DS Card World » Acekard 2i

Acekard Quick-on-the-Trigger, fixes 3DS v2.0.0-2 Firmware

admin — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:35:55 +0000

We were kind of surprised when Acekard was NOT the first team to fix the DSi v1.4.2 firmware. They were working on a huge update to fix BOTH DSi v1.4.2 and 3DS v2.0.0-2 . Literally the day after the new update or 3DS came out, Acekard was there, ready with a counter, and as of now, they are the only card we carry to support the new release. Other cards will have their own fixes as time goes a long. We created a video to document the update process and the Acekard 2i working on a 3DS with this new update. You can check that out on our youtube channel here.

The video is embedded below.

The v2.0.0-2 firmware for Nintendo 3DS is the larges one yet to come out. It’s a the first indication we get of the 3DS’s real online potential with the inclusion of an app store called the “eShop” and web browser. Early updaters were also rewarded with a free classic game Excitebike. Also prominently featured is the legendary Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Game Boy Color version, my personal first experience with the Zelda series. This is a taste of all the new content that will become available for your 3DS, accessible from anywhere via wifi.

There was a lot of apprehension about what this 3DS update would have for our customers. There was a lot of fear, and misinformation that the update would initiate a policy of bricking your console when using a custom flash card, and that the update would be forced onto customers simply by being online. Nothing has changed since the DSi. The update is voluntary and must be manually applied, nor is your console at any risk of being bricked. That being said, if you won anything other then an Acekard 2i, as of today Jun 10th, or it is not yet flashed with the new firmware, then please do not update your 3DS as it will block your card.

You can purchase your own Acekard 2i from DSCardWorld here.

All the best,
The DSCardWorld Team

Why should you get the Acekard?

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:39:23 +0000

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

DS Flash Card Family Tree

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:42:13 +0000

Please click the image for a larger version.

It shouldn’t be news to anybody that there are loads of flash cards on the market of varying degrees of quality and “originality”, some with very complex relationships. There are clones of clones of copies and keeping track of their history is important to some. For usability the main thing you should be concerned with is proven history of developer reliability. Please note that while some of the cards we carry at our shop are known clones, they are well supported by professional teams of developers that are dedicated to updating their cards.

As a disclaimer, my research is based on rumor and hearsay. If you can prove that any part of the chart is incorrect, comment with a link to the relevant information and I will update accordingly. This article is not a full review of each card, but an explanation of their connections. The list is not exhaustive, and unpopular and discontinued cards were not included to save space. To get an idea of the breadth of clones produced, check out this link with a list of all the firmware available: http://www.linfoxdomain.com/nintendo/ds/

While most of the chart is comprised of clones a clone doesn’t necessarily mean a bad and unreliable card, but there are many deliberately confusing labels. A bad fake can mean instability or infrequent updates, but to date there has only been one card that’s been known to cause harm to your DS console. The N5 card had a flaw in the design that caused a short and a blown fuse after so many insertions of the Micro SD card.

Initial teams got started as early as the Gameboy Advanced and kept it up with crude slot 2 flash cards for the original DS console. I’ll give a nod to those teams and discontinued slot 2 cards, some of whom are still at work including the Supercard team. Since then there have been a lot of migration of developers adding to the confusion of whom was making which card.

More advanced slot-1 cards came into development soon after and the R4DS quickly rose to the top in popularity. The R4DSv2 is an upgrade mainly in the removal of the spring-clip sdhc slot. The R4 team and the M3 team are closely related, if not the same team, and the M3DS Simply was a rebranded R4v2 with new firmware, as opposed to an unlicensed clone card. The M3DS Real is a legitimate upgrade and not a clone of the M3DS Simply. The iTouch series comes from the M3 Team, designed as an entry level to their family of cards. The M3i SDHC (clone source unconfirmed as DSTTi or EZ Flash Vi) and the M3i Upgrade are fakes that are NOT from the M3 Team.

Cards from other teams were in development at the time or soon after the R4DS and they lie along the same line on the chart; the DSTT, the EZFlash V, the Acekard, the Supercard DSONE, and the CycloDS Evolution. The Supercard team claims that the CycloDS card is a clone of theirs but this claim has not been substantiated. It is generally considered that the CycloDS is superior to the Supercard DSONE, and proved so valued (if expensive) that it spawned the immensely popular Edge card as a clone.

I know this looks like a family tree for the world’s worst soap opera, but hopefully this answers a few questions you may have. Just remember, especially in the case of the R4 cards, you may need the exact firmware intended to run on your card or clone.

Don’t forget to pick up your ds flash cards from our shop at the link below!

DS Flash Cards

Welcome to the DSCardWorld Blog!

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:44:54 +0000

Hi there, and welcome to the DSCardWorld blog! We’re going to use this section of the website to do something a bit different – because we’re not just shopkeepers – we like to play on our DS / DSi consoles as well! We’re going to use this section of the site to give you reviews of some of the games we’ve bought, tips and tricks for your Nintendo DS or DSi, as well as any new news relating to DS or DSi cards!

And please don’t forget – under NO circumstances should you play copyrighted games on your DS or DSi that you do not already own. DS cards are used to backup games (it’s useful to take one cartridge on holiday rather than twenty!) – but users should never breach copyright. So support the industry, and go and buy the games if you like them!

We’ve launched the website with three high quality (all individually tested, unlike anywhere else!) cards for our customers:

We will be adding three more shortly:

Stay tuned, and have fun with your DS!

All the best,
The DSCardWorld Team