Using PAL Gamecube in the states.

[untinip]

Interesting! Thanks for the info!

[ulera]

One last question... is this something even worth doing? How noticeable is the improvement of Gamecube RGB over backwards compatible Wii component?

[P]

Interesting... Doesn't sound too bad if it's only system messages, though.

I've heard one has to use different memory cards for US and Japanese games even with the switch installed, or it will erase the memory card with the "foreign" contents. Sounds like an encoding issue....

But it wasn't just system messages. Lots of menus had mojibake too! Really annoying! It's very random, in some games the system messages are identical but in proper Japanese but has mojibake elsewhere.
Yeah I heard that it could be bad if you keep Japanese and non-Japanese save files on the same card but nothing bad happened for me. Some games however won't even let you save on a card with a foreign encoding and instead will prompt you to format the card (you can say no though).

I haven't done the BIOS mod but I suppose that would fix it.

What is this mod? Maybe the Japanese BIOS is included in the US Gamecube and can be accessed with this mod? In that case I guess it wouldn't work on a PAL Gamecube.

[Lum]

US and Japan received the same Gamecube. Their BIOS sets mode by checking a board jumper. It doesn't AFAIK work for switching either into PAL, or from PAL.
Exceptionally simple to know what mode your Gamecube is: Boot without disc inserted. If the Japanese BIOS, its main menu language will display in Japanese.

Mojibake and/or saving issues are game-specific. Program code of some Japanese games wasn't designed to behave well under a Western BIOS.
See import loaders such as modchips or Freeloader break lockout checks. Not change the console. A crucial distinction.

To add further confusion, memory card format is determined by BIOS mode. Rather than a game's region code.

If I understand correct...
Western BIOS cannot read/write/create Japanese memory cards or their files
Japanese BIOS cannot read/write/create Western memory cards or their files

In other words, for example, playing Japanese games with a Western BIOS would create saves of Western format. Which a Japanese BIOS can't even use in normal circumstances! (unless third party software allows moving saves between different format cards)

It's also possible for games to intentionally check the BIOS mode. US release Star Fox Adventures supports changing text language to Japanese.

[P]

As I thought. The PAL version probably has a different BIOS as you say. One can switch between a number of European languages in the menu.

Now I wonder if it's possible to access the Japanese GC BIOS on a US Wii in order to get around the mojibake problem. But the GameCube part of the Wii is updated via the Nintendo Update Server and also soft patches GC games when running them so I guess it's not the same as a real Gamecube.

Now I don't know about a Gamecube but the Wii at least creates and loads both Japanese and non-Japanese save files just fine. Some games could coexist as I said and some games wants you to format the memory card before it let's you save if it has a foreign file system. And after formating it lets you save and load just fine. I would however recommend people to keep their Japanese data on a separate memory card from other data just to be safe.

133MHz are you saving Nintendo Puzzle Collection data on the same memory card as your other games? If so have you experienced any data corruption or anything strange?

[133MHz]

I'm not, I know about the incompatibility so when the game asks me about formatting the memory card I say no. Since it's just a bunch of puzzle games, I don't really need the save function.

[P]

I see. But Nintendo Puzzle Collection is one of those games that let's you save without asking if you want to format the card. It worked for us anyway.

[Lum]

Nintendo Puzzle Collection behaves like the majority of games. No prompt to format, saves/loads normally without touching other data.

The reverse to everything applies as well. If one owns a Japanese console and saves non-Japanese games, their files will only be accessible using the Japanese BIOS.

[P]

Yet for me I could access both Japanese and non-Japanese data on the same memory card without messing with anything. It was on a Wii though.

[Lum]

Yet for me I could access both Japanese and non-Japanese data on the same memory card without messing with anything. It was on a Wii though.

That's because Gamecube memory card format is determined by console region. Not game region.

If created in non-Japanese mode, Gamecube apparent "Japanese" data isn't really Japanese, and won't be usable on a Japanese system.

[ulera]

This topic has gone way off topic lol.

[Lum]

I guess. Anyway PAL Gamecube is different. Most useful info has been covered here already.

RGB instead of svideo.
PAL composite color.
Changed BIOS languages.

Largely this topic is a question whether RGB or mojibake is more important to you.

[ulera]

Would a pal cube's rgb be significantly better then an ntsc wii's component? I wouldn't be playing japanese games on either.

[P]

Haha sorry for burying your posts in this discussion ulera! It was just so interesting.

Since you are not going to play Japanese games I guess memory card file system and mojibake will not be a problem. It's too bad but I don't have a RGB cable so I can't answer your question but for me it would probably not be worth the trouble just for RGB. Don't kill me now but I don't notice much different between RGB and composite or HD LED TV and an old black and white CRT or whatever. If I play on a LCD a lot and then switch to CRT I will be in shock first but after like 5 minutes I get used to the picture and won't think about it at all. It's like watching a black and white movie for the first time in a while. After a few minutes you won't even think about it being in black and white.

I guess most people are more picky than me though. Try checking youtube for comparison videos maybe.

Yet for me I could access both Japanese and non-Japanese data on the same memory card without messing with anything. It was on a Wii though.

That's because Gamecube memory card format is determined by console region. Not game region.

If created in non-Japanese mode, Gamecube apparent "Japanese" data isn't really Japanese, and won't be usable on a Japanese system.

Oh I finally understand what you mean! Basically you can load both Japanese and non-Japanese data from the same memory card but only in the mode the Gamecube was in when the memory card was formatted. It doesn't matter if you format it using a Japanese game if the BIOS is in US mode, it will still have western formating and only work in US BIOS mode.

[Lum]

Would a pal cube's rgb be significantly better then an ntsc wii's component? I wouldn't be playing japanese games on either.

no. component allows 480p in supported games.