The state of DS homebrew (it rocks?)

DS homebrew is cool but I have some advice for those of you who want to get in on it; don't buy a supercard. They suck.

a good DS homebrew site:

http://nintendo-ds.dcemu.co.uk/

That's a great article. I knew that there were emulators for the DS, but had no idea what hombrew games were available. Now everyone that wants to experience a little hombrew doesn't have to go out and buy a GP2X. The DS's cheaper price and smaller amount of emulators make up for the GP2X's more expensive price point($170) and larger hombrew community.

The ScummVM DS sounds incredibly fun to me. Does anyone know how to play those games without owning the original title? Also, I don't want this question to start a flame war over piracy.

This is what you need, guys. It's the best quality flash card due to compatability of ROMS and all that. Speed is more, too. It can hold plenty of games. Probly about 6 DS games, 5 GBA games, 2 SNES games, etc. http://www.kicktrading.ca/product_info.php?products_id=107

Oh, and there's no reason NOT to buy one. You'll never need to buy another DS game again. It works with WiFi enabled games, too.

The article intentionally focused on the positive aspects of the homebrew scene and not the negative, which is why you won't find specific instructions on emulating glassic GBA or SNES titles, etc. We instead focused on the awesome original content coming out of the homebrew scene.

Noga, you're the reason why these companies are fighting homebrew so hard. Your "You'll never need to buy another DS game again" is pathetic. A good game deserves your cash. Dont be a jerk.

I have one of the supercards.

there is quite a bit of homebrew out there, most of it is buggy, but there are web browsers, IM programs, book programs.

and with a 2GB SD card you can hold practicaly unlimited stuff on it for fairly cheap.

commercial Roms are a pain some work some don't, but they rom did cause me to buy metroid pinball , not a game I would have normally bought also convinced me not to buy the yoshi game where you fall from the sky.

many roms freeze or wont boot either due to corrupt downloads or they simply don't work with the gba cart. if you have a EFA linker for GBA though you can use that once your DS is flashed.

I'm wondering if I should buy a Supercard, an M3 or and EZ Flash 4. I have a DS Lite.

I want to run commercial roms, homebrew apps, mp3s, videos and photos. Also Beup to access MSN.

Which card is best for my needs?

I think there is a supercard mini or micro, it fits in the DS lite without sticking out.

don't you find you get less enjoyment out of a game if you pirate it though? I know I generally get very little out of games I get for free, I don't know if its because if I buy a game I subconciously force myself to get my money's worth or not but I rarely enjoy games I pirate and rarely don't enjoy games I buy.

to get going with the gba card and the sd card will probably set you back about the cost of 5-6 full price games, keep that in mind.

Draco - It's only for running backups. I would never pirate Nintendo games. Also I don't think it's illegal to run homebrew games available for free on the Internet.

As far as I know, it is legal to run Moonshell, Beup and DsOrganise without any hardware modification.

I've been a big fan of the M3. Offers firmware updates consistently to increase the compatibility on it.

The scene is still somewhat weak. Most programs still have a lot of bugs to iron out before they can really work well.

I own a super card, and it's great. It is comparitively affordable and comes in lots of different options (CF memory, SD memory, mini SD memory, DS Lite site, etc...)

I would whole heartedly recommend this to anyone interested in DS homebrew (I have tested it with pretty much all of the listed homebrew in the article, and it works great). I especially enjoyed playing Day of the Tentacle again (was a fun trip down memory lane). I haven't gotten the latest ScummVM for DS, but plan to do it when I get some more time (they now have support for Simon the Sorcerer and I've been itching to dust that off and play it again).

If you need more info on Supercard, check out http://scdev.org, a very active and helpful community for the SuperCard.

By the way guys we're trying to get the story promoted to Digg's front page... it only has a few hours left but also only needs a few more diggs. If you have an account and head over and Digg it, everyone from Modojo (including me) would love you forever!

http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/The_State_of_Nintendo_DS_Homebrew_it_rocks/

Thanks!

I still find it confusing to homebrew the DS even with all the guides out there. :/ That and hearing about all the new nopass, passme whatever the heck you call it that are in the works makes me want to wait longer.

Great article...I've been wanting to get in on the DS homebrew / emulator action for a while now. ScummVM is a wonderful piece of software for XP. I now feel justified in hanging onto all of those old discs ;) Did I understand correctly that the talkie versions of the Lucasarts games could be played on the DS?

I'm also really excited about the Sierra ports (Space Quest 3 and its EGA glory) although I wasn't clear if these would be the point and click games or the typing adventures (visual keyboard, perhaps)...

I need to start investing in some hardware...

Sinergy-

If you have any questions about running homebrew on your DS, flash carts, and other devices, contact me on my alt. e-mail so I can give you my msn/aim. snikad[-at-]gmail.com

Ok dont flame me.. But I am totaly confused here. If I buy a flash card... how exactly do I do all this cool stuff? How do I Download the games im progz what have you... on to the card and then use them on the DS? Does anyone have a link for dummies on this subject such as myself?

ejflex-

It's a pretty complicated matter. I should be able to help you better on aim/msn. Send me an email if needed. snikad[-at-]gmail.com

Basically, Flash cards work with SD, micro SD, or Compact Flash card. So you put the files you want on your SD/CF card, you insert the card into your flash cart, then you put the flash card into the GBA slot on your DS. From there, you turn the console on and browse to your files, reading from the flash card. Of course, you need a passme-type device.

