DS Flashcards and You
Part IV: Miscellaneous
by Jared “Gapporin” Bottorff

Here I will tie up some ends about various aspects of the DS flashcard.

[/> What Card Is Right For Me?

Unfortunately, there is no fast and hard answer to this question. One person might look for different features that a flashcard may have, while another person may not even care about the same features. For example, when I had my Max Media Dock, it did not automatically sort the files and folders on the SD card by alphabetical order. The only way it was sorted was that from oldest and newest, and the newest files were always at the bottom. This, in my opinion, was annoying. Therefore, when I purchased the Supercard DS One, I was happy to learn that the files could be organized by alphabetical order. A small quibble, but it was something very important to me. Even now, some of the more recent flashcards fail to do even that. It is all a matter of preference.

The only answer I can give is to do your research. Places like GBATemp have a wealth of information and reviews to share, so I would suggest digging there first. Just make sure to note when the review was written, and check the manufacturer’s website to see if any improvements have been made in that certain card since the review date. For example, GBAtemp’s review of the Supercard DS One was written in early 2007, and some of the problems they point out with the card have actually been fixed or improved upon with later revisions of the OS.

Where Can I Buy One?

Due to the nature of the flashcard (unlicensed and unsupported by Nintendo), you are not likely to find them in any Wal-Mart or Best Buy store*. Often times, the manufacturer of the flashcard will maintain a list of where their products are being sold online worldwide. In addition, places like GBAtemp mentioned above will be able to show you reputable places to purchase a flashcard.

* = I say unlikely because there are some Datel products being sold in mainstream stores, like the Media Dock and the Games n’ Music. Although they do run homebrew, they are not recommended for purchase because they are severely crippled in what they can or cannot run on the flashcard. Both the Media Dock and the Games n’ Music have a file size limit of ~2 MB; anything larger, and the file will freeze and crash. This is done to circumvent shady doings with the flashcard (even if just running straight homebrew).

Help! My Program Doesn’t Work!

If all the steps are taken properly, there is a 95% chance that a DS homebrew program will work without any problems. However, a number of things that can happen may cause a program to act buggy or not work.

1. Look on the program’s website, forums or readme file for bug reports. Some programs may just not work on certain cards, or have already known bugs. Check these places first to make sure you are not wasting time trying to solve an unfixable problem.

2. Check the version of the program that you use. The bug may have been fixed in a later revision.

3. Update your card’s OS. It could have been a problem with the OS that caused the program to fail.

4. Check which file you are using. The more popular programs usually have three separate files in an archive to choose from: *.nds, *.gba.nds, and *.sc.nds. The *.nds file is the standard program file that is used by most flashcards. *.gba.nds is what Slot-2 flashcards use to run DS programs. Since the Slot-2 card runs through the GBA port, the program also acts in this manner. *.sc.nds is a special file that older Supercards use. Newer Supercards, like the Supercard DS One, are Slot-1 flashcards and use the standard *.nds file. However, the older Slot-2 Supercards use the special *.sc.nds designation, and are the only cards that do so. There are other designations besides these as well, but these are the three most common that you will run into. Make sure that you use the right file for your card.

5. Check your DLDI patches. Having the incorrect patch or even no patch at all can cause a program to do conflicting things. Sometimes it simply will not save, or it could even crash upon loading. Ensuring that you have the correct (and up-to-date) DLDI patch for your card means fewer problems for anything that you may try to run.

If all else fails, perhaps the program is simply incompatible. It is a very rare occurrence if this happens, however. You could try e-mailing the author directly (caveat: some authors extremely loathe being directly contacted, so make sure there is an available line of communication first!) with information about your card and the setup that you are using. He or she may be able to give you a workaround to the problem, or add a fix for a future version of the program.

You Didn’t Cover [x] Program! Or: Where I Can Download Homebrew?

Due to the nature of this series, it was not meant to be an in-depth resource on every program released for the DS. Instead, it was meant to provide an overview on the various things that the DS can accomplish. Half the fun is digging through the programs yourself and experimenting to see which are “keepers”. Many sites contain databases of DS homebrew. DCEmu’s Nintendo DS site maintains an active listing of almost every program released for the DS. GBATemp (mentioned above) also has a repository of homebrew, and a constant news feed of what’s new. These two resources should be a good jumping off point to find a variety or programs for you to peruse.

