# New Review - DS-Xtreme 4Gbit



## shaunj66 (Oct 17, 2006)

*New Review - DS-Xtreme 4Gbit*

Official GBAtemp Review






Here's the review you've all been waiting for since this morning... The official GBAtemp.net review of the DS-Xtreme 4Gbit (512MB).
Go and read the review to find out how the DS-Xtreme compares to all the other kits on the market, and to see if it's worth the wait!





Click the image above or the link below to go to the review.
Please leave all comments in this thread. 





DS-Xtreme 4Gbit (512MB) Review


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## martin88 (Oct 17, 2006)

wee first post.

Nice review. So it's not 100% compatibility after all. Good enough. (Although Pokemon is a pretty big title)


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## Euronymous (Oct 17, 2006)

You mention the "hefty price tag" as a point of consideration, but then you dont actually tell us the price.

Care to divulge this information?


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## shaunj66 (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Euronymous @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> You mention the "hefty price tag" as a point of consideration, but then you dont actually tell us the price.
> 
> Care to divulge this information?


If you look around the online stores you'll find it. We don't tend to add prices to review as they change frequently.

Price atm is around £75 / $120 / €110


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## kevinbarron1132 (Oct 17, 2006)

So, how do you play movies on it just drag nad drop again?


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## shaunj66 (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(kevinbarron1132 @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> So, how do you play movies on it just drag nad drop again?


There's no built in movie support. If you want to do that, do it through Moonshell - there's plenty of tutorials out there for that.


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## shtonkalot (Oct 17, 2006)

Thanks for your efforts.
I'm amazed at the compatability already and am intrigued by the OS.
But it's the dancing LEDs that's got my ordering finger twitching


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## .TakaM (Oct 17, 2006)

great review, definetly buying 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




edit-
oh and very nice to see the music plays even if you close the system


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## Deleted User (Oct 17, 2006)

Nice review. It seems to cover the basics and a bit more. It certainly looks the goods. Thanks. (I think I'll wait for the second incarnation of it though. That might be 1GB.)


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## 5uck3rpunch (Oct 17, 2006)

GREAT review.  I didn't want it before but now I do!  Thanx Shaunj66!


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## dimsum411 (Oct 17, 2006)

The review fails to mention the battery life drain, reading from a slot 1 card produces. Do you guys have any info on that?


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## XmemphistoX (Oct 17, 2006)

Woot!  I picked the right choice.  Going to be getting mine this week.


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## DeMoN (Oct 17, 2006)

ooooo. I'm surprised that Pokemon D/P doesn't work, whatever happened to 100% compatibility? 99.9% isn't the same. 

Anyways, looks like a longass review and I'm gonna read the whole thing. Thanks to Shaun and Costello. 

I predicted the score precisely, I knew that you would give it higher than a 9 because many other DS flash carts gotten 9's and they were not as good as the DS-X. But also, if you guys gave it a 10, then people would complain to you if they found anything wrong with the DS-X. Thus 9.5 seemed the only score to correctly assume.


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## shaunj66 (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(dimsum411 @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> The review fails to mention the battery life drain, reading from a slot 1 card produces. Do you guys have any info on that?


We've only had the card about 14 hours.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




There's no real easy way of testing battery life atm without checking the DS every 15 minutes. 

Maybe we'll try and add some info soon.


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## narius (Oct 17, 2006)

: cry: its so beautiful! damn nice... now where should i buy it in the us so that i can get it this week?

and ya I would really like to know about the battery life, because to me thats the only thing negative about using the DS-X vs retail cart...

so it has a longer battery life than 15 hours! zomg no way! jk, I can dream can't I? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




ya I also really hope that they fix the pokemon p/d becuase thats one game I am really counting on! I heard it was an overdump though so that might be part of the problem though i dont know


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## SectionX (Oct 17, 2006)

Looks like an amazing card. I am pretty sure that DS-X team will update firmware so all games work. 99.9% is still very impressive.


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## kazumi213 (Oct 17, 2006)

Only one title not working. And it is precisely a best seller. Very suspicious. I'm gonna buy this baby, it's great for me, but not before Pokemon D/P is working on it. Thanks for the review.


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## enterprise (Oct 17, 2006)

i wonder if this works with the opera browser . . .great review btw


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## Morning (Oct 17, 2006)

Hey, great review! Looks quite interesting.
One question though - the single-cart download multiplayer - it works between two unflashed ds'.. so one with the DS-X and another unflashed DS with nothing in it right? Did this work with games like Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros? 

if it did, that's pretty cool ^.^ 
Anyway, thanks for the review!


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## nerd1 (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(shaunj66 @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> There's no real easy way of testing battery life atm without checking the DS every 15 minutes.



Have it fully charged and run the media player.  Have the same playlist to test it running off a slot2 cart and a slot 1 cart, this way you can compare the battery life... if you had 2 DS then you can run them together.  if you had 3, you can even run the superkey/passkey and slot 2 cart at the same time


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## WangJang (Oct 17, 2006)

Great review 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 i hope to in the next few days find out about action replay if thats working or not.

Pokemon is not working didnt work in my favor as its one of the games i am looking forward to playing on it, and with only a handfull of games being tested the 99.9% could shrink even lower.

Again thanks for the review


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## Costello (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Morning @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> Hey, great review! Looks quite interesting.
> One question though - the single-cart download multiplayer - it works between two unflashed ds'.. so one with the DS-X and another unflashed DS with nothing in it right? Did this work with games like Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros?
> 
> if it did, that's pretty cool ^.^
> Anyway, thanks for the review!


yes it did, we've covered every situation and it DOES work.

Regarding the non working Pokémon game.
It is AFAIK the only game that requires 4 mbits of memory to save.
The DS-Xtreme only got 2 mbits but the DS-X team told us that it could support more than 2 mbits eeprom.
I think this is directly related! This should lead them on the way to fixing the problem hopefully...(thanks hunter for noticing)

Anyway I am absolutely certain that the DS-X team will solve this issue rapidly.
They will release a new firmware and they also told me that the newly manufactured DS-Xtreme units will feature this fixed firmware!


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## WangJang (Oct 17, 2006)

Ahh 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 for sure its prolly that, no doubt thats a easy fix for them.

Thanks.


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## Hellfromabove (Oct 17, 2006)

Great review guys, very precise and thorough. That answered all my questions. I am really happy about the GBA port support and especially happy about the dancing lights. I'm disappointed though that it doesn't support Pearl. Even though I don't read Japanese yet the US release is just around the corner. Just glad that they are doing fixes and such.

On a related note, does anyone know if Divineo has shipped these out yet? Thanx.

-See Ya!!!


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## narius (Oct 17, 2006)

alright cool so I will be able to play pokemon p/d then yeah!! But I cant decide where to order... All I know is that I really would like to get it this week delivered to my home in Texas, USA.


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## formiscuse (Oct 17, 2006)

This cart sound amazing. Any recommendations on where to buy it?


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## thegame07 (Oct 17, 2006)

i guys i was wondering if you could help see if you update the firmware in the future will games like pokemon d/p work ?? is that what firmware updates do and where will you be able to get the firmware updates and how will you know its not one it will brick you nds thanks for your help and nice review hopefully getting mine anyday soon


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## stinkingbob (Oct 17, 2006)

Hey Costello and Shaun,

Thanks for the reviews and getting back to us with fast responses.
I have a question:

Is it possible to make a back up of a commercial ROM and store the .nds on your computer. Tht way, if you lose the original cart, you have a back up.
Just curious, cuz you could do this with the gba flashcarts.

Oh yes,  if I decided to use the  ds-Xtreme as a passcard, can I store back-up NDS oms on my XROM flash cart and then have it read from the Xrom?

Thanks,
B.


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## melloncollie (Oct 17, 2006)

This card would be the best one out if it had removable memory (i.e. MicroSd support).


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## Zap (Oct 17, 2006)

Aww... Only if this compatibility and OS.... in the shell of the DSLink with transflash/microsd.  That would be AWSOME.

I love the software and compatibility.  Though, it doesn't really justify my upgrade from a G6 lite yet.


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## JoeB (Oct 17, 2006)

There's 2 things missing from this review:

- GBA compatibility (I assume none)
- how does this thing function with a unit that already has FlashMe on it?


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## skylerj (Oct 17, 2006)

A good and thorough review, but I would like to comment on something that annoys me about the reviews around here. It seems sometimes, at least to me, that gbatemp reviewers get caught up in the excitement of getting something new and free in the mail, because the tone of the reviews, including this one, seem to "try to like" the product. In other words, they seem biased toward approving the item, as if they were afraid to offend the companies.

For example, in almost every review, flaws are excused by saying "the company has assured us that patches and updates are coming to address this problem!" Bullcrap. The review should be based on the final product released for retail, peroid. And the review should begin with a neutral point of view rather than trying to like anything.


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## kazumi213 (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(skylerj @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> For example, in almost every review, flaws are excused by saying "the company has assured us that patches and updates are coming to address this problem!" Bullcrap. The review should be based on the final product released for retail, peroid. And the review should begin with a neutral point of view rather than trying to like anything.



This product is good. Period. It seems to deserve the score. But you're right on one thing: they're making promises. Ok, let's wait for them to become true (I hope so).


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## kai445 (Oct 17, 2006)

Any GBA compatibility?
Can it run apps/games from slot-2?


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## adgloride (Oct 17, 2006)

Great review, I almost want one of these.  The only 2 things I didn't like was it only having 512MB of memory, if it used Micro flash carts I would have been sold.  The only other little thing is the fact it has to boot up to the DS menu, then you need to select the card to boot it up.  A shame they never put some sort of fast booting on it, maybe this will come in the next firmware update.  I did like the idea of customised skins, probably supercard and the M3 will copy this idea for their next firmware release


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## Opium (Oct 17, 2006)

Great review! 

Nice work shaun and Costello


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## Devante (Oct 17, 2006)

Looks like a great product, albeit a little expensive for what it is (512Mbyte).

I have to agree this review seems a little excited and/or biased.

Here are some things you didn't mention that I would normally see mentioned as small negatives in other reviews:

USB port isn't concealed (also resulting on less professional looking product)
Case is held together with clips as opposed to screws.
The number of steps it takes to simply load a game/homebrew. DS-X Loading screen > Select App Menu > *Double*-click on game/homebrew > Confirm (why have confirmation screen if you have to double-click, or vice-versa?) > Few seconds to load .nds file > Play

These things aren't too big of a deal, but you've always mentioned little things like these in other reviews.
But this one lacks them for some reason. Frankly, I'm surprised you didn't mention at least the unappealing USB port showing.

