Hacking EZ Flash IV is being discontinued!

[GBA rocks]

The best solution is to give up and just buy all the special cartridges (including every RTC pokemon + fresh batteries) one is interested in while they're still not too much rare/pricey.
No one will ever be able to mass produce a cost effective cartridge that covers all the different sensors, not all in one, not with an expansion port + specific module system. (said modules would cost more than the real cartridge)

 

[FAST6191]

Can I play the "we are making embedded hardware for a legacy system, of course it is going to be expensive" card at this point?

 

[GBA rocks]

Yes, and if SD2SNES is any indication it could end up costing up to 200$-250$. Sure there would be people willing to spend that kind of money to have 100% compatibility, but on the other hand I'm not sure they're enough to make the project gain traction to begin with. Worse, one could argue there isn't enough traction even to create a new basic 50$ microSDHC-capable flashcart (without sensors and RTC), since we've been "surviving" on new old stock of a 7 years old flashcart for ages now, a "specialty" 200$ flashcart would have it even harder. Maybe the obsession with GBA emulation (on phones, PCs, fridges, washing machines, faxes, graphing calculators, DSTWOs,...) killed or severely slowed the GBA flashcart scene...pair that with the rarity and high price of AGS-101 consoles (aka the only ones that won't make a modern gamer's eyes bleed)...and you can see how people just resolve to emulating and keep asking for patched roms for sensor/rtc/tilt games..
GB/GBC have it easier thanks to the never fading interest of the chiptune music community...

 

[ntpsq]

There are less options for GBC flash carts than GBA...

 

[GBA rocks]

There are less options for GBC flash carts than GBA...

The GBC scene spawned a completely new flashcart last year (22 years into the life of the GB or 14 years for GBC), the Drag'n'Derp.

The GBA scene just spawned quick cash grabs of shops that sell overpriced new old stock of flash carts that date back to the Bush administration.

 

[ntpsq]

The GBC scene spawned a completely new flashcart last year (22 years into the life of the GB or 14 years for GBC), the Drag'n'Derp.

The GBA scene just spawned quick cash grabs of shops that sell overpriced new old stock of flash carts that date back to the Bush administration.

it costs $120 and doesn't have multirom support. still not really accessible... but i agree that it's more likely we'll see new GBC flash carts than gba.

 

[FAST6191]

Yeah the GB/GBC both owes a lot to LSDJ and at the same time probably owes it a sneer or two as well as it kind of set the goalposts reasonably low.

As for emulation, it was popular as you like during the time (wander on over to the GBA releases threads) as it played great on a PC. The touchscreen and odd aspect ratio was a masterstroke on Nintendo's part and for my money probably did more to spur flash cart development than most would care to admit.

I think instead of having somewhat more lofty goals (paged NOR with multiple memory banks, all managed onboard and more, aka a proper GBA flash cart) we should probably consider making baseline flash carts (basically clone a 3 in 1) as a kind of reference design and tweaking them up in public.

 

[Toasty]

I'll be ordering one today when they get back to me about their stock availability to replace my lost EZ Flash IV. If I can't find one from a reliable site then oh well, I'm not buying it from one of the greedy cunts that bought multiple ones just to dangle over other people's heads with a ridiculous price tag. Those people can DIAF and I'll just find my old one eventually.

 

[justinwebb]

I'll be ordering one today when they get back to me about their stock availability to replace my lost EZ Flash IV. If I can't find one from a reliable site then oh well, I'm not buying it from one of the greedy cunts that bought multiple ones just to dangle over other people's heads with a ridiculous price tag. Those people can DIAF and I'll just find my old one eventually.

Its not greed, its the buyers fault for creating such a market. If nobody bought them for the high prices then the price would come down that it is being sold at. If people see they can make money then they will. I bought a ton since I have more disposable income then most but I am sitting on them as I will wait until nobody has them in stock then sell them. Simple economics but most dont seem to get that.

 

[KOman]

The GBC scene spawned a completely new flashcart last year (22 years into the life of the GB or 14 years for GBC), the Drag'n'Derp.

The GBA scene just spawned quick cash grabs of shops that sell overpriced new old stock of flash carts that date back to the Bush administration.

Dumb, Question - but what do you mean by "new old stock"? Used items? Refurbished items?

 

[GBA rocks]

Dumb, Question - but what do you mean by "new old stock"? Used items? Refurbished items?

I mean that I'm not even that sure they've actually resumed manufacturing them or manufacturing the motherboard anyway, maybe some old stock of chips/motherboards popped up somewhere and they're making a batch of carts that will be just available as long as there's stock left. I'm not sure. Not used or refurbished anyway.

What I wanted to stress is that we're talking about a 2006 cart with a Mini-SD 2gb slot.

 

[GBA rocks]

My 2 Ez-Flash IV from realhotstuff.hk came in the mail today.
Ordered: about 40 days ago
Shipping method: Hong Kong Post Registered Mail + Package Insurance (tracking never worked)
Destination: Western Europe

Good. Paid them half as much compared to buying locally.

I had almost forgot about the stupid Star Wars skin.

 

[Hyper3D]

I emailed RHS-HK again, and the response I got was a bit...unsettling.

but after check the tracking number,

Destination - Japan
The item (************) was delivered on 15-Sep-2013.

The item was posted with iMailR Online Mailing Tool Posting Online Portal. In accordance with the terms and conditions concerned, please submit


your packages was deliver on Sep 15th.. can you check again?

I don't even

 

[Macatt]

Should I order from RHS's Chinese or USA website? I live in the USA, and I'd much rather have it shipped from within the USA, but it seems strange that the .hk site has the cart for 50 cents cheaper with Free Shipping, whereas the USA site charges shipping.

Are there any other differences I should know of between using the two websites? Thanks for your help.

 

[ntpsq]

Avoid RHS (HK, at least). I ordered one from there over 2 months ago and I haven't received it yet.

 

[JohnnyBlaze1986]

I never had a problem with shipping from the US website. The only issue I had of recent is their non-replies when I bought my Gateway. I didn't find out about it shipping until it was almost here.

 

[GBA rocks]

As I said I received my two ez4 in 40 days from rhs.HK to Europe, no problems with them. This is just my experience but apparently rhs.hk has a good track record of reliability over the years. If we start pointing fingers and advicing against a site that has proven to be reliable just for the lulz, we create confusion and we do a favor to smaller shady sites. If you're impatient, buy locally and pay double as much. If you have patience, order from china and forget about it til the day the postman rings the bell, maybe 3 months from now, maybe 4 weeks. My 2 cents.

 

[Macatt]

I don't mind paying a few bucks less and waiting longer, but if paying a few bucks more means a mildly more secure/reliable transaction, that'd be my preference. I just don't know for sure if that's the case. I'm not even sure the dot com site ships from the US and isn't just another web front for the operation in China.

 

[Joe88]

It ships from new jersey

 

[ntpsq]

As I said I received my two ez4 in 40 days from rhs.HK to Europe, no problems with them. This is just my experience but apparently rhs.hk has a good track record of reliability over the years. If we start pointing fingers and advicing against a site that has proven to be reliable just for the lulz, we create confusion and we do a favor to smaller shady sites. If you're impatient, buy locally and pay double as much. If you have patience, order from china and forget about it til the day the postman rings the bell, maybe 3 months from now, maybe 4 weeks. My 2 cents.

???? How does multiple people reporting they haven't received their EZ4 orders from months ago from rhs.hk equate to this at all... I'm confused.