Hacking News: New Stargate 3DS flashcart

[aos10]

You can select a 3DS game from the Wood DS menu and it will return to the 3ds home menu and load the 3ds game

that doesn't change what i said, also you are telling me it's easier to pay $80 to use 3DS flashcard instead of CFW?
also,

1-You can google most roms and find currently working downloads
2-All proper scene releases should be encrypted .3ds files (except for eshop titles)

that's also doesn't change what i said earlier, you have to navigate through infested sites to download your games, and not all of them gives you full speed download.
2 doesn't answer my question, i said you can't use converted files from .cia to .3ds, and many of the .3DS files on that iso site are for GW or emulator.

 

[GalladeGuy]

1-You can google most roms and find currently working downloads
2-All proper scene releases should be encrypted .3ds files (except for eshop titles)
3-Easier than CFW
4-You can select the 3ds games from DS mode, too

1. Most downloads are still behind adfly links and shady download websites with abysmal download speed, not to mention tons of malware-filled ads.

2. There are almost no homebrews released in the .3ds format anymore, and there are tons of great games that are eShop only that you would miss out on.

3. If you're going to say it's easier than CFW, you should probably factor in the effort needed to get that money. That's a lot of money for some people. Especially for kids, the 3DS's target demographic and where most of its user-base is. In comparison, setting up CFW nowadays requires an hour or two at most, and a $10 purchase if you're on the latest firmware version.

4. Still much more inconvenient then just selecting it in the home menu.

 

[Technicmaster0]

that doesn't change what i said, also you are telling me it's easier to pay $80 to use 3DS flashcard instead of CFW?

It's easier to pay $80 then to install a CFW with ntrboot, yes. It's easier to buy a flashcard than to install .cia files, yes.

that's also doesn't change what i said earlier, you have to navigate through infested sites to download your games, and not all of them gives you full speed download.
2 doesn't answer my question, i said you can't use converted files from .cia to .3ds, and many of the .3DS files on that iso site are for GW or emulator.

Seriously, it's not that problematic like you make it appear. And you don't need "full speed download" - slower downloads are most of the times still faster than freeshop and there are many sites with mega links etc.
Yes, you can't use from .cia to .3ds converted files, that is right. But most (if not all) cartridge scene releases are compatible. It's no problem to find them.

1. Most downloads are still behind adfly links and shady download websites with abysmal download speed, not to mention tons of malware-filled ads.

"Most" is overexagerated. And I don't see a probelm with one adfly link. The one I found links to mega (so no abysmal download speed). The simple rule is not to run any .exe files.

2. There are almost no homebrews released in the .3ds format anymore, and there are tons of great games that are eShop only that you would miss out on.

You can use the card to boot the hb launcher so there are many homebrews for it. .3ds homebrew wouldn't work anyways.

3. If you're going to say it's easier than CFW, you should probably factor in the effort needed to get that money. That's a lot of money for some people. Especially for kids, the 3DS's target demographic and where most of its user-base is. In comparison, setting up CFW nowadays requires an hour or two at most, and a $10 purchase if you're on the latest firmware version.

Kids can wish the card for their birthday or something. It's still only the cost of two 3DS games. I had contact with many people who failed to install a CFW during the past days.

4. Still much more inconvenient then just selecting it in the home menu.

I personally prefer to have the games on a cartridge. In addition to that no/higher "maximum game" limit etc.

The 3DS scene got really hateful against flashcards without having proper information/reviews. You don't know much about the stargate yet. You shouldn't judge it before having a good review.
BTW I'm not a fanboy or something and the stargate currently has many flaws but it's poor that every argumentation for a flashcard (and there sure are arguments for them) gets into a 1 against the whole community flame war. Especially with the little information that is public at the moment. Why do all of you guys get triggered if someone writes something positive about a flashcard?

 

[GalladeGuy]

It's easier to pay $80 then to install a CFW with ntrboot, yes. It's easier to buy a flashcard than to install .cia files, yes.


Seriously, it's not that problematic like you make it appear. And you don't need "full speed download" - slower downloads are most of the times still faster than freeshop and there are many sites with mega links etc.
Yes, you can't use from .cia to .3ds converted files, that is right. But most (if not all) cartridge scene releases are compatible. It's no problem to find them.


"Most" is overexagerated. And I don't see a probelm with one adfly link. The one I found links to mega (so no abysmal download speed). The simple rule is not to run any .exe files.


You can use the card to boot the hb launcher so there are many homebrews for it. .3ds homebrew wouldn't work anyways.


