This needs to be said, Gateway 3DS is not a good product by any means. Please before buying one, realize that you are basically paying upwards to 80$ for only 2 exclusive features. An easy to use cheat engine and .3DS rom support through an external flashcart. Otherwise you are paying money to always be out of date and regular issues with OFW updates.
So today, I am going to take some time and list everything wrong with this product and explain in detail why this is a problem.
Gateway 3DS takes forever to update their product. Everything from new features to updates to work on OFW takes weeks to even months to be pumped out. Once they are sent out, they tend to be buggy and based on extremely old code that they stole from other developers. And worst of all these aren't isolated issues, this is almost every update where they add a "new feature." When Gateway3DS added "Time machine" and "Fastboot," they stole the both the downgrade tool and then created their own modified version of A9LH v1. This is bad, but worse knowing that using their tools actually caused n3DS's to brick and still comes with a much higher brick chance compared the community projects they stole from. Despite these issues, they took months to pump out these features and claimed that they were tested before release. The actual A9LH version of Gateway 3DS only works on A9LH v1, which means that it requires extra effort just to get it work on A9LH v1. As well the A9LH version of Gateway 3DS lack an form of FIRM0/1 protection, despite allowing the user to boot into sysNAND mode. Which means that updating your sysNAND will brick your system and you will need a hardmod with a NAND back up to repair it. Once again, basic features that weren't added, making their CFW out of date to compared to other CFWs. This also means that you are forced to continue using emuNANDs, which bring a whole new world of issues when dealing with GBA/DSi games and patches. Which brings me to my next points.
Gateway 3DS still requires you to use an emuNAND. This is dumb, not only does it take up extra space for the emuNAND, but it also means that you need to install GBA/DSi games twice, just to get them to work. So not only are you loosing space with the emuNAND, you've just lost more space trying to enjoy your GBA/DSi games. Oh and you also need to install patches on your NAND to get them to work because Gateway doesn't have those patches built into their CFW. So that's more hassle you to go through because Gateway CFW is grossly out of date. Their emuNAND also doesn't protect you from OFW updates, proof? The update from 11.0 to 11.1 resulted in Gateway users being unable to use their CFW until Gateway updated and there's still issues with that update.
Fastboot and Time machine. Fastboot is their version of A9LH, which is based on an old commit of A9LH v1, with a modified stage 2. The issue with their version of A9LH, is that it's tethered to their cart to do basically anything. Which means loosing the cart or it breaks, will result in your 3DS being stuck on Fastboot.
Time Machine is their downgrader, which at first was launched completely broken. It resulted in n3DS's being bricked after downgrading to 2.1. Now they've fixed the bricking issue, but their downgrader still has an extremely high chance of bricking compared to using community based downgraders. This is mostly due to Time Machine being based on an older commit.
Brick code! Gateway added a brick code to their product to brick clones. This means if you accidentally bought a clone Gateway 3DS, it will brick your system. No warning, just brick your entire system. Because fuck you, that's why. Seriously though, this is not an ok practice. Their code can clearly see when a cart is fake and could easily just prevent people from launching it, but instead they break it.
Next up, that high price tag for very little payoff. Like I said before, you are paying for this product. Which would leave one to hope that they are getting their moneys worth out of it. The answer for that is a flat no. Gateway 3DS lacks the most basic patches for their CFW and the most basic protection from Nintendo updates. Even their emuNANDs get regularly broken through OFW updates from Nintendo, resulting in the user having to either start over again, restore their previous NAND back up, or wait for Gateway to update, which could take quite some time. They also lack basic patches built into their launcher, that have all become a standard for CFW users. The only real benefit you get are two exclusive features, an easy cheat engine and .3DS ROM support through an external flashcart. Which begs to question, are those two features worth paying for? Do they really outweigh the flaws for two exclusive features? Well again, I am going to be flat honest and say, no, they are not. You can still get cheats through ntr and .3DS support really isn't that special. Not to mention to use .3DS roms online, you need a private header, which is another hassle compared to .CIAs. They are nice features, but do not warrant such a large price tag.
All and all, the cart just isn't worth it. Yes, it started a lot of what makes CFWs today and yeah it started a lot of what we use now. But when it comes down it, it's still grossly out of date, the brick code is not cool, the price tag is too damn high, the lack of standard features doesn't help it outshine free CFWs, and of course it's too easy for Nintendo to break. You are basically paying for something that free CFW users do better and for free. Do yourself a favor and don't buy this cart, if you have the setup to use Gateway, then save your money and use a free CFW
http://gbatemp.net/threads/faq-what-cfw-is-best-for-me.428509/
If you already have a Gateway, then reconsider using it. Sure you spent money, but is it really worth it?
