How do we feel about retro console modding?

[ThatOneLum]

Big fan of pretty much any modification to a system, hardware or software.

I used to be a bit more purist, maintaining original parts and stuff, but frankly if you want these things to be playable into the future, you're gonna need to use aftermarket parts at least to repair stuff that breaks down, at that point, you might as well go the extra mile and add some cool new features.

I've got a mod to my C64 that allows me to plug in any audio jack and just play .tap audio files into the Datasette and play any game on the system. It's pretty fun, and gives you a decent library to play around with without having to fill your entire house with cartridges/cassettes.

 

[SBLAST91]

Modding is the one of the only ways to keep old consoles relevant without having to dish out unspeakable amounts of money for certain games on the system.

 

[Bleu-Bomber]

I've sold all of my retro games to fund the purchase of an engagement ring. I've soft-modded my Vita, PS2, and Wii to play the games I want. It became increasingly expensive to add more games to a collection, and I felt that the physical clutter was becoming unnecessary. I have a soldering iron and need more practice but would like to learn how to modify hardware eventually.

 

[FTLOTG]

Yes! I have soft modded Wii, PS2, PS3, PS4 and hard modded Dreamcast, Xbox, Saturn, PS1, Genesis, 360. I do my mods myself except the 360 which I got for a great price. I also do repairs on consoles professionally and today I was working on a number of Gamecube consoles. Got 4/5 fully working, last one had mechanical issues that don't seem to be worth the time.

 

[NeonKnights]

I used to work at a game shop repairing all the consoles and desoldering and doing mods.
I have not done enough soft modding as it seems more difficult than just soldering for some reason. I just finished soft modding my PS2 yesterday with the Grimdoomer OPL and an SSD. I live for hard modding though. I solder almost on the daily, the last thing I did was Dualshock 2 pcb repair, adding a new volume wheel to my GBA and desoldering some Schottky diodes from a ceiling fan switch box for another Picoboot mod of a DOL-001 Gamecube. Even with all that though I prefer analog inputs from the consoles that support them instead of HDMI anything.
S-Video direct from my SNES 1-Chip, N64 or Gamecube into my tv is preferable to anything else.

 

[Trix_]

Here in Brazil almost every console has a modchip or at least a way to play pirated games, because in 'third world countries' a lot of games are expensive or simply not available. Not to mention that the consoles themselves are imported.
I don't know anything about electronics, though I wish I did.
I only own a PS2. I spent my whole childhood dreaming about it and I finally got one as a gift when I turned 18. My brother insisted that it came with a hardware issue and he tried to fix it by himself. Since he has no knowledge on how to repair consoles, he ended up breaking the PS2. I took it to a shop and the man said that the motherboard was fried.
My brother had also installed OPL, FreeMCBoot and things like that, but he didn't let me use these programs, so I don't know how they work exactly, or how to configure them.
My current PS2 is a Slim model that came from Hong Kong and has a bootleg Matrix chip. I wanted to swap it for an official one, but I didn't have the money to pay someone to do it.
I still use disks, and I know this is a bit of a problem, but I don't want to softmod at this time, and there are games that aren't compatible with OPL.

I admire how people in the retro scene modify their systems to add more functionality, but I prefer to have a more 'basic' console.
Like @longestseason, I try to be careful with my devices because I don't know if I'll be able to get a replacement.

 

[NeonKnights]

Here in Brazil almost every console has a modchip or at least a way to play pirated games, because in 'third world countries' a lot of games are expensive or simply not available. Not to mention that the consoles themselves are imported.
I don't know anything about electronics, though I wish I did.
I only own a PS2. I spent my whole childhood dreaming about it and I finally got one as a gift when I turned 18. My brother insisted that it came with a hardware issue and he tried to fix it by himself. Since he has no knowledge on how to repair consoles, he ended up breaking the PS2. I took it to a shop and the man said that the motherboard was fried.
My brother had also installed OPL, FreeMCBoot and things like that, but he didn't let me use these programs, so I don't know how they work exactly, or how to configure them.
My current PS2 is a Slim model that came from Hong Kong and has a bootleg Matrix chip. I wanted to swap it for an official one, but I didn't have the money to pay someone to do it.
I still use disks, and I know this is a bit of a problem, but I don't want to softmod at this time, and there are games that aren't compatible with OPL.

I admire how people in the retro scene modify their systems to add more functionality, but I prefer to have a more 'basic' console.
Like @longestseason, I try to be careful with my devices because I don't know if I'll be able to get a replacement.

I recommend to check the motherboard with a multimeter starting with the power board circuits and checking for continuity. It could be just the power board is fried. If you're lucky it might just be an easily replaceable component or fuse and not fully bricked. For the slim model if you wanted to try OPL check out "Phenom Mods" and look into getting a SD2PSX card. It's open source and a cheaper better option than the Memcard Pro. You can run Freemcboot, OPL and your games from a single SD card.

