Hacking $80 Gateway card worth it?

[Ericthegreat]

I'm gonna try and wait for a Cyclo3DS or AK3DS (acekard team).

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Why wouldn't it be worth it? There's no doubt there'll be better options in the long run, but this is all we have at the moment and I doubt there'll be anything better for a while.
Whether you pay $20 or $200 for a flashcart (yes, there have been flashcarts that expensive) you still get a lot of games for your money.
People have just been spoiled by the cheap NDS flashcarts. Prior to the NDS it was never like that, and even the early NDS flashcarts were expensive. I doubt there is going to be something as cheap as R4 or AceKard for 3DS mode any time soon (or even something priced like the DSTWO)

80$ for the card
+ lets say about 20$ for the SD Card

100$ to play 3DS games...
3DS games sells for about 40$ (most are already 20$)

the flash card becomes profitable at the 3rd (or 5th) game you play

cant transfer saves so you NEED to complete each games before you play another one... kinda beat the purpose of having a flash card but ok...

Cant play other region games render this flash card almost useless since there arent too many 3DS games that I really want to play here in america (and most of which are now in bargain bins at about 20$) as opposed Europe or Japan... which has interesting games that I want to try out.

Not worth it IMO.

wait for a better card...

this one will come out... other better teams will reverse engineer that card and see how they pulled their trick to make it work, then they'll make a much better card with much more options and affordable price...

What makes you think you can't transfer saves? I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere and that's already possible with save backup tools so I don't see why that wouldn't be possible.
EDIT: Anyway what does EU have that US doesn't?

I'm gonna try and wait for a Cyclo3DS or AK3DS (acekard team).

I doubt TC are going to make another flashcart. It seems they are no longer interested in such things, they didn't even bother to maintain the iEvo with updates, which could have been a very successful flashcart.

I wouldn't be surprised if AK came out with something though, but don't expect it to be cheap. As long as there are only a few 3DS mode flashcarts out they can basically charge whatever they want (and they will)

SuperCard of course are going to come out with something when they can. They've been in this game for a long time and they seem to be in it for the long haul. I just hope their 3DS mode flashcart won't be a piece of shit like the original DSOne, but instead made of greatness like the DSTWO.

 

[McHaggis]

It won't be long before clones appear that are cheaper. Those of you providing a valuation roughly equivalent of all the currently available retail games are being more a little naive, if you ask me.

If Nintendo fix this in the next firmware update, then your card is pretty much good for nothing because most of us will already own the games we're actually interested in playing on the 3DS. I'd rather be able to play Pokemon X/Y, the upcoming Zelda game, Bravely Default, Shin Megami Tensei IV (WHAT!? I LIKE RPGs, OK?) and Yoshi's Island (HA! NOT AN RPG; IN YOUR FACE!) than all of the 3DS games I haven't played so far put together. Not to mention that the majority of 3rd party games that have been around for a few months can be found in bargain bins and at steals on eBay. If I spend $80 on a flash card that's rendered incompatible before the end of July, then it absolutely isn't worth it.

Not just the issue of clones and updates, but the card's progress to release feels extremely rushed. Take a look at these questions from the FAQ:

- Is it one microSD per game?
Currently yes.
- Are saved games working? Once you take out the game is the save file kept or lost?
We are currently working to fully support back up and restore of save data.
- Can it play games from other regions?
Currently no, however due to popular demand, we have launched an investigation into this possibility.

Those three questions indicate that, after they were done implementing the bare minimum functionality, they saw an opportunity to be first out the door with a flash card to make a killing, instead of spending a little more time improving the quality of the product. Personally, I wouldn't want to spend $80 on something that would take 15-20 minutes to switch games and would cause me to lose my save whenever I did switch and could limit my choice of games in the future. The FAQ states that some aspects of the card will be upgradeable, but I highly doubt that will include any ROM switching or save dumping capabilities in the future unless an exploit is discovered that can expand the card's usefulness beyond the bootloader.

People have just been spoiled by the cheap NDS flashcarts. Prior to the NDS it was never like that, and even the early NDS flashcarts were expensive. I doubt there is going to be something as cheap as R4 or AceKard for 3DS mode any time soon (or even something priced like the DSTWO)

It's not about being spoiled by the previous generation of flash cards. I bought 3 of the most expensive DS flash card I could get at the time (Cyclo DS Evolution), and I chose it for the features. I could have bought a cheap ~£10 flash card with no bells or whistles, sure, but when I buy things I do so based on perceived value. And if all it takes is to clone the board inside the card, a lot of Chinese clones will appear in no time, given the success of DS cloned cards.

What makes you think you can't transfer saves? I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere and that's already possible with save backup tools so I don't see why that wouldn't be possible.
EDIT: Anyway what does EU have that US doesn't?

