Before saying anything negative, I'd like to say that for as long as I've been attached to the DS homebrew/flashcart scene I have been a huge fan of FlashMe. I loved it back on my old silver DS when the only options were a wonky-ass PassMe device and WiFiMe (seriously, I WiFiMe'd exactly once to flash and then never worried about my DS recognizing unsigned code again). I sold my fiancee on it for her required-PassMe2 red Mario Kart DS after she got her first M3 because it's about 50 times more elegant than even the well-constructed professionally-built PassKey2 I had laying around. And more recently, I've probably made over 200 bucks flashing folks' DS Lite consoles just because my fee is cheaper than a PassCard/SuperKey purchase and lets people keep Slot-1 open for an authentic DS game. I personally have my backups on my SuperCard Rumble Lite in Slot-2, and my legal copy of Elite Beat Agents in Slot-1; who wants another 128MB tacked onto their flashcart? It's like turning my microSD card into a 1.125GB drive.
With competent Slot-1 devices in the pipeline, the usefulness of my flash-for-a-fee service and the general utility of FlashMe itself may be headed down the drain. The DS-Xtreme hasn't really done much to unseat it; I think a lot of consumers are sharp enough to recognize that a SuperCard Rumble + media + flashing-fee/SuperKey is still cheaper than $120 + shipping. And a lot of these other cards that have come out have been reviewed as pretenders enough not to really damage FlashMe's overall credibility either (I really expected the AceKard to be the king shit, but it just isn't living up). After all, why deprive yourself the compatibility and reputation of carts by companies like the M3 team and SuperCard team that have stood by the DS scene nearly since it began and come well-recommended by the community while no longer sticking out of the DS, just to free up a mostly-useless GBA slot?
Ironically, M3 and SuperCard's latest offerings look like FlashMe's swan song, even though their continued "Lite" flavored releases have been what kept it around in the face of so many shops shilling slot-1 devices as the new status quo. So at this point, the question becomes... what's the point of FlashMe if the SuperCard DS ONE or the M3 Simply DS deliver on their previous performance capabilities? Perhaps the new SuperCard/M3 offerings will include an irritating splashscreen like the PassCard3 does that will encourage purists like myself to stick to the non-stealthed no-bullshit fast-loading-zen that is FlashMe v7 and a SuperCard in slot-2. But that one tiny perk isn't going to be enough. Why stay hacked when nobody really knows what the future (Wii compatibility) will bring. I feel as though the time to choke back those tears and move forward while FlashMe slowly descends toward its grave is certainly upon us, and I'm quite sad for that.
Sure, it's just a hacked piece of firmware that's helped warez kiddies around the globe steal video games, but it's been special to me and it's rare that a program proves itself to be so very useful in so many of my day-to-day tasks. And call me silly, but I always thought it was a bit empowering to have my DS be able to do something that most others didn't, even if said others tried to use my flashcart. It's an ePenis thing, but one I enjoyed all the same.
Farewell, dearest FlashMe. You will be missed.
With competent Slot-1 devices in the pipeline, the usefulness of my flash-for-a-fee service and the general utility of FlashMe itself may be headed down the drain. The DS-Xtreme hasn't really done much to unseat it; I think a lot of consumers are sharp enough to recognize that a SuperCard Rumble + media + flashing-fee/SuperKey is still cheaper than $120 + shipping. And a lot of these other cards that have come out have been reviewed as pretenders enough not to really damage FlashMe's overall credibility either (I really expected the AceKard to be the king shit, but it just isn't living up). After all, why deprive yourself the compatibility and reputation of carts by companies like the M3 team and SuperCard team that have stood by the DS scene nearly since it began and come well-recommended by the community while no longer sticking out of the DS, just to free up a mostly-useless GBA slot?
Ironically, M3 and SuperCard's latest offerings look like FlashMe's swan song, even though their continued "Lite" flavored releases have been what kept it around in the face of so many shops shilling slot-1 devices as the new status quo. So at this point, the question becomes... what's the point of FlashMe if the SuperCard DS ONE or the M3 Simply DS deliver on their previous performance capabilities? Perhaps the new SuperCard/M3 offerings will include an irritating splashscreen like the PassCard3 does that will encourage purists like myself to stick to the non-stealthed no-bullshit fast-loading-zen that is FlashMe v7 and a SuperCard in slot-2. But that one tiny perk isn't going to be enough. Why stay hacked when nobody really knows what the future (Wii compatibility) will bring. I feel as though the time to choke back those tears and move forward while FlashMe slowly descends toward its grave is certainly upon us, and I'm quite sad for that.
Sure, it's just a hacked piece of firmware that's helped warez kiddies around the globe steal video games, but it's been special to me and it's rare that a program proves itself to be so very useful in so many of my day-to-day tasks. And call me silly, but I always thought it was a bit empowering to have my DS be able to do something that most others didn't, even if said others tried to use my flashcart. It's an ePenis thing, but one I enjoyed all the same.
Farewell, dearest FlashMe. You will be missed.
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