 

[Trix_]

I recommend to check the motherboard with a multimeter starting with the power board circuits and checking for continuity. It could be just the power board is fried. If you're lucky it might just be an easily replaceable component or fuse and not fully bricked. For the slim model if you wanted to try OPL check out "Phenom Mods" and look into getting a SD2PSX card. It's open source and a cheaper better option than the Memcard Pro. You can run Freemcboot, OPL and your games from a single SD card.

Ah, sadly I don't have the old PS2 anymore. It was a slim model too, and I believe it was from North America or Europe. It had an external power supply that seems to have disappeared...
I remember the guy used a multimeter and he said that there was nothing to be done. My mum told me that it would just take up space at home so I left the console at the shop.

My current PS2 is one of the later models, it's a SCPH-90006 with an embedded power supply.
It's kinda cool that I can change the browser language to Traditional and Simplified Chinese.
I got annoyed with the fact that Sony seems to have restricted the compatibility for PS1 memory cards. They are super rare here, but I managed to track one down.
The memory card is official but it's for the PSone, and while the games read it fine, it doesn't appear on the PS2 Browser. I read online that this is not a bug and was likely an intentional choice by Sony.

I wanted to get a proper Matrix chip because then I would be able to play PS1 games that require multiple discs. With a bootleg Matrix, you can't change the options on the menu so I can't enable that feature.
But ideally I would get a modded PS1 if I could... I just don't have the money and now it's harder to find CD-Rs for sale. I don't know how I'd play games on it. There's a shop nearby that sells pirated discs for PS1 and PS2, but not everything I want is available.
For now I burn DVDs for my PS2, though DVD-Rs are also becoming a rarity.

Thanks for the tip about OPL and SD cards. I didn't know about that. My brother had configured the softmods on a memory card.

 

[NeonKnights]

I believe there is a way to play PS1 games with a USB drive on the PS2 with "Popstarter". In fact I think you can just do it using a flash drive and a FreeMcBoot memory card. You have to use Imgburn to convert them to a VCD virtual disc image file type and there are some other steps like formatting the USB to Fat32.

 

[Trix_]

I believe there is a way to play PS1 games with a USB drive on the PS2 with "Popstarter". In fact I think you can just do it using a flash drive and a FreeMcBoot memory card. You have to use Imgburn to convert them to a VCD virtual disc image file type and there are some other steps like formatting the USB to Fat32.

Oh yes I forgot about POPStarter... I heard good things about it. Thanks for the reminder.
There are some people here in Brazil that sell PS2s with damaged disc drives... so they sell you the console with a flash drive loaded with games in it xD

 

[HyperTurboFox]

I found software modding for DS/PSP and up is easier since most flashcarts below the GBA is rarer on the market due to they are really hard to found or they're just too expensive.

 

[ThatOneLum]

Oh yes I forgot about POPStarter... I heard good things about it. Thanks for the reminder.
There are some people here in Brazil that sell PS2s with damaged disc drives... so they sell you the console with a flash drive loaded with games in it xD

The only downside of running from a USB is that on PS2 games, all your cutscenes have a tendency to come out broken. At least, that's been my experience in trying to run games via USB on a Phat, EU PS2.

 

[Bomberman]

This can go from a simple Flash Cart, to an ODE, to replacing the whole power supply, or soldering in and HDMI port to your system.

Personally I'm not a fan of mods that require soldering, custom bios chips or HDMI solder jobs are not for me.

Things like the Satiator or GDEMU though I enjoy because of how accessible it is in terms of how plug and play the things are.

My most heavily modded systems are my Dreamcast with the USB-C power, GDEMU, and Noctua Fan mods, and my OG Xbox that has a SSD swapped in.

I bought a satiator and then Saroo came out for like less than half the price lol.
I modded my Dreamcast with GDEMU and removed the 12v via soldering.

I am thinking of attempting a IPS mod on a Wonderswan color but will heavily research it before attempting it. No way I am altering the WonderSwan crystal tho

 

[gekiganwing]

I have softmodded a PSP. It worked well, until the day when all the system's buttons stopped working. Since then, it's no longer useful even as a music player.

I have used an R4 card with an original DS. For a while, it was my favorite way to play modded and fan translated games. The last time I brought the device out, I realized something went wrong. Games stopped working the moment I moved the DS. This is not an issue with my retail DS cartridges, or my compatible GBA carts.

Finally, I've softmodded my 3DS. I bring this to fan conventions maybe twice per year. Other Street Pass fans know that I've played games which were never sold for the system.

 

[Don Patch]

In a lot of cases, it's a must.
The nintendo mod-scene in particular has some of the best homebrew pieces of software I've had the pleasure of using (Luma and tiramisu are a pleasure to use).
Shout-out to the stellar FreeMcBoot and OPL for PS2, as well.

 

[Trix_]

The only downside of running from a USB is that on PS2 games, all your cutscenes have a tendency to come out broken. At least, that's been my experience in trying to run games via USB on a Phat, EU PS2.

I've heard of the cutscenes breaking or being super slow... it's said that this happens due to the USB ports on the console. It's like USB 1.1 or something like that.