Mega Everdrive use as a region free cartridge - JVC X'eye

[ruimtemuis]

Hello all,

I was wondering if the Mega Everdrive carts on offer can be used as a region free device to play original Japanese Mega CD games on a JVC X'eye.

That's really all I want to do, just be able to play my original Japanese games on the X'eye; not looking to use SD cards or anything like that.

Can these cartridges be used for that function? If so, which one do I need to get? I see there is an X3, X5, X7.....




Thank you, Ruimtemuis

[Assman]

Yes, they all support CD BIOS loading, including the X3 (the cheapest option). SD cards are a prerequisite to using an Everdrive, though; there's no getting around that. You'd set up the SD card, download and copy the CD BIOS files you want/need to it, and then run the BIOS from the Everdrive menu.

A couple caveats:

1. There's no guarantee you'll be able to run [insert game] this way, but it's a solid option in my experience (as I recall, it worked for Sonic CD, Final Fight, Devastator, Ninja Warriors, Sengoku and Anet Futatabi; although I may have actually region-patched a couple of those instead).
2. The X'Eye won't necessarily run a BIOS you'd expect it to. You may, for example, expect to load up a Wondermega BIOS to play JP games -- good fucking luck with that. Even a region-free X'Eye BIOS may have issues, if I recall correctly, but a model 2 Mega CD BIOS may work just fine. Try to find a pack with every BIOS known to man and you should be set.

Alternatively, if you want something that was pretty much made for this purpose and only this purpose, you may want to look at the Megacart from Tototek, although it's currently not in stock and sells for much more than an X3.

Finally, if you just want to play the games on real hardware but spend as little as possible, you could always rip your discs, region-patch the ISOs and burn them to CD-Rs.

[ruimtemuis]

Yes, they all support CD BIOS loading, including the X3 (the cheapest option). SD cards are a prerequisite to using an Everdrive, though; there's no getting around that. You'd set up the SD card, download and copy the CD BIOS files you want/need to it, and then run the BIOS from the Everdrive menu.

A couple caveats:

1. There's no guarantee you'll be able to run [insert game] this way, but it's a solid option in my experience (as I recall, it worked for Sonic CD, Final Fight, Devastator, Ninja Warriors, Sengoku and Anet Futatabi; although I may have actually region-patched a couple of those instead).
2. The X'Eye won't necessarily run a BIOS you'd expect it to. You may, for example, expect to load up a Wondermega BIOS to play JP games -- good fucking luck with that. Even a region-free X'Eye BIOS may have issues, if I recall correctly, but a model 2 Mega CD BIOS may work just fine. Try to find a pack with every BIOS known to man and you should be set.

Alternatively, if you want something that was pretty much made for this purpose and only this purpose, you may want to look at the Megacart from Tototek, although it's currently not in stock and sells for much more than an X3.

Finally, if you just want to play the games on real hardware but spend as little as possible, you could always rip your discs, region-patch the ISOs and burn them to CD-Rs.

Hi Assman, thanks so much for all the info, it's most helpful. None of this was clear to me as I am only used to playing on original hardware and haven't dabbled with SD cards and the like. I hadn't thought of the Megacart from Tototek. I actually have the Datel CDX, but it doesn't work on the X'eye. I can make it work on my PAL Mega CD consoles, but then a lot of the Japanese games don't run at the correct speed and just crash, hence why I need another solution.

Do you do most of your Mega CD gaming on an X'eye?

[Barone]

I'd strongly avoid Megacart if I were you. Much, much older hardware design, no support, no userbase anymore and I really doubt the cart PCB is properly level-shifted.

Since you've never used flashcarts before, yes, I'd probably go with Everdrive X3 since it's an entry option and then go from there.
All other points were properly covered by Assman already.

I'd also recommend you going to whatever Everdrive official forums nowadays are and asking specific X'Eye questions there, especially if you want to assess specific game compatibility prior to buying a X3.
There might be other X'Eye owners there.

[Assman]

Do you do most of your Mega CD gaming on an X'eye?

I do, yes. The titles I listed are the only non-US games I've tried that I can recall, though, so that's the extent of my region bypass experience. I don't even have a CD burner right now, so I can't really offer any help with testing beyond that.

Honestly, for $39 (or whatever that converts to for you) plus the cost of a MicroSD card, I'd probably just go for the X3. Worst case scenario, you can only play some of your MCD games in addition to almost every Genesis/MD game ever created.

[Nano Babe]

I think one important unanswered question does it come with the pre-installed BIOS bypass? or does it involve searching on the internet forums relying on kindness of others to then download the appropriate compatible BIOS bypass?? Cheap WHEN you have knowledge is good but is a pain in the ass if you have to rely on others to get it all set up....

[ruimtemuis]

Thank you for your responses everyone. It's most appreciated.

[The Jackal]

I wish the Mega Everdrive could implement the same setup as launching the BIOS as the Megacart can by holding down a button when you turn on the console - it's the only reason I still use mine tbh.

[Team Andromeda]

I much rather the Mega Cart myself for playing original games