*must be fully compatible with GBA with no slowdowns and all save types must work without needing to patch the ROM (auto patching on the carts software is ok)
Just about any GBA flash cart is like this. The only ones that would give you problems would be very old and/or poorly constructed carts or perhaps the Super Card (slow down).
*must be fully (or as best as can be) compatible with the DS with the same terms as applied to GBA games (no slowdowns, auto patching if needed, and all saves work)
While I suppose this is debatable, DS compatability is not significantly different among the current gen carts.
*GBA RTC support preferable but not strictly required. Wish someone would make a rumble compatible flash cart as well.
Unless you are still playing Pokemon, there really isn't a point to a RTC unless you want to use your GBA as a watch. *Note* Not an insult to anyone who plays Pokemon, but is anyone realy still playing it on the GBA?
*Must be at least GBA cart sized. The cart must function on a GBA and the GBA Player on the Game Cube. No DS Lite sized carts. I don't want to limit the uses and/or risk Nintendo one day making the internals of the DS Lite smaller thus allowing the GBA cart to fit all the way in making all the small DS Lite cards useless.
Then don't buy a cart designed for the lite. Of all the DSlite-dust-cap-sized cards available there is a GBA-cart-sized model with the same features/compatability/maker.
And given that Nintendo themselves are releasing lite specific items (ie rumble pack and memory expansion for Opera) I have serious doubts that any new DS models would not support those.
*prefer the hardware design to be as un screwy as possible. For example I find the 128Mbit PSRAM and 256Mbit NOR configuration of the EZ3/4 very screwy. Why not just a 256Mbit PSRAM? I would think it would increase compatibility, make flashing and running games less difficult, and lower production costs to eliminate the NOR and just run 256Mbit GBA games in PSRAM.
1) How could a GBA flash cart (ie EZ3) that runs every GBA ROM there is 100% accurately be made more compatible? As for the EZ4 all that would be needed to improve GBA compatibility would be to put the RTC back in it. As for DS, the games run directly from the NAND or removable media, so the NOR and/or PSRAM have nothing to do w/ it, any compatability issues are w/ the patching software not the cart design.
2) You clearly have no idea how "difficult" it is to run games on or flash an EZ3/4.
3) Considering Jandaman is selling EZ3's for $65 for 1 gig, $80 for 2 gig and G6's $130 for 1 gig, $150 for 2 gig: cost reduction isn't something that really needs to be addressed by the EZ Flash team, IMO. Super Card miniSD $55, EZ4 $65, M3 Perfect miniSD $90. Given the EZ4's superior GBA support to the Super Card I'd say it's the cost winner here as well.
4) It's actually the use of NAND or removable media that's "screwy", decreases compatability and makes games more difficult to run (ie ROM images no longer run in place, incurring load times); not the use of NOR. It wasn't so long ago flash carts had nothing BUT NOR in them for storing games. Also the NOR makes a lot of sense in a NAND or removable media based cart when you think that anything burned to the NOR doesn't have to be loaded to RAM before playing, unlike the games stored in NAND or on removable media. Since this area was put there to support 256 Mb ROM inages, the biggest GBA images you are going to run, those load times are obviously going to be the largest. This way they are eliminated completely.
5) The loader/firmware/etc has to go somewhere. NAND is unsuitable and putting it in battery backed RAM would be unwise.
6) You're complaining about the NOR? It's free space! 1 gig EZ3's don't have .75 Gb's of NAND and 256 Mb's NOR, they have 1 Gb's NAND AND 256 Mb's NOR. No where is the NOR in the EZ4 mentioned in any description of it made by anyone selling them that I've seen. It's 32 more MB's then the cart is advertised to hold, and it doesn't have to be one 256 Mb ROM. That's as many as 8 GBA games, or pocketNES and dozens of NES ROM images. You want them to remove it?!?
*A major bonus would be a cart that is also compatible with the GB/GBC mode on a GBA/GBA Player. It would have a mechanical switch on whatever side the switch inside the GBA slot is that enables GB/GBC mode. The cart does not have to fit in a real GB/GBC (though it would just require a simple pass through adapter). I somehow doubt anyone would do this as I'm sure I'm one of the few that would care.
Just use Goomba for god sake or if you can find one buy a GB/C flash cart. The reason that no one is likely to do this isn't because of lack of interest as much as because the voltage differences of the GB/C and GBA would make this a design nightmare amongst other things.
I guess that pretty much puts me at an M3 or G6 doesn't it?
If those are the products you want then get them. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. It's pretty clear that you've come up w/ this list as justification for the purchase of a GBAlpha product rather then their products happen to fit your wish list. From what I understand they make great products, buy one, you don't need our approval.
I bought the EZ4 because it was the first cart supporting removable media that was exactly GBA cart size, the fact that right out of the gate it's DS compatibility was pretty high and since I own an EZ2 and 3 I know EZFlash makes some of the best GBA flash carts on the market.
I didn't choose a Super Card because of the size and other issues I had read (poor GBA support, battery usage).
I didn't choose the M3 because a cart not hanging out of my DS was more important to me then the few DS games the EZ4 has issues w/.
Not having a cart hanging out of my DS was a big deal to me as my DS often ends up in my coat or pants pocket. Having a cart hanging out would be bad in that sort of situation and removing the cart first wouldn't really be any better as it would eliminate me being able to just put a game to sleep. And while compatibility certainly is an issue in my eyes it is only likely to improve w/ all the products, and there isn't a single "problem' game on the EZ4 that I care about.
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