so i am going to be getting the DSi when it is released in the US i have already ordered the r4i but i would like to still be able to play a few old GBA games The DSi no longer supports GBA cartridges so dont tell me to get a slot 2 card and dont tell me its not powerful enough as its way more powerful then the DS Lite
The reason that the DS and DS lite cant run GBA games without a slot2 cart isnt for lack of processing power, it has plenty for that. There are several reasons that it cant, but the main reason is that the DS when in GBA mode does not support loading from slot1, the game has to be copied from the slot1 device to somewhere else that does. That is what the slot2 is for. The DSi has 256mb of onboard flash memory, which is more than enough for loading GBA games into it, as well as an SD card slot for additional memory. So in theory a ram expansion shouldnt be required. But, assuming that it's even possible, you're going to have to wait for someone to hack the DSi to the point where they can use the onboard flash or SD card for such a purpose because, as of right now, it cant be done.
i dont understand why it cant run from the slot-1 what is the difference between the two and why cant it load from slot-1 and do you think they will make an emulator now that the DSi has removed the slot-2 thanks
The DS turns off slot1 when entering GBA mode to save power. Thats why GBA games cannot be run from the DS slot. The RAM expansion is required because the DS only has 4mb of RAM, smaller than most GBA roms. As for a GBA emulator for the DSi, I honestly cant guess. People have been trying without success for some time to make one for the DS. Hopefully the slightly more powerful processor of the DSi and the 16mb of RAM will be enough to get it working.
