GameCube Did any of you use Freeloader with your GameCube

[Damien Lee]

Since I've always been partial to importing games from other regions, I've always modified my consoles in order to bypass the region lock. With the GameCube there was no need to open up the machine and install a chip to do this. There was a software solution which was clean and efficient. One of the first programs I bought soon after I got my GameCube was Freeloader.

How Freeloader works is that you load it up first and then open the lid, remove the Freeloader disc and insert the game disc that you wish to play. The game will run regardless of region, I haven't experienced a single problem to date.

Any of you use Freeloader?

 

[Hyrule Chicken]

I've never had to use Freeloader, but then again I'm from North America (Canada) and I've never imported games. I'm curious @Damien Lee which region you're from? It's been really interesting reading your posts because you seem to be in the same age range as I am but you've had a much different video game "career".

What was your favourite imported game that you needed Freeloader to run?

 

[Damien Lee]

@Hyrule Chicken Thanks, nice to hear about your interest in my posts. I'm in my late 30's and am located in South Africa which is a PAL region. Therefore, most of our consoles and game releases are tied up with the European market. There's always been a grey-importing scene that allowed hardcore enthusiasts to get hold of games from any other region.

I used Freeloader to play the US versions of Ikaruga, Killer 7 & Resident Evil 4 and a few obscure Japanese imports such as Kururin Squash! The last one is a really cool and quirky game and should appeal to Super Monkey Ball fans.

 

[Hyrule Chicken]

@Damien Lee No problem! I had a sneaky suspicion that we'd be around the same age (I'm in my mid-thirties... it hurts to write that). I'm in Canada so obviously we got everything that the United States did (under the NTSC standard), except that our instructions came in English and in French.

There seems to be an import scene here too, since I've read about people bringing in games and the differences between the PAL and NTSC versions, but I never really participated in it. It's interesting to hear about different gaming experiences from people around the globe and the ways people got around the dreaded region restriction.. I never realized as a kid that people in other countries wouldn't get the same game releases as I had access to.