But I'm sounding too negative!
This still seems like a great product and the review was very informative and told us most of what we all wanted to know.
Definately no other card like this one.

Thanks!


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## .TakaM (Oct 17, 2006)

well. my gba flash cart didnt have screws so if anything when wrong with it I could open it and fix it, and show me the screws in official nintendo DS carts


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## kohkindachi (Oct 17, 2006)

Let's wait for the next newest DS rom and the reviewer will test it 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




512 is somewhat small


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## hornetx (Oct 17, 2006)

Sweet, it works as a passme device. I have a G6lite and i love it, but having both would give me pretty much every feature i could want, espcially single cart multiplayer, woot!


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## zedrac (Oct 17, 2006)

If a version with a microSD slot comes out, I'll be all over it like a fat kid with ice cream.


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## jhoff80 (Oct 17, 2006)

Have you tested that FTP homebrew program on here to see if you can send games directly to the card wirelessly?


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## SpaceJump (Oct 17, 2006)

Great review, it really looks like a nice device 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





I have two questions:

- You say ScummVM works, is that for the talkie-versions (copying the games straight to the flashcart, not the ZIP-method)?

- Did you have to generate the save files or are they generated automatically? Where are they located on the flashcart?


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## PiNa (Oct 17, 2006)

To add to DeVante's list of "negatives" there is also not possible to perform software reset. So in case of changing games you have to switch your DS off. But it was expectable as the roms are not patched. 

Seems like the best DS only cart to me atm ...


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## x_comp (Oct 17, 2006)

Nice review.

Those flashing LED lights were a bit of a surprise and so far, the compatibility seems good but of all games not to work on it, Pokemon DP 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 That's quite a miss and makes you wonder if any other big name games in future would require an update.

The quick boot function on the other hand is really handy. Means you can dive in to the latest RPG immediately and save time.

It's good progress on the Slot-1 solutions so lets see what the other upcoming cards can do. This release might give Acekard some new ideas and some other "flashy" features to add to their product


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## digitalforums (Oct 17, 2006)

can you compress the roms to save space, as it only has 512mb

cheers

the specs of the cart do sound good, but once all the other slot 1 makers start releasing there carts the prices will fall


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## Harsky (Oct 17, 2006)

Dammit, seeing the price of this was pretty much cheaper than when I paid for an M3 CF AND a 512MB CF card (I get a bit confused over the whole mb/MB thingie). Anyways, I'm contented with 512MB. It's a case of file management as you don't keep the games you don't want to play on your card in the first place. No GBA support does put me off a bit as I do find myself still playing a few now and again but will probably die out in the future but I don't really want 2 different carts.


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## Devante (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(.TakaM @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> [snip]... and show me the screws in official nintendo DS carts




Touché. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




'


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## Bacon (Oct 17, 2006)

Hello

I would like to extend my thanks to shaunj66 for writing this very indepth and interesting review, while Costello's primary thoughts on the system made me purchase the product yesterday, your glowing review has sealed my purchase mentaly, I cannot WAIT for it to arrive!

I'd also like to say thank you for actually mentioning that it does play DS roms, people seem to pussy-foot around that all the time, so thanks for clearing it up.

My thoughts: very impressive, the fact the firmware can be changed is very nice; incompatible games should work eventually and all that; I also love the feature that it takes the images from the ROM, very cool!

Thanks again for a great review


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## Opium (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Harsky @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> Dammit, seeing the price of this was pretty much cheaper than when I paid for an M3 CF AND a 512MB CF card (I get a bit confused over the whole mb/MB thingie). Anyways, I'm contented with 512MB. It's a case of file management as you don't keep the games you don't want to play on your card in the first place. No GBA support does put me off a bit as I do find myself still playing a few now and again but will probably die out in the future but I don't really want 2 different carts.



Buy a GBA flashcart for GBA games. GBA games can NOT run from the DS slot, the read write times are too slow. GBA requires fast access.

As to the space 512MB is heaps of space, I see people complain about it all the time and I just don't get it. It's not even possible to be playing more than 10 DS games at the same time. When was the last time you were playing 10 DS games simultaniously? 

If you desperately want to play another game, connect the DS-X to your computer and drag/drop the new game over. It only takes a couple of seconds.


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## Zerka (Oct 17, 2006)

Great review!  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Couple of questions:

Can you delete skin files since they are also in ROM ie saving space/cleaner file directory? How much room do the default skins take?

The memory used does it av limited numbers of writes before it "crumbles"? Ie will it wear out (eventually everything does but in 1 year or like 50)? Kinda hard to replace the memory in DS-X I guess.

What about zipped &/or sizestripped .nds files (filler stuff at end removed)? Is there a Windowsprogram to strip & zip all .nds files in a directory (if such files are supported by DS-X)?

Easiest/cheapest/most compatible (ie run all .gba files) way to get .gba files running on NDS (unflashed) with DS-X?


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## Deleted User (Oct 17, 2006)

*drools*   slot1 ... *drools*  The only reason why I'd get this ... is to save on battery.


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## Harsky (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Opium @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> QUOTE(Harsky @ Oct 17 2006 said:
> 
> 
> > Dammit, seeing the price of this was pretty much cheaper than when I paid for an M3 CF AND a 512MB CF card (I get a bit confused over the whole mb/MB thingie). Anyways, I'm contented with 512MB. It's a case of file management as you don't keep the games you don't want to play on your card in the first place. No GBA support does put me off a bit as I do find myself still playing a few now and again but will probably die out in the future but I don't really want 2 different carts.
> ...


All I'm just saying is that it would be a nice bonus to have... but then again, that would be like asking a GBA flash cart to have a GBC support.


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## ChaosTheorySD (Oct 17, 2006)

This sounds pretty appealing. I was almost put off by the lack of expandable memory, but then I realized nothing is stoping me from keeping my EZ Flash IV in Slot 2 for GBA and those "I MIGHT feel like playing it" games.

If that price just sinks a tiny bit lower, I'll be sold. Also none of the US retailers look familiar to me, so I'd rather wait for a store I know and trust.


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## raajaa (Oct 17, 2006)

Hi  guys,

Awesome review! Just wondering if the Supercard-lite saves will work or can be converted so that they work on the ds-X?


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## Teun (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(adgloride @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> The only other little thing is the fact it has to boot up to the DS menu, then you need to select the card to boot it up.


you can change this in the DS options.


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## TheStump (Oct 17, 2006)

Great review,
Just wondering

-battery life (with/without leds on)
-opera WITH a gba ram pack
-can get a little plug to cover up that ugly usb plug (i think it should be a con)

and as for the 512 being a size issue, i would say it is! Not because i can only get 10 DS games on it, but what about the music i also want to listen to on top of that, the movies. After putting all this on u might only end up with 3 games


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## TheStump (Oct 17, 2006)

also can you plug the usb into the DS-X when it is inside the NDS?, will this effect the process of addeding ROMS and files to the cart?
cause thats also handy to not have to take the cart out of the slot. Not like its a big deal but handy none the less


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## enarky (Oct 17, 2006)

Wow. Consider me completely blown away! I didn't think DS-X would deliver what was promised, but it looks like I was _so_ wrong. My apologies for doubting this product.


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## Opium (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(TheStump @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> also can you plug the usb into the DS-X when it is inside the NDS?, will this effect the process of addeding ROMS and files to the cart?
> cause thats also handy to not have to take the cart out of the slot. Not like its a big deal but handy none the less



As shaun already said in the review, yes you can plug in the usb connector when the DS-X is still inside the DS 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




p.s try not to double post


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## XeNoGeaR (Oct 17, 2006)

i'm gonna buy this for sure when the next firmware is out and pokemon works..

Greetz


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## sabinraijin (Oct 17, 2006)

I see no reason to get this if you already have, say, an M3 or a G6 w/passcard, seeing as they both support everything this does, and can play GBA games. Not to mention the prices are cheaper atm. We also have no clue how attentive they will be with firmware upgrades. There's absolutely no way there will always be perfect compatability (there already isn't). Even if you currently have no flashcart at all, why exactly would someone buy this slot 1 solution when the double-slot solutions are cheaper and have far more features? Is keeping your GBA slot free really that important? The single-cart multiplayer I'll give you, but even for a DSL there are plenty of step-by-step guides on flashme by now.

No offense, of course, but the review just seems a bit too excited for what this product actually is and does, especially for the prices they're asking. I could see this as a solution if it was half the price of double-slot solutions, but that's definitely not the case.


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## Paralel (Oct 17, 2006)

It's just too bad they didn't include a larger amount of EEPROM in order to accommodate games with larger save files. Whatever method they come up with to fix this might create slowdowns/be incompatible with some games without the firmware being patched which brings us back to waiting for patches to play games again. You never know, Nintendo might try to exploit this limitation in order to try and make games incompatible with this card.

I can't imagine that a few more MBits of EEPROM would have cost that much to include, I wonder why they didn't do it? It really seems like the only oversight in the whole design... But you never know, they might increase it in future revisions.


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## Paralel (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(sabinraijin @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> Is keeping your GBA slot free really that important?


That's the thing, we don't know for sure yet. There may be games coming out in the future (since we are really only at the beginning of the life of this product if the lifespan of the GBA is any indication) that will require RAM expansions, rumble packs, who knows what plugged into Slot-2 in order for the game to run/be fully functional. In that instance a Slot-2 design flash cart wouldn't be very useful.


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## sabinraijin (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Paralel @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> QUOTE(sabinraijin @ Oct 17 2006 said:
> 
> 
> > Is keeping your GBA slot free really that important?
> ...



So in the very rare occasion where a game would require (not optional) a piece of hardware to run, why not just buy that game? Opera Browser comes to mind. I'm not talking about optional things like rumble packs, I'm talking about things like RAM carts. If a game needs a RAM expansion pack, you have no choice but to buy it, no matter what, since buying it would be undoubtedly the only way to get said RAM cart (like with the Opera Browser). If you're willing to pay out the ass for this slot 1 solution so you can get your rumble pack to work, then by all means. But there are other slot 1 flashcarts that are compatable with the rumble pack, at a much cheaper price. And again, we've not a clue in terms of how often the DS-X team will actually update the firmware, so I wouldn't be jumping the gun on this one just yet. I'm not going to complain about people buying it, I'd just advise against buying it because of this over-excited review, as it appears many are doing so.


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## scrawl (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Paralel @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> I can't imagine that a few more MBits of EEPROM would have cost that much to include,



I don't think they need to - they're implementing  reprogrammable hardware. They can update the EEPROM size with a firmware update.

Have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FPGA for a more technical explanation.


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## ilovengage (Oct 17, 2006)

I like it that you can use things like the rumble pak.