I started reading the homebrew thread on neowin and things are becoming clearer! Check out the official NDs homebrew thread in nintendo subforum :) I'll be waiting for the M3 Lite ...!

I want the M3 Lite too but I can't wait for it to come out... I think I'm gonna order the M3 mini and I'll buy the Lite another day.

I really, really want it as soon as possible. That thing rawks.

I have an M3 mini SD that I use with my DS Lite, and I totally love it. It sticks out about the same amount as a regular GBA cart, which is fine with me. It's compatible with pretty much all of the commercial ROMS, and does a ton of other stuff as well.

It *is* a bit complicated to set up, though. You have to flash your DS firmware using a passme device before you can use the M3 by itself with your DS. But once I figured out how to do that, it was totally worth it.

BTW, I view the ability to download commercial ROMS as a way to preview games before you buy them, especially since most places don't rent DS games. Plus, ROMS allow you to find lots of games that just aren't available commercially any more. I recently decided that I wanted to play Tactics Ogre for GBA, but couldn't find it in any retail store. I bought a copy off of ebay that didn't work, and then just decided to get the ROM.

ach77-

I'm buying the M3 Perfect mini SD with passcard 3. No firmware change needed, no original game needed, fits right in the DS slot.

Plus I don't have to short the SL1 jumper, so my DS Lite will still be under warranty!

updating your firmware will save you battery life, though(or so i hear)!
i have the exact same setup, ds lite with m3 miniSD and flashme. pretty easy to flash your system, very user friendly.

also, to anyone that thinks it's all complicated, it's not! i recommend gbatemp.net for all infosfaqs.

I've an M3-Perfect SD Slim Version. I've flashed both my DS and DS Lite with FlashMe V7, so I have no need for any sort of pass device (I recommend going with the "stealth" version of FlashMe, so if you ever need to get your DS serviced, noone will think something werid is going on, since the normal FlashMe removes the health warning).

Though, the M3SD sticks out pretty far in the DS Lite. I'm thinking of getting the M3 Lite when it's released. Sure, it uses the kinda-pricey microSD, but all flash memory keeps getting cheaper over time (right now, you can get a 2GB microSD for $100 off of Amazon).

And, yeah, the homebrew scene for the DS is getting to be pretty impressive. One thing that may be of interest to a lot of DS owners is a program that will correct fixed pixels:
http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=17002

At least, that's what's stated. I haven't tested it out myself yet.

BPMΩ-

Many thanks for the pixel fixing program. I purchased
my DS Lite a few days ago, and it has a stuck pixel on the bottom screen. I really hope it works. That green fucker is incredibly annoying.

Also, is it true that the M3 has the highest compatibility with commercial DS games? Or is it the G6? Thx

M3 and G6 are made by the same company. The difference is that M3 uses external flash cards (Compact Flash, SD, MiniSD, and MicroSD) while G6 has the flash memory built-in (so it's not changable).
Their compatability with commercial games is equal.

But, pirating commercial games isn't the subject here. Completely legal homebrew games and apps are. ;)

BPMΩ-

Of course, I'm talking about game backups here. It's legal to have a backup of your game in case your original copy stops working.

Anyway, I've heard that the G6 is faster than the M3 and has better GUI.

I think I'm gonna go with a M3 Passcard 3 combo, it's my best bet.

It's possible that G6 is slightly faster than M3 (I can't say, haven't read any comparisons), since its memory is internal (and thus, doesn't have to access a flash card), but I haven't had any problems with my M3.
But, the drawback to G6 is you can't simply upgrade the amount of storage it has without buying another unit. And at the moment, the biggest the G6 comes in is 4Gb (512MB).

Personally, I like the idea of using flash memory cards better. Flash memory keeps getting cheaper and cheaper, with higher capacities available. Going the M3 route gives you virtually unlimited storage (as long as you keep buying CF/SD/MiniSD/MicroSD cards, that is).

If you've got a DS, I'd recommend the M3 MiniSD. Doesn't stick out of the DS like like the M3SD Slim does (about 1cm, I'd say). And for DS Lite, get the M3 Lite when it arrives (uses MicroSD, and is exactly the same size as the Slot 2 cover).

BPMΩ-

I have a DS Lite, and nobody knows when the M3 Lite will come out... So instead of waiting weeks and weeks for it to come out, I'd rather order an M3 MiniSD now. I think I can take the extra inch or so at the bottom, it's not a big annoyance. Having to wait weeks for a product to come out, with no release date planned, is a big annoyance.

If a possible release date is announced soon, I'll wait for the M3 Lite. If not, I'll go with the MiniSD version. Anticipation is killing me >:3

Patience is a virtue, my friend. ;)

Word is, the Chinese version will be released on the 20th (originally was to be today, but they've been having problems getting the PCBs in), and the English version will be soon after.

BPMΩ-

Oh, that's pretty soon... Well then I shall wait for the English version :D

Thanks a lot!

The M3 rules!!! Go to the www.m3-forum.com for some guidance.

looks more like Nazi invasion mario.