4GB MAX Media Player for Nintendo DS
by Christopher Grant 
{ Feb 13th 2006 at 4:18PM }
Datel must have gotten these 4GB hard drives wholesale, cause they're back with another use for them! First the 4GB PSP drive, followed by the (pretty useless) 4GB Xbox 360 hard drive, and now the 4GB Nintendo DS MAX Media Player!
Using the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot to store and power the hard drive, and the DS card slot to store the Media Player software, the combination promises to turn your game-centric DS into
[Thanks, Rich; via Engadget]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Elpea @ Feb 13th 2006 4:27PM
Erm...
Rather buy a Nano, or with 15 extra bucks get an Ipod video.
Paul @ Feb 13th 2006 4:32PM
Sound nice, but $225 nice? Oh HELL no.
Ph[i]l @ Feb 13th 2006 4:33PM
for that price you might as well go and buy a PSP - that is unless you care about playing decent games :)
and this probably wont even be as good as having a PSP would be (abilities etc). oh well....
Reytacular @ Feb 13th 2006 4:36PM
I guess they didn't sell well on the PSP... LOL.
Can I use this with my GBA SP-2? Cause the mp3 video players are too overrated and expensible.
RabidMoose @ Feb 13th 2006 4:38PM
The post leaves out a very important feature that the article mentions: this thing lets you run executable files. That means emulators. Yeah!
Nmaster @ Feb 13th 2006 4:40PM
Can you say, iPod?
iPod + DS = Gaming & Multimedia heaven
Reytacular @ Feb 13th 2006 4:45PM
I wonder if I can emulate Half-Life 2...
Cyberclaws @ Feb 13th 2006 4:46PM
I agree, I would LOVE to have this, but not for no 225 bucks. I'm saving that for my Revolution/RS and some games! =P
Darum @ Feb 13th 2006 4:48PM
i like this idea. this way i won't have to buy a PSP. sure, it might be cheaper to just get a PSP, but i don't want to have to carry around two different hand-helds at once. :/
TIP @ Feb 13th 2006 4:48PM
They didn't sell good for the PSP cause it is a hard drive so it requires more battery power t use it, and psp's battery sucks. plus this thing skipped when you played music and movies on the psp. this on my ds would be horrible. 4gb for that? yeah right. cnt wait for the 8gb cards for my psp tho.
Jago @ Feb 13th 2006 4:50PM
Interesting idea...seems kinda pricey tho. I wonder how long the battery will last though.
If it drops in price significantly I think more people will buy it.
Probot @ Feb 13th 2006 4:52PM
Ya know, I don't think I would mind paying $100+ for a 2GB version of this. But $225 is a bit much for an accessory.
I'd need to hear some reviews about the media function as well as confirmation that emul...I mean "homebrew" actually works. As of now, though, I can't see myself buying it at that price.
(No offense to the great homebrew apps that do exist.)
Cosmos @ Feb 13th 2006 4:53PM
I've been waiting for a decent media player for the DS to come along, and this looks really cool. $225, though? Sorry, I guess I'll to keep waiting...
Jago @ Feb 13th 2006 4:54PM
TIP:
You aren't going to see any 8GB cards for the PSP. When Lik-Sang.com got the 4GB MAX for the PSP, they took it apart and pointed out that b/c the way the PSP was designed, it won't recognize anything larger then 4GB.
gleektoose. @ Feb 13th 2006 4:56PM
I'm defenitely not getting this for my DS. My ds is huge, plus this big thing murdering my battery life? It will turn my DS into the biggest, ugliest looking MP3 player.
Jago @ Feb 13th 2006 4:58PM
gleektoose:
Get lost...stop being a freakin troll.
Grow up...
tip @ Feb 13th 2006 4:58PM
YO Jago
Sony is making these 4 and 8 gb cards, they already released a stement. And yes true ti won't recogniz anything larger than 4, but, sony is making the new update for psp to recognize more space, also to let you use the logic 3 keyoard, and make it compatible with the ps3 sumhow. ive already seen pics of the new update.
jackson @ Feb 13th 2006 5:01PM
How many people on here are being payed to post comments? I'd say 1 out of every 4.