Kids can wish the card for their birthday or something. It's still only the cost of two 3DS games. I had contact with many people who failed to install a CFW during the past days.


I personally prefer to have the games on a cartridge. In addition to that no/higher "maximum game" limit etc.

The 3DS scene got really hateful against flashcards without having proper information/reviews. You don't know much about the stargate yet. You shouldn't judge it before having a good review.
BTW I'm not a fanboy or something and the stargate currently has many flaws but it's poor that every argumentation for a flashcard (and there sure are arguments for them) gets into a 1 against the whole community flame war. Especially with the little information that is public at the moment. Why do all of you guys get triggered if someone writes something positive about a flashcard?

Have you every thought that maybe, just maybe, the reason 99% of the scene is against these flashcards is because there's actually some truth behind the stuff we're saying? Flashcards are obsolete.

 

[Technicmaster0]

Have you every thought that maybe, just maybe, the reason 99% of the scene is against these flashcards is because there's actually some truth behind the stuff we're saying? Flashcards are obsolete.

I think that someone said that and many people followed the thought - as it happened way too often in this scene lately. I think that it's partly because people think "What I have is the best" - which is a natural instinct.
Many people/children are overwhelmed when using a CFW.

 

[Loke]

Don't hate the flashcards. If someone prefers to use a flashcard over CFW, it's their choice to make right?

The team behind the flashcard deserves the hate though..

 

[Quantumcat]

Don't hate the flashcards. If someone prefers to use a flashcard over CFW, it's their choice to make right?

The team behind the flashcard deserves the hate though..

It's also people's choice to drink, smoke, do drugs, beat up their spouse, cut themselves, bite their fingernails, cough without covering their mouth, fail to immunise their children, etc --- doesn't mean we can't have an opinion that their choice is a bad one. Maybe we could be more respectful and not tell them what we think all the time, but if they start telling other people to make the same choice we should have some right to step in and stop an innocent person being corrupted.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I think that someone said that and many people followed the thought - as it happened way too often in this scene lately. I think that it's partly because people think "What I have is the best" - which is a natural instinct.
Many people/children are overwhelmed when using a CFW.

But.... but.... they really are.... I can't understand how people can't see that. You have to pay 8-10 times as much money AND you can't do as much stuff! Imagine if it cost 10 times as much to catch the bus (slower, more uncomfortable, and you can only get out at certain stops) as driving (comfy and can go anywhere fast)? Wouldn't you think people who chose to pay money to be more inconvenienced were a little crazy? And their excuse was it was too confusing filling up with petrol, so they'd rather spend a fortune and never get to go anywhere that wanted to go?
The community will encourage the use of flashcarts where warranted. TWLoader can hardly play any games so the community tells people to get DS flashcarts for DS games. We aren't allergic to flashcarts or anything - we recommend the best option. But for CFW, you can play all the 3DS games a flashcart can and much more, so it should be obvious that the community isn't going to tell people to use one for 3DS games.

 

[Technicmaster0]

But.... but.... they really are.... I can't understand how people can't see that. You have to pay 8-10 times as much money AND you can't do as much stuff! Imagine if it cost 10 times as much to catch the bus (slower, more uncomfortable, and you can only get out at certain stops) as driving (comfy and can go anywhere fast)? Wouldn't you think people who chose to pay money to be more inconvenienced were a little crazy? And their excuse was it was too confusing filling up with petrol, so they'd rather spend a fortune and never get to go anywhere that wanted to go?
The community will encourage the use of flashcarts where warranted. TWLoader can hardly play any games so the community tells people to get DS flashcarts for DS games. We aren't allergic to flashcarts or anything - we recommend the best option. But for CFW, you can play all the 3DS games a flashcart can and much more, so it should be obvious that the community isn't going to tell people to use one for 3DS games.

But you can't drive if you are below a certain age, driving a car is much worse for the environment etc.
The stargate supports NTRBoot so it's not exclusive or.

 

[Quantumcat]

But you can't drive if you are below a certain age, driving a car is much worse for the environment etc.
The stargate supports NTRBoot so it's not exclusive or.

Pretend for my example that anybody can drive. Or, replace it with this example: an airline company is giving away free flights and a free hire car at the end. Using a flashcart is like choosing to drive instead, and paying hundreds for the fuel and wear and tear on your car.
If you want to install ntrboot why are you spending $70-$90 more than you need to?
Also to respond to either you or whoever it was that dismissed the money issue for kids. Imagine there's a teenager working some horrible minimum wage job for $5-$10 an hour. Are you really going to tell that kid that it would be preferable to work for eight to SIXTEEN hours for a flashcart, than work 1-2 hours for a ntrboot capable flashcart and spend 10 minutes installing CFW? Is the benefit really 15 hours worth of hard labour?

