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I agree. The Motherboard article made it sound like there's an oscillation between "A supermajority is doing A, so let's not conform by doing B" and "A supermajority is doing B, so let's not conform by doing A". What a real hipster has to do is figure out C, D, and E, like looking at cartoon chipmunks and other characters and getting the idea to wear an ankle-length shirt. Different enough that it hasn't caught on much outside the Middle East, yet still presentable.

If you put a huge ass list of silly secret handshakes involving dancing while naked and slathered in peanut butter-- JUST to get the SDK for your platforms-- NOBODY IN THEIR RIGHT MIND THAT ISNT A PEANUT BUTTER NUDE DANCING FETISHIST IS GOING TO DEVELOP FOR YOUR PLATFORMS

I guess the console makers' rationale is that if a developer has the resources to work around "absurd" requirements to get an SDK, it's more likely to have the resources to make a game that's better than Action 52. Perhaps you don't remember the crapfest that was the Atari 2600 library in 1983-1984, but it nearly brought down video gaming entirely in North America. Being selective about who is allowed to develop for a platform is console makers' way of ensuring "better quality gameplay, and all that ball of wax." That said, Sony has reportedly dramatically loosened up who's allowed to develop for PS4 and PS Vita; searching the web for "Pub Fund" will pull up articles about its recent indie developer outreach efforts.

[Android] IS FREE TO DEVELOP FOR, WHICH IS WHY THERE IS AN APP FOR FUCKING EVERYTHING.

Including an app for stealing users' personal information. Whenever mobile malware makes the news, it's almost always on Android, not iOS, and not the game consoles (except for "taihen" and "r0mloader" way back in the early DS homebrew days).

Supercard didn't flourish

What do flash cartridges for Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS have to do with HyperCard?

Oh wait, you meant that SuperCard.

Second, even Nintendo is getting away from cartridges (see the Nintendo DSi).

Not for the beefier titles, like 256 megabyte games that are as big as the DSi's whole internal flash memory.

My R4 card runs 128mb DS roms that have full motion video off the flash. They're indistinguishable from the real cart. Flash mem is hella fast.

GBA Game Paks and NOR flash cards act like RAM, except they're usually read-only. DS Game Cards, microSD cards, and the internal NAND flash memory of the Wii and DSi act more like a disk. Learn the difference: Block device | NAND and NOR

My R4 card runs 128mb DS roms that have full motion video off the flash. They're indistinguishable from the real cart. Flash mem is hella fast.

GBA Game Paks and NOR flash cards act like RAM, except they're usually read-only. DS Game Cards, microSD cards, and the internal NAND flash memory of the Wii and DSi act more like a disk. Learn the difference: Block device | NAND and NOR

If you're interested in homebrew, these sites may interest you:

http://www.gbatemp.net/
http://wiki.pocketheaven.com/Category:Emulators_on_DS
http://www.scdev.org/forum/

You might also want to check out the old games you can play on the DS.
I have yet to try them all, but I can confirm that SNESDS, NESDS and Lameboy work very well.

Right here: nesDS. If you have a DS but don't run homebrew, you can buy a Games n' Music card and use the "DLDI-Capable Devices" instructions.

ObTopic: I have a phone to make calls. I have a DS to play games.

You can already, and quite literally, turn your DS into a PDA with homebrew software called DSOrganize. http://www.dragonminded.com/?loc=ndsdev/DSOrganize Although, in order to use this software you have to dish out anywhere from $30-$130 or more for the development cartridge (there are many to choose from, all with different features). Read more here http://wiki.pocketheaven.com/Category:DS_Flash_Car ds or http://scdev.org/

The MMD officially has no support for commercial roms. However, soon after its release, a patcher program was released by an "anonymous" source that lets a few games run off the device. Compatibility sucks though, so no one would knowingly buy the product for that purpose. Interestingly, this patcher program was later modified so that the GBA Movie Player, which is electrically similar, could also run a small selection of DS games.

