R4 cards on Nintendo DS

gibbous

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Anyone have experience with the R4 card on the DS? How is the game play on them?
 
Anyone have experience with the R4 card on the DS? How is the game play on them?

Only downside is that the R4 has no SDHC support. But yeah, it's pretty flawless. I didn't care much for the standard "OS" or whatever you want to call it, but games ran great. This is off topic, though. I am going to move this to its own thread.
 
Some newer games don't work on some of these flash cards, particularly Nintendo in-house developed games. Nintendo are starting to copy protect newer games. These games either need patching, or an update to the flashcart software/firmware. Some of the older flashcarts are no longer receiving updates, now the DSi compatible carts are out.

Eg: Bowser's Inside Story and Chrono Trigger were well known to have stronger copy protection.

- James
 
I hate this use of flash cards for obviously illegal reasons. Stealing games and profits from actively selling companies is wrong and will only bring down the industry. Nobody is making money off the older generations of software/hardware so copy and emulate those all you want but there's no justifying taking something you can readily buy. I have no problem with copy protection increasing. Money is a small price to pay for the enjoyment we all take from these games and ensuring that there is incentive for companies to produce the best games possible in the future. Some people are better than others about their buying of games/supporting the industry but those who only have a DS and an R4 card are pretty lame in my opinion. If you're a cheap ass like myself just wait until you can find the games on sale or used for cheap. On average I spent around $10 a piece for all of my 18 DS games CIB...some new most used. I'm not a saint by any means but I can't bring myself to download games that I want to own.

BTW Thanks again Jow for that free friday copy of Sonic Rush! I still play it from time to time. Maybe I'll pass it on for free to the first person to renounce illegal game acquiring :)
 
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To be clear, I do not use the R4 to pirate, though I'll admit to downloading Electroplankton to see if I liked it. Other than that, it's homebrew or copies of my DS games for when I go on a business trip so I don't run the risk of losing all my game carts.

I also have a flash card for my GBA which is use solely for NES emulation on the go :)

However, to play devil's advocate here, I will argue that buying a game used also does not support the game makers as now that game has been purchased by two people, but the developers only got paid once. Or am I wrong in that assumption? Perhaps that's a little too general, but probably fairly accurate, too.

Either way, 9 out of 10 of my games are bought new, though that mainly stems from bad experiences with used games beginning with the 32-bit era. Specifically speaking about DS games, I own about 80 total games, with maybe a handful bought used or through trades.

Not to say I'm against buying games used, I'm just saying. Though I am against pirating of pretty much any version of a game that is not out of print.

The R4 and similar products can be used in a "proper" way, but there is unfortunately no way to rid us of those who wish to use them illegally. But to those who get the ban hammer from companies like MS, I don't feel sorry for you.
 
No I definitely agree Mattroid. I know very well that the games I buy used do not support the developers. I do try to buy new games though when I am excited about a game(I.E. Bowsers Inside Story, New Super Mario Bros, Yoshi's Island DS) but I've gotten some really good used deals. I trust that there are a lot of good hearted people out there like yourself but there are also those that don't think twice about piracy and think they have the right to things for free. There are however a few good uses of flash carts such as demo'ing a game or emulation as you mentioned and I don't have a problem with those. I certainly don't have unlimited money so playing a game before buying it would be beneficial. Although I typically only buy DS titles I am very excited about though(as with any game purchase) because I have a set amount of disposable income after rent, car, etc.

I guess I got a little too heated about it reading about the increased copy protection, my apologies.
 
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However, to play devil's advocate here, I will argue that buying a game used also does not support the game makers as now that game has been purchased by two people, but the developers only got paid once. Or am I wrong in that assumption? Perhaps that's a little too general, but probably fairly accurate, too.

Sorry, but when I buy something, I have the right to sell it as I see fit. EULAs stating otherwise end up not getting purchased by me...
 
