Swap Magic

Hardware: Magic Keys, Two Discs
Platform: Playstation 2
Manufacturer: SwapMagic3?

I'm sure you all know what Swap Magic is, if you don't, it is not my job to explain. Look it up on Google.



A few months ago I purchased Swap Magic 3.6 from Amazon.com, the price was reasonable, and it also came with the magic keys which was a total of roughly $50. It's been working fine so far, it's been saving me some money. I've been burning dramatic amounts of games lately, I have gone through days of trial and error burning these games.
I had to read around the intranets to figure out, what was the best media to use for DVD-R. Ever since I discovered that strong fact, my PS2 has been running games 90% flawlessly, ranging from burn speeds from 2X to 8X. I use 4X mostly because my DVD burner supports that speed.



I'm using a PS2 Slimline model 75001, I can't recall what version it is, but it's that version that I think is mostly stable than the others.The Magic keys worked fine, haven't been giving me any problems. It was a simple procedure to install them correctly, although I misplaced one of them so I had to improvise and resort to using a strip of Cereal Box. All in all, they still work fine. More about Swap Magic, I have version 3.6, and I've heard that 3.8 is unstable and is incompatible with some titles. So far, 3.6 is the best version Swap Magic.

Swap Magic 3.6 comes with a DVD and a CDROM, just incase you want to play CDROM backups. Although, the CDROM does not cope with my Slimline. Older versions of Slimlines cannot run CDROMs so well, so I just don't use them. It isn't like there are a handful of good games that were on CDROM anyways. Swap Magic supports changing video modes, and can play imported backups aswell as PAL/NTSC backups. If gives you the option to change video modes, if you are using a PAL game. It can adjust the PAL game to fit your TV screen, but not well. If you are still not satisfied, you can change the display settings in-game, if there is a display mode at all.

My disc is pretty wacked up but it still runs without problems, this is what I like about the Swap Magic DVD disc, it can have a bunch of scratches and still work like new. I really do recommend Swap Magic, only if you have a Slimline, because it doesn't void your warranty. Using Swap Magic does not require opening your PS2. However, with a PS2 FAT, you need to, it's the only way to get around it.


Pros
- does not void warranty
- cheap
- lasts long
- can play backups

Cons
- swapping gets tiring and boring
- wears down laser
- is not always guaranteed to run a backup
- is on a disc, so taking care of it is a priority

Too bad that you have a slime PS2 and not a fat one. If you did, you can run games from a hard drive. I went from swap magic to HDD, I may even get a mod chip just for the hell of it.

You can run games from an external hard drive on the slim PS2, but it would have to be through the USB port. Unfortunately, the USB port on the PS2's are version 1.1 and not 2.0. And even more problematic, the data transfer rate is too slow, and a lot of the games will not work.

I think that the newest version of the PS2 has 2.0

You sure? I've never heard of that.. seems like a needless addition to make so far down the line.

In any case, USBExtreme is only capable of reading at 1.1 speeds. Usually not even that fast.

PLAyins ps2 homebrews without ps2modchip or swap magic....
MY goodness, I neve rknew of such a thing!
But....wait........wait.....
I still have to buy something right?

I have a switch mod installed. It consists of a 3 way center off toggle switch I got at radio shack, and wired up to the logic board of my PS2s DVD drive. I have an old fat PS2.
I use it together with the Independence Exploit. Pop one of my PS1 games in, exploit loads. From there either load Cogswap or Swap Magic ELF (Have a couple problematic games using Cogswap, but it loads more games than Swap Magic does) and do my swap using the switch instead of one of those stupid cog tools.

Have you considered a HDD installment, or does your PS2 not support that addition?

the slim ps2 users (me) have it much harder it seems..
I heard something only needing a usb thingie...

Using Swap Magic with a Slimline is easier, if done correctly, you can replace the Magic Keys with generic household materials.

I have a hard drive in my PS2, loading games from a hard drive is preposterous to me. I don't do it on my Xbox either. There are compatibility issues, as well as DVD media being dirt cheap compared to installing a hard drive large enough for the 100+ titles I have for each system.

Hard drives on either for emulators/roms etc, I stream movies over my network. Using a hard drive to store games for the system makes absolutely no sense.

I can buy 250 DVDs for $100. Find me a hard drive for $100 that could store 250 DVD5 games....

Preposterous? Over 97% of games work perfectly, it saves you the hassle of changing discs, cuts down on load times, avoids the need for any more complicated hardware mods and prevents the drive's laser wear.

At least something there should be appealing.

I'd have to agree with BK. The lasers on the PS2 can get weak over time and its best to save the laser, while you still can. Also, instead of using a switch from radioshack, I would have just bought a fliptop case instead. That would have saved a lot of hassle IMO. BTW, I never knew you can use a Swapmagic elf. Does it work well on the phat PS2? Is there any special process to get it working or is it just like CogSwap?

Also, can someone tell me how to play PSX backups on the PS2?

IJTF_Cinder, I'm having a hard time understanding your reasoning.

Alright, let's all not just jump on Cinder now.

I'm not jumping on him, I'm trying to understand his logic.

A swap magic elf??? Does it really exsist??? I have to look into that.