About this time last year, R4 was arguably the top slot-1 flash card in existance, if not one of them. Along with its sister product, M3 DS Simply, it reigned supreme in the marketplace with a hold that no other could come close to achieving at that time. Rivals, such as ROMMAN's SuperCard or EZ-Flash V were close but no cigar compared to the simplistic, easy-to-use, pick-up-and-play entity that were in the hands of multiple, and more importantly, satisfied customers. How a year can apparently changes things.
Now, two former unknowns, Team Acekard and Team Cyclops, are recognizably at the top of their games. Two long-standing veterans, the M3 DS Real and the EZ-Flash V, are still in contention. Others, such as DSTT, have gained momentum in some circles. Where is the R4's place amongst the battle of flash card dollars, euros, yen and such? While presently still profitable, it is progressively suffering from an all too well condition in the flash card scene: Self-defeat.
Tragically, the causes of the fall of R4 are all too common. The first issue is the lack of support. Like others and even present flash card producers, updates aimed towards compatibility of ROMs along with various bug remedies and feature enhancements have been non-existent. The last dated update was on the 24th of April of this year, almost five months ago. Other than that, there has been little to no information on the next update outside of the announced "clone killer" version that was due out this week. Though presently absent, I am of the understanding that deadlines in the flash card realm are more of a suggestion than a guarantee.
Speaking of clones, R4 is suffering possibly the worst identity crisis in development kit history. Mind you, those of us familiar with the inner workings easily know which product and site are fake and real, and for the record, http://www.r4ds.cn/ is the real one, but with several clones out there and some with homepages looking exactly like the real page claiming future updates, this has become a confusing and ridiculous situation. A person is wise and smart. People are dumb animals that are easy to manipulate and pilfer. When dealing with your consumer base, people is the proper term. This is a simple problem to solve, but Team R4 has, for some unknown reason, decided to do the opposite: Stay silent.
The final issue is one even they should have expected which is the sign of the times. Most flash card users want the largest sized memory possible for their products. As it has been established, the R4 is not compatible with SDHC, therefore limiting its memory capacity to a meager 2 gigabytes. With the boom in homebrew over the past year along with the continuing popularity of Moonshell as well as the obvious ROM usage, because people really play all the dozens of illegally-obtained games they have copied over every single day, this hardware hindrance is indeed a setback, but like their other shortcomings, this also can be overcome. Sadly, it does not appear that Team R4 is planning any journeys outside of the trip to the bank to withdraw their earnings.
Have you not learned the lessons of your fallen predecessors, Team R4? Did Ninjapass not show you that leaving your client base with few, infrequent updates to be a mistake? Did DS-Xtreme not clue you in to the regretful decision of ending all contact with your customers that would come to bite you in the ass and bring a level of hatred that will not be overcome? Need I mention the other fallen and failed, such as ..wait, why bother? The history is there for each company to recognize and past mistakes to avoid. Yet, you are choosing to make the same errors in judgment. Do you understand that you are being left behind, or do you even care?
Others have learned their own lessons in this current crop of development kits. ROMMAN redesigned the SuperCard One..twice. AceKard understood the flaws of their first slot-1 flash card and released AceKard2 to massive praise. GBAlpha realized that their G6 product line is no longer cost-effective and discontinued it. Your issues are simple to diagnose even from my standpoint. Your solutions are just as apparent, and since you have not yet seen fit to come forth and execute, allow me to give you a nudge in the proper direction. Hopefully, cattle prods will not be necessary.
Tell those of us who still blindly listen to a random forum poster spewing what they think and passing it off as fact about the clone R4s. Make it clear that they are merely imitations and are not to be trusted nor purchased. Since you have missed your own deadline of the "clone killer" kernel, inform your public as to its status and possible release window. Tell us something..anything! If you continue to remain silent, then you indirectly aid those other companies to take advantage and revenues of your efforts. In other words, they are taking money out of your pocket, and you are allowing them to do so. That means less lap dances and grope sessions for charity. Whatever motivates you to just stand up and speak, do it and soon!
To state another obvious suggestion, get back to the lab and redesign the R4. Add SDHC compatibility. Fix the cheat code issues. Continue to work out ROM issues, because reading the flaming posts from whiny children with English far more broken than even your own is enough to make any sane person's eyes bleed. Keep the interface as-is, as it is not broken. Rethink the memory spring problem by either fortifying the mechanism for production or doing away with it completely. If the agreement between yourselves and GBAlpha has ceased, renegotiate a new deal. If it has indeed ceased, refer to my preceding statement and announce it. You have a lot of work to do regardless, and even excuses will not be acceptable at this point.
However, if you are content with rolling in what income your remaining stock yields and are calling it quits, then at the very least, release the source code for the card. I understand that SDHC is a hardware issue, but allow those eager go-getters in the scene to take over the reins and provide users not willing to throw in the towel, or throw the flash card into the wall repeatively until it breaks from its casing, a valid reason to continue using their cards instead of being forced to purchase a competing product. Don't give the excuse, trade secrets, because there is no secret. The clones have managed to manipulate your present kernel as have a few others. If you are saying good-bye, then at least give the memento that would actually be worth a damn.
I have no vested interest whether Team R4 soars or crashes. I honestly have no idea if this will ever be brought to their attention. It is a pathetic sight to see a once prominent brand fall so far from its once high perch due to more internal than external elements. Miraculously, they have the treasured ability of turning things around. Past and present card manufacturers would absolutely savor having such a privilege. Whether they motivate themselves or mislay all their efforts and reputation is ultimately up to them. I cannot accurately predict which way this will result, but they indeed can. Whatever the present condition of those responsible, it is countermanding the owners of the R4 product line from finding a justifiable reason to continue possessing it. It can become a proverbial phoenix by rising from its ashes or the coiled droppings on the lawn that no one wants to trouble themselves with. Case and point, Team R4: Wake the (Censored!) up!