I don't agree with pirating (I do emulate old stuff and I also have an R4 to load up with games that I own), but I find nothing wrong with buying used (although I don't do it much). Once someone buys a game (or anything else), it becomes theirs and they have the right to sell it to someone else. That's the way it is with all products. Why should it be any different with games?
 
There are however a few good uses of flash carts such as demo'ing a game or emulation as you mentioned and I don't have a problem with those. I certainly don't have unlimited money so playing a game before buying it would be beneficial.

Demo'ing? As in, "try before you buy"? My god, you're going to put all the video game rental chains out of business!

Pirating = stealing from developers
"Demo'ing" = stealing from rental establishments/gamefly/etc

If you're going to preach, at least be consistent.
 
I guess I got a little too heated about it reading about the increased copy protection, my apologies.
No worries, and no need to apologize, I wasn't really arguing or anything, and I think you and I are pretty much have the same stance on all this.

Sorry, but when I buy something, I have the right to sell it as I see fit. EULAs stating otherwise end up not getting purchased by me...
I find nothing wrong with buying used (although I don't do it much). Once someone buys a game (or anything else), it becomes theirs and they have the right to sell it to someone else. That's the way it is with all products. Why should it be any different with games?
I'm not arguing that at all and made it clear that I'm in no way against buying used games or selling a game once you're done with it. Personally, I'm more of a collector, so I keep games quite literally "forever," even when I'm long done with them. Part of the reason for this is my biggest mistake I ever made (related to gaming) was trading away my original NES and all my games (15+, I think) for one since SNES game that I wanted at the time. I think it was MK3...I've regretted that since. I don't want to make that mistake again :)

Anyway, I was just trying to present another side to the debate since it was stated that we should support the developers by giving them money, but then was followed up that many of the same poster's games are bought used. The point there is that buying a used game also doesn't support the developers directly, which is, at the core of the argument, exactly why piracy is "wrong."

Obviously I'm not directly comparing buying used games to piracy either - that would be stupid. I just hope everyone can see the basic point I was trying to make.

Demo'ing? As in, "try before you buy"? My god, you're going to put all the video game rental chains out of business!

Pirating = stealing from developers
"Demo'ing" = stealing from rental establishments/gamefly/etc

If you're going to preach, at least be consistent.
I can't tell if this is sarcastic or not, though I see your point. However, many of the local rental stores don't and never have rented out portable games such as DS and PSP, though I know many have begun to over the last few years. Personally, I don't "demo" or rent games enough to warrant a subscription to gamefly or the like.
 
Some of the newer games are coming with included code activations for in game items. If you buy it used, you then need to purchase that activation code, so the developer can still get some money from the used sale. Mass Effect 2 is doing that, and I believe SOCOM fireteam bravo 3 may have as well.

The other concerm with pirated versions is that they're not always the final build of the game (spore comes to mind).

Either way I don't own an R4. I can see the argument for back ups of games you own, but a number of the owners seem to openly flaunt using it for stealing games ("buy an R4 and d/l all the new games, why pay for each one, etc.") which is just straight up theft.

...and before someone jumps in to say people d/l movies and music, hipocrite, blah, blah...

that doesn't make the theft right, it's just a cheap justification to not feel guilty about ripping off game developers and publishers.
 
Some of the newer games are coming with included code activations for in game items. If you buy it used, you then need to purchase that activation code, so the developer can still get some money from the used sale.
True, and I've heard of this. Though I also recall reading something about some games also basically being useless if you buy used, though I don't remember the specifics or what games were like that. And apparently it's supposed to be more of an anti-piracy measure, not just a way to try to make a buck off a used sale. However, we may be talking about the same thing and what I'm thinking of could be outdated info. Being in the business you are, I'm sure you're more up to date on such things.

I seem to remember one article about how a used copy of the game wouldn't allow you to play online because it would sync up with your hardware (kinda like online DS games, though those can be "reset"). This would also screw you up if you had to get a new system for some reason. I don't recall there being a "reset" or way to activate it, at least not mentioned in the article I'm remembering.