But why DS-X? It has a wonderful compatibility, no special PC OS or hardware required, fast file transfer, no patching required, you can use the rumble pak, DS Download play works, so you can play with people who don't want/have flashme (and please stop talking about how easy it is, that's no argument for people who don't have much experience in DS homebrew & roms), ...


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## Alexeh (Oct 17, 2006)

And the DS browser will probably work, but you need the expansion still.. Anyways is it possible to insert that small SD card with the USB connector on top of it??


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## fishsticks (Oct 17, 2006)

I'm definitely going to buy this or the acekard when I get a new ds lite. I dont want to flash it, so it's good that this will work as a passme.


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## 5uck3rpunch (Oct 17, 2006)

I don't think I'd jump right on this one, especially for the US price.  $124 is a bit steep for what you are getting, especially for the 512 mb - non expandable space.  You can but a new DS Lite for a few bucks more.  I'd wait until the next round of updates & changes or see what the competitors come up with now that this cart has changed the DS cart scene.  

Still a GREAT review!


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## kalimero (Oct 17, 2006)

Uhm... you tested 31 out of 600 games with one not working and trying to say this is 99,9% compatibility? ...O...K...  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Beside that a great review, nice to read. Now i can't wait for my own cart to arrive.


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## shaunj66 (Oct 17, 2006)

JoeB said:


> There's 2 things missing from this review:
> 
> - GBA compatibility (I assume none)
> - how does this thing function with a unit that already has FlashMe on it?


No GBA support - it's a slot 1 card. Unless someone makes a GBA emulator (useless), or a reverse PassMe  (lol) it won't happen!



DeVante said:


> Looks like a great product, albeit a little expensive for what it is (512Mbyte).
> 
> I have to agree this review seems a little excited and/or biased.
> 
> ...


Our reviews are definetely not biased... If you had read a certain portal post some time ago you wouldn't have said that.

USB port isn't concealed? You hold the cart in your hand and tell me that they could have conealed it without flimsy plastic that would probably break (ala. MK4-Mini).
The clips really aren't a problem. There's enough of them (8) to stop the casing falling apart. 

As for the loading screen, that is used to also backup saves to the cart at the same time. Just like most other flash kits when you reboot.

Double clicking a game? That's going to take the average person what? 1/3 of a second? It seems to just be in place so you don't keep getting the confirmation screen when highlighting another game - and remember, if you don't like this - you can edit the OS skin yourself and change it as much as you like to your satisfaction. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	






SpaceJump said:


> Great review, it really looks like a nice device
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I've only tested the un-compressed ZIP'd game method with ScummVM. If you want to to test any other method, let me know how to do it, and I'll try it and let you know.



digitalforums said:


> can you compress the roms to save space, as it only has 512mb
> 
> cheers
> 
> the specs of the cart do sound good, but once all the other slot 1 makers start releasing there carts the prices will fall


You can't compress the ROMs but you can trim them (removing 00 and FF dummy data at the end of the ROM with a hex editor). Trimmed ROMs seem to work fine on the DS-Xtreme. 



Zerka said:


> Great review!Â
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I covered deleting the ROM folder in the review - it's not needed as the default skin is embedded in the firmware. The 'skin' folder over-rides the default skin, and is already on the cart so people can look at and edit it straight away.



raajaa said:


> HiÂ guys,
> 
> Awesome review! Just wondering if the Supercard-lite saves will work or can be converted so that they work on the ds-X?


You'd have to ask the guys at DS-X that yourself. As the save games on the DS-Xtreme are compressed, it may only read compressed game saves. I'm not sure of the compression method used.



TheStump said:


> Great review,
> Just wondering
> 
> -battery life (with/without leds on)
> ...


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## ninjedi (Oct 17, 2006)

Wouldn't it be sweet if those LEDs were infrared?
Then you could have a cool homebrew remote, wifi connected to the internet browsing the tv guide, without disturbing whats on tv. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



ooo... i think i just wet myself.


----------



## kalimero (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(shaunj66 @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> QUOTE(kalimero @ Oct 17 2006 said:
> 
> 
> > Uhm... you tested 31 out of 600 games with one not working and trying to say this is 99,9% compatibility? ...O...K...Â
> ...



Yes do it, PLEASE   
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




. I know myself that this is infeasible. 
You just discovered ~5% compatibility and the rest 95% are simply incompatible/unknown. 99,9% is false statistic.


----------



## 5uck3rpunch (Oct 17, 2006)

@kalimero:  The company that makes the cart boasts the 99.9% compatability.  That is where shaunj66 got it from....


----------



## SectionX (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(5uck3rpunch @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> I don't think I'd jump right on this one, especially for the US price.Â $124 is a bit steep for what you are getting, especially for the *512 mb* - non expandable space.Â You can but a new DS Lite for a few bucks more.Â I'd wait until the next round of updates & changes or see what the competitors come up with now that this cart has changed the DS cart scene.Â
> 
> Still a GREAT review!
> 
> ...



ease of use? This cards saves a lot of hazzle for sure. No passme, no flashme etc. Just drag n drop.


----------



## Hanafuda (Oct 17, 2006)

Well, I'm glad this thing finally came to market. Now the SC and M3/G6 teams can figure out how the thing works and make us some half-priced clones! Yeah babay!


----------



## SectionX (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Hanafuda @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> Well, I'm glad this thing finally came to market. Now the SC and M3/G6 teams can figure out how the thing works and make us some half-priced clones! Yeah babay!



gotta give credit for the DS-X team here for setting the bar while SC M3/G6 teams were behind.


----------



## other (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(SectionX @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> When the hell will people learn that it's 512MB and not 512mb?
> 
> 512MB = 4gb
> 512mb = 0.5gb
> ...



Well, 512 MB is 4 Gb. Big B usually indicates byte, and a small b bit. A small m is the SI-prefix for milli, and a small g doesn't exist. If you want to know more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_prefix

(Usually when we say MB we mean MiB though, the binary prefix. Again, if you want to know: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_prefix) Whatever...


----------



## g.crow (Oct 17, 2006)

sorry if this has been asked before, but im a bit in a hurry

does the ds-x support rom trimming, and if, how is it done if you simple drag&drop?

mars


----------



## lagman (Oct 17, 2006)

Yes it does, you trimmed the roms before dropin´ them.


----------



## g.crow (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(laguerzinho @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> Yes it does, you trimmed the roms before dropin´ them.



thx. with what do you trim the roms? or is there a software in the background which trims the roms for you when you drop them?
this whole "no patching needed" doesnt make sense to me if i have to trim the roms by myself (or live with the fact that the ds-x holds less roms on 4gbit than any other card which supports trimming when patching).
i must say im getting interested in this card 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





mars


edit: typo, sry for my bad english


----------



## KaiBosh (Oct 17, 2006)

Bleh, I am not as impressed as I hoped to be.  For one thing, the size is a serious problem - a lot of us use our DS as a full on media center and I have a little stack of mini-SD that have DS backups, GBA backups, and tv shows ready to go.  Yes, I play all the games on there, a few minutes here and there at work.

There are still unanswered questions.  How does the DS-X work in a DS that is already flashed?  I'm sure it works fine, but...  Does that include the ability to play wifi romz properly?  And how about SNES?  Did you guys load up moonshell and play some movies, etc?

Nothing about the DS-X is better than my SuperCard except for aesthetic properties, which is a valid thing I admit, but considering that I play a lot of GBA gamez I am more than happy with what I have.


----------



## Hanafuda (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(SectionX @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> QUOTE(Hanafuda @ Oct 17 2006 said:
> 
> 
> > Well, I'm glad this thing finally came to market. Now the SC and M3/G6 teams can figure out how the thing works and make us some half-priced clones! Yeah babay!
> ...




oh absolutely. But very likely it'll be just like when Datel released the MML/MMP package earlier ... very soon afterwards all the Chinese mfgr's suddenly had "nopass" products on the market.

when ye make yer gold selling to pirates, ye better be one yerself. Arrrgghh!

I would not be surprised if SC and M3 bunch, maybe even EZ, have something out by Christmas. just have to wait and see.


----------



## yee (Oct 17, 2006)

Great review Shaunj!

Haha, I wouldn't be surprised to see people using M3/SC/EZ4/G6 along side the DS-X because of the space


----------



## Sors (Oct 17, 2006)

the DS-X kinda convinces me 

i love the option to play single card multiplayer without having to fear it won't run, thats in fact the major letdown on my M3 for me

the skinning features also seem very nice, is there a online documentation somewhere about it? (a reference like one? ^^)

the only thing i will look for until i decide to buy this sweety is the service of the DS-X team about frequent firmware upgrades and such ^^


----------



## shaunj66 (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(mars77 @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> QUOTE(laguerzinho @ Oct 17 2006 said:
> 
> 
> > Yes it does, you trimmed the roms before dropin´ them.
> ...


People are either happy or not happy with 512MB of space. If you're not happy with it then the DS-Xtreme isn't for you! I don't see why people have to keep bitching about it. We'll just have to wait and see if the DS-Xtreme team come out with a larger size card or one with micro SD support. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




About the flashed DS - this was covered in the review, it works just fine, and appears in the DS main menu just as a normal game would. Single cart multiplayer works between any kind of flashed/unflashed DS/DS Lite combination. Wi-Fi also works fine.

SNES was covered too - SNEmulDS works, Snezzi does not. Moonshell also works.

People! Read the review before posting comments.


----------



## webez (Oct 17, 2006)

Could you try some gbfs/romdsikfs homebrew like hexen, heretic, snesDS, nesterDS, DSMS, flashback (gpf one) or some like that to know what compatibility we can expect in the future for that? Thanks

Edit: I ask because Snezzi DS works in a similar way and it's the only one that hasn't worked (the other ones used fat)


----------



## Paralel (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(scrawl @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> QUOTE(Paralel @ Oct 17 2006 said:
> 
> 
> > I can't imagine that a few more MBits of EEPROM would have cost that much to include,
> ...


But how does this solve the problem if there is only physically 2Mbits total?


----------



## g.crow (Oct 17, 2006)

do i get this right: you have to select the card via the ds menu, it is not able to boot directly to the card?

another thing i dont understand why you claim 99% ds rom compatiblity when you have tested like 30 roms and one doesnt work (that would be 3% of the roms you tested, and maybe some or a lot of other dont work, too).
i understand that you cant test all the roms, but you cant say it is 99%, because its only 97% of the "few" (5% of all roms out) roms you have tested.
or am i getting something wrong?

when the card is able to boot directly, the pokemon and m3 problem is fixed within this week i will get one, not that you think i want to bash or something.

greetings, mars


----------



## kazumi213 (Oct 17, 2006)

Just my modest opinion, but many of the posters here complaining on the limited storage capacity for their own video and music DS experience, homebrew incompatibilities, and no GBA support should buy a laptop instead of a DS flashkit. Most important feature for a DS flashkit is flawless DS ROM support. DS-X is near this with a simple yet elegant solution. The rest of features are "nice to have" ones. And remember, its price is always cheaper than 10 of the hundreds of titles to come.