However, this device is different. While the MMD is a slot-2 device that comes with a slot-1 launcher, this new product resides solely in slot-1 and has a built-in launcher. However, until a DLDI file is created for this new product, very little homebrew will work on it, meaning that its main capability will probably be just playing music, which most likely will use Moonshell anyway.

It is possible that the Music and Games card here is actually a rebranded R4 or M3 Simply, in which case the existing DLDI files would suffice. Anyone know if this is the case?

Yes, you can emulate single-player Game Boy games on a Game Boy Advance or on a Nintendo DS in GBA mode using the Goomba Color emulator.

Froogle perhaps? What about gbadev.org's list of retailers?

Haven't seen the PSP's upgradeable firmware feature used for any upgrade yet, unless you consider "homebrew" crackdown an upgrade.

1. They are more supported by homebrew, although as the article said, this is slowly diminishing due to the new DLDI support.
2. SnezziDS, one of the best SNES emulators for the DS, only runs on slot-2 cards with GBA compatibility.
3. DSLinux works best on slot-2 devices with GBA compatibility, as explained in this post. With DSLinux, I can browse the web while listening to MP3s while chatting on IRC.

1. They are more supported by homebrew, although as the article said, this is slowly diminishing due to the new DLDI support.
2. SnezziDS, one of the best SNES emulators for the DS, only runs on slot-2 cards with GBA compatibility.
3. DSLinux works best on slot-2 devices with GBA compatibility, as explained in this post. With DSLinux, I can browse the web while listening to MP3s while chatting on IRC.

There's an NES emulator for the Gameboy Color called either "nes2gb" or "fcgb2" (can't remember exact name) which runs a select few NES games (Donkey Kong, Popeye) at a horrible framerate (but with sound!). This GBC image can then be emulated by Goomba Color, a GBC emulator for the Gameboy Advance. The GBA can then be emulated by the PSP (or by a PC). As far as I'm aware, no PSP emulator for the PC is advanced enough to add another link to the chain here.

I've been looking around for a long time and seen a great deal of DS and GBA cards to choose from. ( http://wiki.pocketheaven.com/Category:DS_Flash_Car ds )

The Max Media player look interesting but then I saw one that instead of the DS passthrough and the flash on the GBA card that there was a new DS cart that had flash memory on it.

BTW, is homebrew good enough to justify a second PSP? I have just one that I only play comercial games on. I've been a little leary about playing fast and loose with firmware upgrades and downgrades. I know a lot of people love homebrew, but does the software justify the price of a second, dedicated console?

Of course homebrew justifies the price of a Nintendo DS. Even a DS Lite that is fully tricked out for homebrew costs less than a PSP Value Pack.

How do you plan on using this game on your GBA without a "development kit" (read: flash cart+writer)? The pirate flash carts and kits aren't free you know :P

GBA SP + SuperCard + 256 megabyte CF card + CF writer is cheaper than PSP + 256 megabyte Memory Stick PRO Duo card. And if you already own the GBA SP or the DS, it's even cheaper. Heck, a fully-tricked-out-for-homebrew DS is even cheaper than a stock PSP Value Pak.

And if you don't care about portability, you can still play Luminesweeper in VisualBoyAdvance on the same PC that you use to post to Slashdot.

When the DS Lite came out, I sold the PSP and picked up a DS Lite with Metroid and Tetris. I've been playing those any many other games online and offline and haven't looked back.

Nice decision; let me suggest something to add to your enjoyment. Have you considered buying the DS memory card so that you can put your own music into a Lumines clone?

I wish they'd make the Myst games for DS. I know you can wedge 2GB onto a memory card the size of a DS cart, so it should be possible.

The largest known official DS Game Cards are 128 MiB (1 GiB) in capacity. Myst was bigger, but then you only have 256x384 pixels to deal with instead of 640x480, and image compression has advanced since Myst was first published. That said, you can already play many Lucasarts games on your homebrew-enabled DS through ScummVM.

I wish they'd make the Myst games for DS. I know you can wedge 2GB onto a memory card the size of a DS cart, so it should be possible.

