Hacking Which One To Buy!?

[jim16127]

I am going to buy one of those cards but I cannot decide. I have searched around for common questions just like this but most if not all of the posts I came across were 2+ years old. I am mainly looking for the key differences between each card or features exclusive to each card. I know that the M3 can play GBA Games with an adapter and the CycloDS cannot. On the other hand I read that the CycloDS has a much faster UI and for the most part rock solid. Price is irrelevant, I want my DS to do the MOST IT CAN DO! Any input is appreciated. I don't ever post in the forum here but I use your downloads section quite a bit. Admin, I thank you for this awesome site.

 

[Infinite Zero]

Neither. Get the Supercard DSTWO and most will agree. There is a Cyclo DSi coming out soon though.

 

[jim16127]

What is exclusive to the DSTWO? I just checked their website and I saw most if not all of the same features as both of the cards named above. I skimmed through the review here http://gbatemp.net/t232281-supercard-dstwo-review nothing really stuck out except the fact that it says the card has below average build quality. Thanks for the input though.

 

[zizer]

it is best card now with support gba and latest firmware

 

[jim16127]

I did forget to mention that I'm talking about using the chips on a DS Lite not the DSi or DSXL. The SuperCard and Ievolution seem to unlock more exclusive features to the DSi/DSXL rather than the DSlite. Hope that helps the opinions.

@zizer - You say it is best card now with support gba and latest firmware. According to GBAT official reviews the M3DS has better gba compatibility than the SuperCard.

 

[Evo.lve]

That's because the M3 runs them natively with an adapter, the DS2 emulates them.

Frankly, both carts are pieces of shit. Don't bother arguing, you'll get flamed.

DS2 or Ak2i.

 

[Vulpes Abnocto]

the reason all of the threads you've read about the M3 Real and Cyclo Evolution were two years old is because they're not current generation flashcarts.
Now, if you're not looking for a current generation cart, that's just fine and we can provide you with opinions.
(without flaming.

)
Neither cart is a "piece of shit".
they're simply not "up to date"

So what brought you to a decision between these two flashcarts?

 

[jim16127]

I have an AceKArd (Great card especially for the price) but it does not support a couple of things. Like Slow motion, real time game saving, SDHC up to 32gb, and gba rom support. The reason I started looking into the M3 is because it uses hardware to emulate the gba roms where as most if not all other cards I looked at didn't support them or software emulated them. On the other hand the CycloDSevo does everything that the other cards are doing except the gba support but the feature of the evo state that it Supports rumble and memory expansions which leads me to believe it can do the same as the M3 can.
Keep in mind that I have a DSLite. I'm not limiting myself to older carts or carts not designed for the DSi. I just don't want to get......say the "SuperCard" when the there a different card that can unlock more of the FULL potential of the DSLite. I just hate buying mods just to find out the next month that I should have bought some other one.

 

[Pyrmon]

Acekard 2 with an EZ-flash 3-in-1.
If you want more features while not hindering the compatibility of DS and GBA ROMs, Supercard DSTWO with 3-in-1
Don't get either a cycloDS or a M3. They are out of date.
Case closed

 

[jim16127]

Even thought they are out of date the team behind them still releases firmware updates for them to keep up with the new problem games. I wrote that last post because Vulpes Abnocto asked me a question and I was answering with as much detail as possible. Nevertheless it seems that the SuperCard is the "preffered" card here regardless of which DS system is being used, according to most replies. The SuperCard from what I read is poorly built and has a buggy interface but is the "most popular" out of the few 3rd generation carts.

 

[Krestent]

Even thought they are out of date the team behind them still releases firmware updates for them to keep up with the new problem games. I wrote that last post because Vulpes Abnocto asked me a question and I was answering with as much detail as possible. Nevertheless it seems that the SuperCard is the "preffered" card here regardless of which DS system is being used, according to most replies. The SuperCard from what I read is poorly built and has a buggy interface but is the "most popular" out of the few 3rd generation carts.

That's because the dSTWO has the best compatibility out right now.

