[johneem]

Hi - been off the scene for ages, buying the youngster a 3DS

where's the best place to buy R4i gold?? (I'm UK based)

Thanks for any help

[Jiro2]

The updated list lists the CycloDS as having auto-AP again.

[codezer0]

Okay, may as well ask my $0.02 worth.

Currently got an HW44 Ak2i. I've been happy with it on my DS lite enough. Mostly annoyed that currently it seems I can't update this thing to then work on a 3DS.

This wouldn't be such an issue, if not for my DS lite once again showing various cracks particularly along the hinge. I got a BBY replacement plan on it, and invoking that, I could put its value toward a 3DS... but of course that would mean I couldn't go back. it would have to be either sticking with a DS lite or going up to that.

This leaves me as a quandary of what kind of card to get, in order to be compatible with what I have now, and still be able to use it in terms of plugging it into the 3DS if I upgrade to that. Looking at it now, I could either:
- just get another Acekard 2i, hopefully pre-flashed for 3DS... it's cheap, and I've already been happy with the  AKAIO software and the like. It has good battery life, though not much in terms of hardware capability either.
- Supercard DSTwo. I dig that it has the extra silicon to support GBA emulation and better emulation than what is available for cards without (let's be honest, snemul and jenesis on their own just aren't that great). However, currently can't boot stuff in DSi mode either... but also seems likely to be able to update for that. And the battery life seems to be a problem with these... which is already a problem on a stock 3DS.
- CycloDS iEvo. Since it is confirmed to at least boot in DSi mode, to use the extra horsepower of the handheld(s). Though with it being the first, it might also come to be the 'worst', meaning a new standard of how to use it might come around and it not able to handle it that way. Games needing to be re-ripped to be "DSi-mode aware" is an inconvenience, but not terribly so either. No extra silicon also means that it's up to homebrew makers to update their emulators and apps to work with the extra DSi-mode features.

These are the options that I can see thus far. Unless someone else knows of some other possible solutions for me to go with.

[Rydian]

As far as upgrading in the future, the DSTwo or iEvo are the best bets.

[codezer0]

Do you believe that the DStwo will see an update to allow it to at least boot into DSi-mode on a DSi/3DS?

Or is it more likely for software to simply be (re)compiled to take advantage of the extra speed, thus making the iEvo the better choice?

[Rydian]

I have no clue if the DSTwo can get DSi mode.

Any homebrew that can be recompiled with the latest version of libnds can access DSi mode. The issue is a lot of homebrews are dead and closed-source.

[mcjx]

Do you believe that the DStwo will see an update to allow it to at least boot into DSi-mode on a DSi/3DS?

Or is it more likely for software to simply be (re)compiled to take advantage of the extra speed, thus making the iEvo the better choice?

I own an Acekard2i, and I am wondering this same thing. I want to upgrade to take advantage of DSi features as I've just recently bought a 3DS. (It's a nitpicky thing really, I know most games don't really even have worthwhile enhancements outside of being able to connect to WPA networks.)


It seems right now my best bet for this is the iEvo, but if the DSTWO gets an upgrade that will enable this, I would prefer to go with that option.


Does anyone have any information or speculation into DSTWO's extendibility or will I have to wait for a new revision of their card?

[Rydian]

I can't give details, but the iEvo's booting ability seems to surpass the DSTwo's, so it could be possible that the DSTwo never gets it, or they could not be interested, or waiting to see if there's a way they could do it that's more legal than how the iEvo does it.

Which of the DSi's features do you want, though? People tend to think they can do stuff that's not possible (such as using DS games with WPA).

[codezer0]

For me, the DSi mode is attractive to be able to have access to more RAM and CPU power from the DS, which in turn can be useful to making better homebrew, and more accurate emulators... always appreciated.

If the DSTwo could support booting in DSi mode as well? DSi mode + extra RAM/CPU on the card = plenty of horsepower for making some good apps and stuff. And a legitimate reason to move beyond my DS lite.

[mcjx]

People tend to think they can do stuff that's not possible (such as using DS games with WPA).

I do know that Pokemon Black/White allows you to connect to WPA-encrypted networks as a DSi-enhanced feature.

[codezer0]

Supposedly, Sonic Classic Collection is another game that has some extra stuff when booted into DSi mode. But as it stands, it seems that the guys that can actually dump the games with the DSi extras enabled are keeping it a secret. Which will undoubtedly slow the release of new DS(i) games to the scene, and also make it much slower to get re-dumps for games that do support these extras.

[Qtis]

Supposedly, Sonic Classic Collection is another game that has some extra stuff when booted into DSi mode. But as it stands, it seems that the guys that can actually dump the games with the DSi extras enabled are keeping it a secret. Which will undoubtedly slow the release of new DS(i) games to the scene, and also make it much slower to get re-dumps for games that do support these extras.

Actually they do dump with the tools they have. Usually just some 5 cent release group claims something is "DSi enhanced", even though they can't dump the whole cart. DSi enhanced dumps are around, but not all releases of a certain game are "clean" and "whole". Also dumping the DSi part supposedly isn't that easy. Needing some kind of hand made dumper isn't really that easy for the normal John Doe..

Also Sonic Classic Collection's intro for example runs at full speed with the DSi mode.

-Qtis

[codezer0]

Augh, this is getting hard for me to decide.

First and foremost, if I am going to pay money for another flashcart again, I want something that will work in a 3DS at the least, in the event that I upgrade to that down the line.

But after that, is basically on how well I can run some of these emulators. Again, I admit that I dig the extra hardware in the DStwo, but as I understand it, it also sucks some battery life... coupled with the 3DS's stock battery life being so poor already, just seems like it's asking to be in PSP territory with a DStwo. And how many games/apps will actually go into DSi mode with the Cyclo iEvo? Am I going to have to wait for rerips of games to get the added speed and functionality? Then again, discussion is moot if one can work in a 3DS, and the other doesn't.

[Rydian]

People thought some games were DSi-enhanced when they weren't because it had some of the same data as DSi-enhanced games, but later that was found to be the devs moving to Nintendo's newer devkit.

Emulation on the DS sucks. If you're looking to buy something for emulation, grab a PSP. The emulation on that is miles above what the DS can do, I don't even keep game system emulators on my DS anymore now that I have a PSP.

The iEvo does not currently have DSi-mode on the 3DS.

[tranfeer]

There is something wring with this list.
"Bootloader updates" of R4iDSN should be "Y" , which is the same as that of R4i Gold.