Considering Getting A Ds...

[mattmagoo]

Ah, that reminds, what's the best flash cart system for the DS? I was originally thinking about getting the supercard but I've been reading that it doesn't have the best compatibility and that it DOES have slowdowns. Which one has the best compatibility, functionality, and won't break your wallet?

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I have a 128Mb EZF Powerstar now

the battery is great, nearly as good as with a proper game

the downside is the lack of space, but i got it for £30 so im not complaining

if you want one for using with a DS ala a PassMe (available from GBAX) then you will need at least 512mb since the DS carts are a lo bigger than GBA carts

 

[mr twit]

I haven't really played my DS much in a few months now, but now, thinking of all the PSP's little flaws... kinda making me want to start playing the DS more. Well there have been some good GBA games released in the last few months that I didn't get around to playing (minish cap looks sweet!), and I do have a 256mb flash cart dying for some new games....

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Ah, that reminds, what's the best flash cart system for the DS? I was originally thinking about getting the supercard but I've been reading that it doesn't have the best compatibility and that it DOES have slowdowns. Which one has the best compatibility, functionality, and won't break your wallet?

​

EZFAs or E-CUBEs are best for compatibility, and Powerstars and best for battery life. Aparently there is a new type of Supercard being developed that takes SD cards and has no problems with slowdown and battery life, but no one knows when it's coming out.

 

[Azure]

I haven't really played my DS much in a few months now, but now, thinking of all the PSP's little flaws... kinda making me want to start playing the DS more. Well there have been some good GBA games released in the last few months that I didn't get around to playing (minish cap looks sweet!), and I do have a 256mb flash cart dying for some new games....

​

Ah, that reminds, what's the best flash cart system for the DS? I was originally thinking about getting the supercard but I've been reading that it doesn't have the best compatibility and that it DOES have slowdowns. Which one has the best compatibility, functionality, and won't break your wallet?

​

Aparently there is a new type of Supercard being developed that takes SD cards and has no problems with slowdown and battery life, but no one knows when it's coming out.

​

Where did you here this? Link?

EDIT: It appears because the DS lacks an EXT1 port, I can't flash stuff without a GBA? Screwed?

 

[mattmagoo]

get one with the USB connection in the cart

GO HERE to find out which ones can be used with DS

 

[mr twit]

I haven't really played my DS much in a few months now, but now, thinking of all the PSP's little flaws... kinda making me want to start playing the DS more. Well there have been some good GBA games released in the last few months that I didn't get around to playing (minish cap looks sweet!), and I do have a 256mb flash cart dying for some new games....

​

Ah, that reminds, what's the best flash cart system for the DS? I was originally thinking about getting the supercard but I've been reading that it doesn't have the best compatibility and that it DOES have slowdowns. Which one has the best compatibility, functionality, and won't break your wallet?

​

Aparently there is a new type of Supercard being developed that takes SD cards and has no problems with slowdown and battery life, but no one knows when it's coming out.

​

Where did you here this? Link?

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http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=25761

 

[bast525]

well I hope you guys are happy now I have, for the first time in months, flashed some new games to my GBA flash cart, to actually give me a reason to play my DS finally! So I guess the PSP will be staying home for a while I have missed the DS though, for real... I'm just now remembering a bit of the excitement I had when I had just gotten it, before I got a PSP and GP and ruined the fun. I figure I did miss a few good GBA games anyways, so I guess this is a great opportunity to catch up a bit while waiting for the next wave of new/good DS and PSP stuff.

I put Minish Cap on there... I had totally forgot about this game!!! Also a new Japanese game that has come out very recently, Bura Bura Donkey... anyone tried this one yet? It's a sort of puzzley-platform Donkey Kong game, very basic controls, but so far a lot of fun. Very different from the usual Nintendo fare, sorta like Mario vs. Donkey Kong was a new twist old stuff.

by the way if you ONLY have a DS, another alternative for a flash cart is to find one of the older flash carts for cheap that actually came with card reader/writer, either a USB one or one that hooks up to the parallel/printer port. I've seen these floating around for VERY cheap in like 256mb sizes (usually good for about four games at a time). That's actually what I have as I bought my flash card two or three years ago.



QUESTION: can anyone here get me up to speed on what good GBA games I have missed? I have not touched or even LOOKED at the GBA scene since the DS came out last november. The last big games I picked up for GBA were Kingdom Hearts and Minish Cap. Have any notable/good games come out since then? Can someone list some good GBA games I should try out?

