2021 has been an incredible year for the PlayStation 2 modding scene. The PS2 may be over twenty years old now, but the community around it is still quite strong. Earlier this year, MechaCon was dumped in full. This allowed for people to investigate ways to modify this “security chip”. As a result, the MechaPwn exploit now exists.

MechaPwn allows certain models of the PS2 to break away from the system’s region locking. Once completed, it turns retail PS2s into a developer kit of sorts, enabling the ability to run retail PS1 and PS2 discs from any region on your system.

This is extremely exciting news for anyone who owns PS2 or PS1 discs from other regions but only has access to a PS2 from one specific region. Or, those who have multiple region systems may prefer to use one system for convivence sake. Yes, there have been many ways to play games from different regions on a PS2 in the past. These include modchips, Swap Magic discs and more. However, none of these are as convenient or cheap (if you don’t already have a solution in place) as the new MechaPwn option.

Before digging too deep into MechaPwn, interested parties must be aware of a few key points.

1. This exploit only works on PS2 systems from model number SCPH-500xx and up. That includes some late model original PS2s and all PS2 Slim models.
2. This exploit (as set up in my instructions below) only enables playing retail discs. It does not enable the ability to play burned discs.
3. This exploit requires usage of a homebrew application to run initially. I will describe some methods of accessing the homebrew application below.
4. If performed improperly, this mod can potentially brick your PS2. “Bricking” refers to rendering a system inoperable.