Acekard 2i Review

[shaunj66]

Acekard 2i Review
Official GBAtemp Review - World's 1st review!
 
The Acekard 2i is the first commercial DSi flash kit. It's wide knowledge now that the new Nintendo DSi blocks previous flash kits from operating, but it didn't take long before the Acekard team came along and cracked it.

So, want to know if the Acekard 2i is worth picking up to go alongside your shiny new DSi? Read our full review at the link below to find out.

Feel free to leave your comments and questions in response to this thread.

 Acekard 2i official GBAtemp review

Discuss

 

[Noitora]

A review, cool!

 

[Ferrariman]

Nice review!

 

[Maikel Steneker]

Nice review. So in short, this is just the normal AceKard 2 working on a DSi... Like we expected.

One thing I noticed:
"- Feels like a rush job, with some recycled and useless (DSi incompatible) options from previous AK models"
That's not true. It can also be used on DS Phat and Lite, so it's not useless at all.

 

[Raika]

Hmm... its not that surprising, since flashcarts would eventually be made for the DSi. Acekard is just faster, thats all.

 

[johnchan]

Nice review, but there seems to be a glaring omission: no mention has been made to the fact that there is a very high chance that this cart will be blocked by the next DSi firmware update, and that as the AK2i does not seem to have an updateable bootloader, if this happens it will essentially leave the early adopters with a useless piece of plastic unless they manage to refrain from ever updating their DSi. I think at this stage its a bit more than speculation that Nintendo is going to make better efforts to prevent piracy on the DSi, due to the fact that we already know they can update the firmware and have already blocked all previous flash carts. As Nintendo can update the DSi firmware, they can block AK2i and anything that comes after it - this is a fact. The only viable solution for the DSi is going to be a product which is fully updateable, and then it will be a cat & mouse game with Nintendo releasing updates to block any currently functioning carts and then manufacturers releasing a new "bootloader" to counter this each time.

AK2i and anything similar which can not be fully updated will only ever be temporary solutions, which will only function on units currently in the market and only as long as the user does not update their DSi firmware.

 

[shaunj66]

Nice review. So in short, this is just the normal AceKard 2 working on a DSi... Like we expected.

One thing I noticed:
"- Feels like a rush job, with some recycled and useless (DSi incompatible) options from previous AK models"
That's not true. It can also be used on DS Phat and Lite, so it's not useless at all.

Well it is useless. Why would you buy the more expensive AK2i if you don't own a DSi? Fair enough if they phase out the regular AK2.1 and make them all simply "DSi compatible", but until that happens, the options IMO are useless.

They just need to include an option to disable non-DSi options, or just create a seperate AK2i-only loader.

 

[da_head]

nice review

but still no dsi for me

 

[Maikel Steneker]

Nice review. So in short, this is just the normal AceKard 2 working on a DSi... Like we expected.

One thing I noticed:
"- Feels like a rush job, with some recycled and useless (DSi incompatible) options from previous AK models"
That's not true. It can also be used on DS Phat and Lite, so it's not useless at all.

Well it is useless. Why would you buy the more expensive AK2i if you don't own a DSi? Fair enough if they phase out the regular AK2.1 and make them all simply "DSi compatible", but until that happens, the options IMO are useless.

I still don't agree.

My brother has a DS Phat with an R4. If he wants a DSi, that doesn't mean that he'll never use his DS Phat. After all, he can play GBA roms on that. If he buys an AK2i he will have a much better cart with the GBA features, for both his DS and DSi.

I understand that it feels a bit useless for someone who already has a better flashcart for the DS/DSL, but for some people this would be a big reason to buy an AK2(i), while you list it as a con.

 

[steve007]

Hum if i get this do i still have to patch the games like sonic RPg on my r4ds and i hope it has a cheep price for it yes im geting a ids becouse i love nintendo Sony messed up the PSP with updates >_

 

[shaunj66]

I still don't agree.

My brother has a DS Phat with an R4. If he wants a DSi, that doesn't mean that he'll never use his DS Phat. After all, he can play GBA roms on that. If he buys an AK2i he will have a much better cart with the GBA features, for both his DS and DSi.

I understand that it feels a bit useless for someone who already has a better flashcart for the DS/DSL, but for some people this would be a big reason to buy an AK2(i), while you list it as a con.
I understand where you're coming from and have updated the pros/cons. I think they should be a little more fair now

QUOTE(steve007 @ Dec 14 2008, 04:50 PM) Hum if i get this do i still have to patch the games like sonic RPg on my r4ds and i hope it has a cheep price for it yes im geting a ids becouse i love nintendo Sony messed up the PSP with updates >_

 

[cory1492]

Cons:
- Currently only available in black

Well that cuts it, it's just complete junk then

 

[shakirmoledina]

acekard are quick but not intelligent enough... introducing dual storage was great but nothing somebody then actually bothered about unlike itouch who included cheapness, compatibility , design , features and the latest one which is RTS... that is what i call planning with simplicity

 

[Frederica Bernkastel]

Nice Review, Nice Card.

Although, why do you need to buy a DSi card, if the DSi is shovelware crap.
Its fugly, stupid and more shovelware than most of ubisofts games.

Also, a DS lite is cheaper. With a gba slot.

If you're interested in a new DS, don't buy a lite.
Also, M3 RULES!


That is all.

 

[Smiths]

no mention of AKAIO = you suck, shaun. BRING THE HATE!

 

[Joey90]

Still lacks some features of its competitors

What competitors

At the moment AK can do pretty much whatever they want - if you want to play ROMs on a DSi you need an AK2i.

And although it does seem a little unpolished, I'm sure at least some of the early adopters would rather have a functional cart that they can use, over a perfected and fine-tuned cart that they have to wait another few months for.

Plus I am sure that a lot of the firmware 'bugs' will be removed in the near future.

 

[B-Blue]

Nice review, Shaun! Thank you

All I want is to play ROMs on my DSi, so the Acekard 2i is more than enough for me

 

[jensa]

didnt team cyclops make an update for the cycloDS to work on DSi?

 

[Satangel]

didnt team cyclops make an update for the cycloDS to work on DSi?

"as Team Cyclops proved by also releasing footage of their cart strutting its stuff on the new handheld, the Acekard 2i is the first to go commercial."

That is said in the review

 

[Beware]

Nice review, but I don't really see the point of an entire review. It's just meant to be a DSi compatible version of the AK2. The ONLY differences are the build quality and the fact that it is DSi compatible. It was never meant to be more than that (yet). I don't mean to seem ungrateful for the review, I just think a FULL review wasn't totally necessary. Just copy and paste most of the stuff from the AK2 review, since they're the same cart.