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View Full Version : EXPLANATION of W-CODE X-Box games! N00bs, read this!


fubarduck
10-10-2004, 11:34 AM
OK, so there are a lot of retards now that think that the Japanese Street Fighter Anniversary Collection will be playable on unmodified USA X-Box's because sites such as Magic-Box and Play-Asia reported that the game is "W-Code".

Well, let me tell you kids what a W-Code encoded game is.

To make things easier when porting a game to different countries, sometimes they will make that game W-Code. A W-Coded X-Box game has the nifty feature of automatically switching languages to whichever language is set in your X-Box dashboard settings.

HOWEVER, W-Code doesn't acutally have anything to do with the regional encoding on the game. All games are still pressed for the specific region they are to be sold in--they just don't have to change any of the game code. This means that any Japanese W-Code game will not boot with an unmodified US region X-Box. Sites like Play-Asia are trying to deceive customers by saying that the game will boot on USA X-Box's--it will, of course, but only if you have a modified X-Box, which means no X-Box Live.

They have been making W-Code X-Box games for a VERY long time, Panzer Dragoon Orta was the first one I came across. This is how W-Code games have always worked, and they are not going to change it all of a sudden for Street Fighter Anniversary Collection. Play-Asia simply knows that they will get more sales if they imply that it will work on X-Box Live on a US region X-Box, even though that clearly isn't the case.

That having been said, here is how you can ACTUALLY play the Japanese Street Fighter Anniversary Collection on a US region X-Box with US X-Box Live.

First, you must have a modified X-Box with a switch or selector of some sort to swap between "modded" and "unmodded" mode. The "unmodded" mode must be safe for X-Box Live. For a description of the requirements for that, visit http://www.xbox-scene.com and start reading tutorials.

Basically, what you will have to do is boot your original import copy of SFAC with the "unmodded" mode of your modded X-Box selected. Normally, this requires a Japanese X-Box--so you will just have to make your X-Box Japanese!

The region of your X-Box is stored in your X-Box's EEPROM. First, you need to download a nifty program called "ConfigMagic" and run it using the modded mode of your X-Box. ConfigMagic has options to adjust all of the EEPROM's normally unmodifiable settings--among them, the region.

Once you have used ConfigMagic to change your region, all you have to do now is turn off your X-Box and change the mode back to "unmodded". Now, your original import copy of SFAC will load, and you will be all ready for X-Box Live a full 4 months ahead of everyone else like you all wanted.

X-Box Live has not banned anyone yet for changing the region on their EEPROM--but bear in mind that they CAN detect that this has been changed, and could ban people's X-Box's for it in the future. Therefore, I am not responsible for any actions that you may take to do any of this.

Also keep in mind that your X-Box's region will now be Japanese ONLY! If you want to play any American games, you'll have to do it in your X-Box's "modded" mode. If you want to play any other US region games on X-Box Live, you will have to load ConfigMagic, change the region back to US, and lose the ability to play Japanese games on Live.

If you have any more questions, please visit http://www.xbox-scene.com. Thank you!

dakkonmc
10-10-2004, 07:10 PM
very helpful post

kite raiser
10-10-2004, 09:00 PM
I doubt play asia is intentionally trying to deceive people as if they'd just end up dealing with a shit load of refunds, its probably more to do with lack of knowledge. As game is out in uk this month aswell i couldn't give a toss either

peas10
10-17-2004, 05:53 AM
will the uk version play on a usa system unmodded?

fubarduck
10-17-2004, 11:44 AM
will the uk version play on a usa system unmodded?
. . . NO.

FMJaguar
10-24-2004, 11:47 AM
While i now understand that W-code != region free, it doesn't nessecarily tell me that the information about SFAE is incorrect WRT working on US systems, and especially that it was an intentional misrepresentation to sell more copies.

I think the best thing to do would be to say that this information is unverified. If you have the game on preorder i would just make an inquiry similar to what i'm doing, to request your order to be cancelled until such time that the game can be verified to work on US systems. Unless of course someone has it now.

DreamTR
10-26-2004, 03:31 PM
Somehow it does work on unmodified XBOXES. The disc is the same as the Steel Battalion Test beta I used, which worked on ALL systems.

fubarduck
10-26-2004, 06:57 PM
Somehow it does work on unmodified XBOXES. The disc is the same as the Steel Battalion Test beta I used, which worked on ALL systems.
Good news. I guess Capcom really wanted this one to be import friendly! Thanks, Capcom of Japan! =D

AlkalineX
10-27-2004, 09:42 AM
Or capcom would stop being a bitch and release USA version this month just like the European version :rolleyes:

junker
12-05-2004, 10:22 AM
whaaaa?!?!? seriously??
i know all about region changing in config magic, but i had NO idea you could actually play imported games on live just by switching region code on the eeprom. i thought they'd detect taht for sure.

anyway, can more people confirm that this game does indeed work w/o switching region via config magic as that would be too much of a hassle to do each time. also how is the game play online? lag? only japanese players? how many u.s. players, etc....

thanks

SaBrE
12-05-2004, 11:21 AM
you dont have to change shit. read more closely. the sfac disc is NOT region coded. you just pop in the disc and play. thats it. the only thing the game does detect on the system is what language your xbox dashboard is, and the game will change its language settings to what the dashboard is. thats all

lazydel
12-05-2004, 11:47 AM
it just keeps resurfacing, confusing the hell outta people

FMJaguar
12-05-2004, 11:55 AM
i don't think he was referring to sfac when he mentioned config magic, i.e. - 'can more people confirm that this game does indeed work w/o switching region via config magic', there are two tangents, you can use config magic to change regions, however it's not nessecary at all to play SFAC and it's been confirmed by everyone that bought it already. Lag is same as CvS2 lag IMO.

junker
12-05-2004, 03:25 PM
wicked! time to order
too bad i found out waay too late. between this, fifa, and halo, i won't have much free time other than live haha

Parrysome
12-05-2004, 03:28 PM
What is this thread?

The game does indeed work on an unmodded Xbox. What is he talking about?