Now, two former unknowns, Team Acekard and Team Cyclops, are recognizably at the top of their games. Two long-standing veterans, the M3 DS Real and the EZ-Flash V, are still in contention. Others, such as DSTT, have gained momentum in some circles. Where is the R4's place amongst the battle of flash card dollars, euros, yen and such? While presently still profitable, it is progressively suffering from an all too well condition in the flash card scene: Self-defeat.
Tragically, the causes of the fall of R4 are all too common. The first issue is the lack of support. Like others and even present flash card producers, updates aimed towards compatibility of ROMs along with various bug remedies and feature enhancements have been non-existent. The last dated update was on the 24th of April of this year, almost five months ago. Other than that, there has been little to no information on the next update outside of the announced "clone killer" version that was due out this week. Though presently absent, I am of the understanding that deadlines in the flash card realm are more of a suggestion than a guarantee.
Speaking of clones, R4 is suffering possibly the worst identity crisis in development kit history. Mind you, those of us familiar with the inner workings easily know which product and site are fake and real, and for the record, http://www.r4ds.cn/ is the real one, but with several clones out there and some with homepages looking exactly like the real page claiming future updates, this has become a confusing and ridiculous situation. A person is wise and smart. People are dumb animals that are easy to manipulate and pilfer. When dealing with your consumer base, people is the proper term. This is a simple problem to solve, but Team R4 has, for some unknown reason, decided to do the opposite: Stay silent.
The final issue is one even they should have expected which is the sign of the times. Most flash card users want the largest sized memory possible for their products. As it has been established, the R4 is not compatible with SDHC, therefore limiting its memory capacity to a meager 2 gigabytes. With the boom in homebrew over the past year along with the continuing popularity of Moonshell as well as the obvious ROM usage, because people really play all the dozens of illegally-obtained games they have copied over every single day, this hardware hindrance is indeed a setback, but like their other shortcomings, this also can be overcome. Sadly, it does not appear that Team R4 is planning any journeys outside of the trip to the bank to withdraw their earnings.
Have you not learned the lessons of your fallen predecessors, Team R4? Did Ninjapass not show you that leaving your client base with few, infrequent updates to be a mistake? Did DS-Xtreme not clue you in to the regretful decision of ending all contact with your customers that would come to bite you in the ass and bring a level of hatred that will not be overcome? Need I mention the other fallen and failed, such as ..wait, why bother? The history is there for each company to recognize and past mistakes to avoid. Yet, you are choosing to make the same errors in judgment. Do you understand that you are being left behind, or do you even care?
Others have learned their own lessons in this current crop of development kits. ROMMAN redesigned the SuperCard One..twice. AceKard understood the flaws of their first slot-1 flash card and released AceKard2 to massive praise. GBAlpha realized that their G6 product line is no longer cost-effective and discontinued it. Your issues are simple to diagnose even from my standpoint. Your solutions are just as apparent, and since you have not yet seen fit to come forth and execute, allow me to give you a nudge in the proper direction. Hopefully, cattle prods will not be necessary.
Tell those of us who still blindly listen to a random forum poster spewing what they think and passing it off as fact about the clone R4s. Make it clear that they are merely imitations and are not to be trusted nor purchased. Since you have missed your own deadline of the "clone killer" kernel, inform your public as to its status and possible release window. Tell us something..anything! If you continue to remain silent, then you indirectly aid those other companies to take advantage and revenues of your efforts. In other words, they are taking money out of your pocket, and you are allowing them to do so. That means less lap dances and grope sessions for charity. Whatever motivates you to just stand up and speak, do it and soon!
To state another obvious suggestion, get back to the lab and redesign the R4. Add SDHC compatibility. Fix the cheat code issues. Continue to work out ROM issues, because reading the flaming posts from whiny children with English far more broken than even your own is enough to make any sane person's eyes bleed. Keep the interface as-is, as it is not broken. Rethink the memory spring problem by either fortifying the mechanism for production or doing away with it completely. If the agreement between yourselves and GBAlpha has ceased, renegotiate a new deal. If it has indeed ceased, refer to my preceding statement and announce it. You have a lot of work to do regardless, and even excuses will not be acceptable at this point.
However, if you are content with rolling in what income your remaining stock yields and are calling it quits, then at the very least, release the source code for the card. I understand that SDHC is a hardware issue, but allow those eager go-getters in the scene to take over the reins and provide users not willing to throw in the towel, or throw the flash card into the wall repeatively until it breaks from its casing, a valid reason to continue using their cards instead of being forced to purchase a competing product. Don't give the excuse, trade secrets, because there is no secret. The clones have managed to manipulate your present kernel as have a few others. If you are saying good-bye, then at least give the memento that would actually be worth a damn.
I have no vested interest whether Team R4 soars or crashes. I honestly have no idea if this will ever be brought to their attention. It is a pathetic sight to see a once prominent brand fall so far from its once high perch due to more internal than external elements. Miraculously, they have the treasured ability of turning things around. Past and present card manufacturers would absolutely savor having such a privilege. Whether they motivate themselves or mislay all their efforts and reputation is ultimately up to them. I cannot accurately predict which way this will result, but they indeed can. Whatever the present condition of those responsible, it is countermanding the owners of the R4 product line from finding a justifiable reason to continue possessing it. It can become a proverbial phoenix by rising from its ashes or the coiled droppings on the lawn that no one wants to trouble themselves with. Case and point, Team R4: Wake the (Censored!) up!