----------



## shaunj66 (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(mars77 @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> do i get this right: you have to select the card via the ds menu, it is not able to boot directly to the card?
> Yes that's right. But all Nintendo DS's have the ability to boot straight to the DS slot and skip the menu. If you had taken the time to research it you would have known that this option can be found in your main DS settings under start-up mode.
> 
> 
> ...


Compatibility isn't just what boots, it's how it works and performs. Many flash kits out there may support many of the games - but may still have problems within the game such as slow down or sound/video issues, or some sections not working. The DS-Xtreme worked just fine throughout as much of the game as we could test on the games that did work.

We are continuing to test compatibility and so far have not had any more problems other than the new Pokémon.

The card can boot up directly. But we'll just have to wait and see if the DS-X team release a firmware update that fixes any of the current problems found in our review! Time will tell, keep an eye on the portal for the update.


----------



## g.crow (Oct 17, 2006)

thx shaun for being helpful.

one last (...) question : in your video review (thx for that) when you try to show the music playback, you hit the button quite a few times and it doesnt seem to respond very well. whys that?

also it seems slow to me, when you choose an option in the main menu it seems to hang for quite a "long" time. is that so?

mars


----------



## stinkingbob (Oct 17, 2006)

I can't believe how many people are griping about the size of the ds-X!!  How many games do you want to put on it anyways? Do you guys really play 10 games at one time? Of course not.  Stop bitching about it.  The ds-X extreme covers just about everything users would need in a flashcart, with the most important being compatibility.
And with a price of about $125, that is not bad at all for what it offers.


----------



## accolon (Oct 17, 2006)

shaunj66 said:
			
		

> One of the biggest differences is that DS-X, unlike the majority of other flash kit companies did not originate and are not based in China or Taiwan.



Does anybody know where the company is from? I read this whole thread and looked at their website, but all I could find out is that their domain is registered on a guy from China.


----------



## g.crow (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(accolon @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> shaunj66 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



t think its from germany (could explain the price too, everything here is damn expensive) or around, like luxemburg.

mars


----------



## shaunj66 (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(mars77 @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> thx shaun for being helpful.
> 
> one last (...) question : in your video review (thx for that) when you try to show the music playback, you hit the button quite a few times and it doesnt seem to respond very well. whys that?
> 
> ...


I could tell you but I'd get told off!  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 You're wrong though. Heheh.


----------



## AshuraZro (Oct 17, 2006)

Out of curiosity, is there a place where I can grab the included skin files to have a looksie?

EDIT
My bad.


----------



## Costello (Oct 17, 2006)

I was actually supposed to double-clik (well double-tap) but I forgot about that. And yeh it was difficult to hold the laughter 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




About compatibility, we have tried the main commercial games, the most important ones, the ones everyone wants to play. PLUS a bunch of random games. PLUS all the games that caused trouble on other linkers. PLUS a bunch of the best homebrew. Why do you think it took us so much time (almost 1 complete day) to write the review?
We were told that compatibility was 100%, I assume they have tested quite a few games themselves already. We did a good effort testing so many games and eventually found out a contradiction. I can tell you it is quite boring to run dozens of game and tick boxes "Working, working, working, working, working, working..." so we're pretty lucky we found a non working game!
It seems that the DS-X team have come up with a solution that lets you boot backups considered as real games by the nintendo DS. The only non working game is Pokémon Diamond but that is most probably because the save chip on the PKM carts is 4 Mbits while the eeprom chip on the DS-Xteme is 2 Mbits. EVERY other game has absolutely no reason to be troublesome. There is no other 4mbits eeprom game at the moment 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



This is why I can safely say that compatibility is 99.9%. Prove me wrong! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	






			
				QUOTE said:
			
		

> Out of curiosity, is there a place where I can grab the included skin files to have a looksie?


It's been on the front page since yesterday...........
http://www.gbatemp.net/shaunj66/skin.rar

Anyway if any of you have the least doubt about our rating, then remember this:
- we already own every flash kit
- we have reviewed them all
- our favorite IS the DS-Xtreme, by far, and this is not just subjective, this judgement is based on facts
- the rating is also based on the previous ratings. The G6 Lite had received a nice 9/10 mark. And according to us, the DS-Xtreme is better than the G6 Lite. So it deserves a higher rating.
If you still have any problem regarding the rating then fine, buy all flashkits, do an extensive review for each product and tell us what you think


----------



## SectionX (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Costello @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> I was actually supposed to double-clik (well double-tap) but I forgot about that. And yeh it was difficult to hold the laughter
> 
> 
> 
> ...



so yeah what happens if more games will use 4 Mbits of eeprom in future as well? Hopefully there is a solution for this stuff. Especially if all Nintendo future games will use it.


----------



## Costello (Oct 17, 2006)

It has already been said before, and it's also mentionned in the review: the DS-Xtreme has dynamic size for eeprom! It has 2 Mbits of physical memory and can have theoretically unlimited virtual eeprom memory (like in Windows, physical and virtual memory). The next firmware will fix the Pokémon problem and thus probably every problem of the sort.


----------



## g.crow (Oct 17, 2006)

any retailer shipping FROM germany besides divineo.de? divineo germany sucks big times.

mars


----------



## SectionX (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Costello @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> It has already been said before, and it's also mentionned in the review: the DS-Xtreme has dynamic size for eeprom! It has 2 Mbits of physical memory and can have theoretically unlimited virtual eeprom memory (like in Windows, physical and virtual memory). The next firmware will fix the Pokémon problem and thus probably every problem of the sort.



nice, then I dont see any problems at all. People should really stop complaining.


----------



## Alexeh (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE said:
			
		

> Anyways is it possible to insert that small SD card with the USB connector on top of it??



Was talking about this little thingy:


----------



## tama_mog (Oct 17, 2006)

I like everything I'm seeing and reading from the review.  Nice one guys.  I am a bit skeptical about pulling virtual memory to accommodate for > 2mbit saves....especially the way it saves right now when it boots back to the main menu to write the save file....might not be as straight forward as people think.    Everything else looks gorgeous though for NDS roms and homebrew....the passme is a plus as well.  The limited space is perfect already for nds roms but the real concern is for homebrew....ex:  mp3s take up quite a bit of space using moonshell as do videos.  I look forward to the nextgen product incorporating these concepts along with the support for transflash myself....but kudos to the ds-x team and the gbatemp guys for the review.


----------



## lennonguru (Oct 17, 2006)

i bought one after reading the review, thanks for the info guys!


----------



## Arm73 (Oct 17, 2006)

I did read the review and it's quite impressive. No flashcart to date has ever achieved this level of completeness and breack-trough features and got them right from day 1.
I don't want to sound like the most scheptical users, but obviously the high price and the limited amount of memory are the biggest cons. I personally would forgive the steep price in favor of an higher storage capacity, like the option to stick a micro in there for example. 
I can say from experience, that even if you think that you have enough storage capacity now( and let's face it , 512MB ain't even that much right now for most of us) in pratically no time you'll feel outdated. 
I remember when I got my Flash 2 Advance 256Mb pro a few years back and I thought that I had a lot of space.......now there are single GBA games bigger than that ! 
I mean without the option to upgrade the memory, I would not commit to buy anything these days.
But I'll be whatching this product for future updates.


----------



## SectionX (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(ARM73 @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> I did read the review and it's quite impressive. No flashcart to date has ever achieved this level of completeness and breack-trough features and got them right from day 1.
> I don't want to sound like the most scheptical users, but obviously the high price and the limited amount of memory are the biggest cons. I personally would forgive the steep price in favor of an higher storage capacity, like the option to stick a micro in there for example.
> I can say from experience, that even if you think that you have enough storage capacity now( and let's face it , 512MB ain't even that much right now for most of us) in pratically no time you'll feel outdated.
> I remember when I got my Flash 2 Advance 256Mb pro a few years back and I thought that I had a lot of space.......now there are single GBA games bigger than that !
> ...



slow down son...you got a 256mb card. This card is 4096mb. 16 times the space.


----------



## zragnarok (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(SectionX @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> QUOTE(ARM73 @ Oct 17 2006 said:
> 
> 
> > I did read the review and it's quite impressive. No flashcart to date has ever achieved this level of completeness and breack-trough features and got them right from day 1.
> ...




yeah but FF3, Pokemon P/D and a whole slew of newer games are starting to reach the 1024/2048mb mark.  what if a year from now, pokemon rainbow or whatever is 4096mbit?  that basically just renders this card obsolete... games will only get bigger


----------



## SectionX (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(zragnarok @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> QUOTE(SectionX @ Oct 17 2006 said:
> 
> 
> > QUOTE(ARM73 @ Oct 17 2006 said:
> ...



seriously the biggest game today is 1gb, I don't think the DS is going to reach 4gb anytime soon. The larger cards today have a problem with loading times. And if there is a game that will be 4gb, you can play it since it's what this card offer. I NEVER think that there will be a DS game that exceeds 4gb.


----------



## Paralel (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Costello @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> It has already been said before, and it's also mentionned in the review: the DS-Xtreme has dynamic size for eeprom! It has 2 Mbits of physical memory and can have theoretically unlimited virtual eeprom memory (like in Windows, physical and virtual memory). The next firmware will fix the Pokémon problem and thus probably every problem of the sort.


The problem is that we can't know if this virtual memory solution will always work and might require firmware updates in the future to make it function with certain games which would make it more or less just like the other solutions on the market that require patching.

Also, the virtual EEPROM memory will most likely be taken from the embedded flash, which might cause slowdown or other unknown issues.

I would imagine that future clones will "remedy" this issue by including more than 2 Mbits of physical EEPROM in the cart in order to prevent the need for any kind of workarounds (if they were smart they would include 8 or 16 just to be future proof since it's hard to say how large savegames might be in future NDS releases).


----------



## MR_COW (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(zragnarok @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> yeah but FF3, Pokemon P/D and a whole slew of newer games are starting to reach the 1024/2048mb mark.Â what if a year from now, pokemon rainbow or whatever is 4096mbit?Â that basically just renders this card obsolete... games will only get bigger



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS_Game_Cards

Games will never go over 1Gb. That is the maximum.


