Hacking What's the GBA emulation outlook?

[Eclipse42]

I've been somewhat torn between the Acekard 2i and the DSTwo, but the latter has won me over as of late after some research.

From what I understand, the DSTwo has near-perfect DS game compatibility (though apparently there are some problematic games... which ones are these?), so that shouldn't be a issue. What I'm concerned about is the GBA ROM compatibility. I realize that it's really sketchy currently, but is that subject to change? As in, has the compatibility been steadily improving over time? If it's going to remain like this for the foreseeable future, I'll go with my alternate plan: An Acekard 2i with a 3-in-1, for perfect GBA emulation (I have a DS Lite with no plans to upgrade until 3DS). I'd prefer to get a DSTwo, though, for the sake of having a future-proof card that has a chance of working on the 3DS eventually.

Thanks in advance, guys.

 

[Fudge]

I've been somewhat torn between the Acekard 2i and the DSTwo, but the latter has won me over as of late after some research.

From what I understand, the DSTwo has near-perfect DS game compatibility (though apparently there are some problematic games... which ones are these?), so that shouldn't be a issue. What I'm concerned about is the GBA ROM compatibility. I realize that it's really sketchy currently, but is that subject to change? As in, has the compatibility been steadily improving over time? If it's going to remain like this for the foreseeable future, I'll go with my alternate plan: An Acekard 2i with a 3-in-1, for perfect GBA emulation (I have a DS Lite with no plans to upgrade until 3DS). I'd prefer to get a DSTwo, though, for the sake of having a future-proof card that has a chance of working on the 3DS eventually.

Thanks in advance, guys.

The GBA emulator will be updated eventually. The SuperCard team is even still supporting there Slot-2 cards

 

[Eclipse42]

Alright, that's what I figured, seeing as the DSTwo is a new card with beta firmware (evidenced by the fact that the SNES emulator isn't even out yet).

 

[coattails]

You can't compare the DSTWO GBA emulator to an EZ3in1. To be frank, I can only enjoy games when they are lagless, and sadly the sound on most games messes up if auto-frameskip is not turned off within the emulator. The framerate is almost perfect when auto-frameskip is turned off, but the sound suffers a shitload. While most games are playable on the DSTWO, I can't picture myself ever beating a GBA game with the DSTWO emulator simply because of the noticeable frameskipping.

NDS-GBA is really just an option for DSi users who desperately want to play old gba games. If you own a DS lite, don't bother. Just get a 3in1.

The DSTWO is a really awesome cart though. I find the plug-in interface really snazzy, and as of late its compatibility has been better than the AK2i's. The cart has a bright future ahead of it, with SNES emulation and possibly a DivX player on the way. It also has the iReader, which is a pdf/pic viewer that can decode small pdfs in a reasonable amount of time. With the Supercard team recently releasing the cart's SDK, nothing is stopping curious cats like Normmatt from trying to fiddle with the card's capabilities.

However, the card isn't without issues. One of the DSTWO's problematic roms is CastlevaniaoR which seems to freeze at random times. This issue was allegedly fixed in the new 1.04 EOS update, but some people have claimed that they still have no luck with this rom. Most other problematic rom reports are just a case of bad rom rips or have already been fixed.

 

[EJames2100]

I have both so I can give you both views.

Besides those that need RTC(Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, others?)
All games that I know work flawlessly on the 3in1 with Acekard.
AKAIO has a very high compatibility with DS Roms also.

A few games seem to run flawlessly on the Supercard's Emulator but not very many.
I'm hoping they'll add in some proper 3in1 Support at least until they or someone has perfected the emulator

 

[nl255]

You can't compare the DSTWO GBA emulator to an EZ3in1. To be frank, I can only enjoy games when they are lagless, and sadly the sound on most games messes up if auto-frameskip is not turned off within the emulator. The framerate is almost perfect when auto-frameskip is turned off, but the sound suffers a shitload. While most games are playable on the DSTWO, I can't picture myself ever beating a GBA game with the DSTWO emulator simply because of the noticeable frameskipping.

NDS-GBA is really just an option for DSi users who desperately want to play old gba games. If you own a DS lite, don't bother. Just get a 3in1.

The DSTWO is a really awesome cart though. I find the plug-in interface really snazzy, and as of late its compatibility has been better than the AK2i's. The cart has a bright future ahead of it, with SNES emulation and possibly a DivX player on the way. It also has the iReader, which is a pdf/pic viewer that can decode small pdfs in a reasonable amount of time. With the Supercard team recently releasing the cart's SDK, nothing is stopping curious cats like Normmatt from trying to fiddle with the card's capabilities.

However, the card isn't without issues. One of the DSTWO's problematic roms is CastlevaniaoR which seems to freeze at random times. This issue was allegedly fixed in the new 1.04 EOS update, but some people have claimed that they still have no luck with this rom. Most other problematic rom reports are just a case of bad rom rips or have already been fixed.

You forgot to mention that Patrick Aalto is going to be working on a DSTwo version of dsx86 that will have full 386/486 support including protected mode and virtual 8086 mode (the regular version will be limited to 286 support). Yes, that means you will be able to run Windows 95 on your DSTwo.

 

[Ziggy Zigzagoon]

Wo-
I never thought of flashcads as mini-computers, at least not THIS way!
Now the only problem is the memory. I mean, 32 GB is a lot, but not that affordable.

 

[9th_Sage]

You forgot to mention that Patrick Aalto is going to be working on a DSTwo version of dsx86 that will have full 386/486 support including protected mode and virtual 8086 mode (the regular version will be limited to 286 support). Yes, that means you will be able to run Windows 95 on your DSTwo.

Good god, you're right. That's awesome news. I freaking love that guy.

 

[macgeek417]

You can't compare the DSTWO GBA emulator to an EZ3in1. To be frank, I can only enjoy games when they are lagless, and sadly the sound on most games messes up if auto-frameskip is not turned off within the emulator. The framerate is almost perfect when auto-frameskip is turned off, but the sound suffers a shitload. While most games are playable on the DSTWO, I can't picture myself ever beating a GBA game with the DSTWO emulator simply because of the noticeable frameskipping.

NDS-GBA is really just an option for DSi users who desperately want to play old gba games. If you own a DS lite, don't bother. Just get a 3in1.

The DSTWO is a really awesome cart though. I find the plug-in interface really snazzy, and as of late its compatibility has been better than the AK2i's. The cart has a bright future ahead of it, with SNES emulation and possibly a DivX player on the way. It also has the iReader, which is a pdf/pic viewer that can decode small pdfs in a reasonable amount of time. With the Supercard team recently releasing the cart's SDK, nothing is stopping curious cats like Normmatt from trying to fiddle with the card's capabilities.

However, the card isn't without issues. One of the DSTWO's problematic roms is CastlevaniaoR which seems to freeze at random times. This issue was allegedly fixed in the new 1.04 EOS update, but some people have claimed that they still have no luck with this rom. Most other problematic rom reports are just a case of bad rom rips or have already been fixed.

Actualy, most of the games I have tried work fine without lagging at all. Of the games I have tried, pretty much only the Golden Sun games have noticable lag.

 

[YayMii]

Actualy, most of the games I have tried work fine without lagging at all. Of the games I have tried, pretty much only the Golden Sun games have noticable lag.

It might seem like it's not lagging, but a lot of games have input lag, and some games have a noticable use of frameskip.

 

[nl255]

The iPlayer's GBA emulator was just updated so hopefully that means there is a DSTwo GBA emulator update coming soon.