Seriously though guys thank you for sorta pushing me to want to play my DS again and pulling me out of my PSP haze for a bit

 

[mr twit]

QUESTION: can anyone here get me up to speed on what good GBA games I have missed? I have not touched or even LOOKED at the GBA scene since the DS came out last november. The last big games I picked up for GBA were Kingdom Hearts and Minish Cap. Have any notable/good games come out since then? Can someone list some good GBA games I should try out?

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On my flash cart right now I have Yoshi's Universal Gravitation and Wario Ware Twisted, both cracked for motion sensor input, Mario Party Advance, Pac Man Pinball, The Tower SP (great game if you liked Sim Tower), and Star Wars Episode 3. I have also recently been playing Rayman Hoodlum's Revenge, Glory Days (Super Army War!) and Klonoa 2.
By the by, Bura Bura Donkey is the Japanese version of Donkey Kong King of Swing, which was released in English a couple of months ago. Brilliant game, I beat it twice.

 

[bast525]

thanks for the info mr twit. I knew I should have checked for that DK game in english! Cool well... off to reflash my cart then


I was thinking of getting the new wario but didn't think it'd be much fun w/o a true motion sensor... I'll give that and the Yoshi game a try though.


I didn't even know there was another Rayman game out for GBA... Rayman 3 was superb. Have to check that out as well.


EDIT: Ugh!!! The Euro/English version of DK King of Swing is twice the size of the Jap version at 16mb think I'll just stick with the Jap version otherwise I have to kick half the other stuff off my card

 

[Azure]

get one with the USB connection in the cart

GO HERE to find out which ones can be used with DS

​

Ugh, why does this shit have to be so confusing (Maybe it's just that site and the bad grammar? There's just WAY too many different flash cards with all these damn acronyms that use a lot of the same letters/words). So, if I ONLY have a DS, I need to get a flash card from the green color list, right? Then I need a linker to transfer stuff onto that flash card, right? So, I could either get a flash card from the green list and also get the linker that it comes with OR get a flash card from that list and get ANY other linker? Does each flash card have a linker? Which flash linker should I use with which flash cart? Their charts weren't too good.

EDIT: Great news! It appears that next week Nintendo will launch all DS's with Mario 64 for $149! Though since the blue ones already don't come with the Metroid Prime Demo, I'm guessing Nintendo will stop packaging that with DS altogether in order to replace it will Mario 64. Just saved me $30

 

[skysnapper]

I bought an ezflasher III 1 gb recently after a lot of resacrch this seemed the one of the best card to get and very good value for money. www.ezflash.cn

Pros
Very High compatability ony found 1 game that didn;t work (well actually it ran just the main sprite was screwed)
Games can be zipped up i can get around 19 games plus a 256mbit game on mine.
Has 1 Gigabit of memory but an additonal 256mbit to store 256mbit games (they have to be here) although this may change with a firmware upgrade
Instant save and you can have more than one, another card only allowed one.
Fits in a DS perfectly
It has a linker so you don't need to use your gba to upload roms

Cons
Games don't load up instantly but you looking at 5-10 seconds on an unzipped game depending on size as it loads them into its fast memory as it uses cheape slower memory for storing the roms
Although its not that bad it doesn't bother me.
Very few places stock it. I got mine from Winsunx in China who were very good and came highly recommended on other boards took 3 working days from order.
The file manger is not the greatews piece of software in the world but it does the job.
Pretty much no instructions, but they have a user forum where you can find out to use it.

All in all very pleased cost was $119

The nearest card to is the ecube but from what i read is no where near as good.
The Flash2Advance Ultra had the same features faster loading times as its uses faster memory for storing the games but a lot more expensive.
Hence i went to the lengths of buying it from china rather than get one in the UK.

NB. there is another card with almost the same name card ez flasher 3, i think it was called don't get this one its not very good

 

[Azure]

Meh, fuck all this flash cart shit. It's too complicated. There are just too many different variations that have too many similar names/acronyms. Ugh, why can't there be a comprehensive and up-to-date guide that goes over all the cards, tells all their pros and cons and what each one would be best used for. Ugh :wacko:

EDIT: Wait, could I just get this and then use ANY of the other flash carts with the DS?

 

[bast525]

:angry: well this f'ing sucks.

As happy as I was that I was finally going to put my DS to use... and now I remember the OTHER reason I have been avoiding playing it.

All of 30 minutes of gameplay and I've already 'de-virginized' the beatiful new touch screen (that I haven't touched since Nintendo replaced my previous DS due to lit pixels) with a nice long hairline scratch :angry: :angry:

I'm so friggin pissed. I had a spare DS screen protector laying around and tried to apply it but after SEVERAL tries I just couldn't get the thing on straight, nor could I get it on w/o several bubbles under the film (I was using the 'soft card' applicator to help smooth out the bubbles) so just gave up and decided to play w/o it, figuring that being a newer DS I probably had the 'shimmery' screen that is supposedly super scratch resistant. Apparently I have no such luck. And no, in case anyone wants to comment, no I'm not rough on it, quite the contrary... I was trying so hard to be gentle while playing the Metroid demo, that the game was having trouble registering my moving the stylus, because I wasn't pressing it down hard enough.