----------



## XmemphistoX (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(ARM73 @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> I did read the review and it's quite impressive. No flashcart to date has ever achieved this level of completeness and breack-trough features and got them right from day 1.
> I don't want to sound like the most scheptical users, but obviously the high price and the limited amount of memory are the biggest cons. I personally would forgive the steep price in favor of an higher storage capacity, like the option to stick a micro in there for example.
> I can say from experience, that even if you think that you have enough storage capacity now( and let's face it , 512MB ain't even that much right now for most of us) in pratically no time you'll feel outdated.
> I remember when I got my Flash 2 Advance 256Mb pro a few years back and I thought that I had a lot of space.......now there are single GBA games bigger than that !
> ...




I think Kingdom Hearts is the only game that is 256 mbit.  I could be wrong though.  I believe that is the largest game and not exceeding your cart.


----------



## Cyan (Oct 17, 2006)

Thank you for the review 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



I still had a few questions, and some of them got answered.


I was wondering about save compatibility from other flashcards as it is compressed, but you already answered that you don't know.
I'll just wait and see.



The next thing is with a flashme DS, you already answered too, but not completly.
Considering this : The DS is in autorun mode, and the DS-Xtrem is working like a passme if we press Select at boot time. 
With Flashme installed, using Select button it the way to not use flashme. What would happen if there is a flashcart (G6 for exemple) on slot2 in the same time ?

Without Select button, which one is running ? G6 or Xtrem ?
And Without Select ?
Do we need to unplug the DS Flashcart to run the DS-Xtrem, or just use the DS in no autorun mode ?


Thank you for any answer you can give.


----------



## Xenocide (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Alexeh @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> QUOTE said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



GBA roms sorted by size

Not quite true. Certainly there are none any larger. But while there's only a few GBA games up against the limit worth playing, there were several GBC games that wound up pushing against the limits.  Probably because it was pushing the same technology for too long -- space was getting cheaper and developers were coming up with more ways to use it.  And there's already a few that hit the limit on the DS!  But I doubt we'll see the revival of MBC tech.  With a 4Gb cart, there's no problems to worry about whether the image fits after you subtract space for the bootloader, etc, because as has already been mentioned, DS carts top out at 1Gb.  

The saver, on the other hand, may be problematic.  Hopefully timing won't be important and they can do their idea of virtual EEPROM.


----------



## DeMoN (Oct 17, 2006)

I have two questions that I don't think have been answered.

1. Does the DS-X work with the Action Replay DS or the AR Max Drive?
2. Is there anyway to get saves from real game cartridges to the DS-X? In other words, is there anyway to convert .dst/.duc saves to .sav so it'll work on the DS-X?


----------



## ChaosTheorySD (Oct 17, 2006)

I think the idea that only Pokemon won't work is because it's the only game with a particular save type or something, so that's why it doesn't work. They're going by the assumption that the save type is the only thing keeping it from working, so all the other games should be fine.

I don't know if that is in fact a correct statistic, but I believe that's the reasoning behind it anyway.


----------



## Moneo (Oct 17, 2006)

A minor question, are the contacts (on the DS side of the thing, not the mini-usb connector) gold-plated, like the original cartridges?


----------



## Devante (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Xenocide @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> GBA roms sorted by size
> 
> Not quite true. Certainly there are none any larger. But while there's only a few GBA games up against the limit worth playing, there were several GBC games that wound up pushing against the limits.Â Probably because it was pushing the same technology for too long -- space was getting cheaper and developers were coming up with more ways to use it.Â And there's already a few that hit the limit on the DS!Â But I doubt we'll see the revival of MBC tech.Â With a 4Gb cart, there's no problems to worry about whether the image fits after you subtract space for the bootloader, etc, because as has already been mentioned, DS carts top out at 1Gb.Â
> 
> The saver, on the other hand, may be problematic.Â Hopefully timing won't be important and they can do their idea of virtual EEPROM.




If I am not mistaken, didn't they figure out a way to pass the official limit of GBC games near the end of its lifecycle?
I seem to remember them putting out an official size (much like Nintendo stated 256Mbit was the largest for GBA) but then figured out a way to redirect something to have even more space for games.

I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about.


----------



## SectionX (Oct 17, 2006)

QUOTE(ChaosTheorySD @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> I think the idea that only Pokemon won't work is because it's the only game with a particular save type or something, so that's why it doesn't work. They're going by the assumption that the save type is the only thing keeping it from working, so all the other games should be fine.
> 
> I don't know if that is in fact a correct statistic, but I believe that's the reasoning behind it anyway.



it's been said 20 times in this thread already.


----------



## yee (Oct 18, 2006)

How did you guys get nesDS working?

A buddy of mine got a review kit for MobileMagazine, but he can't seem to get it working, haha.

I told him to try renaming it to .NDS extension, but still doesn't work he says.


----------



## shaunj66 (Oct 18, 2006)

QUOTE(DeMoNSTaR @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> I have two questions that I don't think have been answered.
> 
> 1. Does the DS-X work with the Action Replay DS or the AR Max Drive?
> 2. Is there anyway to get saves from real game cartridges to the DS-X? In other words, is there anyway to convert .dst/.duc saves to .sav so it'll work on the DS-X?


1. We are receiving a sample copy of the new slot 1 Action Replay DS soon so we can test compatibility.
2. I've already answered this before. As the DS-Xtreme compresses saves it may only be able to read saves compressed by its own method and not other save types - but we need to test this.


----------



## Costello (Oct 18, 2006)

QUOTE(yee @ Oct 18 2006 said:


> How did you guys get nesDS working?
> 
> A buddy of mine got a review kit for MobileMagazine, but he can't seem to get it working, haha.
> 
> I told him to try renaming it to .NDS extension, but still doesn't work he says.


I can confirm we got NesDS working!
here are the pics prooving it:
http://gbatemp.net/up/nesds.rar

just use NesDS as it says in the readme file:
1) Download ndstool.exe (the url is given in the readme)
2) put ndstool in the same folder as nesDS.exe
3) dont run nesDS.exe, but instead run make_nds.bat
4) add games then save the rom (as a .Ds.gba file) and the program will save both a .ds.gba game and a .nds game.
5) put the .nds file on the cart and run it.

thats exactly the same thing for all other flashcarts using .nds files... readme files are useful sometimes


----------



## Arm73 (Oct 18, 2006)

QUOTE(SectionX @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> QUOTE(ARM73 @ Oct 17 2006 said:
> 
> 
> > I did read the review and it's quite impressive. No flashcart to date has ever achieved this level of completeness and breack-trough features and got them right from day 1.
> ...



Exuse me, don't tell me to slow down, and stop commenting on things you don't know about.
I don't use a F2A anymore, I 've got an M3 and a SC plus a semi-working MK3 somewhere.
The point I was making is that even though 5 years ago 256Mb seemed to be a lot of space(or an adequate space at least) I found out later on that it wasn't just enough for me.
In fact today, some of the largeast ROMs would barely fit in there and I don't even know if things like Pogoshell or any other saver management/patcher would be possible to store at the same time with such a game.
That's why even though I 'd love to get a DS - X because it's probably the best cart out there, my mind tells me to stay away from unexpandible solution, and that's because of the experience I had before.
The DS-X is beautiful never the less, and I would buy it right away if I hadn't 3 or 4 flash kits already and my 2 DSL wheren't flashd already.


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## Mariodood (Oct 18, 2006)

Eh, the only thing that really impresses me about this card is that you can download from it without flashing the DS. I mean, they crammed a lot in there, but the memory is just too small. As long as you're going to be paying 120+ dollars for this, I mean, it might as well be pretty damn good. That's almost as much as a DS Lite! Right now I have an M3 with music, DS and GBA games on it, takes up over a gig..so I think it'd be best to wait for another. Another thing I really like about this is that it's not some crap-made Taiwan flash cart. Engrish really gets to me, and so do flimsy parts.


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## x_comp (Oct 18, 2006)

Just a suggestion but, maybe you guys should test the two new DS ROMs on the card since the two main flash carts have some tiny problems running them. That should give people a little more idea about what the compatibility's like


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## stinkingbob (Oct 18, 2006)

To arm73 and all the other "512Mb is not enough" people:

I respect your opinion and your belief about wanting more and more memory so you can fit 50 games on a flashcart. But for the regular people where 2-4 games will suffice, like myself, we are content with the ds-Xtreme.  If you don't like it, don't buy it. Your choice.
Just do not keep repeating the same thing over and over again. We get the picture. You want more than 512Mb. We understand. Stick with your gba cart and passme to play your 50 NDS games on a cart. We will do just fine with only 1 Xtreme and 4 games.
B.

Moderators, please edit out text  from those who keep on griping about how 512Mb is not enough lest this turns into a flame war.


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## GLiTcH (Oct 18, 2006)

i want at least 10 games .. lol . j/k


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## VVoltz (Oct 18, 2006)

Hi there guys, I think you review is kinda biased, thats the truth. But it seems that the little DS-X really works as it should, I'm ordering a pair tomorrow.

THanks a lot for the info guys!


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## yee (Oct 18, 2006)

QUOTE(stinkingbob @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> To arm73 and all the other "512Mb is not enough" people:
> 
> I respect your opinion and your belief about wanting more and more memory so you can fit 50 games on a flashcart. But for the regular people where 2-4 games will suffice, like myself, we are content with the ds-Xtreme.Â If you don't like it, don't buy it. Your choice.
> Just do not keep repeating the same thing over and over again. We get the picture. You want more than 512Mb. We understand. Stick with your gba cart and passme to play your 50 NDS games on a cart. We will do just fine with only 1 Xtreme and 4 games.
> ...



Well, the DS-Xtreme, can probably fit around a dozen or more DS games of various sizes. (I've managed to fit about more than 2 dozen games on my 1GB SD card with my M3).

So I don't get why all these people keep complaining, although I do see a reason if they're using it also for videos.


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## Costello (Oct 18, 2006)

QUOTE(VVoltz @ Oct 18 2006 said:


> Hi there guys, I think you review is kinda biased, thats the truth. But it seems that the little DS-X really works as it should, I'm ordering a pair tomorrow.
> 
> THanks a lot for the info guys!
> 
> ...


Of course we cannot edit people's post. They have the right to think and to say that 512 MB is not enough. The DS-X team does read GBAtemp and perhaps it will make them realize that a lot of people actually want a bigger version or a version with removable media. Removing this kind of comments would be on the contrary an act of "bias" don't you think?


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## Arm73 (Oct 18, 2006)

Fair enough.