 

[Evo.lve]

Even thought they are out of date the team behind them still releases firmware updates for them to keep up with the new problem games. I wrote that last post because Vulpes Abnocto asked me a question and I was answering with as much detail as possible. Nevertheless it seems that the SuperCard is the "preffered" card here regardless of which DS system is being used, according to most replies. The SuperCard from what I read is poorly built and has a buggy interface but is the "most popular" out of the few 3rd generation carts.

Judging from your wording, I take it you read that out of AW's review.

1. You only really notice the flimsy build if you throw it out of a window. Which I assume you will not do.

2. That review was last updated July 2010. Numerous new software releases have come out fixing practically every bug.

Ok, fine, you don't want to get a Supercard. Whatever. Your loss. But you shouldn't be arguing with us saying that "OMG YOU GUYS ARE WRONG IT SUCKS THESE ARE BETTER" when we are trying to help you with your "issue". Believe me, you are not the first flashcart buyer in the world. Try hitting the big "SEARCH" button next time.

[/endrant]

Ok. Get an Acekard 2.1 with an EZ Flash 3-in-1. The Acekard will play the DS games, and it has 3-in-1 integration, which will play GBA games. Case closed.

EDIT: I don't know how I typed this, I was so busy rolling on the floor splitting my sides when I saw OP's comment that the M3 team still releases firmware updates to keep up with new problem games. Oh, and the Cyclo. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Spoiler

...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
K, I'm done.

 

[Fel]

Even thought they are out of date the team behind them still releases firmware updates for them to keep up with the new problem games.

Being out of date means they don't receive the proper updates they should. The M3 team has not released a patch for the M3 cards for about three months, the previous update was in September, then they went "dead", and the new one was only released recently, 17 Dec - and still many games have not been fixed in that patch. Although a new patch is said to come out in January, they said themselves they will have the Chinese holiday, so it will take some time before a new patch comes out after that. Plus they can go "dead" again, and although I'd love if they patched all games in the Jan. update, they might or might not. So that's why people tell you to buy another one. I'm not sure how it goes with Cyclo, but I since others say it's also outdated, it probably doesn't play all the new games as well like Acekard or DStwo do.

DSTWO has all the features of M3 and unlike M3 you can run on it almost every game without a patch, so if you want best game compatability and all the features like slow-motion, multiple saves and so on, go for it, because you have to rely on unofficial firmware to run new games on the M3 (that is, when those firmwares like Wood get updated), which however do not support real-time saving, slow motion and other things. Plus DStwo has built-in GBA emulation, and you an always use the 3-in-1 EzFlash expansion to get better GBA compatability with rumble, like it was mentioned above.

So my advice is also DStwo - it wins over all cards in compatability, lots of functions which you'd like like RTS or SM, it has good support of emulators (some of which are exlusive for that card) and inbuilt GBA+compatible with 2-slot expansion pack.

Or you might wait for the iCyclo and see how it's like.

EDIT: Evo.lve beat me to it.

He summarises my two main points in less words - M3 is not really up to date anymore, and DStwo is good despite whatever you may have read, those bugs were fixed. That's why people love it and it's so popular. //and I fixed some typos in the post.

 

[Evo.lve]

@Fel: I managed to make your point and retaliate to everything the OP has said with one word:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[Rydian]

My copy-paste showing carts which are a good value for the money.

If you don't see an older cart on here, it's because a newer one came along which does more for less money.

Note that the prices given are from chinese shops.
If you order from a shop in another country it's more expensive.
[*]The original R4.
NOT "R4-III Upgrade", NOT "R4-SDHC", NOT "R4i NDSLL", NOT "R4 Red", NOT "R4 King"...
NOT ANYTHING ELSE WITH "R4" IN THE NAME! JUST "R4 Revolution For DS".
The cheap card for somebody that just wants to play games on a DS/Lite.

[*]R4i Gold
The cheap card for somebody that wants to play games on a DSi with more storage.

[*]Acekard 2i
Mid-range card for people that want to play games on a DSi/XL with some extra features.