 

[Technicmaster0]

Pretend for my example that anybody can drive.
If you want to install ntrboot why are you spending $70-$90 more than you need to?
Also to respond to either you or whoever it was that dismissed the money issue for kids. Imagine there's a teenager working some horrible minimum wage job for $5-$10 an hour. Are you really going to tell that kid that it would be preferable to work for eight to SIXTEEN hours for a flashcart, than work 1-2 hours for a ntrboot capable flashcart and spend 10 minutes installing CFW? Is the benefit really 15 hours worth of hard labour?

As I said, I have seen serveral people failing when they tried to install a CFW. The stargate has it's flaws and it's not ment all people.

 

[Quantumcat]

As I said, I have seen serveral people failing when they tried to install a CFW. The stargate has it's flaws and it's not ment all people.

I haven't seen a single person fail. I've seen some confusion sure - but it always gets sorted out in the end

 

[garyopa]

As I recently replied to our review thread on MaxConsole, and have mentioned a few times in the GW update thread over the last few months, the following points, which I will quote here for all to rant over.

if your a typical parent and its for your kid and you know nothing about this sort of thing, then a simple flash card is the ideal option.

You are correct

What most people don't seem to understand is that 70% of customers purchase flashcarts from flea markets, small gaming stores and those people never visit a forum, or even know a place like maxconsole or gbatemp exists, or that there is CFW, or other options, or guides, etc.

The next 20% visit flashcart websites, order online, and again only view the video tutorials and reviews on the webshop site, not knowing again there is site like us out there, infact flashcart webshops are so cheap they copy/paste our Stargate review, without of course linking to us, so not to lose a customer, and keep them roped in, some even 'sell roms' via a 'coupon code system' you get when buying from their site, to their own filehost'er without ads, etc -- not sure how big 'N' has not shut them down yet, only targeting chaosgamez which was great for best links without ad crap.

The last 10% that purchase flashcarts, are ones that visit forums like us and other sites, and do their research and decide what is best option, own multiple 3ds's, like to have one max. to the top with homebrew, emulators, out of region roms, installed cfw, and another one plain on latest firmware with legit carts, and plug&play system like StarGate or previously Sky3DS that has less chance of online bans, even if they lose region-free.

So when it comes to market, the business end pushes for that big 70% and some of that 20%, and tiny part spills over to support the 10% with cheat codes, custom emulators, loading of 3ds roms from ds menu, and other features added over time slowly to flashcart, but the main focus always will be on plug&play, latest firmware, no nand changes, and direct 3ds loading, even if it means losing out on some nice options, sadly that is business and nothing more, you can hate it or love it, depending on what your 3ds needs are, just remember if you reading this you are in the informed elite 10% class that can make up their own mind and decide on your options.

(Ranting over) -- (Thanks)

 

[Technicmaster0]

As I recently replied to our review thread on MaxConsole, and have mentioned a few times in the GW update thread over the last few months, the following points, which I will quote here for all to rant over.

BTW the maxconsole review is kinda on a surface level:
-No word on pokemon black/white 2
-No word on the promised ntrboot functionality
-No word on DS homebrew compatibility
-No word that it doesn't fit a DS/DSi console slot
-What about hardware quality of the card?

 

[aos10]

As I recently replied to our review thread on MaxConsole, and have mentioned a few times in the GW update thread over the last few months, the following points, which I will quote here for all to rant over.



You are correct

What most people don't seem to understand is that 70% of customers purchase flashcarts from flea markets, small gaming stores and those people never visit a forum, or even know a place like maxconsole or gbatemp exists, or that there is CFW, or other options, or guides, etc.

The next 20% visit flashcart websites, order online, and again only view the video tutorials and reviews on the webshop site, not knowing again there is site like us out there, infact flashcart webshops are so cheap they copy/paste our Stargate review, without of course linking to us, so not to lose a customer, and keep them roped in, some even 'sell roms' via a 'coupon code system' you get when buying from their site, to their own filehost'er without ads, etc -- not sure how big 'N' has not shut them down yet, only targeting chaosgamez which was great for best links without ad crap.

The last 10% that purchase flashcarts, are ones that visit forums like us and other sites, and do their research and decide what is best option, own multiple 3ds's, like to have one max. to the top with homebrew, emulators, out of region roms, installed cfw, and another one plain on latest firmware with legit carts, and plug&play system like StarGate or previously Sky3DS that has less chance of online bans, even if they lose region-free.