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## ften (Oct 18, 2006)

I see that the DS-X has good homebrew compatibility, but is there any noticeable speed difference between the slot 1 and the GBA slot flash when running say SNEmulDS, Moonshell, DS Organize, Etc... As the Slot 1 has a slower read write access time. Although this could be totally off base and a stupid question, but then I’ll have learned something.

-FTen


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## shinshoku (Oct 18, 2006)

Does DS-Extreme are able to run GBA games? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




; 
sorry I can't find any information for it...


edit: correction (GBA support)


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## RexNebular (Oct 18, 2006)

No slot 1 device can support GBA since GBA mode can't access slot 1 and you can't run GBA without being in GBA mode.


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## t0m1th3 (Oct 18, 2006)

Any report on battery life yet?


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## nitrolewis (Oct 18, 2006)

yeah if battery life is good i will buy ds-x


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## g.crow (Oct 18, 2006)

could one of the reviewers check out if trimmed roms do work?
yeah, why they should not work, but could you get sure?
thanks in advance

mars


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## shaunj66 (Oct 18, 2006)

QUOTE(mars77 @ Oct 18 2006 said:


> could one of the reviewers check out if trimmed roms do work?
> yeah, why they should not work, but could you get sure?
> thanks in advance
> 
> mars


We've already confirmed that trimmed ROMs work!


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## 5uck3rpunch (Oct 18, 2006)

shaun, one question I do have is:

In the screenshots I see a cool little graphic for each game.  Do you, as a user, have to add them or does the cart pick them up from each ROM in the cart somewhow?



One other thing too:

Was is easy to skin this thing & what did you use to do it?

Thanx in advance Chief!


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## shaunj66 (Oct 18, 2006)

QUOTE(5uck3rpunch @ Oct 18 2006 said:


> shaun, one question I do have is:
> 
> In the screenshots I see a cool little graphic for each game.Â Do you, as a user, have to add them or does the cart pick them up from each ROM in the cart somewhow?
> 
> ...


I wouldn't say it was easy unless you know a lot of XML and javascript... It's not just as easy as editing a BMP background file... Because the skinning engine is very advanced - you can do pratically anything you want with it. Hopefully will show you guys some samples soon.


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## Cyan (Oct 18, 2006)

I looked at the DSXtreme forum, in the FAQ :

Q: Is the DS-Xtreme OS / Firmware upgradable?
A: Yes! And the best part is that its DEAD EASY and SAFE to do it


Do you already know how the firmware upgrade will work ?
just a binary to run in DS mode ?
Or like the skin, if present in the root directory it'll be used, to avoid any malware or official games to delete it ?


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## shaunj66 (Oct 18, 2006)

QUOTE(Cyan @ Oct 18 2006 said:


> I looked at the DSXtrem forum, in the FAQ :
> 
> Q: Is the DS-Xtreme OS / Firmware upgradable?
> A: Yes! And the best part is that its DEAD EASY and SAFE to do it
> ...


They haven't released details yet. Current units sent to reviewers like ourselves have to be updated by dragging an 'os.sys' over to the root and doing a button combo on the DS-Xtreme.

I've heard rumblings that the real upgrade process for end-users will be very simple. They plan to just code an excutable for every OS (Windows, Linux, Mac etc.) that you run and it does the rest.


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## 5uck3rpunch (Oct 18, 2006)

Thanx shaun!  You rule!


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## Izeman (Oct 19, 2006)

QUOTE(adgloride @ Oct 17 2006 said:


> The only other little thing is the fact it has to boot up to the DS menu, then you need to select the card to boot it up.  A shame they never put some sort of fast booting on it, maybe this will come in the next firmware update.


Hmm...Are you aware that you can edit NDS settings so that it automatically runs whatever card it's in slot-1 when you power the console up?
There's no need to add fast boot to the DS-X; it's just a matter of reading the manual of your DS unit


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## stinkingbob (Oct 19, 2006)

Costello posted:

"Of course we cannot edit people's post. They have the right to think and to say that 512 MB is not enough. The DS-X team does read GBAtemp and perhaps it will make them realize that a lot of people actually want a bigger version or a version with removable media. Removing this kind of comments would be on the contrary an act of "bias" don't you think?"


My response:

Well,  you actually have the ability to edit posts. In fact,  when people inquire about where to obtain Roms or they list a link to where commercial Roms can be downloaded, you edit those posts and/or lock them. According to your argument,  such posts should be allowed. Am I not correct? I don't want to get into a flamewar over censorship. My point, and I am sure everyone else agrees, was that I was sick and tired of seeing people complain over and over and over and over and over and over about why they didn't like the XTreme because of its limited memory capacity.
Now, those individuals could have easily went to *the* site (the ds-X site) and posted
their gripes there. That would be more appropriate, don't you think?  You go direct to the source, because the Xtreme people will check their boards first before anything else. That is the point I was trying to make.

To arm73 and others: I apologize to you all if my comments didn't come across very nicely. Its just that I was really excited about reading the Xtreme review, but when people started complaining about the limited memory(which he dsX team made known months ago so it shouldn't have been a surprise), and that costello or shaun77 were biased towards Xtreme or that they weren't going to buy it, etc, that got me mad.

Oh, and btw, great job on the XRom GUI interface Costello. Excellent work! I have been meaning to tell you that.
B.


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## deathspawn999 (Oct 19, 2006)

they have to edit/delete/lock posts about roms because that shit is illegal and they will get shut down, not because they want to stop discussion. stop being an idiot; read the terms of use.


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## stinkingbob (Oct 19, 2006)

Ok deathspawn. 
I know you are mentally challenged, so I won't hold that against you. Let me explain it to you in terms a 2 year old could understand. Well, maybe that might be a little hard for you. Let me explain it so that a dog can understand it.
1) Costello said that he could not edit posts. Understand that? If not, stop me. Now, I was pointing out that yes, they can and have done so in the past when people have written things that they should not have. Hope I didn't lose you at this point.
2) I am aware of the terms and conditions. Wait, those words might be to big for you. Let me try again. I am aware of the good things and bad things that I am able to post.  I was making an argument  (albeit facetious-> don't worry about that word), that if he is against editing out posts, therefore, people who want to talk about where to get roms should be allowed to.
3) I would appreciate it if you do not call me nor anyone else names. That was not necessary. You can make a point, but you do not have to go past the line.
You see deathspawn, its comments like yours that force me to write comments like this post to defend myself. 
Bob


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## deathspawn999 (Oct 19, 2006)

right, except you are assuming i am mentally challenged, which just like your other post, is wrong.

you said yourself that your arguement was facetious, i called you out on it, and you get defensive. you claim that my comment about you being an idiot was not necessary, how the hell is your comment about me being mentally challenged, and then your downspeak to me any better? 

you are the one with a problem, not anyone else. you are wrong, and just trying to stir up trouble. you know the answer to your loaded question anyways, and yet you ask it. let. it. go.


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## Hypnotoad (Oct 19, 2006)

This thread cracks me up.


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## sylver78 (Oct 19, 2006)

Haha deathspawn999 is a winner !
I guess he can't even understand why he's wrong, I'm afraid that we can't do anything for him ...

Now to go back on the topic, the DS-X seems to be a great product with great support, so I'm pretty sure that they will release (sooner or later) some new hardware with some better things to fills all needs (more flash, microSD card reader ...). Just be patient 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 (or wait for the AceKard 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




)


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## jpxdude (Oct 19, 2006)

I got to agree with the above: deathspawn999, a winner is you!

The DS-X looks nice, good review by the way, but i'm also a little excited about the acekard.  If it came down to it and the acekard worked well and is cheap enough, I would grab one.

Although it's been talked about nearer the start of the topic, for backup's, the storage capacity is fair at best, you can't go wrong with 512MB as of yet, but for some homebrew, (e.g Scumm with talkie versions) and MP3's which is one of its main functions complete with its flashy lights, the 512MB is quite sparse if you wanted the convenience of having a combo of backups, homebrew and music.  

I really like the O/S and the lights are nice, but as with the M3, these are things I could do without for speedier access into homebrew apps, and backups.  My biggest gripe is the price which is way too high for something that probably cost the developers a fraction of what they charge to manufacture.  One word = extortionate.  What is funny is you can get a slot-2 solution that will do everything this can do for nearly half the price :-/ e.g, £20-£30 for a supercard + £10 Passcard device (if you do not flash your device), £10 1gb SD hmm...£30-£50 vs £70-£80 for a DS-X?

Maybe i'm being picky, but the extra convenience of an expandable storage medium is a nice prospect for the acekard.  Lets see if that lives up to its promises!  Anyone here have any ideas of a release date?


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## Costello (Oct 19, 2006)

when I mean "I cannot edit" I mean we are not going to do it! of course we can technically edit posts 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



but we're not going to remove messages of people posting their opinion on the DSxtreme! if you can't post your opinion, then what can you post?
There could be 1, 10 or 1000 members saying "512 MB is not enough"... in that last case I suppose the DS-X team would seriously begin to consider making a bigger cart or a cart with removable media.


Concerning battery life, we have performed 1 test so far.
Here is the context:
- DS Fat
- Full brightness (on a DS fat)
- DSxtreme LEDs at medium power
- Sound at maximum
- Looping on Metroid Prime Hunters intro video sequence

Test started at 18:54pm, DS died around 1:00am.

We will perform further tests using a DS Lite, and different games too.
The metroid video intro requires a lot of read access on the cart.


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## Kosmo (Oct 19, 2006)

So for about 40 more bucks, we can get this instead of a G6? Why do LED lights turn everyone on so much?


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## Monkey01 (Oct 19, 2006)

QUOTE(Kosmo @ Oct 19 2006 said:


> So for about 40 more bucks, we can get this instead of a G6? Why do LED lights turn everyone on so much?


Dude, it's nothing like a G6 with LED's.

It's a slot1 cartridge: If you have both a DS Lite and a DS Phat it'll fit prefectly in both.
Single card multiplay works.


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## g.crow (Oct 19, 2006)

is pokemon and m3 booting fixed already?

mars


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## PURPLEMUSTANG (Oct 19, 2006)

does the ds-xtreme have a trim rom option?


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## stinkingbob (Oct 19, 2006)

Hi guys!
This will be the last post in response to deathspawns commentary. I am going to try to explain things to him as clearly as possible. 
To begin, here is his original message to me:

************
they have to edit/delete/lock posts about roms because that shit is illegal and they will get shut down, not because they want to stop discussion. stop being an idiot; read the terms of use.