[*]EZ-Flash Vi
Higher-end card with even more features.

[*]Supercard DSTwo
Pretty much the ultimate card right now.

• DS / DS Lite
  The card will work on an original (fat) DS or a DS Lite.
• DSi / DSi XL
  The card will work on a DSi or DSi XL as well.
• Game Updates
  Firmware updates are what let cards play newer games, these are the life-blood of the card.
• SDHC
  SDHC refers to SD cards larger than 2GB (gigabytes). If there's no SDHC support, you can only use SD cards up to 2GB.
• WiFi Update
  The Acekard 2i can update it's cheats (and get minor bug fixes) over WiFi without having to connect to a computer.
• Auto Ap Bypass
  Some carts have special features to ignore AP in most games, letting you play them without having to wait for a firmware update first. The Acekard only has partial support for this right now.
• RTS
  The Real-Time Save (Save State) function lets you save and reload your game progress at any moment you wish.
• In-Game Guide
  You can pull up text files and images in-game, in order to check a walkthrough or map you downloaded at any time during a game.
• Slow Motion
  The card lets you slow down the game speed as you wish.
• In-Game Cheats
  The card lets you create and modify cheats while the game is running.
• Special Homebrew
  The card has multiple pieces of special homebrew, such as it's own GBA and SNES emulators, as well as text/PDF reader and video player.
• Battery Life
  Unfortunately the DSTwo's extra CPU and RAM (which give it the special features) eat into the battery life a bit.

 

[Evo.lve]

Although Rydian's chart refers more to the technical aspects of carts, mine refers to the features of carts.

Yes
Partially
No

1. Original R4
Cost: $6
Pros:

• Cheap
• Great for just playing games
• Ultra-frequent updates

Cons:

• No SDHC support
• No DSi support

2. Acekard 2i
Cost: $15
Pros:

• Relatively cheap
• Regular AKAIO updates
• Anti Anti Piracy for all new games
• Great for just playing games

Cons:

• No Real Time Functions

3. Supercard DSTWO
Cost: $35
Pros:

• The ultimate card out there right now, with drag-and-drop video playing, eBook readers, GBA and SNES emulation, and advanced Real Time Functions

Cons:

• Onboard CPU is a battery drainer

4. iSmart MM
Cost: $32
Pros:

• The little stepbrother to the DSTWO, the iSMM features many of the same functions.

Cons:

• Cost isn't really justified seeing as it's not as good as the DSTWO

5. M3i Zero
Cost: $23
Pros:

• Beautiful Sakura firmware

Cons:

• Only updates every 3 months or so
• Even when updated, not many games are fixed
• Flimsy update cord
• Cord is only way of updating

And yes I know the M3i0 has real time but it's so shit it's not worth mentioning.

 

[Rydian]

That chart's incorrect, though.

You can play movies on the R4, Acekard 2i, and M3i Zero. That chart tells newbies that you can't.
The Acekard 2i's AAP is NOT the same thing as the DSTwo's clean mode, telling people it is is misleading them.

My chart's technical because it needs to be.

 

[Evo.lve]

That chart's incorrect, though.

You can play movies on the R4, Acekard 2i, and M3i Zero. That chart tells newbies that you can't.
The Acekard 2i's AAP is NOT the same thing as the DSTwo's clean mode, telling people it is is misleading them.

My chart's technical because it needs to be.

1. Yes, but you can only do it on the DS2 and iSMM without any extra hardware.

2. That's true. But then saying that they're two whole different things with a huge explanation will scare the newbies off.

 

[jim16127]

@Evolve I said no one was wrong. I did search. Thanks though, you could have done your reply with less ignorance. I got your point nevertheless.

As for the rest that replied...THANK YOU! Very Much. I will wait until the new cyclo comes out, which is extremely soon.

 

[Rydian]

1. Yes, but you can only do it on the DS2 and iSMM without any extra hardware.

What? Moonshell plays videos and works on all those carts.

You can't use simple labels because it's not a simple situation.