The largest known official DS Game Cards are 128 MiB (1 GiB) in capacity. Myst was bigger, but then you only have 256x384 pixels to deal with instead of 640x480, and image compression has advanced since Myst was first published. That said, you can already play many Lucasarts games on your homebrew-enabled DS through ScummVM.

The PSP's big deal is homebrew, which the DS is lacking.

That's not the impression that I get from reading dsdev.org. Just 210 USD plus shipping gets you a fully homebrew-capable DS. The PSP, on the other hand, has that firmware 2.01 through 2.60 that require a specific M-rated game (which is actually banned in a few countries) to launch homebrew, and 2.70 and later that can't run homebrew at all.

The PSP's big deal is homebrew, which the DS is lacking.

Thats not entirely true. Check out DS Homebrew project wiki

I recently became interested in it after discovering projects that could enable SNES emulation of my old games on the DS.

Of course this may or may not require jumping through a few hoops since you have to use the GBA slot, but some of the fellows have done a few interesting project (besides emulation) such as web browsers, PC game ports such as (Hexen), and VOiP.

Zero.

And here's what you need to run Linux or other homebrew programs on your DS.

No don't! He might put on a dress

You can't play any GB game older than GBA on the DS.

O RLY?

If you made it to a high level of Lumines (DS) or Tetris (PSP)

Looks like you've been playing a lot of homebrew. Officially, Tetris is on DS and Lumines is on PSP, but unofficially, Lumines is on GBA and Tetris is emulated on PSP.

PSP homebrew doesn't require more than a memory card and GTA (in some cases)

"Some cases" that involve GTA, an M-rated game, require the user to 1. live in an area where GTA is not banned and 2. be at least 17, which leaves high school underclassmen out of the PSP homebrew scene. Besides, "some cases" are rapidly ending with the new 2.70 firmware that makes the GTA bug no longer exploitable.

For the price of a PSP Value Pack, you can mail-order a completely unlocked DS with a memory card 8 times as big and with one game. However, some batches of DS Lite units have had problems with bridging SL1 to flash the DS's equivalent of the Xbox TSOP. Or if you're more interested in Hollywood movies than homebrew, you can still get a $130 DS and a $120 portable DVD player (with a bigger screen than the PSP) for that price.

The other consoles doesn't support Nintendo-made games.

Neither does any Nintendo system support Katamari Damacy or Amplitude or Lumines (except through homebrew for the last one).

Pass.

Me.

3. Google "DSOrganize".

The equipment to run homebrew on a DS costs $120. This includes a PassMe2, a game supported by PassMe2, a SuperCard CF adapter, a blank CompactFlash card, and a CF writer. Here's a shopping list; is it worth it? In addition, if you have a DS Lite, you can't just install FlashMe and be done with it because a lot of people have reported that if you try, you will brick your DS because it turns off before it finishes writing the failsafe code.

what would rock is if I could buy GB games and put them on a blank DS cart so I could take them with me.

As of right now, you can dump (or pirate) Game Boy games and put them on a blank GBA cart. See Goomba Color.

PolyStation "a gag gift"? Sounds like a wonderful gift!

...For Nintendo lawyers to POOP ON! To stay within the law, buy only those famiclones that don't come with pirated games. But if you aren't afraid of piracy, and you want a famiclone, here's a better way to do it:

1. Get a GBA, GBA SP, GameCube Game Boy Player, Game Boy micro, Nintendo DS, or Nintendo DS lite.
2. Get a GBA Movie Player.
3. Get PocketNES.

The PocketNES method will let you use fan translations, more extensive mods, and even full-scale homebrew in addition to normal commercial ROMs.

You mean like taihen or r0mloader?

The biggest as of yet is actually 32 megabytes, not 64.

Meteos is 512 "megabits" or 64 MiB. So are Jump Super Stars, Splinter Cell, Kirby Canvas Curse, and the new Castlevania game.

It does when the difference is MIDI to CD quality.

Doesn't have to happen. Try listening to a GSM based soundtrack on a GBA, such as the music of Luminesweeper, and hear how serviceable cartridge music can still sound. At least it'll give the developers something to do with an extra 32 MB.

Load times are highly exaggerated by common trolls.

