Trying to find the right card...

Squash-n-Stretch · February 13, 2008, 09:49:38 AM

Hi all.

I've decided to get more out of my DS lite and have decided to buy a card, but I am not sure which is the best choice.

I am primarily interested in running NDS ROM's and homebrew games,as I have a PSP so I don't need it to be a media player.

I've been looking at consoleup.com, and there seem to be three types of card. R4, M3, and Supercard.

My question is, which is the best option and which is simplest to use? I really don't want to have to do much apart from drag and drop stuff onto the micro-sd. Which card is less likely to brick/mess up the DS lite itself?

As far as emulators go, how are they installed on the card? And then how are rom's ran from there? I'm looking for run a DS Emulator (that runs without issues), and other older console Emulators too.

Also, where is the best, cheapest, fastest and most proffesional site to buy from if I live in the UK/Ireland region?

Also, I have heard there is one virus which will brick a DS. Is there a scanner for this?

Thanks in Advance.

Perseid · February 13, 2008, 12:14:33 PM

Are you concerned about GBA support as well? If not, my advice is simple: Get an R4. If you do need GBA, though, things get more complex.

kkan · February 13, 2008, 01:05:35 PM

Quote from: Perseid on February 13, 2008, 12:14:33 PM
Are you concerned about GBA support as well? If not, my advice is simple: Get an R4. If you do need GBA, though, things get more complex.

If you can find an R4 stocks are low as R4 team are currently under investigation by elspa and nintendo

there hasnt been an update for a while either

dantheman · February 13, 2008, 04:53:59 PM

Another good option for relative simplicity is the CycloDS Evolution. DS games run natively on the machine, so you're not really emulating them. Therefore, full compatibility is attainable.

Emulators vary on how they're installed. With NES DS for instance, you just put nesDS.nds on your card along with your *.nes games and launch nesDS.nds. With SNEmulDS, you put snemul.cfg on the root of the card, SNES games in a folder called "SNES" on the root of the card, and the SNEmulDS.nds file anywhere. Other emulators are installed differently. Just read the documentation for each one to figure out how to get it to work.

There are two DS brickers out there, and you can scan files with DSLazy to check for them, but two points to make:
1. It is incredibly rare to see them in the wild
2. As a DS Lite user, you would be relatively safe. At the most, they would delete the user settings, but you wouldn't end up with a full firmware brick.

Squash-n-Stretch · February 15, 2008, 09:05:37 AM

Thanks for the replies guys, I know you must have answered these questions a thousand times before

I don't really want GBA support, if that means playing GBA ROM's or getting one of those GBA homebrew karts...it's pretty much strictly for older console emulation and NDS emulation.

It's really good to hear the Lite's are impervious to the virus'. When you suggest that native NDS system, is that a kart, program or another device entirely?

You guys suggest R4, but I hear M3 is better...what's the difference? Also, browsing the supercard forum on these boards, there seem to be loads of problems with them, including bricking and save files going missing, is this the case? Is the R4 shortage in the states only or in europe too?

dantheman · February 15, 2008, 05:15:36 PM

Quote from: Squash-n-Stretch on February 15, 2008, 09:05:37 AMWhen you suggest that native NDS system, is that a kart, program or another device entirely?

I'm stating that you don't emulate DS games at all. You run them directly on the machine. Playing DS games on your PC is emulation; playing DS games on a DS is not (unless a software DS emulator for the DS was made, which would make no sense at all). Since you're running them right on the hardware, there are very few compatibility issues.

Squash-n-Stretch · February 16, 2008, 10:47:12 AM

Now I get ya. Sorry, I was using a blanket term, not too up on my terminology yet

So you reccomend CycloDS Evolution? Is it pretty plug and play? Will I be able to play NDS and emulated older console games on it?

kkan · February 16, 2008, 01:13:05 PM

Quote from: Squash-n-Stretch on February 16, 2008, 10:47:12 AM
Now I get ya. Sorry, I was using a blanket term, not too up on my terminology yet

So you reccomend CycloDS Evolution? Is it pretty plug and play? Will I be able to play NDS and emulated older console games on it?

all flash cards can emulate older consoles to some degree

you should be able to emulate fine with the cyclo as you can with all slot 1 cards

the good thing about slot 1 cards is you can also use a slot 2 card for extra memory with stuff like the ram optimised quake and SNEmulDS

Squash-n-Stretch · February 18, 2008, 06:26:47 AM

What's SNEmulDS? a SNES emulator? I would need extra RAM for that?? Where would I buy ram for my ds?

So which card is the best in terms of working properly and not bricking? R4, M3, or CycloDS?

Perseid · February 18, 2008, 11:54:14 AM

There are quite a few emulators around for the DS and SNES is one of them. You don't need extra RAM and can't add extra RAM. They are all just DS cartridges just like games and won't change/brick your DS.

Squash-n-Stretch · February 18, 2008, 01:36:41 PM

That's what I would have thought, but was is SNESmulDS?

I really need to choose a card to go with. Which is best for running DS games and emulators? Which is less likely to brick, or have the micro-sd card sticking out the side? Which one has the best features and is the easiest to use, with as little tinkering on the pc as possible? I've narrowed it down to these choices.

http://www.consoleup.com/shop/Console/Cyclo-DS/CycloDS-Evolution/

http://www.consoleup.com/shop/Console/R4-DS/R4-DS-for-Nintendo-DS/
(not crazy about the R4)

http://www.consoleup.com/shop/Console/M3-DS/M3-DS-REAL-Perfect-Bundle-for-Nintendo-DS/
(what is the GBA expansion pack about?)

http://www.consoleup.com/shop/Console/DSTT/DSTT-Card-1Gb-Micro-SD/

http://www.consoleup.com/shop/Console/Acekard/Acekard-RPG-8G-for-Nintendo-DS/
(bit expensive)

ratx · February 18, 2008, 02:15:52 PM

If you don't want a R4; CycloDS is probally the best for you.

juancaretta · February 18, 2008, 02:18:26 PM

The GBA expansion pack lets you play GBA roms, and use the NDS Browser (if you don't already have the official memory pack)

Squash-n-Stretch · February 18, 2008, 02:44:23 PM

Quote from: ratx on February 18, 2008, 02:15:52 PM
If you don't want a R4; CycloDS is probally the best for you.

So is R4 better? In what way?

sonicwind · February 18, 2008, 02:46:50 PM

It's not "Better" in any real sense because the cyclods has a lot more features, It's just simple and intuitive so if you don't do much besides the basic gaming and homebrew It would be fine to save the money. But if you want the real time saves or the fact that you can have a lot more storage for homebrew then I would go with the cyclo since it takes sdhc cards.