Hacking Pros and Cons

[Bonzengoa]

Hi guys.

I have decided to buy a 3DS but am still unsure what to buy, wether I should just buy a new one like the A Link Between Worlds Bundle which looks really cool but miss out on the opportunity of using the Gateway flashcard or search for a 2012 3DS XL which will have the correct firmware.

These are some of the questions I have (hope I don't forget anything):

What exactly am I missing out on when I don't let my DS update itself? Will I ever be able to go online, like use the eShop or multiplayer like battles in Pokemon?
New games will probably always only work on the newest firmware right so if say a new game comes out like the new zelda how long will it take for it to work on the gateway?

Obviously the possibilty to just download games for free and play them is awesome I used my old DS like that and played dozens of games on it, best investment ever. What are your experiences with the Gateway and the roms do they all work flawlessly? Mainly the big games like Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 3D or Luigis Mansion etc.

Do you think there will ever be a flashcard that will work with the newest firmwares or is it basically this one chance we have with the gateway and fw 4.5?

Lastly whats your personal opinion, what would you guys recommend? Buy an old 3DS and the gateway or buy a new one with all features the newest firmware brings with it but obiously that being much more costly.

Thanks a bunch in advance.

 

[IronClouds]

What you're missing out on when you don't let your 3DS update is the ability to use any online features freely (eShop, etc.); that is to say, without the worry of a firmware update stealth-downloading in the background. You're also missing out on the ability to launch certain newer games that require a firmware version higher than your system's firmware version. As far as Pokémon is concerned (and as far as I know), you can use its online features without being on the latest firmware, just as long as you're at least on 6.1 (which is the minimum firmware required to launch the retail cart).

The span of time that it would take to ensure a game is playable on Gateway is known by no one -- not even the Gateway team themselves.

As far as your question about ROMs launching flawlessly, there are only a handful of games that are reported as not running on the Gateway. For that list, I'll direct you to Pong20302000's Gateway game Incompatibility thread in this same forum (all you had to do was scroll down a little more )

Any questions you ask that peer into the future would bring you baseless speculation, so I'll not answer your question on whether or not there will ever be a flashcart that will work on the newest firmware with an answer you'll want to hear. All I and anyone else know is what's possible now: Gateway is currently the only flashcart that runs 3DS ROMs, and will only do it on firmware versions 4.1-4.5.

My personal opinion is this: Buy two 3DS'. One for Gateway and one to have updated so you can run newer games/have online capabilities.

 

[dragonmaster]

honestly buy a gateway enable system in near future you will have all the benefits of official firmware + backups of your games in one memory card.
i ve got to mention that it is better to buy a 3ds xl just for the large screen

 

[redkeyboard]

You don't really miss anything by not updating when Gateway 2.0 comes out, since you can just boot into an updated NAND with all features.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Hi guys.

I have decided to buy a 3DS but am still unsure what to buy, wether I should just buy a new one like the A Link Between Worlds Bundle which looks really cool but miss out on the opportunity of using the Gateway flashcard or search for a 2012 3DS XL which will have the correct firmware.

These are some of the questions I have (hope I don't forget anything):

What exactly am I missing out on when I don't let my DS update itself? Will I ever be able to go online, like use the eShop or multiplayer like battles in Pokemon?
New games will probably always only work on the newest firmware right so if say a new game comes out like the new zelda how long will it take for it to work on the gateway?

Obviously the possibilty to just download games for free and play them is awesome I used my old DS like that and played dozens of games on it, best investment ever. What are your experiences with the Gateway and the roms do they all work flawlessly? Mainly the big games like Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 3D or Luigis Mansion etc.

Do you think there will ever be a flashcard that will work with the newest firmwares or is it basically this one chance we have with the gateway and fw 4.5?

Lastly whats your personal opinion, what would you guys recommend? Buy an old 3DS and the gateway or buy a new one with all features the newest firmware brings with it but obiously that being much more costly.

Thanks a bunch in advance.

The Zelda 3DS is not even that pretty. I would not waste ROM loading functionality just for that.
The Pokemon X/Y 3DS however, now that I would waste ROM loading functionality for.
Gateway 3DS might be updated to support newer firmwares later on, I'm just waiting for that to happen. It might never happen though, but there are not that many great 3DS games that I can't afford them.
And as others mentioned the Gateway will soon get NAND emulation allowing you to update the firmware and use the eShop without losing functionality.
I would just get an older 3DS if you are not interested in the Pokemon X/Y limited edition as the Zelda one is really meh.

 

[Bonzengoa]

Thanks y'all for the replies I've decided to go with the Gateway.

Couple of questions:
What colours of the 3DS XL are definitely good to go? Blue/Black and Red/black should be fine right? What about white, black and silver/black?
I have a 1gb micro sd card (Toshiba) I used to run my r4 card with. Is that enough or should I get a new and bigger one?
Anyone here who ordered a Gateway from germany and can recommend a site to order it from? If not central europe in general

Thanks again.

 

[calvinalx]

l

Thanks y'all for the replies I've decided to go with the Gateway.

Couple of questions:
What colours of the 3DS XL are definitely good to go? Blue/Black and Red/black should be fine right? What about white, black and silver/black?
I have a 1gb micro sd card (Toshiba) I used to run my r4 card with. Is that enough or should I get a new and bigger one?
Anyone here who ordered a Gateway from germany and can recommend a site to order it from? If not central europe in general

Thanks again.

I personally choose black, it looked more elegant.
The card size need to be bigger than the game itself, 2 gb should be enough, but if you want to take precautions you can buy up to 8 gb because the size of the game is is constantly increasing.
Go to the Gateway website, they have list of authorized reseller.

 

[Arnold0]

I'm not sure you can found black with 4.5. Just look for © 2012 and you'll be fine. I got the blue/black one myslef with 4.5.
You can play many roms on a 2GB card, but some wont fit. Using a 8GB is better because all actual roms can be used with that, without trimming.
You can keep your 1GB card for the blue card.

 

[zb123]

I'm not sure you can found black with 4.5. Just look for © 2012 and you'll be fine. I got the blue/black one myslef with 4.5.
You can play many roms on a 2GB card, but some wont fit. Using a 8GB is better because all actual roms can be used with that, without trimming.
You can keep your 1GB card for the blue card.

The black 3DSXL's all come with 5.1 or higher. I did a shell swap to allow myself to have a black 3ds with 4.4FW