Many of you probably already know this neat little trick to get your American SNES to play Japanese Super Famicom games. But since I only learned of it a couple years ago, I thought I’d post some easy-to-follow instructions for those who haven’t yet given it a try.

Modding your SNES is about the easiest thing you can do. There are no tiny mod chips, no soldering involved, no installation of hard disks, and no need to mangle your console. In fact, all you’ll need is a pair of pliers. I used a needle-nose pliers as it allowed me to get in there do the job without any fuss.

First, let’s take a look at what the issue is.

Pictured are the backs of two cartridges: on top we have an American SNES cart, and below it is a Japanese Super Famicom cart. These carts are different in a number of ways, the most important of which are the two little grooves on either side of the bottom of the American cart. Notice how those grooves are missing from the Japanese cart? This is what prevents us from playing Japanese carts on our American SNES. Take a look…

Alright, pictured above is the cartridge slot on the American SNES. Notice the two tabs on the top left and top right of the cartridge slot? Those line up with the grooves on the American cartridges. Because the Japanese carts don’t have those grooves, they are unable to fit properly into the American console’s cartridge slot.

The solution seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it? That’s right, we’re going to take our pliers and rip those little tabs out of there. Don’t worry, as long as you’re careful, no real harm will come to your SNES. In fact, you’ll never even notice they’re gone. So let’s get to work.
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We try to do everything we can to support shmups here at Robot Panic/Drunken Gamers Radio. Well, now’s our chance to put our money where our mouths are as Kotaku has broken the news that Cave’s new sequel to Mushihimesama will in fact be region free.

“We had a lot of good feedback from overseas users,” [Cave's Makato] Asada told Kotaku, happy with the strong response to the insect-themed, vertically-scrolling shmup. “So for this time, as a test, we’re going to make the game region free so that overseas users can play it.”

“By making Mushihime-sama Futari region-free, what we’re doing is measuring the amount of overseas users,” Asada explained. And if you care about your Cave shooters, it’s probably a good idea to import a copy. Or two.

“This will have a direct impact on whether Espgaluda II and other titles will be localized for America,” Asada warned us. “So it’s probably a good idea to pick it up!”

You hear that? Espgaluda II will be impacted by the sales of Mushihimesama Futari 1.5.

So please, support the cause by pre-ordering Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 through your favorite import store. Play-Asia has the pre-order here for $68.90.

One of the things we’d like to do before we die is spend a week nerding out in Japan. And of course, first on the itinerary would be shopping in Akihabara. The central location for all gaming and electronics shopping in Tokyo, Akihabara has become somewhat of a mecca for gamers. The good news is that if you can’t afford the trip, the folks over at Nintendo World Report have made the trip for you and put together a really nice video tour. Check it out:

This first video shows off the legendary store Super Potato. Watching the video makes me giddy and depressed all at the same time. Giddy to look at all the incredible gaming loot, sad to know that nothing like this exists in the United States.

This second video is more of a general shopping in Akihabara overview showing tons of gaming-related paraphernalia.

Again, it’s sad that there’s nothing like this in the US. The only comparable place I’ve ever been to is Midwest Gaming Classic. So hey, I’ve managed to get in a plug for MGC!

Please check out the full article at Nintendo World Report, and thanks to those guys for filling us with jealous, nerdy glee this morning.