Hacking Cheap DS Skin Solution - Mad Catz Showcase

[mixinluv2u]

these clear cases by Mad Catz allows the DS Lite to close all the way, right?

there are several other brands (like joytech, or other generic) that i heard will not close all the way. =\

 

[JacobReaper]

Yes, please post the images! Especially that SKS one!

I picked one of these up at my local Fry's. Came with some stupid Football skins. >__> I just tossed them away. Right now, I don't have any skins on it...

Can someone please post the program used to make the skins?

yes PLEASE, i just bought some of these and there awesome, one thing, i don't have any skin things on them

help apprieciated

 

[mixinluv2u]

jacob33301: where did you find the mad catz showcase without any skins for sale? is it any cheaper?

 

[Kellicros]

Those are pretty cool indeed, can you guys please share the skins?
Or anyone knows where can I download the pre-made ones?

 

[YukiChan456]

Those are pretty cool indeed, can you guys please share the skins?
Or anyone knows where can I download the pre-made ones?

Download this!

NDS-Print.zip

Find some awesome pics!
Insert them in the NDS-Print and print them on photo paper!

 

[mixinluv2u]

so i went ahead and got myself one of these Mad Catz showcases.....

but i wish someone here had replied to my question earlier. because it does NOT allow your DS to close all the way with it on. the clips that keep the case on gets in the way and leaves a very small gap.

very annoying!!

i have a feeling all cases of this type have the same problem?

 

[MajinBuu]

so i went ahead and got myself one of these Mad Catz showcases.....

but i wish someone here had replied to my question earlier. because it does NOT allow your DS to close all the way with it on. the clips that keep the case on gets in the way and leaves a very small gap.

very annoying!!

i have a feeling all cases of this type have the same problem?

you're kidding right? This is by far one of the best products i've ever bought for my ds, hori as well of course. I just measured the gap it's like less then 2.5mm not exactly a big deal now is it?

I can't wait to print out my own dragonballz skins

Thanks for everyone sharing your pictures and thank you topic creator for the idea

 

[OSW]

I have a similar case with the gap (different brand)

i cut the clips off and sanded it so that it closes fully (But i buggered up the job scraping other parts of the case so it doesnt look good.

The top part flops around (so you cant really have a skin in it, but it works fine this way as protection.

 

[mixinluv2u]

you're kidding right? This is by far one of the best products i've ever bought for my ds, hori as well of course. I just measured the gap it's like less then 2.5mm not exactly a big deal now is it?

I can't wait to print out my own dragonballz skins

Thanks for everyone sharing your pictures and thank you topic creator for the ideaÂ

Â

no i am not kidding. it shouldn't be so hard for people to design a case that closes fully, it's like they didn't really care about their product or DS Lites when they decided to make their product. i much rather use a generic one since it closes all the way, and it's cheaper. check out pictures in the link below

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=69175&st=15

oh yea, and i tried sanding it myself too.... also scratched up the case so yea. didnt go too well.

 

[MajinBuu]

you're kidding right? This is by far one of the best products i've ever bought for my ds, hori as well of course. I just measured the gap it's like less then 2.5mm not exactly a big deal now is it?

I can't wait to print out my own dragonballz skins

Thanks for everyone sharing your pictures and thank you topic creator for the idea 

 

no i am not kidding. it shouldn't be so hard for people to design a case that closes fully, it's like they didn't really care about their product or DS Lites when they decided to make their product. i much rather use a generic one since it closes all the way, and it's cheaper. check out pictures in the link below

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=69175&st=15

oh yea, and i tried sanding it myself too.... also scratched up the case so yea. didnt go too well.

Well I hardly use my ds when im on the move.. I actually play it when im home.. in my couch. I can't answer for the other products, but Mad Catz did their job if you ask me.. since im not gona put my ds in my pocket or something like that, it doesnt bother me the tiny weeny 2.5mm gap.

Curious.. you could have used a dremel and nicely cut off like +-1.5mm that would have done the job.

Then again you shouldn't have to modify the product to fit the actual product..

so yeah I do understand your point mixinluv2u

But that casing with a custom skin. .man its a work of art

 

[MajinBuu]

I did a search and didn't see anyone talking yet about this case by mad catz. It is called the 'NDS Lite Custom Show Case'. These clear cases come bundled with either NFL skins, or generic skins, here is their product info:

more info

more info

In any event, you can actually print out your own custom skins to go between the clear case and the DS. You can find the software mad catz provides here:
http://customization.madcatz.com/nds.html

Their software only exports to 72 DPI bmp (which won't give you much detail at all), so I made a Photoshop template at 600 DPI which you can find here:
http://www.dzgraphics.com/downloads/dslite..._template_2.zip

I printed out my skins on glossy photo paper and just cut them with scissors. Here are a few images of the skin i'm using now (art from deviantart.com):

The images aren't the best quality, but they get the point across (if you want better let me know or check out the link below). Basically if you don't mind the DS being a tad bigger (but still fits in my yoshi DS pouch) then this might be worth checking out. For such a small increase in bulk the DS does feel a lot more bulky, my guess is the weight of the case that makes it feel that way. With that said I do feel this clear case will definitely prevent gouging/scratching, perhaps even make it kid-proof. For $15 bucks it was a good solution for me and my plain jane white DS lite.

Big thanks to KirbyCube who posted this blog entry where I heard about doing custom skins with this case, you can find more info and pics there:
http://blogs.ign.com/KirbyCube/2006/07/31/26787/

Thanks for the template.. but I have no idea at all on how to use it in adobe photoshop cs3... It won't let me paste into the layer and etc etc...

Really stupid mad catz tool is only 72 DPI

Could you write a small guide on how we exactly paste the picture into your template

?

Thanks

 

[MajinBuu]

oh god.. this is really getting to my head... im i suppose to resize the original source to the same resolution as the template like 4444x3335? Otherwise it will only look tiny on the template.... but isnt that some sort of transcoding, like resizing a 640x400 to 4444x3335

isn't that a MAJOR quality drop?

I don't understand dpi either... I thought the higher resolution = more dpi? But photoshop doesnt find any DPI on the file i converted from 640x400 - 4444x3335.

Anyways I can't adjuct the file in the layer, so it fits the section...

this is really killing me

EDIT: I haven't found ANY 600 dpi on deviantart only 72 or 100dpi..

im curious if the template is at 600dpi.. how would a 72/100dpi alter the picture if its missing 500 dpi?

 

[ZAFDeltaForce]

Here's one I did

 

[MajinBuu]

Upon further reading... I finally understand DPI but that still doesnt solve my problem...

Like if the original source is 1000x768 100 dpi.. converting that picture to fit the template 600 dpi will make it wayyyyyyyyy too small. ANyone have any ideas at all?

To put it simple.. What good is a 600dpi template if most of our pictures are 72-100dpi?

You really have to find pictures well over 2000-3000 in resolution just to use 600dpi

I don't get it :'(

 

[MajinBuu]

yeah okay i finally did it.. hmm some of the pics looks great while some just look bleh...

Hmm yeah okay... I guess I need to find better pics then

wow best product i bought for my ds after hori/TFT lcd screen

 

[jusane]

...

 

[CreX]

Cool! Best NDS custom case I ever seen!

 

[knightguy363]

what should i change my dimension to?

 

[magicalshin]

for some strange reason whenever i print the image that i customized, it turns out small

and oh yea the green stylus really adds a great touch to the green theme on your ds

 

[jabjab]

thats to do with difference in screen/printer/program resolution
as someone says above you need a large image as the printer usually prints many more dots per unit area than you see on screen
screen will around 70dpi so to get 600dpi quality you need something alot bigger