Important PS2 announcement from londonconsole.com

[will2003]

We have had to pull the plug on all PS2 chipping, due to ongoing legal concerns about offering an installation service

There has recently been a court case against a major chip manufacturer / reseller, and the outcome of this case has made us decide to do this. The majority of modchip users in communities such as the ntsc-uk.com forum members provide a huge amount of financial support to Sony, above and beyond that of the average PAL region gamer, and use modified consoles to enjoy original, legally purchased game titles from all territories. Many software houses use modified consoles as a cheap alternative to official development units. An unscrupulous gamer, whose sole aim was to save money by playing backup copies of games they do not own, could do so with far cheaper and easier techniques than a costly modchip - devices such as flip top cases, slide cards and so forth all perform the same task.

It would be interesting to know how you would all react to a PS2 modchip that only allowed the machine to play original discs from any region, and no backups - a bit like the old PS1 'anti-piracy' modchip that was designed to boot original imports only. Would this be something that those of you with a modified PS2 would have been equally happy with?

[jimtendo]

Most unfortunate.

It would be interesting to know how you would all react to a PS2 modchip that only allowed the machine to play original discs from any region, and no backups - a bit like the old PS1 'anti-piracy' modchip that was designed to boot original imports only. Would this be something that those of you with a modified PS2 would have been equally happy with?

That would be no problem for myself, since i only play originals in the first place.
Damn kick in the teeth for yourself, who provide a service for people who want to sample the delights of import games legitamately.

[Pootle UK]

will - after you helped me with my PS2 I only use it to play import games so I'm cool with that

[Magnakai]

I'd be happy with that, as long as it didn't have problems with certain games.
I'd be a little worried that it would be less effective than a regular PS2 chip...

Bah, I waited this long to save up the cash for a chip, and it's no longer available. *weeps*

[charlaph]

Wouldn't be a problem for me either, I only play originals no matter what the console.

[geldra]

A chip that would only play import originals would get the thumbs up from me. I'm not even remotely interested in copies.

[Geoff D]

Don't play copies myself, so an import only chip would be a-okay.

[Yoshimoto]

I'd be more than happy with a chip that made your PS2 multi-region but didn't allow playing of backups.

Sonys latest attempt at stopping modchipping is unfortunate for the legitimate users of mod chips but lets be fair, compared to the number of people who use chips to play pirate software, importers are in a tiny minority. You can't blame Sony at all for doing this.

[Pij]

I would be happy if you could only play originals, make those wares monkeys pay for some games!

[rjpageuk]

I didnt even know the PS2 mod chip allowed me to play backups.

[mid]

I'd actually be more inclined to get one if there was a modchip that did only legitimate imports, not less.

But the last I heard it wasn't technically possible on the PS2, as they tangled up the region checking and piracy protection so tightly it would be cheaper to just stick an entire 2nd PS2 board in there than all the gubbins you'd need to do.

[Salsa Party Animal]

Shame about the news, but I am happy I had it chipped already. I think Sony and Microsoft and Nintendo need to sell deluxe version of next console for people like us without region coding and only available from online not Game or Gamestation.

[RLench]

I'd definitely want an import-only modchip

I wanted to get my PS2 chipped, and was just a few weeks away from doing it ft: Guess that won't happen now then...

I was only interested in having it done to play legitimate imports so being able to play pirate games was irrelevant to me (I have a chipped Playstation and Dreamcast but that doesn't mean I own or play pirate games)

[Mayhem]

Yes I was going to say the same as Mid. Region and copy checking are pretty much one and same thing in a PS2, so afaik there is no way to bypass one without bypassing the other. No doubt Sony would argue you're bypassing SOMETHING even by just doing the region ignore thingy.

[VoyagerFX]

Damn i was just after one aswell grrr at these rulings, i also would be happy for just an import only chip - thats all i would use it for.