Who's to say that a particular highly anticipated title won't end up poorly engineered like Midnight Club or Need For Speed?

You already said it was on the N64 with similar controls.

True, but Gamespot's review of Starcraft 64 points out: "Moving the analog joystick is similar to the cursor sweep of a mouse, though this gesture fails to approximate the quick swipe needed in panicked, fast-response situations." The N64 also has two more face buttons than the PSP.

[True, the DS has 2D acceleration.] Now add multiplayer to the mix. DS wouldnt handle it as well as the PSP

But where are you going to find opponents for such multiplayer? Nintendo DS games tend to have "spawned" versions (DS Download Play) more often than PSP games do.

Of course, if they get a SNES emulator working on the DS, that's what mine will do most of the time. Back to Super Metroid for now.

Pocket Heaven reports that SNES DS is almost working, though Super Metroid is one of the less stable games.

You say PocketNES works great, but can I fit 900 games on the EZCart?

I don't think 900 NES games were ever commercially released in North America or in Europe. But if you get a 1 Gbit (128 MB) or larger flash card, or you get a SuperCard (adapter for CompactFlash or SD memory), then yes you can fit hundreds of NES ROMs and/or GBA multiboot games (such as Tetanus On Drugs) on one cart.

Is there a GBA SNES emulator? If so, how do I use the X and Y buttons?

SNES Advance has been ported with sound to the Nintendo DS. Details are in parallel threads at pocketheaven.com and gbadev.org.

Also, I can't say I've ever seen any lumines clones.

There's Luminesweeper for GBA, and that page lists four other Lumines clones (but only Kaikai's is any good).

Maybe you're one of those people that sees a game that involves blocks and thinks every one is tetris.

Can you name them all?

I guess you're forgetting that nintendo is re-releasing all of their old games in the NES classics series

Well at least the GBA SP and Nintendo DS can emulate Nintendo's classic systems. The same can't be said of the PSP to the PS1.

A lot of people ... are already making plans on porting NES and GameBoy and possibly even SNES emulators that run on Linux to run on the Nintendo DS

ROM whores can make castles in the sky, but you can't do any coding until you prove that you've written "Hello" to the top screen and "World" to the touch screen of a Nintendo DS. Given that the DS cart bus is encrypted and that the WiFi booting 1. may have to be digitally signed by Nintendo and 2. requires a laptop anyway, I don't see Linux on the DS anytime soon. I have to constantly remind people on Pocket Heaven boards that the DS is a much tougher nut to crack than the GBA was.

ObTopic: The PSP can load executables from the Memory Stick port, but those might need Sony's digital signature as well.

Actually, there are two of them:
http://foon.pocketheaven.com/
http://www.emuboards.com/invision/index.php?showfo rum=18

Nintendo seems to be down with PocketNES

If you got it right I wouldn't be flaming you. The ripoff site was always pocketsnes.net. The original forum thread about it is still there.
And it's PocketHEAVEN. not haven.
And the site was on snes.pocketheaven.com. Still works btw.
Any more bullshit you wanna spout?

If you got it right I wouldn't be flaming you. The ripoff site was always pocketsnes.net. The original forum thread about it is still there.
And it's PocketHEAVEN. not haven.
And the site was on snes.pocketheaven.com. Still works btw.
Any more bullshit you wanna spout?

Actually the link to PocketNES should be to nes.pocketheaven.com. That's the GBA version. Pretty big FAQ too on using it, so there seems to be help available to get it up and running.

The GP32 is an interesting device, but its generally reguarded as undermarketed and insecure (it comes with the ability to download from your computer BUILT IN). In general, the GBA has similar emulators, though I don't believe anyone has been brave enough to port SNES emulators over to GBA. I would check but it seems that during the writing of this post PocketHeaven has removed its emulator database. I know that PocketNES is coming along finely, with the ability to save states and scale the screen differently with a touch of a button, and mappers being implemented.

Find some roms here and there....(No links)

A little flash reader here....

You got it.

..on my GBA for over a year. A Flash Advance card from these people running this is one of the best investments I ever made.