Hacking Are all DS/3DS flashcarts of a piss-poor quality?

[DSpider]

I recently laid my hands on a CycloDS Evolution flashcart and God damn, it was a STURDY card! Compared to the shitty plastic on Sky3DS (and get this: "Rev.2" ! --> aka "Blue Button" edition! Shame on them!) or on the R4i Gold RTS (which was a dud, fucking thing doesn't work, easily pried open even with my fingernail)... There's a HUGE fucking difference. From what I read DSTWO isn't very sturdy either.

Why the greed, yo? Why not make some high quality shit?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Well, the CycloDS cost twice as much as the DSTWO and at least 4x as much as any other DS flashcart.
They were also one of the few flashcart teams that aren't based in China, which makes a big difference.
It's also worth noting that most DS/3DS flashcarts have had to have parts of the plastic cut out to make room for chips, which makes them less sturdy. This is especially true for 3DS flashcarts, the stickers cover up some pretty big holes.

The DSTWO has a dedicated CPU which means even more plastic had to be cut out to make room compared to other DS/3DS flashcarts, that's just how it is, DS cartridges were never designed to contain a whole SoC on board and that's why they're so thin

3DS cartridges similarly contain a FPGA, while not as complex still requires additional space on top of the other chips and therefore they end up having to cut more holes making the case flimsy.

Bottom line is, cartridges in general are mostly just a flash chip and a save chip, both can be pretty damn tiny (just look at MicroSD cards, they actually have a flash chip inside), but flashcarts have to be considerably more complex to actually work, and the level of complexity increases with each console.

 

[Awesomeaustin316]

Well I think it's mainly to produce as much profit as possible. But even then , I think they see it as it's a ds flashcart and no one will be super rough with it. Like it's going to be in a ds so why should it withstand someone forcing it open ? The money being paid for a flashcart I think isn't specifically detailed into the plastic it uses, but the fact these group work to make them compatible so you can get free games. If you're paying for piracy, I would put firmware and software above plastic type, especially with something that is going into a ds and not going into harms way.

 

[DSpider]

Well, the CycloDS cost twice as much as the DSTWO and at least 4x as much as any other DS flashcart.
They were also one of the few flashcart teams that aren't based in China, which makes a big difference.
It's also worth noting that most DS/3DS flashcarts have had to have parts of the plastic cut out to make room for chips, which makes them less sturdy. This is especially true for 3DS flashcarts, the stickers cover up some pretty big holes.
The DSTWO has a dedicated CPU which means even more plastic had to be cut out to make room compared to other DS flashcarts, that's just how it is, DS cartridges were never designed to contain a whole SoC on board and that's why they're so thin
3DS cartridges similarly contain a FPGA, while not as complex still requires additional space on top of the other chips and therefore they end up having to cut more holes making the case flimsy.

Don't get me started on the stickers. Both Sky3DS and R4i Gold RTS that I have contain badly misplaced stickers. It's like some Chinese minor was given 2 hours to place stickers on 10.000 flashcarts. While balancing on a unicycle.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Don't get me started on the stickers. Both Sky3DS and R4i Gold RTS that I have contain badly misplaced stickers. It's like some Chinese minor was given 2 hours to place stickers on 10.000 flashcarts, while balancing on a unicycle.

Actually, that's pretty much what happens.
Resellers receive cartridge, sticker and box, and put them all together. They're usually lazy or in a rush and it ends up looking shitty.
That's besides the point of my post though.

Well I think it's mainly to produce as much profit as possible. But even then , I think they see it as it's a ds flashcart and no one will be super rough with it. Like it's going to be in a ds so why should it withstand someone forcing it open ? The money being paid for a flashcart I think isn't specifically detailed into the plastic it uses, but the fact these group work to make them compatible so you can get free games. If you're paying for piracy, I would put firmware and software above plastic type, especially with something that is going into a ds and not going into harms way.

Well, if it works, then I don't care so much about it.

I agree with both of you.

I've honestly never cared about the quality of my flashcarts, as long as they work and don't ruin my cartridge slot. The original R4 seemed better quality than any of the flashcarts that came after it, at least on the surface, but other flashcarts turned out better in the end. The plastic doesn't matter, but the internal hardware does (for example in the case of the N5 which bricked DSes by blowing a fuse), and the software is equally important.

The Gateway and the DSTWO both provide excellent functionality both software-wise and hardware-wise.

Also @DSpider you have to realize that the R4i Gold is a $15 cart and the Sky3DS is an obvious quick (overpriced) cash in by people who have no idea what they are doing and just BARELY managed to make a flashcart but have no idea what to do beyond that, as evident by the release of the blue button cart shortly after people found a workaround for the 10 game limit.

 

[PolyChrome]

Well, if it works, then I don't care so much about it.