NTSC, i think what im seeing is the game freezing upon startup.
yes, that would be what you're seeing. set EE (I think..) to Full+Preserve sign and supposedly it will pass that point (it MIGHT be the VU thogh, I don't remember, and I've never passed it either)
nm, set the EE and VU clamping to max and applied the EE timing hack and it works.