Hacking Device that does everything?

[RIPRAW]

Hi guys,

Great forum you have got here. I'm new to the DS flashcard scene but I'm very interested, so excuse my general ignorance.

I thought about getting a Play-Yan ages ago and now find there are loads of "unofficial" variants that can play roms as well. Should have known really! So today I've been scouring through your forums deciding what product I should choose. I'm looking for something that can pretty much do everything, has a decent amount of storage and with no slowdown. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

- The DS-X is great, except for the extremely small memory and the fact it can't play videos (Or does it support Moonshell? Either way the memory is way too small). I've also read that it isn't great for gba/snes or other emulators.

- The M3 would be my 2nd choice. However, download play is limited, there is some slowdown and I haven't got round to buying a DS lite yet (Still have the original and I don't want to have an unsightly cartridge sticking out when I eventually purchase a lite)

Since the DS-X/X9 has a passme feature, I could purchase an M3 later if I wanted to play movies/gba. I assume I could also boot NDS games from the M3 through the DS-X/X9. That would be a good option albeit the hefty price tag for both devices and the expensive micro sd-card. If I used this method would movies playback at the native ds resolution or at the gba resolution?

Maybe it's best to wait for the larger capacity X9, an upgrade for the DS-X, or anything else that might be on the horizon. Is the X9 capable of playing movies or are no slot-1 devices capable of video?

I also wanted to ask whether online play is a viable option with any of these devices?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks and keep up the good work.

 

[deathspawn999]

ds-x has moonshell, which plays videos. dont know if thats what you are talking about or not.

 

[RIPRAW]

Thanks for the quick response. I didn't realise it had Moonshell. But I guess with only 256MB of space, it won't be able to store many videos and games on it.

 

[Monkey01]

Currently all cards have download play limitations afaik, DS-X doesn't support download play for games like Yoshi T&G, Snowboard Kids, Big Brain Academy, Winning Eleven and perhaps some others too, but it does support more then other cards yes.
Also the DS-X has 512MB, not 256MB, still a bit small if you want to use it for movies though.

An option might be to buy a M3Lite with a GBA shell, so you can change the casing when you get your ds-lite?
bamboogaming has the shell included in the package and GamerSection.ca sells the shell seperately...

 

[AppleJuice]

The M3 would be my 2nd choice. However, download play is limited, there is some slowdown and I haven't got round to buying a DS lite yet (Still have the original and I don't want to have an unsightly cartridge sticking out when I eventually purchase a lite)


Download play is pretty much nonexistent flashed to unflashed DS. I don't know what it's like between two unflashed DSs or two flashed DSs but I imagine it is better and I'll be able to find out first hand this weekend.

As for the cartridge sticking out: the M3 Lite comes with DS Lite sizes cases in three colours (white, black & blue) and I believe you can also buy a standard GBA sized case seperately so you would be able to use it in your regular DS. I'm not sure where the GBA cases can be bought, maybe someone else can help me out there.

I also wanted to ask whether online play is a viable option with any of these devices?

Online play works exactly the same as it would with a real game card on all of the flash devices.

EDIT: Oops Monkey01 beat me to it.

 

[deathspawn999]

ds-x works flashed to unflashed, and unflahsed to flashed.

it has 488 megs when completely empty. it has no use for a skin folder unless you want to change your skin around. online play works fine for every flash cart.

 

[RIPRAW]

Thanks guys, it looks like the M3 is the one to go for. I didn't know you could buy a gba case, I'll check those links out.
I can live without download play, but it would have been nice to have it. With online play, I doubt I'll miss it too much.

Now my only worry is the wait for it to be shipped. I guess the Wii will help pass the time when I get one on Friday.

 

[digital_sin]

I really think you should wait for more on both AceKard and MicroNinja, AceKard has 100% compatiblilty and it's own version of Moonshell so it can play videos. As for MicroNinja it's still unkown how it will handle both games and homebrew (inc video playback with moonshell), but that's why I'm recommending that you wait, M3 and all other carts that require PassMe device should be obsolete by now IMHO.

BTW:Both these cards use MicroSDs so you can upgrade your memory to fit your needs, and need no passme card.

 

[RIPRAW]

Does the M3 work with multi-cart multiplayer then? I assumed it would.

Digital Sin;

I realise that the 2nd generation of these products has just begun. However the reviews for NinjaDS (similar to the MicroNinja) and the AceKard have been dissapointing. AceKard's lack of homebrew support and the fact it doesn't use FAT put me well off. If the DS-X had a removable SD card, it would be perfect. Hopefully they have this in development. I'm happy to wait If I new how long I had to wait.

Edit 2;

i just realised that no 1-slot solution would ever be capable of playing gba games properly.

 

[Firon]

- The M3 would be my 2nd choice. However, download play is limited, there is some slowdown and I haven't got round to buying a DS lite yet (Still have the original and I don't want to have an unsightly cartridge sticking out when I eventually purchase a lite)

[...]

I also wanted to ask whether online play is a viable option with any of these devices?



There isn't any slowdown if your SD card is half-decent. Download play requires FlashMe on the receiving DSes, and online play works on all devices (no FlashMe or anything needed for that).

Does the M3 work with multi-cart multiplayer then? I assumed it would.

Yes.

 

[RIPRAW]

Thanks Firon. That seals it then, I'll buy an M3

 

[imgod22222]

Simply reading the title, a device that does everything would be called iGod or something like that.

 

[Mchart]

iJesus