Nintendo DS cards, and newer Nintendo DSi cards, were designed and created to let end users of Nintendo handheld consoles not only play games, but convert their DS / DSi into MP3 players and movie players. Newer cartridges like the EZFlash Vi also allow for other productive activities such as reading office documents, PDFs, and even allowing a DS to function as an eBook reader.
Should I buy the EZFlash Vi? ask some consumers. The EZFlash Vi card is one that has learnt from the past mistakes of regular Nintendo DS cartridges. The design and most of the architecture on the card is not only well thought out, but incorporates improvements from cards that have fallen short of its high standards in the past. For example, the original R4v2 card employed a spring mechanism which would cause mechanical problems for 2-3% of the cards owing to the spring being overused and ceasing to function. The EZFlash Vi incorporates a push-slot mechanism for this reason, and eliminates the potential problem.
The Micro-SD card slot on the EZFlash Vi is also ingeniously placed on the side of the card rather than the top of the card, which is traditional among other DS and DSi cards (except the M3i Zero, which was released after the EZFlash Vi and also used this design). This guarantees that a Micro-SD card cannot be dislodged during gameplay, as the top of the Micro-SD card would actually be inside the DS slot itself rather than resting on top. This also minimises the chances of someone accidentally losing the Micro-SD card.
The EZFlash Vi team has also ensured excellent dimensional control, where variation in size is nearly non-existant and is less than a tenth of a millimetre. This is of great important since variation in size can result in the Nintendo DS or Nintendo DSi console rejecting the card as it is difficult to slot in. This was a problem exhibited by earlier generation DSTT and N5 cards. It can also cause the connecting pins in the back of a Nintendo DS to fail to recognise the card. Thankfully, no such problem exists with the EZFlash Vi.
Firmware updates should not be a problem if bought from a reputable store, as good stores will pre-update the EZFlash Vi to the latest firmware version. If bought from a ‘lazy’ store and firmware is not upgraded, the user can do it themselves following instructions for updating the firmware to v1.4 on the official EZFlash Vi website. Great care is advised, however, as applying the firmware incorrectly can corrupt the DSi card.
The EZFlash Vi has a very old team working on software updates and compatibility issues with the card daily. Updates are released regularly (correct at the time of writing, July 2010) and the development team have been in existence since 200 and have been very responsive. The EZFlash team were also the first to have a workaround for the Nintendo DSi v1.4 update, a testament to their dedication and speed.
To summarise, the EZFlash Vi’s exceptional build quality and software make it an excellent choice for any DS or DSi user, and is also compatible with the newer DSi XL consoles as well. It would be a highly recommended card for any Nintendo enthusiast.
DS / DSi gamers can buy EZFlash Vi cards from DSCardWorld. Every card is tested prior to dispatch and customer service is on a 24 hour basis, which means that it’s impossible to receive a card that doesn’t work. With US based sales and support, this means a decision to buy EZFlash Vi cards from DSCardWorld is a pretty good one, dare we say so ourselves!
Anybody who has researched ds flash cards has come across numerous references to R4 and some of the more expensive ones like M3i, Supercard, and iEdge. Unfortunately, they might skip over a card that retains many of the features and stability of a top card without the premium, the Acekard 2i. An important thing to note is that the Acekard team was the first team to develop a workaround for Nintendo’s card blocking technology for the DSi v1.4u.
The Acekard 2i is the third card from the venerable Acekard team who have been making cards since 2006 for the Nintendo DS. Their first card the Acekard and Acekard+ made a strong showing and by the time of the release of the Acekard 2.1 had solidly placed themselves at the head of the industry for good products. There was a side project of a highly customizable Acekard R.P.G. which had some mild success, but by the time they hit their flagship product, the Acekard 2i, they had picked up a large following. While the Acekard name has had a few hiccups, they seem to take responsibility for any diificulties.
GBAtemp, one of the largest Nintendo ds card communities, consistently recommends the Acekard 2i. That team has avoided a lot of the drama of other card brands for things like bad clones, stolen firmware workarounds, slow updates, and general manufacturer irresponsibility. This team works fast, and efficiently. Acekard users rarely have to wait long for patches and compatibility updates. There is an alternative loader for the Acekard called the AKAIO software. While it was not created by the Acekard team it has their full endorsement and improves loading speed as well as adds support for the EZFlash 3in1 slot-2 device for loading gameboy advanced game backups.