Jago @ Feb 13th 2006 5:03PM
Ahh...I did not know that. What is the Logic 3 keyboard? Never heard of that one.
TIP @ Feb 13th 2006 5:07PM
Logic 3 Keyboard:
http://blogs.sun.com/roller/resources/stuart/logic3_keyboard_psp_1_.jpg
gamer1 @ Feb 13th 2006 5:14PM
Why would someone want to buy an accessory that cost more than the system itself? It boggles the mind.
Darum @ Feb 13th 2006 5:15PM
@ 14:
"why do they try so hard to copy psp's multimedia features"
you say that as if they've done this before. also, i don't think that the DS' graphics would hinder it's abilities to playe movies well, after all, the GBA was able to play all those cartoons without problems (atleast i don't think).
Jago @ Feb 13th 2006 5:18PM
That keyboard looks interesting but it also looks a little on the flimsy side as well. I honestly don't mind the on-screen keyboard for the PSP in the first place. It's not great but once you get the hang of it (same with cell phone text messaging), it's not all that hard to type out things at a decent speed.
TIP @ Feb 13th 2006 5:19PM
^ it may hinder the graphics. but i'm not sure how many colors the ds is capable of. i noe the psp can display up to 16.77 million colors,which makes those movie umds look better than my tv at my house. it doesnt hav to do with graphicss when it coemks to movies, but how many colors and how sharp it displays it. with the ds it wont look like the psp but i'm sure movies would come close.
captain_duck @ Feb 13th 2006 5:30PM
As a tip for people interested in this. Devices like this already exist for the DS. For example the M3: www.m3adapter.com it's main use is well, as a flash cart to play roms, but it can play movies and music to. And you can use standard SD/CF memory cards with it that you might already be using for your digital camera or whatever.
Anyway before you think im some sales person of m3, there's also other devices like http://www.supercard.cn/eng/index.htm and http://www.neoflash.com/ . All of these are a lot cheaper then $225. You should be able to get a m3+passme for ~$100, and a superpass+passme for ~$85. Also these things are guaranteed to play homebrew, emulators, and well yeah roms.
patientx @ Feb 13th 2006 5:31PM
Get a M3/M2 + passkey/passme + moonshell instead ...
Of course you need to get your memory too.
A m2+passkey 2 (for newer models of DS) costs near 50 dollars and CF/SD medai is very cheap these days.Use moonshell and you have an all capable machine ; movies,mp3 music, books pictures .. -you can even run linux-
Kye @ Feb 13th 2006 5:32PM
@ NickP # 11
You Lik Sang ho! get outa here and stop trying to peddle your company on a blogsite.
Jeez
This comic sums you up perfectly!
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/01/25
Grissom @ Feb 13th 2006 5:48PM
I was going to kill myself because I've just bought a Play Yan(which works like a charm tho),then i saw the price and took a big breath of satisfaction
Jay @ Feb 13th 2006 6:05PM
Wonder if there's a way to stick my various Microdrives in the DS with one of those CF card players. All I'd need to spend is about £30 or however much they cost.
but nah. I'm a strong believer in using things what they were made for and not using crappy side-features that somehow, Sony made into advertising points for the PSP. oh its silly. too busy playing killer games on the DS!
Jake @ Feb 13th 2006 6:09PM
Idiots.
The DS performance in 3D realtime graphics has no bearing on its ability to play FMV.
The DS will be able to play video without any quality loss. The only thing is, the screens are 256x192 pixels each. Not HD by any means. However, FMV looks surprisingly okay on the DS (A nice ppi it has) better than the FMV on the M:H demo, don't worry.
And whoever said something about color, the ds is 24bit, which is basically standard. That means 16.sometihng million colors.
SuicideNinja @ Feb 13th 2006 6:10PM
$225? That doesn't make any sense.
You might as well buy a Flashcart/CF/SD adapter and use the homebrew media player. $80. Might as well buy a useless PSP for that kind of money.
