-of-region DVDs. If all you want is the DVD playback capability it's probably easier to get a cheap Chinese DVD player that has a remote-control code that enables region-free playback.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:23 PM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

If all you want to do is turn your PS2 into a region-free DVD player, it would probably be less hassle to just get a standalone DVD player that's easily hacked. On some models it's as easy as accessing a "secret" menu and turning off the region restrictions.
posted by Gev at 1:52 PM on December 14, 2012

Thanks for your answers. It's sounding like this may be unnecessary/pointless.
posted by nickthetourist at 2:27 PM on December 14, 2012

DVD and Blu-ray player hacks: various players, and the codes you can use on your remote control to either set the region for the player, or remove the region check all-together, depending on the player.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:24 PM on December 14, 2012