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COMPATABILITY Written By: James Dunford

Are the American, Japanese, and European PlayStations compatible? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is no... Sony, and Sega, announced that there will be territorial lock-outs implemented on the Sony PlayStation (and Sega Saturn). However, there are a number of ways to defeat this, (one involving a bullet!). The Disk Swap Method: Pop open the door to the CD - make sure there is no disc in the unit. Now, with the controller move the cursor to the CD tracks screen (as if you were intending to play a music CD). Put in a CD compatible with your system. Now - look under the door of the CD (the underside) - you should notice a long plastic notch. Follow where it would touch if you were to close the door - but don't close it. Notice the little round sensor on the base of the unit? When pressed, this sensor thinks the door is closed which starts the CD spinning. So, what you need to do is get something small- yet has a bit of weight to put on the sensor. Don't use anything WIDE - you don't want to block the actual CD when it spins! People have had success with sticky tape; a .40 bullet; or even a AAA battery. Then pop in your 'foreign' CD, and Bob's Your Uncle! (This method only works with 1996 Playstations) Hardware Switch: Make a switch that is soldered to the motherboard. (Full schematic to follow. Anyone?) Tronix are now offering a modification service, that fits a switch to toggles between US and Japanese. This is probably the way the 'Blue' developers PlayStations defeat the protection, and is guaranteed to work. A third party Cartridge: Buy a defeator cartridge (Datel) that plugs in one of the memory sockets. (Unreleased as yet)

Please note that the views expressed in this review are those of the writer and not of A.P.I