The Acekard 2i features many useful assets like the ability to flash the firmware (provided that the DSi console hasn’t already been updated), Action Replay cheat codes, saving to the micro sd card, auto-patching for DLDI, multiple languages, four screen brightness settings, and reduced power consumption. For those who enjoy customizing their menus the Acekard 2i is also skinnable. The only major feature it seems to lack is Real Time Save but that typically requires a card with a higher cost.
This midrange card holds its own with the best of them. Pickup the Acekard 2i at our shop here: Acekard 2i
E3 2010 is still under way but Nintendo has already had their keynote showing off the upcoming games on the Wii, and their latest iteration of the DS console, the Nintendo 3DS. Yes, it’s finally ready to show! There are still a few glaring omissions like the actual hardware of the screen, and the processor, as well as a street date for release, or the price. But we can now actually see what it looks like.
Nintendo 3DS Launched!
There are a few things we do know now for sure. The 3DS still has the touch screen, at a 3:4 ratio and 3.02″ on the bottom, but the 3d screen is a widescreen format at 3.53″ on the diagonal and sporting a 800×240 pixel resolution. It seems like Nintendo is planning on pushing mobile 3d Movies, but we’re unclear on how they plan on delivery. We find it unlikely they’ll go with a movie cartridge delivery like PSP’s now defunct UMD. Although it will feature improved wireless. Digital delivery on the DSi’s current flakey connection would be questionable.
The wireless now supports WPA/WPA2 encryption which people have been demanding for awhile. Supposedly the 3DS will also update software automatically and make available downloadable content, as well as communicate with other 3DS’s without any user interaction. Nintendo were vague on the details or the particular usefulness of this feature. There is some speculation that it ties into their anti piracy measures for the 3DS but no details can be known for sure until developers start playing around with it after launch.
Prominent on the 3DS are two camera lenses running at an underwhelming .3 mega pixels but why two? Surprise! Your 3DS is also a 3d photographing gadget. We’ll be excited to play around with that feature upon release. As with the DSi there is also a front facing camera that can be used for head tracking if a game developer chooses to implement that particular feature.
In terms of gaming, all reports have declared the device impressive and revolutionary. There is a depth slider on the right side of the top lid where you can dynamically adjust the 3d depth effect as per your personal preference. The 3DS also sports an analog thumbpad called the “slide pad” that is sized considerably larger then the PSP version. Below is a confirmed launch list of games for the Nintendo 3DS:
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D- The Naked Sample
StarFox 64 3D
Battle of Giants: Dinosaur Strike
Nintendogs + cats
Resident Evil: Revelations
Mario Kart 3D
Paper Mario
Animal Crossing
Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracles
And a host of others that have yet to be finalized…
The world’s most popular R4 card, the R4 SDHC, is getting a face lift. First available alongside the former version, the R4 SDHC v 2.10T is now the flagship product of the R4 SDHC team. The familiar black box is now officially discontinued, and no longer in stock with us here at DSCardWorld. We will continue to support the black box version, but any cards sold will now be the new version.
The official name is the R4 SDHC v2.10T but also may be referred to as the “Happy Box” packaging as it’s designed to be used with the R4 SDHC team’s DS Card management client software, DS Happy Box currently in beta.
We are in the process of replacing our site images, but we have below the new packaging you can expect with all orders as well as more information on the improvements. Despite how it may look, this is NOT the R4i Gold, and it is not a fake, it is another product from the same manufacturer as the world’s most popular R4 since the original retired in 2008.
The R4i Gold pictured below is NOT Carried by www.DSCardWorld.com
As you can see it has a textured gold surface, immediately eye-catching. It differs from the R4i Gold which, although of the same color is a completely different card from a different manufacturer.
The box and the card itself clearly show the www.r4sdhc.com website, which is the same home site as the r4 sdhc black box as shown on the webpage below.
Once you have the card booted up you’ll notice that the menu software is lifted directly from the R4i SDHC (red box). The current version is visible in the bottom left hand corner on both gui’s. The latest R4 v2.10T software is v2.10T03, and the version shown for the R4i SDHC is v1.19b.
We are very excited about this new product, as it will feature all the functionality of the R4 SDHC black, but with added game compatibility, and a large increase in loading speed.
You can pick up the brand new R4 SDHC card at our shop here: R4 SDHC Order Page
As you may have heard, there is a new clone on the market, a fake iEdge card that is NOT affiliated with the famous Edge team. We now have further details available now that we actually have one of these fake devices in our possession.
