Which FF XII and PS2 version should I buy?

[Elador]

Hi all,

I want to buy a PS2 (should be new, not used), mainly for playing Final Fantasy XII. (maybe I'll also buy the other titles, just to have a piece of history in my home :-) (and play them some day) )

Now there's a whole bunch of different versions of Final Fantasy XII around and I'm really not sure which one is the best to buy. Not to mention that not all versions run on all PS2's. (there's the original, the PAL version (seems to be speeded up by a few percent), a slightly modified/newer version of the NA/PAL versions, and an "International: Zodiac..." version with many improvements but I think only available in JP. And maybe even more versions I didn't find.)

Then there's the question which PS2 revision to buy, I guess the "slim" model, but even then there are a handful of versions, which different chips, etc. (see e.g. on wikipedia, sorry I can't post links yet).

Not to mention the PAL/NTSC thing. I'm from Europe (Switzerland) so I guess it might have to be PAL, but I'm not sure about that stuff, I have a Denon AVR-1911 where all my video goes in (mostly HDMI).


I would be very thankful for some hints on what to buy!

(maybe I should add this, I don't plan to mod the console. Theoretically I would be willing to if it provides some significant advantage, but I like the original and also original games)

[vildzek]

The best ps2 is phat model 50xxx series, but you dont gonna find new ones, i recommend to play ff12 from a hdd if you are a hardcore gamer. Ps2, ps3 slims are cheap pieces of hardware and dont last for long. I play that game 3-4 times i think.

[SP193]

The best ps2 is phat model 50xxx series, but you dont gonna find new ones, i recommend to play ff12 from a hdd if you are a hardcore gamer. Ps2, ps3 slims are cheap pieces of hardware and dont last for long. I play that game 3-4 times i think.

http://psx-scene.com/forums/f20/best-ps2-version-62714/ ("Best" PS2 version?)

The SCPH-39000 (v7/v8) series is the best "Phat" PS2, and the SCPH-77000 (v15) series is the best slimline model. The slimline console models starting with the SCPH-75000 (v14) are free of all sabotage and have much better optical drive hardware, but those SCPH-90000 series (v17/v18?) are of poor quality.

The SCPH-50000 series has larger problems with the hardware, since Sony beefed up the sabotage to discourage tampering with the hardware.

[Elador]

What do you mean with playing from a HDD? I'm not that hardcore, I just like the series and would like to be able to play it again now and then.

Which PS2 would you recommend, the newest slim (SCPH-90000), SCPH-79000, SCPH-77001, ... there are so many. Is there any problem if I just go with the newest? Ok I just read your answer SP193, somehow the forum didn't show it before I wrote mine. That clears up this question.
Well is there anything that speaks heavily against just buying the newest slim revision? That's still available new and I guess is less trouble to get. Should be trouble-free, shouldn't it?


So if I were to buy the "FF XII International: Zodiac Job System", which seems to be only sold in JP, I would need an american NTSC PS2 Slim?

[SP193]

Which PS2 would you recommend, the newest slim (SCPH-90000), SCPH-79000, SCPH-77001, ... there are so many. Is there any problem if I just go with the newest? Ok I just read your answer SP193, somehow the forum didn't show it before I wrote mine. That clears up this question.
Well is there anything that speaks heavily against just buying the newest slim revision? That's still available new and I guess is less trouble to get. Should be trouble-free, shouldn't it?

In my opionion, anything from the SCPH-75000, SCPH-77000 or SCPH-79000 series will be fine.

The last series, SCPH-90000, is new... but the later models have been silently modified to not check for updates at all, so FMCB cannot be used to launch homebrew software.

So if I were to buy the "FF XII International: Zodiac Job System", which seems to be only sold in JP, I would need an american NTSC PS2 Slim?

I think others will surely know more about that game than I do, but I can say that you should consider the region locking of Playstation 2 games here. Games sold in Japan are usually NTSC-J games, which will only boot on a NTSC-J console (Not USA units, which fall under the NTSC-U region code).

[Elador]

Oh dear god :-) Thanks very much for pointing that out. I don't want ALL games in Japanese or from Japan :-) So then I guess I'll go with the normal PAL PS2 available here and also just buy the EU game here...

If I at some point decide to "hack" my PAL PS2 slim, would I then be able to play a NTSC-J game? Maybe with this FMCB, or would I need a hardware-mod-chip for this?
I guess this will influence my last decision, just buy the latest SCPH-90000, or buy one of your mentioned SCPH-7xxxx series. But seems also like it doesn't matter if I buy a 90000 from newer than 2008 or a 7xxxx newer than 2008, as FMCB won't work on both anymore. So the last question is I guess, do I need FMCB, and get an old console, or do I not. Which depends on if I would be able to play a NTSC-J game?




Thanks and best regards

[SP193]

[QUOTE=Elador;1029487]Oh dear god :-) Thanks very much for pointing that out. I don't want ALL games in Japanese or from Japan :-) So then I guess I'll go with the normal PAL PS2 available here and also just buy the EU game here...

Haha.

If I at some point decide to "hack" my PAL PS2 slim, would I then be able to play a NTSC-J game? Maybe with this FMCB, or would I need a hardware-mod-chip for this?

If you got your console modchipped, you will be able to play games of all regions like you would with a normal PAL game disc.

If you use FMCB, there are ways to achieve a similar result... but it's not as straight forward. All methods will require a disc swap of some sort, if you don't use ESR (But if you do, you can't use your original discs).

I guess this will influence my last decision, just buy the latest SCPH-90000, or buy one of your mentioned SCPH-7xxxx series. But seems also like it doesn't matter if I buy a 90000 from newer than 2008 or a 7xxxx newer than 2008, as FMCB won't work on both anymore. So the last question is I guess, do I need FMCB, and get an old console, or do I not. Which depends on if I would be able to play a NTSC-J game?

All consoles made after Sony disabled the update mechanism are either from the SCPH-90000 series or the PX-300 (PS2TV) series.

It really depends on what you intend to ever do with your console. If running Playstation 2 games is all you will ever care about, then getting a SCPH-90000 series will do too.

All slimline models can have a modchip installed.