Hacking Gateway 3DS - First 3DS Flashcart

[porkiewpyne]

So, basically as long as someone plays one rom at a time, you'd only need a minimum of one 4 GB SD card, correct? It was never mandatory to hoard piles of them.

I'd say so.

 

[DiabloStorm]

I'd say so.

Alright, I figured that was kinda silly. People in the other thread appeared to think so, though. Just back up save and swap the rom data in the SD.

 

[porkiewpyne]

I think it started out with the rumour regarding the need for multiple sizes of microSD cards. And then, I guess it's slightly less of a hassle to switch between a few mSDs than to swap the data. Two minutes more maybe? What I would consider the 2 biggest questions (of legit concern) now is the method to extract the save (Would the R4i save extraction dongle thing work?) and how long can/will this last before being permanently blocked by Ninty.

 

[pas7680]

compared to the first ds hacks this is very advanced, as soon as all the other flash cart makers get hold of one and reverse engineer it we should see rapid progress on features etc.

 

[mysticwaterfall]

http://www.modchipcentral.com/store/product.php?productid=17954

Added to a reputable NA store for those interested.

 

[Naridar]

ahahah $80 and it can't even save games!
oh man.
i feel bad for the suckers that actually buy this.

It can save, it just can't store the savegame of more than 1 ROM at a time. So if you play Super Mario 3d land, as long as you don't put in a different game and try to access the save (in which case it deletes it since it's found corrupt - see the video, what basically happens is that one game can't make sense of another's savegame) it works just fine. And you can backup saves to your computer so it's messy, but possible, to play multiple games alternatingly.

EDIT: on the other hand, does anyone know if there will be different carts for different regions or does functionality depend only on the ROM on the SD card?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

http://www.modchipcentral.com/store/product.php?productid=17954

Added to a reputable NA store for those interested.

pre-order code doesn't work.

 

[Devin]

- Availability: End of June. BUT until production has started, we are not accepting any pre-payment, therefore end-users should NOT pay until we indicate on our site that pre orders are officially open and payments from resellers are being accepted. PLEASE DO NOT PRE-PAY UNTILL WE SAY SO !

 

[DiabloStorm]

It can save, it just can't store the savegame of more than 1 ROM at a time. So if you play Super Mario 3d land, as long as you don't put in a different game and try to access the save (in which case it deletes it since it's found corrupt - see the video, what basically happens is that one game can't make sense of another's savegame) it works just fine. And you can backup saves to your computer so it's messy, but possible, to play multiple games alternatingly.

EDIT: on the other hand, does anyone know if there will be different carts for different regions or does functionality depend only on the ROM on the SD card?

I'd have to assume different cart per region. Either way $80 for this is a joke.

 

[dalc789]

I'd have to assume different cart per region. Either way $80 for this is a joke.

Well it is the first cart, and they have literally no competition at the moment, so people will end up paying the $80. I would, but I'm poor.

 

[DiabloStorm]

Well it is the first cart, and they have literally no competition at the moment, so people will end up paying the $80. I would, but I'm poor.

They're welcome to be lab rats, I'll sit back and watch for a while.
I'd sooner buy 2 backup DSTWOs, they're almost infinitely more useful. The gateway 3DS is a one trick pony, twice the cost and inconvenient.

 

[Snailface]

So, basically as long as someone plays one rom at a time, you'd only need a minimum of one 4 GB SD card, correct? It was never mandatory to hoard piles of them.

4GB games MG3, DK3, and RE rev wouldn't fit on a 4GB microSD. You would need a minimum 8GB card to fit all current games.

micro SD ~4,000,000,000 bytes (too small)
ROM 4,294,967,296 bytes

8GB are plentiful and cheap nowadays so that isn't a concern. However, I would advise people to get 16GB cards if they want future-proofing. (if Gateway isn't perm-blocked by then)

 

[Canadacdn]

Ehhh. I hope Nintendo shuts these guys down with an update. This card is clunky, overpriced, can't even run homebrew, and is good for little else besides piracy.

 

[DiabloStorm]

4GB games MG3, DK3, and RE rev wouldn't fit on a 4GB microSD. You would need a minimum 8GB card to fit all current games.

So then, same size is a no go, they explicitly have to be larger...granted there aren't many games that size, but "future proofing" I suppose...

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

I'd have to assume different cart per region. Either way $80 for this is a joke.

The flashcart mimics whatever region the game is currently in the microSD.

 

[CollosalPokemon]

on the other hand, does anyone know if there will be different carts for different regions or does functionality depend only on the ROM on the SD card?

I'm pretty sure it depends on the ROM on the SD card.
Which region the game is is determined by a value in the ROM (more specifically, in the ROM's banner).

I'm curious if they will force the extension ".3ds"...it's not the right extension (the real extension is ".cci").
I wonder if I could use it for cartridge-based homebrew on my dev unit (I can already make SD-based homebrew but I'd like other options as well).

But $80, no region free, and no homebrew (at least not on retail units) is still hard to accept. I didn't plan on updating any time soon though so that wouldn't be a problem for me (since there's no new games I want and the updates don't really do much to entice me to update).

^ That, assuming the cart is real (which is still a longshot).

I still remember when original R4s (like the original original ones) were $80.

 

[DiabloStorm]

Ehhh. I hope Nintendo shuts these guys down with an update. This card is clunky, overpriced, can't even run homebrew, and is good for little else besides piracy.

Lol I have no idea how long this cart will last. Based on the price, not very long, or they'll just vanish soon after cashing out on people anyway. More useful to support the game devs with that kind of money.

 

[DiabloStorm]

Nvm

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

Considering the parallels of the first gba flashcarts and nds flashcarts mirrored here and the noobish entitlement complaints about the capacity per microSDHC. In a few years or maybe less we will likely be seeing microSDXC based flashcarts with loaders and hearing complaints from noobs that their 2TB microSDXC isn't enough and that swapping a the microSDXC is a pain.

It is the same crap complaints then as it is now, just in updated formats and in a different medium.

 

[Snailface]

Ehhh. I hope Nintendo shuts these guys down with an update. This card is clunky, overpriced, can't even run homebrew, and is good for little else besides piracy.

It baffles me so many people have this opinion. Yes, it can't do homebrew, but is does beat the 3ds's security which could be useful to homebrew researchers if they choose to study the card's tricks.

The homebrew and piracy scenes aren't mutually exclusive -- they can and often do build knowledge off of each other.