So when it comes to market, the business end pushes for that big 70% and some of that 20%, and tiny part spills over to support the 10% with cheat codes, custom emulators, loading of 3ds roms from ds menu, and other features added over time slowly to flashcart, but the main focus always will be on plug&play, latest firmware, no nand changes, and direct 3ds loading, even if it means losing out on some nice options, sadly that is business and nothing more, you can hate it or love it, depending on what your 3ds needs are, just remember if you reading this you are in the informed elite 10% class that can make up their own mind and decide on your options.

(Ranting over) -- (Thanks)

That interested, i didn't know some site sells roms that's they upload it to their servers so their customers will download from them, i was thinking those %70 will search for the roms in the internet until they found the ISO site and download from them, but i don't think there are many sites that offer ticket download system for 3DS games, so people will have to rely on cheap alternative like the iso site, and eventually they will find many games that requires cfw and there is guides in other rom sites.

 

[oji]

So this is an overpriced Sky3DS bundled with DS mode chip? But how to play those fan translations or gorgeous hacks (e.g. DQ Orchestra music, tons of undubs)? And it's incompatible with the latest Pokémon? Why is this exists? My thoughts, the Sky3DS is more accessible for most people who don't visit forums, and cheaper too. For those who prefer flashcarts & able to google a bit, the Gateway card is superior over this, as it's supporting fakesigned & cross-region ROMs, so you can even put eShop-only titles in .3DS, just sad it's abandoned & not supporting latest CFWs. For anyone else who is ok with managing CIAs the most straightforward way is to buy pre-flashed NTRBoot DS card (or do it by self if you own DS(i)).

 

[garyopa]

BTW the maxconsole review is kinda on a surface level:
-No word on pokemon black/white 2
-No word on the promised ntrboot functionality
-No word on DS homebrew compatibility
-No word that it doesn't fit a DS/DSi console slot
-What about hardware quality of the card?

As our reviewer mention in our review thread earlier last week, and the news was also posted on Stargate website (which I can't link here), so I will quote the post below, the review was based on early pre-production unit, our reviewer also has a retail cart (the one shipping out now to resellers as of yesterday and earlier this week) on its way, and we will be updating the review with new pictures and improves that have been made to the physical cartridge along with the new upgraded firmware which will be posted soon after testing, and i will mention your points to him to cover them also in updated review, etc.

First, we want to clarify that although Stargate 3DS is full of resources and possibilities, that will grow even better over time, we created Stargate primarily as a plug & play, easy to use device to play both 3DS and DS roms! The goal which we are the only team to achieve is to make this possible for all users, including true noobs and beginners. We have a priority on Stargate core features over some CFW functions.

We hope the following clarifies most of your early questions. But of course, we are available if you have any questions, and we still welcome all suggestions for improvement. Please just remember that any improvement we make must be in Stargate spirit of keeping an absolute ease of use to the end user.

Updates coming soon in new firmware:

• New Japanese font that are more readable (requested by most Japanese users)
• Bug fix on some microSD cards where exfat format is not supported on DS games (both FAT32 and exFAT are supported on 3DS games on any type of SD cards). This is how we intend it to be, one micro sd card for both your DS and 3DS roms.
• Sticker will be thinner in next production batch (on some console the thickness of the sticker can make it a bit hard to insert the Stargate)
• SNES emulator and a few more updates made in house by Stargate team are in the works and coming in a future update.
• Although we do not recommend Gateway split format, since you can just use exFAT for files larger than 2GB, we will add at a later date this compatibility for the few users who want to use their old game libraries, even if out of date.
• A handful of newest games (Pokemon Sun and Moon) are not yet compatible, this will also be fixed in an incoming update.

Clarifications:

• We support *.3dz ROM files for online gaming, just rename them as *.3ds
• We are compatible with Ntrboothax/magnethax. However, due to the numerous CFW available, we can't yet ensure 100% compatibility with all of them. We will add better compatibility with the numerous CFW in our next firmware updates. Be aware that for now, some CFW might interfere with Stargate system and therefore can not be used. But you still have the best solution available: plug & play Stargate 3DS firmware.
• About region free: Native 3DS use, Stargate or else, can NOT be region free. This is a console limitation. If you require region free, please use Ntrboothax/magnethax and install a CFW.

