There is only a little bit of information on the internet on region modding your n64 and a lot of it as just in theory. I've successfully region modded my ntsc n64 to play pal games today and I'd like to share how I did it.
Why Region mod?
There's plenty of reasons. Maybe you want to take advantage of the rgb on ntsc boards or maybe you just want to play some pal games on an ntsc tv. For me, I'm working on a pal n64p commission and my pal board wasnt working and pal n64s are hard to get in the US.
How does it work?
It's actually pretty simple. The region lock is on the pif chip. You cant simply disable this chip like an nes region mod because the pif also deals with the controllers. What you have to do is take a pif chip from a pal n64 and resolder it onto an ntsc board. I imagine you could do the same but mod a pal n64 but I havent tried it myself.
1. Carefully desolder the pif chip from a pal n64. There is many methods to do this. You can use chip quick or what I did was just use a desoldering braid because I can get them cheap at a local radioshack.
2. Take off the pif chip from an ntsc board. I used an xacto knife and cut the pins off and then cleaned up the board with my soldering iron.
3. Carefully resolder the pal pif chip onto the ntsc n64. Use a desoldering braid if a pin gets bridged. Check each pin to make sure there is a good connection.
4. Plug it in and test it!
I'm not sure if there are any games that dont work with the mod because superman is the only pal game I have currently.
Why Region mod?
There's plenty of reasons. Maybe you want to take advantage of the rgb on ntsc boards or maybe you just want to play some pal games on an ntsc tv. For me, I'm working on a pal n64p commission and my pal board wasnt working and pal n64s are hard to get in the US.
How does it work?
It's actually pretty simple. The region lock is on the pif chip. You cant simply disable this chip like an nes region mod because the pif also deals with the controllers. What you have to do is take a pif chip from a pal n64 and resolder it onto an ntsc board. I imagine you could do the same but mod a pal n64 but I havent tried it myself.
1. Carefully desolder the pif chip from a pal n64. There is many methods to do this. You can use chip quick or what I did was just use a desoldering braid because I can get them cheap at a local radioshack.
2. Take off the pif chip from an ntsc board. I used an xacto knife and cut the pins off and then cleaned up the board with my soldering iron.
3. Carefully resolder the pal pif chip onto the ntsc n64. Use a desoldering braid if a pin gets bridged. Check each pin to make sure there is a good connection.
4. Plug it in and test it!
I'm not sure if there are any games that dont work with the mod because superman is the only pal game I have currently.
