I have been very very pre-occupied with the Vista release of late I have probably been neglecting some of the other subject us wannabegeek types get up to, I was scooting around one of my favorite sites from Japan Kotaku and I came across this nice little how to for PS2. it seems not too difficult and any pc hardware enthusiast should be able to mange this. Just thought it was a nice side track from the heavy geek stuff that’s been on the site.

There is lots more to the article it describes how to play imports with GameCube, Xbox and DreamCast and more great article

Chacranajxy's Guide to Importing

2D fighters. Nice sports cars. Hot women. It seems the only way to get these things is through importing. Luckily for gamers, playing games from Japan's library isn't as difficult as one might think. The safest and easiest method for playing imported games would, of course, be to buy a system from Japan. However, that's wildly impractical for most people, so these tend to be the best methods for importing:

Playstation 2:

The Playstation 2 has what is clearly the largest lineup of quality imports which makes it the system that most people are going to want to tinker around with in order to sample some games from Japan. In terms of exclusives, the Playstation 2 is the system you'll need to mod if you're a fan of 2D fighters, shmups, or amazing collector's editions for a variety of games. Japan also sees the SEGA AGES 2500 series of games as well as the Simple 2000 series. The SEGA AGES series consists of remakes or compilations of Sega's older games and while they started off simply horrid, the compilations have turned into something fantastic starting around Vol. 17 or 18. The Simple 2000 series consists of very simplistic games, most of which are extremely poor. There are, however, some games in the series that have proven to be quite entertaining and almost all the games have been pretty bizarre. So how does one get started with all these games?

The first method for setting yourself up for importing is simply the mod chip. There's a variety of chips available and the advantage is that you won't have to swap discs in order to start your imported game up. However, this method requires soldering, opening up your Playstation 2, and the technique for installation is dependent entirely upon the chip purchased. It's not recommended. The methods that are recommended, however, are the "slide card" and "flip top" methods (the slide card method can only be used for the original Playstation 2 -- it's completely useless if you have a redesigned PStwo.)

The slide card method is what I consider to be the best overall option. The two components needed for this would be a slide card (obviously) and the SwapMagic discs. The two items are typically available as a set on most sites (I used gocybershop.ca despite their location in Canada) and should run you between $25 and $30 shipped. If you're feeling adventurous and want to save a few dollars, you can actually make your own slide card by cutting up a credit card in the general shape of the slide card pictured a little further down. You essentially just need a hook cut out of the card, but more on that later.

The first step to using the slide card is taking off the front of the PS2's disc tray. You can use a little pressure and pop the disc tray off or you can take the approach that this picture shows:

That probably sounds dangerous, but it's really not. In fact, the front of the tray can easily be popped back on and it will remain stable, so there's really no cosmetic change to your PS2 that results from using the slide card. Once that's been done, you insert the SwapMagic disc and wait for the SwapMagic menu to appear on screen. Then comes the tricky part. You take the slide card, insert it right under the disc tray, find the pin that's in the way, and pull the card to the right gently. This diagram shows the process a little better than words can:

 Playstation 2 Import Recommendations:

Battle Stadium D.O.N. (Fighting, Japan, Import Friendly)
Dodonpachi Daioujou (Shooter, Japan, Import Friendly)
Dragon Quest V (RPG, Japan, Not Import Friendly)
Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 1 (Fighting, Japan, Import Friendly)
Garou: Mark of the Wolves (Fighting, Japan, Import Friendly)
Guilty Gear XX Slash (Fighting, Japan, Import Friendly)
Ibara (Shooter, Japan, Import Friendly)
King of Fighters XI (Fighting, Japan, Import Friendly)
King of Fighters Orochi Collection (Fighting, Japan, Import Friendly)
Neo Geo Battle Coliseum (Fighting, Japan, Import Friendly)
Psyvariar 2: Ultimate Final (Shooter, Japan, Import Friendly)
Samurai Spirits: Tenkaichi Kenkaku Den (Fighting, Japan, Somewhat Import Friendly - Lots of text for a fighter)
SEGA AGES Vol. 18: Dragon Force (Strategy, Japan, Not Import Friendly)
SEGA AGES Vol. 25: Gunstar Heroes Treasure Box (Action, Japan, Import Friendly)
Simple 2000 Series Vol. 101: The Oanechan 2 (Action, Japan, Import Friendly)
Sonic Gems Collection (Various, Japan, Import Friendly)
Tales of Rebirth (RPG, Japan, Not Import Friendly)

MUCH MUCH More Here