The FAQ states that saves currently can't be backed up or transferred (ie they're lost when you change the game). However, you might be able to back them up with the R4i Save Dongle or something similar, but that's another added expense on top.

TLDR; No.

 

[Kippykip]

We're looking at potential 256GB sdxc cards in the sd slot these days...mmmhmmm, that would be nice and convenient.

Well shit, they are making 2tb microsds!
http://www.micro-sdxc.com/

 

[tarayaba]

I see alot of people saying they will wait until it gets improved / get a rom loader etc etc.

thing is, i have really low hopes of that coming true in the near future. At least, not deriving from this specific flashcard.

From what i get, it doesn't really run any unsigned code that would be able to bypass region lock or anything. It just injects an original cartridge content (through a microSD) to another card from the ROM. This is just close to a bootleg, so i don't really expect it to upgrade any further than what it is. But then again, i'm just talking out of my butt...

I think ill wait a month or so to see how nintendo handles it. If they release an update that blocks it, and Gateway releases a firmware update to the card shortly...

the argument 80$ < 2000$ (or whatever amount was mentioned) is pretty dumb.


Also, the price is actually in the low end of what i was expecting. Considering how long it took, how many people are waitting for it, and beeing the only one in the market... i could see it come close to 100€, insteal of the 65€, to cash in on the initial sales before clones appear. Also, if the card really is very cheap to manufacture (as opposed to a more expensive DSTwo), clones will come cheaper, and there will have to be a pricedrop from gateway.

So yeah, ive been playing so much Monster Hunter and still have Luigi's Mansion2 and Fire Emblem gathering dust, that i don't really mind waiting some time to see if price drops / if it survives an update.

 

[Clydefrosch]

nah. i need my flashcard to run emulators.

 

[Prior22]

nah. i need my flashcard to run emulators.

Because there aren't enough options currently available to play SNES and Genesis games? People obsessing over playing early 90's games on a 3DS, when you can already do that on a PSP or DS, seem to be putting their priorities in the wrong places.

 

[Jayro]

If it doesn't get blocked immediately. Big if.

If the Gateway card is simply just an SD reader with leads, there might not be anything Nintendo can block... After all, it's just basically emulating legit hardware with a removable ROM chip. The game's ROM might have the ID, and as long as the ROM hasn't been tampered with, maybe all will be well, and there won't be the silly cat and mouse game of blocking and updates.

 

[Slave]

What makes you think you can't transfer saves? I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere and that's already possible with save backup tools so I don't see why that wouldn't be possible.
EDIT: Anyway what does EU have that US doesn't?

They mention in their faqs:
- Are saved games working? Once you take out the game is the save file kept or lost?
We are currently working to fully support back up and restore of save data.

To me it sounds like they dont support save games back up very well.. and cant seem to restore previous saved games... My thought is that the saved games are stored in the flashcard itself and not in the SD card...

As for EU games not out in US... for one I'm a big fan of ONE PIECE and the One piece 3DS game came ou, almost when the 3DS launched in Europe... 3years later we still never got that game here in the US... it pisses me off and I want to lay it but the hell if I'll import a 2nd 3DS console only for that game... pretty sure the new ONE PIECE game coming out soon in japan will also be ported in Europe but not US... and as for jap games, there's shit tons I want to try out... and wont wait for the US release if it ever happens...

On my PSVita I only bought 3 games... and all 3 are japanese imports... 'cuz not much games in the US are worth playing... but japanese... holycrap some games are super awesome even with the language barrier.

 

[K3Nv4]

Well since they say they in the future you may be able to run more than 1 game per sd card until think I'll wait for price drips, $40-$60s seem fair to me.

 

[ComeTurismO]

Whats the difference between a clone and a original?

 

[BeniBel]

While true that this flashcard gives access to 100+ games, the 3DS only has about 10 decent games. And chances are you already own most of those.

So is it worth the price? It depends from person to person. Just keep in mind that:

- This will most likely never play homebrew (But let's be honest, beside emulators, most people don't care about homebrew. How many here can name me 5 DS homebrew games or apps without google?)
- This will most likely never be region free.
- This will most likely always be limited to one game at a time.
- This will most likely be blocked within days after it's release.

Keep that in mind when you buy it, and you won't get disapointed.

 

[FAST6191]

Yep, and I know why I have to wait too for a softmod lol. It may take a long while, but itll be worth it. Would like to be able to code on that thing for ARM practice when I get into College.

You know what else runs ARM -- loads of things (including the completely and utterly hacked GBA and DS). You know what emulates ARM -- also loads of things.

Similarly most colleges will probably not spend an awful lot of time teaching you ARM and certainly not in the first year or two. If you do want practice then try not to use too many floats, especially of higher precisions, do dividing only if you have to (or can use a workaround) and if you go in for multithreading then do not expect the nicest options you get on different classes of processor.