If these guys want to sell their product for the PSP or the DS, they are going to have to cut the price down.
Chris @ Feb 13th 2006 6:51PM
PlayYan eat your heart out!
HyperHacker @ Feb 13th 2006 7:15PM
$225 for this. And it's made by Datel, so it'll last you about 3 months.
I recently purchased a GBA Media Player for $25. A 1GB Compact Flash card runs about $50-100. Using Moonshell - which is FREE - my DS plays music and movies, views images and text files, and runs homebrew for much less than this thing costs. The only benefit is having 4GB, and you can just buy multiple CF cards. (If you're willing to spend more, there are similar adapters that use SD cards.)
The only complication is having to either softmod your DS using a $20 wifi card, or use a pass-through device and GBA flash cart. Not all DSes can be softmodded, but the pass-through works on all of them; look up 'passme' and 'flashme' if you're curious.
Before anyone asks, nobody is paying me to say this. I simply thought some of you might be interested in saving a hundred bucks and buying something durable. :-)
Ptaaty @ Feb 13th 2006 7:15PM
What a waste...get something like the creative vision:m, 30 GB DAP with great video capabilities, much smaller for about $300, way better screen, better rez more colors, way more space, excellent MP3 player, line out for TV, etc.
Waste waste and more waste...
mike @ Feb 13th 2006 8:49PM
Can you say, iPod?
iPod + DS = Gaming & Multimedia heaven
---
Convergence blows.. just look at PSP.. no thanks..
rg;kjgjggjgjwj @ Feb 13th 2006 9:10PM
For $225, you might as well buy a nano.
And it will work with the Lite... it will just be a little awkward with a space in between the 4GB thing and the back of the system.
Nmaster @ Feb 13th 2006 9:42PM
#35:
That's my point.
I think I should have phrased my comment better...
I meant, get a iPod AND a DS and your all set, way better off than getting a DS and this or a PSP. The DS is clearly a better gaming device than the PSP, and the iPod has 30-60 times more storage than it.
So people, stop trying to find that "all-in-one" device for gaming and multimedia, and just get it "all-in-two", the Nintendo DS and the Apple iPod make for a happy couple.
Dancingtomato @ Feb 13th 2006 11:21PM
The site says it sells for £129 which is $153
just_a_guy @ Feb 13th 2006 11:22PM
But will it work with a MAC?!?!?!?! (my mom forces me to use one)
jadenguy @ Feb 14th 2006 12:33AM
HAHAHAHAHA. this is great. everybody has to pretend that they don't fully love a product nowadays to feel like they aren't coming off as shills. well, it doesn't matter, because eventually every shill post will end with, "and i'm not being paid to sya this."
Zero_ @ Feb 14th 2006 2:12AM
"The DS will be able to play video without any quality loss. The only thing is, the screens are 256x192 pixels each. Not HD by any means. However, FMV looks surprisingly okay on the DS (A nice ppi it has) better than the FMV on the M:H demo, don't worry."
Actually it, it won't, atleast, not in the sense you're implying. True, the screen is small, but the actual quality of the video controller used for both screens is not built for movie playback, which is why Nintendo does not promote it, but inheretely, video controllers will handle game graphics and videos.
Try watching a video clip on a DS and you'll see. It's still adequate though.
Kev @ Feb 16th 2006 5:59PM
I think its a pretty good product, I have a PSP for the multimedia aspect, but would move to a DS if I could load it with movies. Anyone know if Datel has a homepage or info on the net? I have tons of movies already in MP4 on my mac, would be nice to know the formate the datel drive will require?
Jayayess1190 @ Mar 5th 2006 10:13PM
Actually it cost $179 at lik-sang website. And all you need to carry around after loading the videos, mps's, and photo's is a cartridge.
metaleggman @ Apr 13th 2006 8:43PM
it's 150 at codejunkies.com, datels website. why waste your money importing where shipping kills ya and costs 20 bucks more. seriously! plus, you can buy the 20 buck media card which allows those with GBA flash carts to use their carts for DS applications and movies!