Hardware Buying a GBA Flash Cart in 2013

[rs1n]

Some word of advice to those who bought from ebluar, you only have 45 days to make a claim from paypal if you want a refund. Be warned.

In my own particular case, I emailed them to say I would only wait 30 days.

 

[Joe88]

Ahh Greed at its Best its the American way

supply and demand
its economics 101

I only bought one extra for $30 and resold it for $150 locally
it was a risk investment because you dont know is some company was gonna clone it or they were gonna start making them again
I could have bought 100's of them and resold at 3-4x as much which some people did, I wish I did right now

 

[Nusdogg]

Goldenagegames.net have them in stock if I'm correct, because the dude just emailed me this morning saying he has the back lit GBA & EZ Flash IV bundle kit for sale. So that means he might've re-stock them? Also, hit up r4igold3ds.com, because I got an email saying that he's got one came in and to order soon before it goes out again, so I did my payment asap. Hit them up if you're looking for one in case they get a few that I didn't know about.

Can't wait to get mine!

 

[Darkipod]

They want an awful lot for theirs too.

 

[rs1n]

They want an awful lot for theirs too.

That's just how the market is, at the moment. The supply is ever dwindling, and those who are able to get a hold of a few are starting to price gouge.

 

[Darkipod]

I know, its not like I'm new to life or something, I was just saying, it was more then I was interested in paying.

 

[Nusdogg]

Yup, it all depends on how much you really want it.

 

[Darkipod]

Yup, it all depends on how much you really want it.

Mine just was marked shipped, I hope I get it.

 

[aliak11]

I have one that I would be willing to sell for the right price, if you want it PM me an offer.

 

[Darkipod]

I doubt you'll make as much profit as the other guy if thats what your trying to do.

 

[bitbite]

Mine just was marked shipped, I hope I get it.

From Ebluar or a different vendor?

 

[Darkipod]

A different vendor. I bought 3, but I am not sure if he actually had them or not.

 

[Nusdogg]

Mine just was marked shipped, I hope I get it.

Yup, mine was marked shipped as well. Can't wait!

 

[Fuyumi]

I was bookmarking the Aliexpress one. Didn't know if I wanted it. It sold out today though. >.>
Just asking, does the EZ Flash 3in1 GBA size work on a GBA SP? Seriously near dam impossible to find an EZ Flash 4..
Also, what games slow down when played on Super Card? Those are definitely easier to source than EZ Flash 4. I can consider them..

 

[Count Duckula]

Just asking, does the EZ Flash 3in1 GBA size work on a GBA SP? Seriously near dam impossible to find an EZ Flash 4..

Yes they work, but as they dont have a miniSD card slot you need a DS and a DS flashcart to use it.
A GBA rom needs to be flashed to the 3-in-1s NOR flash in a DS, the cart can then be removed and the GBA game played in a GBA.
It works, but is a lot less conveniant than having an ez-flash IV with a 2gb miniSD with every game you want on it.

Also, what games slow down when played on Super Card? Those are definitely easier to source than EZ Flash 4. I can consider them..

Pretty much every game with scrolling is next to unplayable unless you are willing to accept a lot of slowdown. Some simple games will be playable but really supercards are a last resort for GBA games. I'd avoid them completely (I own a supercard SD and a few EZ-Flash IVs, and have used a friends supercard miniSD).

They are still available becuase no-one wants one if they have a choice of almost any other flashcart

 

[Fuyumi]

Yes they work, but as they dont have a miniSD card slot you need a DS and a DS flashcart to use it.
A GBA rom needs to be flashed to the 3-in-1s NOR flash in a DS, the cart can then be removed and the GBA game played in a GBA.
It works, but is a lot less conveniant than having an ez-flash IV with a 2gb miniSD with every game you want on it.

So it works, but I have to first format/patch/something onto the Slot-1 cart's memory on the computer, then place in in my DS and transfer the .gba rom into the GBA Slot-2 cart while using my DS?

So after putting it into NOR memory, I can just take it out and play it on GBA?

Can I still play it on DS without the R4/Slot-1 card?

Sorry, I'm no wiz at this. I'm new to this, and very late in. Can't find any EZ4.. I can't find a lot of posts about the 3in1 GBA sized cart either.

Pretty much every game with scrolling is next to unplayable unless you are willing to accept a lot of slowdown. Some simple games will be playable but really supercards are a last resort for GBA games. I'd avoid them completely (I own a supercard SD and a few EZ-Flash IVs, and have used a friends supercard miniSD).

They are still available becuase no-one wants one if they have a choice of almost any other flashcart

Oh I see.. some people do say that it works quite alright without slowdowns for them.. It's really easy to find compared to EZ4. It's really my last desperate choice if that's the case.. ^^;; Just how bad is the slowdown?

 

[Count Duckula]

So it works, but I have to first format/patch/something onto the Slot-1 cart's memory on the computer, then place in in my DS and transfer the .gba rom into the GBA Slot-2 cart while using my DS?

So after putting it into NOR memory, I can just take it out and play it on GBA?

Can I still play it on DS without the R4/Slot-1 card?

Sorry, I'm no wiz at this. I'm new to this, and very late in. Can't find any EZ4.. I can't find a lot of posts about the 3in1 GBA sized cart either.

The EZ-Flash IV has a miniSD card, you fill that with ROMs, turn on the GBA and choose a game. The ROM is then copied into either RAM or NOR flash in the EZ-flash and then the game plays.
RAM is fast to write to but the data is lost when you turn off the GBA, NOR flash is slow to write to but the data is kept after you cut power.

As the 3-in-1 has no memory card slot, the only way to get a GBA ROM onto it is by using a DS and DS flash cart. The GBA game is copied to the DS flash carts microSD, you boot the DS to the DS flash cart then run a program that copies the GBA ROM to the NOR flash in the 3-in-1.
Once this is done, you can take the 3-in-1 out of the DS and play that single ROM in a GBA.

You cannot use the 3-in-1 to play GBA games on a DS or a GBA without a DS flash cart to allow you to write games to it.

Oh I see.. some people do say that it works quite alright without slowdowns for them.. It's really easy to find compared to EZ4. It's really my last desperate choice if that's the case.. ^^;; Just how bad is the slowdown?

In my opinion scrolling games (mario, sonic etc) are completely unplayable, the slowdown was extremely noticable. If I wanted to play games imperfectly I'd emulate them
Some simple games were playable but still not perfect, eg mario vs DK.

The issue was the same both on my supercard SD and a friends supercard minisd.

 

[scottg1234]

So where can I buy an EZ Flash 4 now?

I still want one.

 

[Count Duckula]

So where can I buy an EZ Flash 4 now?

I still want one.

Take the time and check up on the several threads on the topic (including this one) regularly and hope for the best is the best I can suggest.
http://gbatemp.net/threads/ez-flash-iv-is-being-discontinued.339309/
http://gbatemp.net/threads/need-to-get-ez-flash-iv.351475/
New ones are popping up regularly these days.

Really you just need to keep looking and (likely) be willing to overpay as those with any to sell are mostly price gouging.
They do show up on ebay and other similar sites now and then. A friend bought one used from a local games sales/trading facebook page a couple weeks back for $40.

 

[Fuyumi]

Really you just need to keep looking and (likely) be willing to overpay as those with any to sell are mostly price gouging.
They do show up on ebay and other similar sites now and then. A friend bought one used from a local games sales/trading facebook page a couple weeks back for $40.

Way to go! I delayed buying from Ali Express because I wanted to check my heartland shop for it. They didn't have it, and Ali Express was sold out. ^^;;
More recon of shady tech shops in my country and to wait patiently for more from RHS or Ali..