Hey guys. Yup, as you can see, I'm a "newb". Here's the deal (if any kind soul here could lend me a hand): I recently received a new "fat" Nintendo DS system as a Christmas present from work. I've been "lurching" around this forum for about a month or so now (I knew in advance I'd be receiving the NDS btw, which is why I've been reading posts here in anticipation). Anyway, like I said, I've been reading as many posts here as I can, trying to figure out what my best options are for delving into the robust NDS homebrew scene. But, after reading and reading and reading (posts and FAQS alike), I gotta be honest...my head's spinning! So many choices and so many things to remember, etc. And I'll be the first to admit, I don't know a whole hell of a lot about things like SD cards, etc. I DID mod my PS2 a few years back, but that was different of course. Maybe I'm dense and just need it spelled out for me. I dunno, but I'm just flat-out frustrated trying to figure out what flashcart option to purchase. The DS I have is the blue "fat" DS regular that came with Animal Crossing : Wild World bundled in the box. What would you guys (Mr Hanky and crew) recommend for me? Here's basically what I'm looking to do: Run NDS homebrew and backups Run GBA backups Run NES, SNES backups Play movie files, MP3's View JPG's and other image files I'm wanting to be able to expand memory options, so I'll need to go with some sort of SD or CF card option, I know. So that cuts DS-X out of the equation. I've seen a lot of recommendations for M3, but which one can I run on my fat DS? (I think I read a post by Mr Hanky a while back where he recommended the M3 Perfect for the smoothest GBA and NDS playing, but now I can't find that thread.) As far as storage goes: Can I use microSD cards on my fat DS? Are 2 Gigabyte cards really less reliable than 1 Gigabyte cards? I'd like to get one single 2 gig card, rather than two 1 gig cards. I'm really planning to use every inch of that storage space too, as I plan to load not only games, but also tons of multimedia as well. I don't mind patching NDS files if need be, so the drag n drop feature of the DS Simply isn't all that important to me, but will the DS Simply run .nds files better than say M3 or SuperCard or whatever? I've seen a lot of people hyping the "slot-1" flashcarts, but from what I can gather, they aren't GBA capable. I'm really looking for good GBA emulation though. And finally, what site would you all recommend to buy all of this? I'm in the United States btw. Sorry about my blathering on and on like I am, I'm just pretty thoroughly confused about what I should get before committing to a purchase, seeing as how my money supply is dwindling rapidly since I've had this DS (buying DS and GBA games left and right lately) What would you guys recommend for me, an old fat DS owner? Thanks in advance for any advice!
Yowdy, I have to reply to this as I am mentioned in the post The best option for you would be the M3 Perfect MiniSD and Passcard 3 combo. The M3 has the best NDS and GBA compatibility available, the MiniSD version of it is the same size as a GBA game so wil fit perfectly in the slot of the old style DS, and the passcard 3 (needed for NDS games to work) fits perfectly in the DS slot. As it is a SLot-2 device it will need games to be patched to work, but this very easy to do with the M3 software. The M3 has two built in media players, the first was devleoped by the M3 team a long time ago, back in their old GBAMP device, this can play GBM and GBS formats (GBM is movies, GBS is sound) this means everything requires converting to work. The second player is an inbuilt version of the homebrew application Moonshell, this can play very high quality video (.dpg) and view many picture filetypes and listen to .mp3 music. As for running of NES and SNES games the M3 software can convert them for play, but you are better of download homebrew emulators, as these are more up to date, easier to use, and save room on your memory. Note that SNES emulation on the DS is not very good yet, with only a few games working perfectly, NES however is almost perfect. I noticed you also want to use MicroSD cards - is there a reson for this? If so it is possible to buy the M3 Lite and buy a GBA size case for it, this will allow it to work in the old style DS. But the M3 MiniSD would be a better option and MiniSD is cheaper than MicroSD anyway. I have never thought that 2GB cards are any less reliable than any other cards but some uesrs do seem to think so, I would buy a 2GB card and see for yourself. As for stores, check my M3 guide (link in sig) there are several metioned near the top. Right, I think that covers everything you asked.
One thing noone mentions here is its extremely picky about the memory you get, every type of brand, and size memory acts differently, stay away from PQI it wont work, I have a scandisk 1GB miniSD and it works fine, and two transcend 80x 2GB miniSD's and they work perfectly too, just with GBA games i have to push start to load them, not A.
Thank you so much for your replies and advice, Mr Hanky and Ocean23. Now I feel at ease and I'm done worrying about which one to buy. Thank you, thank you, thank you. janrocks: True, true. I'm in America, so if I lost my mind I'd fit in quite well actually.
Yea, thanks for the info guys, I'm trying to get into ds homebrew and all the information is a bit too much to comprehend at once. I was about to go buy a 2gb micro sd card today (to atleast get started on getting all the stuff i need >_>). But now I'll see about getting the m3 minisd.
Hey guys, I have another couple questions if anyone could field these for me. In my window shopping online, it looks like the M3 Perfect miniSD is a bit pricier than the M3 Pro and the DS Simply. I'm itching to get some video clips and songs on my DS, so I'm actually considering the DS Simply because of it's low price. But will the DS Simply work on my old fat DS seeing as how the Simply uses MicroSD? Another thing is: How likely do you guys think it will be that eventually someone will work on a GBA emulator for the DS Simply? And also, does the DS have any emulation capability as of now? And if not, is it likely (or even possible) that emulators for systems like NES, Atari, etc. will be developed for the Simply? I'm willing to wait for GBA emulation to come later (hopefully) as long as I can delve into homebrew, movies, pics, and mp3's now at a lower price. So....what do you guys think? Can I run the DS Simply on my old fat DS and do you think emulation will ever be possible on the Simply? Thanks again in advance for your help!
The 'Pro' range of the M3 lacks the 32MB SRAM of the 'Perfect' range, this basically kills all GBA support, this is the same for the Simply, it has no SRAM (Slot-1 device dosn't need it), so is cheaper. If your looking to lose GBA support in favour of price then get the M3 DS Simply, it will work exactly the same way as it does in a Ds Lite. There are currently no GBA emulators available, and based on current SNES emulation there probably won't be any ever/for a long time. HOWEVER the DS does have the hardware to play GBA games, so perhaps there might soon be a way to play GBA games from the DS port, much like the way DS games are played from the GBA port? I don't knwo if this is possible though. Homebrew on the simply will be slightly less compatible than with the M3 MiniSD, but this is due to it being a new device, give the developers some time and it'll good There are emulators available for DS mode, for example NESDS, i mainly use my PSPs for emulation though so do not know of any others for the DS. MP3s and Movies should still work as normal using Moonshell, I believe the M3 media system has been removed from the simply (no loss there then )
