3DS capture card maker Keity goes bankrupt

20160319_4efb74.jpg

Katsukeity (or Katsukity, depending on who you ask) was a well-known Japanese 3DS Capture Card maker. Supporting all models, as well as other systems (like the Wii U Gamepad and Switch), this means that soon it will be extremely difficult to obtain capture cards for systems other than the Old 3DS (which is supported by a seperate maker, Loopy). While you can no longer buy them directly, a European redistributor, Merki, still has stock, but it will not last forever.
Merki on Discord said:
Yes, this is true, He is bankrupt now. I do have some stock, I got last year stuff for around 100.000 € [~$114,000 USD] but this will last for some months.
I honestly do not plan to continue this business, it is too stressful
of course I will handle all my customers as usual - support and repair, but at a certain point I will stop selling them for good
(Transcribed from image)

So, if you want one from Keity you'll have to get one now, from Merki, as Keity's site (3dsvidocapture.com) is now dead.

Loopy might be creating capture cards for other systems now, but one thing's for sure - it'll be a while before we can get new capture cards again.

:arrow:Source (Japanese)
:arrow:English Source
:arrow:Merki's Site
 

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The Catboy

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This is sad, but not really surprising. Capture cards like this appeal to a very specific audience and that's a rather small audience at that.
 
Last edited by The Catboy,

CHEMI6DER

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RIP. Would it be possible to solder connections directly onto the 3DS to extract the video signal, or are the pins too small to be feasible?
It is feasible with an O3DS, there's a pinout diagram for video on 3dbrew wiki. The 3ds just sends a raw 8bpc rgb signal to the screens, so it's wouldn't require much to capture(I even a had a theory thag if could be possible to solder 8 bit DACs per colour channel and shove these three signals(along with vsync which is also present on the board) into a VGA plug and try it on a CRT monitor. While not being a capture method, it'd still be cool to play 3ds games with 0 latency on a CRT monitor). The N3DS should have the same design but there's no pinout diagram available publically on the internet(I could've figured it out on my own, but I don't have an oscilliscope, cause they're pretty dang expensive)
Prices skyrocketing in 3....2.....1.....

Joking aside, I do feel that it is a real pity that this came about. Always thought that the capture cards were neat.
Weren't the prices high enough already? 200$ for a board with three ICs and a soldering job already felt high enough...still hoping that someone will do a selfless thing and make an open source capture device for 3ds(and not only 3ds, it'd be great of there were open source hdmi, drc and switch capture devices too).

Yeah, they were neat, but I think they are dying just because of the high pricetag. And it just felt like people making these tried pulling every last *insert amount of currency here* out of our pockets, cause even the capture software is locked down with a key, which is stupid due to the uselessness of that software without the capture board
 
Last edited by CHEMI6DER,
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RIP. Would it be possible to solder connections directly onto the 3DS to extract the video signal, or are the pins too small to be feasible?
He did start selling the capture kits separately not long ago..so someone could very well pick one up while the stock lasts and RE it
 
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pasc

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RIP. Would it be possible to solder connections directly onto the 3DS to extract the video signal, or are the pins too small to be feasible?
You need to process the signal afterwards to make it compatible with any end user device...

As for Keity:
Meh. Never used my modded 3DS that much back then (Loopy's) aside from capturing MPH videos with a friend.
Still wondering why TV-Out isn't standart with Nintendo devices from the get go.
(At least the 3DS has a wireless capture, albeit that won't work with DS Titles)
 

Ericthegreat

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"I got last year stuff for around 100.000 € [~$114,000 USD] but this will last for some months."

Wtf I never imagined these things made so much money, if he would've told me $100,000 for my excess 3DS screen capture units, I would've thought it was a scam.
 

leon315

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i may understand the difficulty to install capture card for 3ds, now 3ds has reached the end of circle, the demand would decrease inevitably, it's not a surprise the decision to stop the business at some point.

but for wiiu and switch, both of them support HDMI output, all you need just a ordinary capture/streaming card connected directly to console, and i'm sure many other manufacture companies already offer better product at greater price.
 

gamesquest1

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can't help but feel the n3ds video streaming killed of a big-ish portion of his business, I know professional streamers and reviewers still used them but I remember at one point many of the "I'm gonna be the next pewdiepie" newbie streamers were rushing to buy capture cards only to be trying to sell them on a few months later
 

Darksabre72

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It is feasible with an O3DS, there's a pinout diagram for video on 3dbrew wiki. The 3ds just sends a raw 8bpc rgb signal to the screens, so it's wouldn't require much to capture(I even a had a theory thag if could be possible to solder 8 bit DACs per colour channel and shove these three signals(along with vsync which is also present on the board) into a VGA plug and try it on a CRT monitor. While not being a capture method, it'd still be cool to play 3ds games with 0 latency on a CRT monitor). The N3DS should have the same design but there's no pinout diagram available publically on the internet(I could've figured it out on my own, but I don't have an oscilliscope, cause they're pretty dang expensive)

Weren't the prices high enough already? 200$ for a board with three ICs and a soldering job already felt high enough...still hoping that someone will do a selfless thing and make an open source capture device for 3ds(and not only 3ds, it'd be great of there were open source hdmi, drc and switch capture devices too).

Yeah, they were neat, but I think they are dying just because of the high pricetag. And it just felt like people making these tried pulling every last *insert amount of currency here* out of our pockets, cause even the capture software is locked down with a key, which is stupid due to the uselessness of that software without the capture board
i did see this project awhile ago that uses a modded 3ds cartridge with a usb inside of it for (possibly) data transfer and capture video. it seams like he is busy so no updates yet, but i suggest keep an eye out: https://ahmedgeek.com/3ds-usb-cartridge/
 
Last edited by Darksabre72,

HRudyPlayZ

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So sad... but not surprised though:
  • They always were in low demand because it's a niche public (streamers who wants to stream 3ds/vita/wiiu/switch and doesn't care about it being modded)
  • They were too overpriced (a capture card costed more than the 3ds itself!)
  • After the release of NTR streaming, the sales went down a lot...
However, it would be nice if katsukeity released everything (software's source code, the electrical/cutting/wiring plans for the cards...)

Also, there was a lot of alternatives recently:
  • PSVita: The uvc-usb plugin allows you to capture your screen in a much stable, simple and cheaper way...
  • (N)3DS: The streaming option on NTR and the release of HzMod did the same...
  • Wii U: The capture card for the Gamepad can be replaced with the Streaming Plugin (Very Early in results...) and a standard HDMI capture card.
  • Switch: A standard HDMI capture card.
 
Last edited by HRudyPlayZ,
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Not surpised at all. They’re expensive, not a whole lot of people want them in the first place, and they’re a pain to install. But don’t worry, I’m sure scalpers will buy all of them so you have to pay hundreds of dollars more.
 
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