 

[mattmagoo]

I think i got lucky with my screen protector

after getting numerous scratches on my pocket PC, I bought a screen protector for my DS before the DS got delivered

went on perfectly and makes the colours MORE virant on the lower screen

its the HORI fficial liscensed one, and I recommend it (it stop me from crapping myself every time I play Wario Ware and Kirby)

BTW Bast, if you like DK: King of Swing Try the 2 Kururin games, they are very fun and only 32Mb each

I also put Pokemon Red on my cart, Metal Slug, and Klonoa

 

[mr twit]

:angry: well this f'ing sucks.

As happy as I was that I was finally going to put my DS to use... and now I remember the OTHER reason I have been avoiding playing it.

All of 30 minutes of gameplay and I've already 'de-virginized' the beatiful new touch screen (that I haven't touched since Nintendo replaced my previous DS due to lit pixels) with a nice long hairline scratch :angry: :angry:

I'm so friggin pissed. I had a spare DS screen protector laying around and tried to apply it but after SEVERAL tries I just couldn't get the thing on straight, nor could I get it on w/o several bubbles under the film (I was using the 'soft card' applicator to help smooth out the bubbles) so just gave up and decided to play w/o it, figuring that being a newer DS I probably had the 'shimmery' screen that is supposedly super scratch resistant. Apparently I have no such luck. And no, in case anyone wants to comment, no I'm not rough on it, quite the contrary... I was trying so hard to be gentle while playing the Metroid demo, that the game was having trouble registering my moving the stylus, because I wasn't pressing it down hard enough.

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Blimey, what were you using as a stylus? You can't possibly scratch the screen with the official one, its completely blunt! I haven't got any scratched after months of use. Are you sure it's not just a scratch in the wax coating, because that will rub right off.

 

[mr twit]

Meh, fuck all this flash cart shit. It's too complicated. There are just too many different variations that have too many similar names/acronyms. Ugh, why can't there be a comprehensive and up-to-date guide that goes over all the cards, tells all their pros and cons and what each one would be best used for. Ugh :wacko:

EDIT: Wait, could I just get this and then use ANY of the other flash carts with the DS?

​

No, that's just the linker for Flash2Advance carts. All the GBA carts have practically the same features. If you don't have a GBA, I would recommend the EZ-Flash 2 Powerstar, as it gives the best battery performance.

 

[lubidog]

Okay Dokay,

Now I've got two DSes (or will have soon!).


So finally wireless play. But what to get?

Anyone?

Cheers

 

[bast525]

I was and have only ever used the stylus that came with the DS. I will look into getting one of the Hori licensed protectors I guess.... another problem with the ones I bought is they are slightly too small and leave about 1mm of the side of the screen exposed. What's this about a wax coating??? I dunno but I tried to clean the scratch off already, using the soft silk cloth and cleaning spray that I use for my eyeglasses, and that mark isn't coming off.

This isn't the first time this has happened... my first DS, the one with the dead pixels that Nintendo replaced for me, had like 3 or 4 scratches on it, which all seemed to show up after playing Feel the Magic, the boss fight where you have to rub pretty frantically on the screen to create a static charge to beat the guy.

It doesn't make sense to me either, as soft and smooth as the stylus is. I'm thinkign what probably happens is, as I'm playing, dust will settle onto the screen, and then, by chance I might move the stylus over and area where there is a spec of dust, pushing the dust into the screen and dragging it along with the stylus, creating the scratch.

Well as I said... it's not pristine new anymore... think I'm just gonna say screw it and not worry about it... I mean... how the heck will I really enjoy the thing if I can't ever touch the screen anymore? So whatever... I'll play it... if it gets too scratched up then I'll sell it and that will be it. Maybe I'll buy one of the blue ones at some point I dunno... hopefully you guys are right about later versions being much more resistant.


And yeah, Kuru Kuru 1 and 2 are great games, played the heck out of them a while back

 

[KickinWing]

anybody hear any more news on the DS and internet play? if it's going to be coming around soon and any games that will be online?

 

[mattmagoo]

my friend scratched his DS when a piece of salt got caught on his stylus

it goes right the way across the screen

 

[Nova]

my friend scratched his DS when a piece of salt got caught on his stylus

it goes right the way across the screen

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Ouch.

I have used a protector from day one, but somehow i managed to get a rreally tiny, but annoying scratch on the top screen