In our last post we kind of glossed over the packaging except for the text on the back, but upon further inspection, a myriad of differences show up.
First, let’s inspect the front of the package. The pattern is nearly identical, but on the fake iEDGE there’s an extra iEDGE logo at the top near the point.
The elastic band on the fake iEdge also sports an “iEdge” logo whereas the real one only has the general “Edge” brand icon. Detailed below:
The elastic band itself is also different. The colors reverse on the real one as seen in the photo below with the logo showing in reverse as well. However with the fake, it’s the same main turquoise color on both sides, and there is no logo on the back of the band.
If you look closely at the real iEdge packaging, on the right hand corner it has an “i compatible” note that is missing on the fake.
The back of the packaging is the most discussed as it contains the fake iedge web address. Here, you can see side by side the fake and the real. As you can see the real card has two lines of text with the real website http://www.edgd-ds.cn and the fake website http://www.edgei-ds.cn on the other box.
Once the fake iEdge is loaded up it will display different behavior as well. As previously mentioned, the fake iEdge will show up as having Danny Phantom flashed to the firmware much like the M3i Zero and the EZFlash Vi.
Previously it was reported that loading up the wrong software, i.e. software NOT from the fake www.edgei-ds.cn website resulted in a red dstt menu, but this was not our experience. We found a black “System File is Missing” Screen. The REAL iEdge has a white screen that says “Edge.DAT not found!”
Here you can see the GUI menu of the fake iEdge. The REAL iEdge (unskinned) has a multicoloured 3d wallpaper on the top screen unlike a plain metallic logo on the fake menu.
The games selection screen is different too. The REAL iEdge will load the game straight from the window and not show all the info in the bottom screen. Settings like Cheats will be set in the main 3-icon menu under “Settings”
There you have it, a full rundown of the fake iEDGE and comparison shots with the real iEdge packaging and menu software.
Just recently, as early as February 12th, the existence of a fake iEdge card has come to light. We’ll try to report as many details on it as possible and we assure you that we neither stock nor sell fake cards. Many users have come to expect R4 cards to have bad and unreliable clones, but it’s always been assumed that the Edge brand was clone free, as it was for so long. That’s now changed with the introduction of this new clone. So far it has been confirmed that they are being distributed through www.r4i.co.uk but other sources might crop up in the coming weeks.
Looking at the packaging, it’s difficult to tell that it’s fake, but as soon as you open up the card there are a few giveaways just from the physical clues:
While many production shots of the iEdge, even those on the official site show the iEdge in black, the actual card itself comes only in white. A black one may come out in the future, but is not in distribution currently.
If you are still unsure, then the following should also verify that the card is real or not:
Danny Phantom showing up instead of Sudoku (or the iEdge logo if unflashed) is FAKE
A red Menu? Icon showing up with improper software installed is FAKE
A different GUI then the official Edge software is FAKE
As near as we can tell the fake iEdge displays behavior of a DSTT clone, but there is also speculation that it is an Acekard 2i clone. Needless to say, it is far less refined then a real iEdge card and has no guarantee of its stability or continued support. It is definitely recommended to avoid this pathetic fake. The Edge Team has recognized the fake’s existence and released the following statement…
22 / 3 / 2010
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Fake iEDGE products in the market!
It has come to our attention that a site, namely http://www.edgei-ds.cn, is selling fake products using the EDGE brand name. These fakes are not supported by the EDGE firmware and the product is no way associated with the EDGE team. Consumers should avoid purchase of this product, as the support is poor and the compatibility is low. We will shortly post pictures showing you how to identify the fakes.
Below we have pictures of the REAL iEdge card in action. You can find this card on our page here: iEdge
A REAL iEDGE is polar white (for now).
A REAL iEDGE shows up as Sudoku after proper boostrap flashing (we preflash the card for all of our customers).
A REAL iEDGE has a non spring clip slot for the micro SD.
As further developments occur we will report them as we come across them. If you are interested in an iEdge, rest assured, we carry the real deal. The software on our site comes straight from the manufacturer, and we never hide the manufacturer’s website from our customers, because…well…we have nothing to hide .
