Nintendo DS download card thingummy

[pauld]

Right, we're getting the nipper a Nintendo DS Lite for his birthday. What I know about games consoles etc you could happily fit on a postage stamp so be gentle with me if this is a really stupid question. But, from what I can gather, you can get adapters you can plug into the things that will hold standard memory cards so you can play games you've downloaded off T'interweb on them. Now I'm not primarily interested in this from a piracy angle, more wondering what the shizzle is with these things in terms of whether we can back up legit games onto them. Strikes me as potentially a great way of backing all his games up onto one memory card so he can then just play them off that, hence avoiding losing/standing on/various other expensive mishaps likely to befall small but expensive game cartridges. Am I talking out of my rear end or is this possible? Had a quick google and quickly got lost in a plethora of different types of cards so which type does what? What can you do with these things and which one's best? Any advice from you hard-core gamer types much appreciated

[JPC82]

ring a computer shop and BAM they will tell u all about it xx

[Mister Lorenzo]

The best route that I've found so far is a system called R4 which can be purchased from Amazon etc and cost around £40. You then need to buy a micro SD card to store the games. Next you can download games from http://ds.rom-news.org/d0wnl04d5, unpack the game using WinRar and then transfer it to the memory card and Bob's your aunt.....

[Batch]

Ok, we have the Cyclo-DS evolution bought from here (though you may find it cheaper):

http://www.consoleup.com/shop/Console/Cyclo-DS/CycloDS-Evolution/?gclid=CLOq-5fAvJQCFQ6S1Qod-muISw

( see also http://www.cyclopsds.com/)

There are lots of cheaper cards available that can do similar things and may be as good. But at time of looking this was the daddy.

How it works is pretty much as you describe. Download the game "ROM" to the PC. Drag and drop to standard micro SD card and away you go. The cyclo DS is SDHC compatible (bigger SD cards).

You then plug the SD card into the Cyclo SD and run it as if it was a DS game. You will then get a menu from which you can select whatever game you want.
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Obtaining the ROMS is relatively simple. I am not condoning piracy here, far from it, but to get backups of your original games you could try somewhere like:

www.nds-roms.com
www.nintendo-ds-roms.com

Oh, and note the different versions - E - english, J- Japan, etc.

Not had any problems with Cyclo-DS whatsoever. Online play and multiplayer play seems unaffected.

Note though things like the Nintendo browser (which is shit) can not be used without the original as it need an 'memory expansion card', which obviously you wouldn't have. Not that you would be backing up games you don't own anyway.

[pauld]

ring a computer shop and BAM they will tell u all about it xx

:-) Touche!

[pauld]

OK, cheers guys. So from replies so far I can't back up our purchased games directly (ie direct from the carts themselves) but I can download iffy ROMs and put those on the memory card so little'un can then play from the card. I guess that also has the benefit that he just has one thing to carry around as we can (I assume) get loads of games on one memory card. Nice one.

So now the inevitable follow-up - cheers for the tips on the R4 and Cyclops thingy. I'd seen good comments on both while Googling but wasn't sure whether they'd do what we were looking for. But what I want to know (pulls up collars Harry Hill style) is which one's better? FIIIIGGHHTT!

Seriously, can anyone tell me what the difference is?

[Batch]

You willl be suprised how many games you can fit ontoa a memory card.

Short answer on which is better: no idea. Not looked at the R4. My first question is, is it SDHC compatible?

Outside that, I have a number of friends using the Cyclo without issue, but if they both do what they say on the tin then toss a coin!

If you order from console up, be aware that in stock items can take 3 or 4 days to arrive, and don't order if out of stock. They are a good company but are no Amazon

[pauld]

Fantastic. Cheers guys. Got completely lost trying to work this out myself last night. Should have known to come ask the TEF first - "your one stop shop for all your slightly ridiculous question needs". The info posted here has given me enough of a bootstrap to be able to know what I'm looking for when reading reviews etc. Looking like a Cyclo-DS atm - found one place on Amazon selling them with a 4Gb card for 45 quid. At about 30Mb a ROM (from what I can see), I reckon that should last us!

[pauld]

Bump! Cheers Batch, got one of these and it's the biz. One very happy little boy got this for his birthday and owes you a pint. Sadly, he's too young to buy you one at the moment so can you hang on for 12 years or so? :-)

[Batch]

12 years, I bloody hope I have that left in me Paul! Obviously by then I'll have to decline the pint as I'll need the loo every 12 minutes.

Glad it works.

[Nomoreheroes]

Am thinking of getting M3 DS Real Rumble pac. Anyone know if its better or worse than the other things described here?

[pauld]

Am thinking of getting M3 DS Real Rumble pac. Anyone know if its better or worse than the other things described here?

Can't comment on the M3 thing or indeed any comparative review. All I can say is we've had the cyclo thingummy since July and we're dead happy with it. Downloading and installing games is easy (unzip rom zip onto memory stick, comes supplied with USB adaptor) and once they're on the menu system is simple enough that my six-year old can use it to get into the roms section and play his chosen game. It may be the other things have superwhizzy features the cyclo doesn't so I can't comment on them but the cyclo works and that does me. Plus it's Batch-recommended, you can't go wrong with the Batch seal of approval

[Nomoreheroes]

Can't comment on the M3 thing or indeed any comparative review. All I can say is we've had the cyclo thingummy since July and we're dead happy with it. Downloading and installing games is easy (unzip rom zip onto memory stick, comes supplied with USB adaptor) and once they're on the menu system is simple enough that my six-year old can use it to get into the roms section and play his chosen game. It may be the other things have superwhizzy features the cyclo doesn't so I can't comment on them but the cyclo works and that does me. Plus it's Batch-recommended, you can't go wrong with the Batch seal of approval

Did you buy it from the link Batch provided?

Think the M3 is the same but it has something with it that adds vibration to the games.

NMH

[Samdy Gray]

NMH

Is that the noise you make when it vibrates?

[Nomoreheroes]

Is that the noise you make when it vibrates?

Sorry, old habits die hard!