Gateway 3DS: Official GBAtemp Review

[Costello]

I am proud to announce the release of the official GBAtemp Review of the Gateway 3DS, the first ever Nintendo 3DS flash cart on the market. A lot of us were skeptical about this initially (who wouldn't be after the Crown3DS scam) but all doubts have been cleared by now. Our reviewers Devin and Another World have done a wonderful job: they've been hard at work for the past two weeks and they've covered every possible angle. Everything you need to know about the Gateway 3DS is in there!

The GW3DS is the world's first 3DS mode Flash Kit and it allows the user to play 3DS ROMs. This is done by creating a smash stack in the 3DS' DS Profile. The smash stack then crashes 3DS mode, making the 3DS reboot, and from there allowing the GW3DS Flash Kit to boot. The GW3DS team promises quite a few features for the GW3DS, which include bypassing region locking and the firmware update requirements of newer games. With this review I hope to answer a few questions the consumer might have while they consider buying a GW3DS Flash Kit. Will it live up to its expectations? Is it just a taste of what will come to the 3DS scene? Here is a look at the product that sets the bar for 3DS-mode Flash Kits.

Wait no more: read the official GBAtemp Gateway 3DS review.
Kudos to Devin and Another World! The review will be updated over time as firmware updates are released.

 

[krzz]

Nice review!

 

[NfoMonster]

Very nice !! good work.

 

[Enchilada]

Awesome, thank you guys!

 

[Pedeadstrian]

Good work as always, guys.

 

[breaktemp]

Ah...this is what I have been waiting for "

* heats up some hot-chocolate and gets comfortable *

Thanks again for all of your patience and hard work !!

 

[The Real Jdbye]

As far as I know Crown3DS never took preorders did they? So it can't be a scam, merely vaporware

 

[Pedeadstrian]

I don't know if this is the proper place to ask, but it's regarding the review and there's already a bazillion threads for Gateway, so I'll keep myself from making another. Devin, how important is the formatting for the red Gateway cart? I remember you saying that you were unable to create multiple partitions, but would it be necessary? Couldn't you just format the microSD using the context menu of Windows, and drag&drop the ROM onto the card? If so, what would happen if you had multiple ROMs on it?

 

[Devin]

I don't know if this is the proper place to ask, but it's regarding the review and there's already a bazillion threads for Gateway, so I'll keep myself from making another. Devin, how important is the formatting for the red Gateway cart? I remember you saying that you were unable to create multiple partitions, but would it be necessary? Couldn't you just format the microSD using the context menu of Windows, and drag&drop the ROM onto the card? If so, what would happen if you had multiple ROMs on it?

The flashing tool for roms completely overwrites the microSD card partitions into what I assume allows the 3DS to read the game data. Dragging and dropping the rom onto the microSD card wouldn't work as it need to be flashed with the rom. Creating the right directories, files, etc.

EDIT: Once you flash the rom, Windows asks you to format the microSD card. So no looking at the files when flashed.

 

[Pedeadstrian]

The flashing tool for roms completely overwrites the microSD card partitions into what I assume allows the 3DS to read the game data. Dragging and dropping the rom onto the microSD card wouldn't work as it need to be flashed with the rom. Creating the right directories, files, etc.

EDIT: Once you flash the rom, Windows asks you to format the microSD card. So no looking at the files when flashed.

Ah, I see. That would explain it. Although, it sounds like it wouldn't be too difficult for them to make a program that would allow users to put multiple ROMs onto the card. Maybe even add in a GUI for the 3DS.

Thanks for the response.

 

[DJPlace]

I doubt we will ever get this flashcart online for good oh well... still nice review.

 

[LurkerA]

Great Job! Thanks Devin!

 

[Metoroid0]

Ah Finally Thanks, I'm pleased

I like that word "Smash Attack" (Smash bros...)

 

[dodol]

just one question : can I run the "DS patch file" on any NDS flashcard or just the blue flashcard provided by gateway ?
btw awesome review. Thank you

 

[MichiS97]

The patch file works with any regular DS flashcard
(If this DS Flashcard is working on your 3DS of course)

 

[Relys]

Ah Finally Thanks, I'm pleased

I like that word "Smash Attack" (Smash bros...)

It's a reference to "smashing the stack".

1. Program allocates memory.
2. User passes large string that will not fit in memory.
3. Program does not check char array bounds and loads the entire string, thus overwriting what was after the allocated memory (failoverflow).

Now you can corrupt data and write return address at the end of a function to point to the start of your payload which will be loaded into memory and executed by the CPU.

It's actually not that hard to do. If you have and old PSP sitting around there are several good tutorials for finding your own exploit and delivering a payload.

Anyways, I'm hoping this spawns off a bunch of clones as competition drives quality and new features.

It sounds like we'll get future firmware support once a new payload is developed. I really want to see multiple backup support off the same SD card. Hopefully we'll be able to do home brew and get linux running so we can start developing libraries.