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A Must-Have to play PAL Games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: January 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I bought Freeloader for one reason and one reason only: to play Conan (a.k.a. Conan: The Dark Axe).

You see, Conan was not released in the U.S., and likely never will be. You can only get it in Europe. So how are we Americans supposed to deal with this distressing situation? By buying Freeloader.

So here is what I did. To make the Conan PAL game work on my NTSC machine, I bought a Freeloader boot disk (available from Amazon).

(The version of the Conan game that I got was the international version. This release has 3 different languages on the back of the case and in the instructions, and no English except for a few words here and there and a UK flag on the back. However, the game's menus and gameplay is entirely in English, so that particular disk must be programmed to recognize what language machine you are playing on.)

So I have an NTSC Gamecube, an NTSC TV (a Sony), a PAL Conan, and a Freeloader version 1.06B. I insert the Freeloader, it then asks for the game, I put the game in, and it works perfectly. Take THAT, Nintendo!

I have heard that it could output in 50 Hz rather than 60 Hz, so if yours doesn't work then you need to hold down the B-button as the game screen comes up, to output it in 60 Hz NTSC (with the freeloader). But I never had that trouble.

It shows what version of Freeloader that you have printed in small white letters on the inner plastic rim on the bottom of the disc. It also shows it when you load up the software on your gamecube, I believe.

So Freeloader is great for playing PAL games. I only needed it to play ONE GAME, and it was worth it for me. I don't intend to buy any more PAL games after Conan.

If you order it from Amazon, you may or may not get the latest version (1.06B as of 1/27/06). That may not matter so long as your game works. But if your game doesn't work, you might need the updated disc. I am pretty sure that you can mail it in to the manufacturer to get the upgraded version for free. It may be a bit of a hassle, but it is well worth it if you want to play a PAL game. (Indeed, unless you want to fool with trying to mod your hardware, and possibly damaging your Gamecube in the process, you'd better get you a Freeloader!)

P.S. European PAL games will save on an NTSC gamecube memory card side-by-side with already-saved NTSC games, but I've heard that Japanese games will not. You can still save them on an NTSC memory card (after using Freeloader), but the card will need to be blank. In other words, you can't mix the languages.

So in conclusion, this is a great product. The Freeloader is basically a boot disc to get around the artificial marketing-imposed industry restrictions of PAL/NTSC region coding. (Restrictions that punish people who want certain games that will NEVER be released in their area.) Is it legal? Apparently so or Amazon wouldn't be selling it. It's definitely the way to go. So buy it today!

Must Get

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: March 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The freeloader is an amazing product that enables American,Japanese, and eruopean cubes to play each others games. Version 1.06B is even compatible with the new gamecube. With this product I was able to get the Naruto Clash of ninjas, 1-4 and they are still not avalible in the US! It is an increadibly easy product to use, all you do is put in the disc, the freeloader will then ask you to insert your game disc, then it loads just like that. If you order off of amazon make sure it is the latest version, and get another official nintendo memory card, becase if you try to save data from a Japanese game on the same card as you other games it will erase and replace all of your memory. Here are a few reliable sites that sell import games, www.Lik-Sang.com, and my personal favorite because of the sheer number of games available www.Play-Asia.com Check them out and the both offer great costomer service, and info on the freeloader.
P.S( If You here about the games not working on 60khz Tvs dont worry that is only for eropean users,)
P.S.S(Pal=Eropean)

A must have

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

To put it simply if you have a gamecube you need this, works perfectly with the Naruto games I got from Japan :) but is there one for ps2? Im going to go crazy if I cant play my Narutimate heroes 2 and 3

Perfect!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is perfect for people who can't wait 'till a realse of a GC game in their area.
My friend has it for some of the Final Fantasy games and I'm about to get it for Naruto Ninja Taisen 3&4. It's well worth the money!

good

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: November 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

the only thing about this is that it works that is all i have to say and easy to use. (don't let get get damaged it brakes easyly)!!!!

play import games on your GC

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This free loader has the ability of playing ANY import game on your GC; you can finally enjoy the Japanese games that won't come out in the US. Moreover you can use it to play your import GC games on your wii!

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