DS Lite ... Piracy and such

[Shayne]

So I bought a DS Lite yesterday and Im looking at free games.  So far I think i need a flash cart and a passwthrough card.  is that about right?  Hows video playback on a DS?

[Mr. Analog]

After having seen Lazy's DS play some vids the video didn't seem that bad, mind you I am blind so what do I know

[Lazybones]

I wouldn't purchase it for a video playback device... however the home brew stuff is improving. You will have to preconvert your video to a special formate to play videos on most of the current programs.. However I think there is a .mpg compatible one now.. Haven't checked in a while.

As for cards and such I HIGHLY recommend the SD card based SuperCard.. It is easy to get more SD memory and the new revision matches a standard cart.

There have been some advancements in how the Cards bypass the systems, you nolonger have to flash your firmware, or have a real cart haning out of a giant addon. There is now a DS cart size buypass that just pops in like a normal card.

There is a new kit for the DS lite (ususes microSD) that looks rather nice http://www.kicktrading.ca/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=104&osCsid=abcaf80c15b5d9969173888ee34e321b
That site is the Canadian retailer I used... You can set the currency option on the right.

That does not include the cost of the SD card for storage.

http://www.supercard.cn/eng/ Supercard site.. I would have recommend the miniSD version but microSD can be found in up to 2GB now the same as miniSD

The regular supercard sticks out a bit and is not as attractive as the new ones.

If you do however decide you want to flash your firmware, I have the hardware to do so.. There are some minor advantages / disadvantages to flashing over using the new keys.


Edit:

http://mdxonline.dyndns.org/archives/nds/
looks like MoonShell has advanced alot since the last time I tried it.. might have to check it out again for videos and other things.. I think they where working on PIM features for it as well.

[Shayne]

So you recommend the SuperCard LITE?  All i need after purchasing that is a MicroSD Card (as it looks like it includes a passthrough)?

Id rather not hack the actual DS firmware but instead just use a passthrough.  Video wasnt a primary concern just an added bonus.  Free games are the real wanting, i just cant justify $50 for a DS game with a 360 game is $10 more.

[Lazybones]

Check out this forum http://www.scdev.org/forum/ they are all supercard users.. you should be able to find out anything you want..


The link I sent was for the bundle that included the new SuperKey (DS Slot hack device) and Super Card (GBA slot storage device) you will want both. Kicktrading shiped very fast for my order so I would recommend them. Also considering shipping, exchange rate and duty fees they seem to be the cheapest in canada because they ship from canada.

I have never setup or used the SuperKey.. read up on it, however I BELIEVE you just drop it in and it will load the Super Card.. I could be wrong.... check the forum.

I would have to check for sure but on my Regular Super card I only have 512MB card in it.. it has about 10 to 20 games (mix of NDS and GBA) on it.. NDS games vary wildly in size so you might only get a few of the newer ones on it. GBA game performance varies, but NDS games play with no performance issues.

[Lazybones]

Just a note.. It appears there are a few DS slot only solutions that where just announced... They provide the bypass as well as storage.. Kick doesn't stock any yet.

Also if you look at the other makers M3 is popular, however read carefully on any storage/flash cards with built in memory. Gameboy and Gameboy carts are rated in Giga Bits not Giga Bytes. Meaning that what you get in a SD card based storage unit is A LOT more.

[Shayne]

Score: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63316627@N00/sets/72157594240040646/

Ordered Saturday night and it arrived today, i copied over a couple games and with heated anticipation i turned on my DS...it worked!  I jumped for joy.  I fire up "New Super Mario World" and I get the dreaded white screen.  I turn it off, select a different game and a white screen again.  I check the supercard website and notice new firmware is available.  I download and install it and now my games work perfectly

Thanks Lazy for the help

[Lazybones]

Most of the units depend on patching the roms to map to the hardware.. This means you will need a patcher and Bios that are about as current as the game you want to play.