 

[Quantumcat]

So this is an overpriced Sky3DS bundled with DS mode chip? But how to play those fan translations or gorgeous hacks (e.g. DQ Orchestra music, tons of undubs)? And it's incompatible with the latest Pokémon? Why is this exists? My thoughts, the Sky3DS is more accessible for most people who don't visit forums, and cheaper too. For those who prefer flashcarts & able to google a bit, the Gateway card is superior over this, as it's supporting fakesigned & cross-region ROMs, so you can even put eShop-only titles in .3DS, just sad it's abandoned & not supporting latest CFWs. For anyone else who is ok with managing CIAs the most straightforward way is to buy pre-flashed NTRBoot DS card (or do it by self if you own DS(i)).

I would say Stargate is actually better than Gateway - at least it works on the latest firmware, instead of 11.2 with Gateway. As for modded games, at least it comes with ntrboot capability so the buyer can still do that later if they want to.

 

[GothicIII]

As I recently replied to our review thread on MaxConsole, and have mentioned a few times in the GW update thread over the last few months, the following points, which I will quote here for all to rant over.



You are correct

What most people don't seem to understand is that 70% of customers purchase flashcarts from flea markets, small gaming stores and those people never visit a forum, or even know a place like maxconsole or gbatemp exists, or that there is CFW, or other options, or guides, etc.

The next 20% visit flashcart websites, order online, and again only view the video tutorials and reviews on the webshop site, not knowing again there is site like us out there, infact flashcart webshops are so cheap they copy/paste our Stargate review, without of course linking to us, so not to lose a customer, and keep them roped in, some even 'sell roms' via a 'coupon code system' you get when buying from their site, to their own filehost'er without ads, etc -- not sure how big 'N' has not shut them down yet, only targeting chaosgamez which was great for best links without ad crap.

The last 10% that purchase flashcarts, are ones that visit forums like us and other sites, and do their research and decide what is best option, own multiple 3ds's, like to have one max. to the top with homebrew, emulators, out of region roms, installed cfw, and another one plain on latest firmware with legit carts, and plug&play system like StarGate or previously Sky3DS that has less chance of online bans, even if they lose region-free.

So when it comes to market, the business end pushes for that big 70% and some of that 20%, and tiny part spills over to support the 10% with cheat codes, custom emulators, loading of 3ds roms from ds menu, and other features added over time slowly to flashcart, but the main focus always will be on plug&play, latest firmware, no nand changes, and direct 3ds loading, even if it means losing out on some nice options, sadly that is business and nothing more, you can hate it or love it, depending on what your 3ds needs are, just remember if you reading this you are in the informed elite 10% class that can make up their own mind and decide on your options.

(Ranting over) -- (Thanks)

So since Gateway is now obsolete and won‘t get updated anymore. Would you release the source code, please? I would like to patch the files myself so the flashcard can be used again properly without chainloading/frankenfirmware..

I‘m not mad its your business anyway but I want to use a product I bought not long ago.

 

[garyopa]

So since Gateway is now obsolete and won‘t get updated anymore. Would you release the source code, please? I would like to patch the files myself so the flashcard can be used again properly without chainloading/frankenfirmware..

I‘m not mad its your business anyway but I want to use a product I bought not long ago.

It has been discussed with the original GW coder about doing this, it is up to him as all updates and original codes belong to him not GW as per their original licensing agreement, and he has thought it over, and will most likely do so at some point next year, after maybe at first supplying one more update for emunand depending on his time and agreement with GW to do so, he has in the past on other projects he has coded work for, released his work as open-source, so there is good chance that he will do so, just no eta on when or how, but as soon as i hear something more solid on this, i will update everyone about it.

 

[oji]

I would say Stargate is actually better than Gateway - at least it works on the latest firmware, instead of 11.2 with Gateway.

Isn't it the intentional decision of the people who are behind both of those cards? Exactly the same may & will happen to Stargate if it's sales flops, the next Nintendo's firmware or title may introduce some checks which can be solved only by a firmware update. As both of GW & SG are close-sourced projects, their owners are highly dependent on a device's support lifetime. Just look at the GW site & you'll see their February post which claims for a soon(tm) release of the 11.3 support. Those people just lost interest on GW & switched their forces to SG, just extrapolate.

As for modded games, at least it comes with ntrboot capability so the buyer can still do that later if they want to.

It's quite overpriced for a card which doesn't support what is already in GW & open-sourced community's CFWs. For those who want to play 3DS only titles & not bother with translations / eshop, the Sky3DS is better. For those, who are interested in a such stuff, CFWs or GW are a better choice. And both of these are way cheaper especially if you consider flea markets.