*************

I responded back sarcastically and this is his follow-up post:
*************
Right, except you are assuming i am mentally challenged, which just like your other post, is wrong.

you said yourself that your arguement was facetious, i called you out on it, and you get defensive. you claim that my comment about you being an idiot was not necessary, how the hell is your comment about me being mentally challenged, and then your downspeak to me any better?

you are the one with a problem, not anyone else. you are wrong, and just trying to stir up trouble. you know the answer to your loaded question anyways, and yet you ask it. let. it. go.
************
Now, Deathspawn, I appreciated your comment about the editing of posts. I had no problem with that. But, what I did take offense to was when you referred to me as an idiot. That was unnecessary. Disagree with me. That is fine. Criticize me. That is fine. Name calling. That is not fine. So, in response to that, I wrote you a sarcastic post, in which I referred to you as mentally challenged.  You seem like an intelligent person, but you let your emotions dictate how you react in different situations. So, with that said, I want to go through what you wrote and I want you to clarify things for me. If I am wrong, I will most certainly apologize to you.
1) You stated that in my other posts, I wrote things that were incorrect. Can you tell me what they are (and since I believe you are intelligent, don't include that one).
2) If you are discussing something with someone and that person calls you an idiot, wouldn't you be on the defensive as well? 
3) You stated that I am wrong and that I am trying to stir up trouble. Please explain this to me. Please do not refer to my previous post to you. As I stated earlier, that was in response to you calling me an idiot. Pls cite examples from other posts I have made in which you believe I was wrong in some way and that I was trying to stir up trouble.
4) What was the loaded question I asked which you claim I knew the answer to?

I await your response deathspawn.
Bob


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## stinkingbob (Oct 19, 2006)

I see many posts about the cost of the Ds-X being expensive.  But take a look at what you are getting:
1) a slot 1 only device. No more passme or flashing the bios of the DS. No more flashing a gba cart. No funny things sticking out of your DS(the big passme), near 100%
compatibility of games, meaning you don't have to wait for them to issue a patch so that you can play a game. Drag and drop. Mac friendly.

But wait! There's more!
2)great customer service support. I don't kow of any other dev developer that has a website with forums, that will answer questions quickly, is in contact with its customer
and does not manufacture cheap quality products 

But wait! There's more
3)The OS for the Xtreme is awesome and very simple to use. As a bonus, they have included a build in MP3 player with flashing lights. Plus, you have customizable skins.

These 3 things alone justify the price of $124. No other company can claim the above. The Xtreme is the first Slot 1 solution out on the market. Now, just like anything new, it will be a little expensive, but as time goes by and there is competition and improvements ae made, the price will drop. Remember the first VCR's that came out? THose suckers weighed 20lbs and cost between $500 - $1000. Now, you can get them for $40 and they are tiny.

When people say that it is cheaper to go with another solution that uses mini SD or SD cards, let me ask you this:
1)Does the price you paid for the flash cart + the price for the passme + the price of the SD or mini SD card  cost more than the DS-Xtreme? Last time, I checked, a 1GB SD card was around $45. 
2)No one has answered this question so far: Realistically, why would you want to put
dozens of games on a cart at one time? Don't you think it better to a few games on, play them, erase them, then put on more.

The aceKard shows promise, but until it comes out officially and until it can be tested, we just don't know how compatible it will be to back-ups and homebrew. If you want a slot 1 only solution, get the Xtreme. If you are satisfied with what you have, stick with it until something better comes out on the market(which it should in the near future).
B.


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## deathspawn999 (Oct 19, 2006)

purple, yes trim roms work. read the review GBAtemp posted; it says so in their.


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## lagman (Oct 19, 2006)

Does VCRs really cost +$500 once? X_x


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## Purple (Oct 19, 2006)

Bob you really should have left it.

It's obvious what the loaded question was.  If you can't tell the difference between asking for something illegal (which if allowed would put the site at risk) & stating an opinion then IMHO you really are an idiot.

Yes it is annoying people going on & on & on about the capacity, the price & the Non GBA compatability. But Bob there was no need to suggest that the posts get edited and getting facetious to well respected forum staff members is not going to make you popular with the other forum visitors. 

Incidentally I used to frequent a popular Pinball forum where certain staff members started editing/deleting peoples opinions, some people that have been around on the emu scene for a while may well remember the time when hell broke loose on the internet all because of pinball.  Trust me, you don't want shit like that going down here.

and besides deathspawn 'pwned you' with his response to your previous post - Take it like a man!

And as for the whingers please do quit it! we are pissed of with reading the same redundant, retarded comments over and over..

Where the fuck were y'all when we were paying nearly £100 (read UK pounds not US dollars) for 256 mega_bit_ GBA carts?  Still in nappies from the looks of some of the posts.

And the fanboys that keep asking why is this better than [insert Slot 2 card here], if you can't read or are to dumb/stupid to understand the benefits then this card is not for you, you will probably not make use of the advance features this card has to offer.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Bottom line: if you do not want this card for what ever reason then don't buy it! simple. Just don't go on & on about it here, your not saying anything new, your not saying anything valid, your not saying anything useful. STFU!!!  

Lastly, for the posters making comments about the usefulness of the LEDs - Have you thought that they may be an integral part of the USB debbugging feature?


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## deathspawn999 (Oct 19, 2006)

brilliant post purple.


you did see that trimmed roms work right?


not sure if the leds are part of the usb debugging thing or not, and it doesnt mater. its a neato feature that you can turn off if you dont want it.


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## shaunj66 (Oct 19, 2006)

I remember when I paid around £130 for my good old trusty Visoly 128Mbit (16 MEGABYTE) GBA cart and parallel linker.

Ah good times!


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## FFS (Oct 19, 2006)

Ok, I know I am flogging a dead horse here, and I also know that I am a complete whelp to this forum as I rarely open my mouth. But I just have to say, that as someone who is considering buying the DS X-treme, I was VERY surprised that GBA compatibility wasn't even mentioned, and wasn't taken into account in the rating system. Certainly it looks like a quality product, but the fact that other options are compatible with GBA roms should have at least knocked a point off the final score. ESPECIALLY from a place called GBAtemp.net!!!

That said, I love the site... I was just surprised.


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## shaunj66 (Oct 19, 2006)

QUOTE(FFS @ Oct 19 2006 said:


> Ok, I know I am flogging a dead horse here, and I also know that I am a complete whelp to this forum as I rarely open my mouth. But I just have to say, that as someone who is considering buying the DS X-treme, I was VERY surprised that GBA compatibility wasn't even mentioned, and wasn't taken into account in the rating system. Certainly it looks like a quality product, but the fact that other options are compatible with GBA roms should have at least knocked a point off the final score. ESPECIALLY from a place called GBAtemp.net!!!
> 
> That said, I love the site... I was just surprised.Â


It's a slot 1 cart... GBA support, except through emulation, is almost technically impossible.

We're not going to give negative points to a product for not being able to do something it never claimed to, or can't even do.


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## FFS (Oct 19, 2006)

Oh, and one other thing, on the opposite side of the fence:

"The DS-Xtreme is compatible with any computer operating system that supports USB mass storage devices - eg. Windows, MAC and most Linux distros."

I was surprised that wasn't played up more in the 'Pros' section. I would say that compatibility with Macs is a huge plus. I have a MacBook and the though of having all of my roms ready to transfer anywhere I go is a HUGE plus.


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## shaunj66 (Oct 19, 2006)

QUOTE(FFS @ Oct 19 2006 said:


> Oh, and one other thing, on the opposite side of the fence:
> 
> "The DS-Xtreme is compatible with any computer operating system that supports USB mass storage devices - eg. Windows, MAC and most Linux distros."
> 
> I was surprised that wasn't played up more in the 'Pros' section. I would say that compatibility with Macs is a huge plus. I have a MacBook and the though of having all of my roms ready to transfer anywhere I go is a HUGE plus.


It was a plus... Maybe we didn't emphasise the Mac compatibility enough but it is there:

"+ Can be used on any computer O/S that supports USB mass storage".


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## FFS (Oct 19, 2006)

QUOTE(shaunj66 @ Oct 19 2006 said:


> QUOTE(FFS @ Oct 19 2006 said:
> 
> 
> > Oh, and one other thing, on the opposite side of the fence:
> ...



I see your point here. But at the same time, is comparitive analysis not the essence of product reviews? I mean, if a manufacturer makes a car that can't go in reverse, and doesn't make the claim that it does, will it not take a hit in the reviews? Heck, even our beloved DS gets a smack when compared to the PSP for lack of native video/mp3 support (although we all know which is the supirior system  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 )

Well, anyways I am just playing the Devil's advocate here 'cause I am a bugger and I have some time to post at work. Haha. Seriously, I love how thorough your reviews are.


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## Costello (Oct 19, 2006)

QUOTE said:
			
		

> I see your point here. But at the same time, is comparitive analysis not the essence of product reviews? I mean, if a manufacturer makes a car that can't go in reverse, and doesn't make the claim that it does


No you don't see the point.
The DS-Xtreme is a totally different type of product.
It is a slot-1 solution. NO slot-1 solution can play GBA games. 

We're not going to give a bad rating to a car because it cannot fly like a plane! (=different type of product)
No car can fly! or we call them planes!


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## CronoTrig (Oct 19, 2006)

There were many posts in the official DS-X forums about the DS-X not being able to support GBA backups, and since it wasn't mentioned in heir feature list, I wouldn't expect it to do it anyways.


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## CronoTrig (Oct 19, 2006)

QUOTE(Costello @ Oct 19 2006 said:


> We're not going to give a bad rating to a car because it cannot fly like a plane! (=different type of product)



Hahaha.


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## deathspawn999 (Oct 19, 2006)

there is a difference. a car is quite able to go in reverse. a slot1 device as of now anyways, is not able at all to do gba.

really, the only problem with the ds-x is the 1/2 gig of space. the price is not an issue; its the first card on the scene, and reasonably priced for everything it does. 

gonna be using this and a g6lite 8Gb for storage/gba. i really shouldnt need more than 1.5 gig of storage, even for media files.

edit : how do you compare apples and oranges? you cant. slot1 apples, slot2 oranges.


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## Purple (Oct 19, 2006)

QUOTE(deathspawn999 @ Oct 19 2006 said:


> brilliant post purple.
> 
> 
> you did see that trimmed roms work right?
> ...



Thank you & I did, But it wasn't me that asked it was 'PURPLEMUSTANG' (nice nik, I approve  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 ).  But I can see how easy it would be to cofuse   
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I normaly make a point to read the rest of the thread before posting anything  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I'd also worked out for myself before, that as it does not require software to transfer files I could easily trim the roms with one of the freely available tools.

Edit:  and you're right about being able to turn off the LEDs I forgot to mention that


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## deathspawn999 (Oct 19, 2006)

doh, didnt see the difference in names. i usually go with the just the first part of someones moniker. haha 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




.