So today, I am going to take some time and list everything wrong with this product and explain in detail why this is a problem.
Gateway 3DS takes forever to update their product. Everything from new features to updates to work on OFW takes weeks to even months to be pumped out. Once they are sent out, they tend to be buggy and based on extremely old code that they stole from other developers. And worst of all these aren't isolated issues, this is almost every update where they add a "new feature." When Gateway3DS added "Time machine" and "Fastboot," they stole the both the downgrade tool and then created their own modified version of A9LH v1. This is bad, but worse knowing that using their tools actually caused n3DS's to brick and still comes with a much higher brick chance compared the community projects they stole from. Despite these issues, they took months to pump out these features and claimed that they were tested before release. The actual A9LH version of Gateway 3DS only works on A9LH v1, which means that it requires extra effort just to get it work on A9LH v1. As well the A9LH version of Gateway 3DS lack an form of FIRM0/1 protection, despite allowing the user to boot into sysNAND mode. Which means that updating your sysNAND will brick your system and you will need a hardmod with a NAND back up to repair it. Once again, basic features that weren't added, making their CFW out of date to compared to other CFWs. This also means that you are forced to continue using emuNANDs, which bring a whole new world of issues when dealing with GBA/DSi games and patches. Which brings me to my next points.
Gateway 3DS still requires you to use an emuNAND. This is dumb, not only does it take up extra space for the emuNAND, but it also means that you need to install GBA/DSi games twice, just to get them to work. So not only are you loosing space with the emuNAND, you've just lost more space trying to enjoy your GBA/DSi games. Oh and you also need to install patches on your NAND to get them to work because Gateway doesn't have those patches built into their CFW. So that's more hassle you to go through because Gateway CFW is grossly out of date. Their emuNAND also doesn't protect you from OFW updates, proof? The update from 11.0 to 11.1 resulted in Gateway users being unable to use their CFW until Gateway updated and there's still issues with that update.
Fastboot and Time machine. Fastboot is their version of A9LH, which is based on an old commit of A9LH v1, with a modified stage 2. The issue with their version of A9LH, is that it's tethered to their cart to do basically anything. Which means loosing the cart or it breaks, will result in your 3DS being stuck on Fastboot.
Time Machine is their downgrader, which at first was launched completely broken. It resulted in n3DS's being bricked after downgrading to 2.1. Now they've fixed the bricking issue, but their downgrader still has an extremely high chance of bricking compared to using community based downgraders. This is mostly due to Time Machine being based on an older commit.
Brick code! Gateway added a brick code to their product to brick clones. This means if you accidentally bought a clone Gateway 3DS, it will brick your system. No warning, just brick your entire system. Because fuck you, that's why. Seriously though, this is not an ok practice. Their code can clearly see when a cart is fake and could easily just prevent people from launching it, but instead they break it.
Next up, that high price tag for very little payoff. Like I said before, you are paying for this product. Which would leave one to hope that they are getting their moneys worth out of it. The answer for that is a flat no. Gateway 3DS lacks the most basic patches for their CFW and the most basic protection from Nintendo updates. Even their emuNANDs get regularly broken through OFW updates from Nintendo, resulting in the user having to either start over again, restore their previous NAND back up, or wait for Gateway to update, which could take quite some time. They also lack basic patches built into their launcher, that have all become a standard for CFW users. The only real benefit you get are two exclusive features, an easy cheat engine and .3DS ROM support through an external flashcart. Which begs to question, are those two features worth paying for? Do they really outweigh the flaws for two exclusive features? Well again, I am going to be flat honest and say, no, they are not. You can still get cheats through ntr and .3DS support really isn't that special. Not to mention to use .3DS roms online, you need a private header, which is another hassle compared to .CIAs. They are nice features, but do not warrant such a large price tag.
All and all, the cart just isn't worth it. Yes, it started a lot of what makes CFWs today and yeah it started a lot of what we use now. But when it comes down it, it's still grossly out of date, the brick code is not cool, the price tag is too damn high, the lack of standard features doesn't help it outshine free CFWs, and of course it's too easy for Nintendo to break. You are basically paying for something that free CFW users do better and for free. Do yourself a favor and don't buy this cart, if you have the setup to use Gateway, then save your money and use a free CFW
http://gbatemp.net/threads/faq-what-cfw-is-best-for-me.428509/
If you already have a Gateway, then reconsider using it. Sure you spent money, but is it really worth it?
Last edited by The Catboy,
