GBAtemp: AceKard in house!

[Monkey01]

You know, I really don't have to wait until the final review is published to know that the AceKard is too much trouble and too time consuming to be used as a viable slot 1 solution. It doesn't know how to choose the correct save game file for wach game??!!!! OMG. That's pretty bad.
It seems like you are going to spend 15 minutes going from point A to point B.Â
The money is still on ds-x guys. Lets see if ninja's slot 1 can do better or equal to the ds-x (I doubt it). Of course, if you want too wait until the ninja finally omes out (maybe like what, 1 to 2 months), you uwill be missing out. Get the ds-x. Period.
BTW, if it seems like I am biased towrds ds-x, I am not. I call it like I see it. So far, ds-x does an excellent job. User interface is simple (drag and drop). Don't have to worry about icons not showing up or save game files. 512Mb is enopugh space for a few games.
But still, I am curious about what Shaun has to say about Acekard in his final review. I am going to guess and say he will give it a 4.5 out of 10.
B.

Which ninja do you mean? Cause NinjaDS has already a big SD version out and appart from the sizes the MicroSD will not differ that much.

If you mean the NinjaPass 9XTF or something, that cartridge has the same horrible savetype problem. And a terribly lame support forum which censors other brand names and copy-pastes FAQ's from ds-x site, only changing DS-X into NinjaPass. (Ow and it's UI is the most horrible thing I have ever seen, it's DOS-like and you have to select .nds and .sav files every time from the whole file list...)


Personally I don't think AceKard gets lower then a 6, the compatibility seems to be very good if you have the right save info and it's not so expensive.

 

[shaunj66]

Q. Is that tape a recording of the bill?

Go back to your server room prison

 

[tama_mog]

from the chinese responses posted by the acecard team, I am damn interested in this product now....choosing sav types is a huge hassle huh? Doesn't seem all that big a deal to me since that information is all over dupelists all over. What really amazes me is the claim they made, that unless Nintendo changes the way DS plays games (aka some game requiring special hardware), the acecard will play all past and all future games without special updates or patches....that to me after all is the most important factor in this....I'm sure the AKFS was developed for 1 purpose only, speed optimization to compensate between the SD media and the slot1 speed of the DS itself, and I haven't seen proof that it handles files strangely or randomly corrupting so that seems good. Also if their claim that you can open a hex editor to check the roms on the AKFS versus the ones you originally started with under your operating system and it be identical....obviously no patching is necessary. It's just their software working with the AKFS that's not native to windows. I'll pick one up if I can find one in China this upcoming week during my business trip to give a quick 2 cents on this flashcart.

 

[kt6192003]

Just a quick question. Is there a way to transfer m3 saves over to the acekard? I'd hate to have to start all of my games over again.

 

[Costello]

Just a quick question. Is there a way to transfer m3 saves over to the acekard? I'd hate to have to start all of my games over again.

No, you can't import and export saves with the current software.
You can't really do anything actually.
Just transfer games.

 

[CacheSyntax]

Just a quick question. Is there a way to transfer m3 saves over to the acekard? I'd hate to have to start all of my games over again.

No, you can't import and export saves with the current software.
You can't really do anything actually.
Just transfer games.

Boy, can't wait to hear the review!

[sarcasm]Wonder how many people are going to think you're too subjective then?[/sarcasm]

I mean dang, if the shoe fits, wear it. If it's a piece of poo, then don't step in it. Simple, really.

 

[XmemphistoX]

Damn, thats too bad that it's not living up to the hype. My brother was looking for a cheap slot 1 solution too. The case looks very sturdy compared to the DS-X though. But other than that, it dosen't seems like an "ok" flash cart.

Q: How much homebrew apps run?

 

[Kamgusta]

It doesn't seem a great card.
The strange file system seems like "hey-see-we-don't-use-any-patch", but it is just like patching roms as the old days.

 

[CacheSyntax]

Damn, thats too bad that it's not living up to the hype. My brother was looking for a cheap slot 1 solution too. The case looks very sturdy compared to the DS-X though. But other than that, it dosen't seems like an "ok" flash cart.

Q: How much homebrew apps run?

Granted, I don't have one, but most if not all 'brew apps run using FAT16 format, and there isn't a way to "convert" the 'brew apps over to AKFS, without recompiling the code.

As far as I know.

 

[tama_mog]

It doesn't seem a great card.
The strange file system seems like "hey-see-we-don't-use-any-patch", but it is just like patching roms as the old days.

Read, if the acekard team is up front about the information and what they've said is correct, then it is supporting clean roms. The "patching" magic is just interfacing with a new file system of AKFS. Same thing happens when you copy information from FAT16 to NTFS in windows, except it's natively supported.

 

[kazumi213]

So far, I don't like anything that has been posted here about AceKrap. Too many limitations when compared to the DS-X. We'll see.

 

[Costello]

Also when you use the software, you have to select the brand of your media card in a list of about 20 different brands & sizes.
I'm not sure what it does if you select the wrong brand...

the software is terrible.

Also when I format my card, Windows doesn't do anything particular. It still recognizes my card, and let me explore and modify the content.
I suppose it is because the acekard manager doesn't write in the FAT of the card... oh well this is so confusing.

 

[flipt]

if anyone remembers that new ninja minisd flash, would you please be so kind to remind us (someone asked earlier, no answer)

aceKard looks nice, good idea but really way to many lil issues. all added up could be a nuisance.

plus no fun flashing lights? WTF????

either way, thanks for the work you wonderful testers as i do respect your reviews and your hard, monotonous work.

 

[Chanser]

Pretty lights aren't that important, the AceKard got some potential, if they can sort out the translation and keep on updating the software.

This could be the ONE!

 

[Costello]

As you can see on the picture above the space management is totally random. For some reason, that "FREE SPACE" thing popped out of nowhere as I was copying random files...

I ran speed tests too, the speed was good (finally something positive!)
Write speed: 4 mbyte/s.
I copied 5 files of 50 megabytes, all transfers lasted between 12 and 13 seconds.

 

[CacheSyntax]

Pretty lights aren't that important, the AceKard got some potential, if they can sort out the translation and keep on updating the software.

This could be the ONE!

The X-9 has a better chance of being "the one" before AceKard. The propietary file system that doesn't support most homebrew alone is a kicker for me, not including every other issue that has been mentioned.

 

[ozone]

Anybody tried DSorganize?

 

[flai]

The games list doesn't show the rom icons.
If you want to see the icon of a game, you have to highlight (select) it.
More generally the OS is not fantastic, just decent.
Also you can't boot the Acekard if you don't have a microSD in, meaning it won't work as a passme if you don't have a microSD card in.

flai, all these games should be compatible, but the major drawback is the fact that you have to know the save type of the game you want to play.
We tried Final Fantasy III with a random save type and the game didn't work.
Then we tried different settings and finally got it to work. Very annoying.

Completely put off now. Might buy a CycloDS though...

 

[CronoTrig]

Pretty lights aren't that important, the AceKard got some potential, if they can sort out the translation and keep on updating the software.

This could be the ONE!

The one failure, more like.

 

[kazumi213]

OMG Costello, please rename your ROMs!. Just kidding