As for the matter at hand I would ask the opposite question of why wouldn't it be worth the money? About the only thing I can come up with is that the 3ds has a pretty weak library compared to its predecessors (we are two years in at this point) and a future consisting of much of the same as far as I can see (though I might see something at e3 or such like).

 

[GregoryRasputin]

The original code as in the games it allows you to pirate? Those aren't theirs, of course, but this is the first cart of it's kind. There is no code or hardware to copy, which means they most likely made it themselves. Also, like others already said, piracy devices tend to be expensive. The only reason things like R4s are so cheap is that they got cloned to hell and the cloners kept selling it for cheaper, driving the prices down. Console hardmods/flashcarts tend to lie in the >50$ price range. Besides, if you buy this device and it prevents you from buying two games for whatever reason, it has earned it's money back.

As i said sheep will follow their masters.

 

[Arras]

As i said sheep will follow their masters.

Just for reference, I'm not going to buy this, I just tried to explain why it might be worth it for some people.

 

[Clydefrosch]

Because there aren't enough options currently available to play SNES and Genesis games? People obsessing over playing early 90's games on a 3DS, when you can already do that on a PSP or DS, seem to be putting their priorities in the wrong places.

it sucks on my psp because its a 1000 one with terrible buttons.
and neither the psp, nor the ds actually runs snes and genesis games right. there's still slowdowns on psp (maybe not on the ones with more ram, but i dont have those) and on ds, theres graphical issues all over the place. backgrounds not staying in the back, sprites flickering in and out everywhere, even with frameskips etc.
i also have high hopes for gba emulation.

also, i take those ~1300 games from back then over the 100 games on 3ds. specially when theres really less than 20 good ones

 

[DiabloStorm]

Well shit, they are making 2tb microsds!
http://www.micro-sdxc.com/

Or that. TBH I just looked on amazon real fast to see what was available for purchase (albeit $600 for the one i mentioned.)

 

[natkoden]

Whats the difference between a clone and a original?

clone = even more cheap build quality with components that cost 0.2 cents but that seems better than the original to the members of gbatemp

example:

First gen cards are usually pretty.. um.. crap.


I'll wait a while for it to be cloned and improved upon.

 

[Lestworth]

But why should i care, let the sheep follow their masters around like the fools they are

I really hate comments like this, because it makes the user sound like an arrogant ass, who can see into the future. We all already know that their will be future release (hopefully) of better hardware. What we do not know is how long that will actually take. Copies of this cart will surface within a few months, and with a price drop to boot, but will clones that run similar, if not exactly same really be better then the original? Odds are not.

I think people are starting to argue another point, and not the reason why this thread was created.

 

[Foxi4]

The problem is most of the time, the original code is not theirs, also the product is over priced.

...and? Also, there is no code - this is a hardware-based solution, not a software-based one - there is no software to be stolen outside of whatever's on the microcontrollers if there are any. No menu, no unsigned code, just cartridge "emulation".

The reason these products are coming with such high prices, is because they see the dumb f*cks a mile off, the more idiots pay these type of prices, the higher in price they will become.

The reason why these products are coming with such high prices is because they're the very first ones on the market, there is very little alternative and if you want one, you might as well pay a little extra. That, and they're made according to a completely new technological process and the first batch needs to pay its own bills.

But why should i care, let the sheep follow their masters around like the fools they are

Uh-huh, okay.

I really hate comments like this, because it makes the user sound like an arrogant ass, who can see into the future. We all already know that their will be future release (hopefully) of better hardware. What we do not know is how long that will actually take. Copies of this cart will surface within a few months, and with a price drop to boot, but will clones that run similar, if not exactly same really be better then the original? Odds are not.

I think people are starting to argue another point, and not the reason why this thread was created.

I agree with everything you've said apart from the clone part, and here's why:

• This cartridge is a first of its kind and it's not working based on any software exploit, meaning it doesn't run unsigned code and it's not certain whether it will be in the future (although I don't see a reason why not if the exploit will allow reading from the game slot). Manufactures may not be "thrilled" to get into that kind of business, mostly because their product will be samey and their only method of fighting back would be lowering the price.
• This is not like making another R4 where the schematics are practically printed on most wallpapers in China - this is an entirely new thing and as such, it requires new technological processes, new schematics, new PCB's and new components. You can reverse-engineer it, sure! You can prepare a production line for it, sure! ...but who's going to pay for all that and how long it will take? Clones might pop up, they might be less expensive but not by a huge margin simply because the design is brand-new. Are you guys seeing any DSTwo clones around? Not a whole lot, huh? Yeah, because it's expensive to manufacture that card, practically only the iSmart was anything like it and nobody feels like introducing the new schematics into their products, instead opting for making small adjustments in their own products.