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## kernelPANIC (Oct 19, 2006)

Well. Based on your review I went ahead and ordered mine this afternoon. It should arrive at my door in a day or two.
The price went up a little since the last time I checked. I bought it on Divineo.es and it costs 110€ there. 10€ more for delivery charges.
(Thankfully I had been saving up, otherwise I would have waited for a cheaper alternative, like the Acekard).


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## stinkingbob (Oct 19, 2006)

Purple, you are absolutely correct. 100%
You see, I thought that I was doing okay when making posts. But, obviously, I was wrong. I don't want to offend any of the readers here, so I am going to follow your lead when I make future posts. So, let me recap how I am to say things in forums so I can get the respect that you get from the gbatemp readers. I'll just copy down some things you wrote so we can get an idea of how we are to behave on this forum:

You wrote:

..... & stating an opinion then IMHO you really are an idiot.

....Trust me, you don't want shit like that going down here.

And as for the whingers please do quit it! we are pissed of with reading the same redundant, retarded comments over and over..

Where the fuck were y'all when we were paying nearly £100 (read UK pounds not US dollars) for 256 megabit GBA carts? Still in nappies from the looks of some of the posts.

And the fanboys that keep asking why is this better than [insert Slot 2 card here], if you can't read or are to dumb/stupid to understand the benefits then this card is not for you....

Bottom line:...your not saying anything valid, your not saying anything useful. STFU!!!


There you go readers! This is how we are to act and write posts.  Thanks to Purple who obviously knows a thing or two about people skills. As Purple stated, if you want readers to respect you, then you have to write like him. I respect him already.
Bob


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## XmemphistoX (Oct 19, 2006)

I managed to trim 13 roms and still have around 64 megs to squeeze in a 512 cart.  Here is my list

Advance Wars
Bomberman
Castlevania -DOS
Mario and Luigi - PIT
Mario Kart DS
MegaMan ZX
Meteos
NSMB
Phoenix Wright
Tetris DS
Trauma Center
Viewtiful Joe
WarioWare.

That's more than I could ever play all at once.  512 is enough for some, but maybe not all.  If you don't like it, just don't get it and wait for the acekard.


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## Purple (Oct 19, 2006)

QUOTE(stinkingbob @ Oct 19 2006 said:


> As Purple stated, if you want readers to respect you, then you have to write like him.



Did I? where? I've reread my post and I didn't see that


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## Hooya (Oct 19, 2006)

Purple and stinkingbob...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6059726.stm

Please guys, take your bickering somewhere else so we can discuss the XTreme here, not the finer points of internet forum etiquette.


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## kaputtfurleben (Oct 19, 2006)

QUOTE(XmemphistoX @ Oct 19 2006 said:


> I managed to trim 13 roms and still have around 64 megs to squeeze in a 512 cart.Â Here is my list
> 
> Advance Wars
> Bomberman
> ...



Have you tried using single-cart multiplayer with trimmed roms?  The gbatemp review used non-trimmed roms, just wondering if it works the same in both situations.


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## spotanjo3 (Oct 19, 2006)

Once I put them into this card..can I delete them and put other cleannds roms into it again ?


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## kazumi213 (Oct 19, 2006)

QUOTE(Rockmangames @ Oct 20 2006 said:


> Once I put them into this card..can I delete them and put other cleannds roms into it again ?



Can you do that with the ROMs when in your HD? The DS-X works the same way. As I already said to you, the DS-X works much like an USB pendrive.


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## spotanjo3 (Oct 19, 2006)

Oops...an USB pendrive. Ok! Sorry about that. COOL! Then 5215mb is a good enough!


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## Hooya (Oct 19, 2006)

LOL.  I know you meant 512, but wouldn't a 5 gig drive be cool anyway.  For $125 I'd buy that!!!


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## spotanjo3 (Oct 20, 2006)

D-oh! Typo! Yeah!


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## WK416 (Oct 23, 2006)

Awesome review! If I had the money, I'd definitely buy one of these. I'm really itching to play some Scumm games outdoors.


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## NetShira (Oct 23, 2006)

Hmm.. A noob question but if size is the issue.. then it seems that if one needs more than the 512 (Like for ScummVM games.. Full Throttle for instance) couldn't someone just pick up the a Slot 2 SD card and use this card as the passcard to boot from it when that's needed?


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## SYN7HOR (Oct 23, 2006)

QUOTE(XmemphistoX @ Oct 19 2006 said:


> I managed to trim 13 roms and still have around 64 megs to squeeze in a 512 cart.Â Here is my list
> 
> Advance Wars
> Bomberman
> ...


Replace Viewtiful Joe with Electroplankton and that's EXACTLY the same as my current list.


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## g.crow (Oct 23, 2006)

QUOTE(NetShira @ Oct 23 2006 said:


> Hmm.. A noob question but if size is the issue.. then it seems that if one needs more than the 512 (Like for ScummVM games.. Full Throttle for instance) couldn't someone just pick up the a Slot 2 SD card and use this card as the passcard to boot from it when that's needed?




m3 does not work with ds-x. dont know about other cards.

mars


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## Remtule (Oct 23, 2006)

any chance of ds ftp working with the ds-x?
or at least in the near future?

especially from team xecuter, i would of thought this would of been standard
but cant win em all first go


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## biomcanic (Nov 10, 2006)

Hi to everyone!!

I have the ds-extreme with version 1.0.2 of the firmware. I´m trying to play warioware but it freezes and my ds shows a white screen  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



I´ve tried the european and usa version of the rom, but it's the same problem. Anyone knows something about this??

Thanks a lot!!


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## saccorator (Nov 10, 2006)

QUOTE(biomcanic @ Nov 10 2006 said:


> Hi to everyone!!
> 
> I have the ds-extreme with version 1.0.2 of the firmware. I´m trying to play warioware but it freezes and my ds shows a white screenÂ
> 
> ...




You should look into the DS-X support site for more information on the issue.  It is a pretty well known issue as well as the issue related to the build quality.   Many are complaining about the DS Xtreme cart not making a good connection with the DS which is the issue I had before returning my cart.  Check out the DS-X forums:

http://forums.ds-xtreme.com/showthread.php?t=862
http://forums.ds-xtreme.com/showthread.php?t=911
http://forums.ds-xtreme.com/showthread.php?t=500

I hope DS-X steps up and fixes the issue, it is a very cool cart when it works...


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## TheValeman (Dec 12, 2006)

My main concern about both this and the G6 cards with built in memory is the corruption over time of the flash ram. Inevitably the card will suffer errors as information is written to it consistently. From what I can tell this is a known issue and most new SD cards etc will block off access to an area as it fails and becomes unusable. This is one of the reasons PRAM is being researched and pushed heavily by the memory manufacturers as it doesn't suffer this particular problem.

At least with a micro/mini-SD solution you can simply replace a dying card with a new replacement. Wouldn't this suggest the DS-X for all its current superiority is actually not a viable "long" term card? 

I know some out there will say you wont live long enough to kill off the RAM inside these devices ... but then they said that you'd never write enough times on a DVD/RW to kill it either .... and I've done that to several discs.

Personally .... I'm happy to use a Suprcard lite until a slot 1 card comes out with the compatability of DS-X AND transflash storage. Why didn't they do a DS-X version of that I wonder?


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## stinkingbob (Dec 12, 2006)

By the time the flash memory in your ds-x dies out, there will be even better improvements to the ds-x (I am sure they will come out with a mini-sd version as well) and of course, better improvements with technology. 
The same goes with everything nowadays. You asked why they didn't do a ds-x version with mini sd card. Well, probably because the slot 1 devices are an emerging technology.
The first computer to come was the eniac. It weighed several tons and took up a huge wherehouse space. now, I could have asked: why didn't they make the first computer smaller like we have today? Well, emerging technology. Over time, things improve.
Just keep watching the slot-1 scene over hte next few months and you will see what I mean.
B.


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## TheValeman (Dec 12, 2006)

I hear you ..... the slot 1 scene seems a little immature at present ... all cards having their own particular issues/quirks. Reminds me of the slot 2 scene a year and a half ago. Just needs time to work out the kinks etc.

Still ..... considering the scene at present with just about every slot 2 card using removable media and 2 slot 1 adapters going the same route I would have thought dumping flashy LED's and the USB connector in favor of removable media would have been the way to go for the DS-X team. Maybe that's their next gen card  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Still .... differentiates their product somewhat I suppose.....

I watch with interest what will be happening in the next few months ....


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## spotanjo3 (Dec 17, 2006)

It says:

Megaman ZX
- PASS: Plays and saves fine.

But 

http://wiki.scorpei.com/index.php/DSX_comp...he_list_601-700

say: 0556 	MegaMan ZX (U) (Legacy) 	1.0.2 	Graphic glitches when saving, otherwise runs fine.

I am confuse.


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## AshuraZro (Dec 17, 2006)

Saves fine would mean that the saving works. A couple of graphical glitches during a save hardly would mean it doesn't "Play and save(s) fine". If the save glitch is the same as the glitch in the new rockman rpg title, it also could have gone unnoticed.


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## spotanjo3 (Dec 17, 2006)

But it said play and save fine..obvious both. I do not understand why the link tells otherwise. O.o

Play and save fine are both mean nothing is wrong with this game. Explain ?


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## AshuraZro (Dec 17, 2006)

QUOTE(Rockmangames @ Dec 17 2006 said:


> But it said play and save fine..obvious both. I do not understand why the link tells otherwise. O.o
> 
> Play and save fine are both mean nothing is wrong with this game. Explain ?


It all comes down to the opinion of the person that assesses the game. In my opinion, fine doesn't necessarily mean perfect. Loaded up the game and the glitch is simply the top half of both screens flickering white a bit while saving. I would agree that this game does indeed play and save fine.


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## spotanjo3 (Dec 17, 2006)

Ahh, I see. Thank you!

Nobody test  0003 	Yoshi Touch & Go (U) (Trashman) ?? Can anybody test it to see if it is work in 1.0.2 ? Because it was not work in 1.0.1. I do not have ds-xtreme so I am curious about it.


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## AshuraZro (Dec 17, 2006)

I'm pretty sure that every game can be played fine or with few minor issues except all regions of Animal Crossing at the current time, or at least I think that's what I've heard. Regardless I'll check...

EDIT: According to the list, it DOES work in 1.0.1. The only thing that is listed as not working is Download Play. I don't have a second DS to test that.


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## spotanjo3 (Dec 17, 2006)

Then I hope someone else can help and test this for 1.0.2. Anybody ?


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