Once again, you can pick up an iEdge at the following link: iEdge Order Page
Nintendo jumped ahead of the rumors for their next Nintendo DS Console, with the DSi XL barely out the gate. The new 3DS is confirmed and will have a 3D holographic like technology in the display. It might seem a bit gimmicky at first, but the same could have been said for a little console with a second seemingly redundant touch screen that everyone expected to be a flop .
Nintendo is keeping schedule with their past upgrade cycle with a new DS coming out every two years since their first DS in November of 2004 (the DSi XL being an offshoot niche product). It’s still to be seen how developers will take advantage of the innovative 3D, but we don’t actually have to wait and wonder! Below is a video showing off the new possibilities of 3D gameplay using face tracking via the DSi camera in this DsiWare game Rittai Kakushi e Attakoreda below:
Observe how the user finds an “A” only after tilting the screen at a precise angle. The screen technology is not confirmed, but likely uses parallax barrier technology to create the autostereoscopic effect. Something almost unheard of, but definitely more appropriate in a handheld device. We’d like to see a full GUI based on the capabilities of 3D, and we’re excited to see how this well get capitalized.
Although a release date is not confirmed Nintendo will be showing off their new 3DS at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 coming up in June. Release is rumored to be in March of 2011 but the Christmas season is typical for releases to occur.
For those of you worried about backwards compatibility, it will be fully compatible with any NDS game cartridge, although it’s impossible to tell how it will work with flash cards as of yet. It’s still a ways off yet, and there should be plenty of time to keep enjoying the use of your current Nintendo DS. Feel free to visit our shop below for cards like the new iEdge: www.dscardworld.com
For anyone who owns an R4i SDHC, there’s a recent bug out that flashes this screen on boot:
System date error! Please check NDS system date.
The problem is a software based one, and should be fixable It might be caused by any one of the following:
The DS console running out of battery.
Transferring a .SAV file from a different user who perhaps has a different date on their DS.
Attempting to activate cheats in certain applications.
To resolve the issue, we’ve found in some cases that simply changing the date of your DS system back a few days before the system error occurred, or as much as month may fix it. This bug has only been around recently, so all the details are still being uncovered, but it seems like the R4i SDHC team is aware of the issue as they list it on their FAQ http://www.r4i-sdhc.com/rde.asp. Unfortunately they provide no further details, but when a full fix comes out we will, of course, provide that. For now try to reset your date and you should be able to use your R4i SDHC as normal.
As we gather more data it helps us understand what is causing the bug and how to fix it so please feel free to contact us with your information and we will continue to monitor the situation and report to you our findings.
The immensely popular Edge card is BACK and now for DSi and DSi XL. Supplies are very limited so be sure to pick up your card ASAP. All iEdge cards from us come preflashed and ready to load up the OS menu software. Listed below are the official specs:
Latest DSi firmware supported: v1.4
Supports DSi/DSL/DS
iEDGE comes blank without any copyrighted software, making it 100% LEGAL
Fully upgrade-able bootstrap to combat future DSi firmware updates
Supports DSi firmware v1.4+
Plays commercial NDS ROM
Plays homebrew NDS ROMS
Frequently updated OS for best compatibility
In game reset
Automatic ROM protection patcher
SlowMotion mode
Save game saves directly to Micro SD
Automatic save game type detection
Supports clean ROMs
Supports MicroSDHC cards up to 32GB
Multimedia playback such as movies and MP3′s
Action Replay compatible cheat system
Multi language user interface
Micro SDHC card reader included
Full download play support
There’s been some worry over the internet about flash card compatibility and the new DSi XL. I’ll set the record straight by saying the DSi XL is identical to the DSi eletcronically and by firmware. Every DSi flash card we carry will function on the DSi XL.
Yes the EZFlash we carry will work, however there’s a potential complication for owners of older EZFlash Vi models. The EZFlash came in two versions, the older 705 and the newer 805 from January of 2010 that we carry. If you have an EZFlash Vi currently and you’re of the mind that bigger is better via the DSi XL, then you’ll want to make sure you own the 805 model.
How can you verify this? The EZFlash Vi itself will tell you. Load up the latest menu software RC 13, but as low as RC 10 will work. You can find it here: EZFlash Vi Website. Once you have it loaded on your micro sd card boot into the EZFlash card on your DS and click the system settings icon in the home menu. It will bring up a settings window that tells you the Model version shown below.
How to check EZFlash version
If you want an EZFlash Vi that’s guaranteed to work with the new DSi XL then you can pick one up at our shop here: EZ Flash Vi for DSi XL
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