Why in the world would there be two switches being pushed down by the Japanese system's lid when only one is necessary for detecting whether or not the lid is closed? After trying to run Luigi's Mansion while pressing down different combinations of the two switches, I came to the following theory...
Switch settings: 00 = lid open, 01 = lid closed on American/other system, 10 = lid closed on American/other system, 11 = lid closed on Japanese system.
Japanese game, Japanese system: The game expects switch setting 11, gets 11, and the disc is recognized.
American game, Japanese system: The game expects 01 or 10, gets 11, and the disc isn't recognized.
Japanese game, American system: The game expects 11, gets 01 or 10, and the disc isn't recognized.
American game, American system: The game expects 01 or 10, gets its required switch, and the disc is recognized.
Please keep in mind that this is only a theory and cannot be totally proven/disproven until American hardware or software is obtained. It's still entirely possible that the lockout function is software-based, but then you have to wonder, why are there two lid switches instead of one?
For those wondering how the PAL format fits into this, it likely doesn't. The problem with it here is that in the 00 configuration (lid open), it'd be necessary for the system to be outputting a PAL signal at both that time and either 01 or 10. I can safely say that in no case did the image on my NTSC set appear scrambled in any way to indicate encoding for another television standard.
Voila ce que dis nintendojo...
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