I'm not against stronger anti-piracy measures, either, though I think some measures companies are taking are a little much. Like that whole Ubi-soft thing in ACII? WTF?

Besides, and this also isn't me sticking up for piracy...but in my experience, most of the people that do pirate games all the time are people who wouldn't have bought 9 out of the 10 games they pirated anyway, meaning while it's still stealing, the developers wouldn't have gotten that money anyway. Again, that still doesn't make it right.
 
To be clear, I have a DSTT, but I still buy originals of ALL the games that I play.

When I travel, it's easier to load up multiple games on the DSTT cart, rather than drag originals everywhere. I also use the DSTT for moonshell as a media player mainly, and for the occasional 'try-before-you-buy'.

But let's not kid here, despite their other uses, the primary reason for the existence of these carts is piracy.

However, flashcarts like this are now illegal in Australia. One vendor was recently fined AU$600,000 for stocking them.

I've basically all but given up on PC gaming due to the increasingly ridiculous copy protection on newer games like Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed II. Although it appears Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 have less draconian copy protection, so I'll pick those up some day.

Here's hoping Diablo III and Starcraft II aren't lumbered with insane copy protection...

- J
 
I can't tell if this is sarcastic or not, though I see your point. However, many of the local rental stores don't and never have rented out portable games such as DS and PSP, though I know many have begun to over the last few years. Personally, I don't "demo" or rent games enough to warrant a subscription to gamefly or the like.

Yes, it was sarcastic. To say that piracy is wrong, but it's OK if you're just trying things out is hypocritical. The fact that you can't justify a gamefly subscription doesn't make it right for you to download games to "try".

Just to be clear, I'm not singling you out...just rolling with your example above. I couldn't care less if anyone here pirates games. Doesn't effect me one bit.
 
Thanks for moving, Matt.

To the couple of you did answer my question as to how the games play on it - thanks!

Okay...wow. Lots of great points that have already been hashed out since way back when you had to type in word 4 of paragraph 2 on page 57 of the manual. Maybe even before that!

Just for the record, I will be traveling and would also rather bring one card than several.

I'm thinking eventually, and probably within the next few years, we're just going to a system where you pay to play games at home on your computer or console - maybe even on portables, depending on how the wireless infrastructure matures - over the internet. One monthly fee to play whatever and how ever many games you can play. You'll never own a copy of the actual software, you'll just pay for playing it.

Kind of ironically, it's kind of the setup we had going with video arcades. You'll just be pushing credit card numbers rather than quarters or tokens.

And I'm sure people will find a way to cheat that system, too. :rolleyes:
 
Yes, it was sarcastic. To say that piracy is wrong, but it's OK if you're just trying things out is hypocritical.
Fair enough and I can agree with you on that. Like I said, I don't claim to not "pirate" or have never pirated, and I don't condemn those that do, whether I agree with what they're doing or not.

Okay...wow. Lots of great points that have already been hashed out since way back when you had to type in word 4 of paragraph 2 on page 57 of the manual. Maybe even before that!
To be fair, you should have expected such a conversation as soon as you asked about it. That's the main reason I moved it here, so the other thread wouldn't get too derailed into this. In reality, maybe not as many would have seen it if I left it alone, no way to know for sure, now :)

I'm thinking eventually, and probably within the next few years, we're just going to a system where you pay to play games at home on your computer or console - maybe even on portables, depending on how the wireless infrastructure matures - over the internet. One monthly fee to play whatever and how ever many games you can play. You'll never own a copy of the actual software, you'll just pay for playing it.
We're already getting to that point, what with services such as Steam and even consoles having "games on demand" and such. Personally, I like digital distribution, but because I'm a collector at heart, I also like having all my games and such on a shelf. So basically I'm torn on the whole "transition," but the fact is that some day we'll only be buying games like that.
 
"Demo'ing" = stealing from rental establishments/gamefly/etc

If you're going to preach, at least be consistent.

Very good point. To be honest that thought never crossed my mind even once. I haven't rented a game since I was 6 or 7 years old...not my thing.
 
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