[/>

DS Flashcards and You
Part III: The Applications
by Jared “Gapporin” Bottorff

Did you know your DS can do more than just play games? It can also function as a web browser, an IM client, an IRC client, a PDA, text reader and more. Since I use only a few applications myself, I will only be hitting the high notes in this article. Read on to find out how to use these features for yourself.

– ClIRC: When the homebrew scene first came about, many developers wanted to try their hands on seeing what the built in Wi-Fi connection in the DS was capable of doing. Even though some applications are not Internet-based, many of them have been programmed to take advantage of the DS’ Wi-Fi.

A couple of IRC programs have been released for use on the DS, and they work fairly well. However, ClIRC stands far above the rest. The advantages that this program has over others seem almost unfair. Some of the features of ClIRC include the ability to copy settings in the option menu or text in the IRC window. You can use up to three servers at the same time. DCC connection is available both from DS to PC and PC to DS, something I believe no other program, IRC or otherwise, can achieve. Logs are stored directly on the SD card. You can set the colors and highlights to your own liking, and create IRC scripts to use with ClIRC. All settings can be changed from within the program. ClIRC handles multitasking as well: You can download files via DCC, get a server’s chanlist and still chat all at the same time.

It doesn’t matter if you are a casual user or an advanced IRC pro. If you use IRC at all, you need this program on your DS.

– Colors!: There are several drawing applications available for the DS. Some are pixel editors and others involve creating animations. There are two main drawing programs, however, and they are Colors! and Phidias. Colors! is a more simplistic drawing program while Phidias is more advanced and full-featured. If you wanted to think about it in analogy form, you could say that Colors!:Paint :: Phidias:Photoshop.

Since I never claimed to be a very good painter, I chose Colors!. Since it is a simpler painting program, it doesn’t claim to be feature rich. However, there are a few things worth noting. The biggest draw about Colors! is that it uses the touch screen’s pressure sensitivity to realistically display what you draw. Press the screen harder, and your markings show up darker. Press it lightly, and your markings are lighter. You can use this to great effect in your drawings.

All the drawings made are in a 512×384 resolution, with a 2-stage zoom to zero in on certain areas of your drawing. Once you are finished painting, you can replay the painting process from start to finish. You can load and save paintings that you have created onto your SD card, and even e-mail them to friends using the DS Wi-Fi.

So, if you like to doodle from time to time and fancy yourself an amateur Picasso, give Colors! a try.

– DSAIM: Although there are many different DS IM clients available, I personally use DSAIM because I mainly use AIM as a means of communication.

DSAIM is straightforward. When starting up the program for the first time, you are asked to enter your username and password. Afterwards, once it finds your profile and buddy list, press the R button to find who is online and to start chatting with other users.

If you do not use AIM, there are other programs that use different protocols. BeUp is a highly regarded program that uses the .NET Messenger/MSN protocol. In addition, JabberDS allows Jabber users to talk to each other with the DS.

– DSHobro: Along with IRC, web browsers were one of the first types of applications to be developed on the DS. Because of this, many different browsers have been programmed on the DS. The one hurdle they all face, however, is the ability to display pictures. All of the browsers programmed so far can only display text and text boxes. DSHobro, however, can display pictures…but it uses a little extra as well.

The browser actually consists of two different programs – the client and the server. The server is launched on your PC and runs in the background. The client is the DS program. What happens is that when you request a website on the client, the server brings it up, compresses and optimizes it for the DS, and then sends the website over Wi-Fi to the DS. It shows pictures, allows you to type in text boxes and brings you to any web site you please.

Even though web browsers on the DS still are not to the point where they would take over browsing from a PC, this is about the closest you’ll currently get.

– DSOrganize: DSOrganize was programmed to be a substitute for the DS’ built in firmware, and at the same time add more functionality to the DS. DSOrganize includes a calendar, a day planner, an address book, a To-Do List, a scribble pad for doodling, a file browser, a calculator, an IRC client, a web browser and a homebrew database. Despite DSOrganize’s good intentions, the program is an equal mix of parts good and bad.

First, the good. The PDA-like functions are actually well thought-out, and are helpful in organizing your data (as the name might imply). The IRC client is nothing special, but it works and does the job flawlessly. The web browser is text-based, but again it can access simpler sites like Google with ease. The homebrew database is a very neat idea. What it consists of is an online source run by the creator of DSOrganize that contains homebrew programs, DS demos and more. Using the database program on your DS, it will connect to the database, download whichever program you want directly to your SD card, unpack it and install it on its own. The main purpose of the homebrew database is to keep up with updated releases so that you don’t have to swap your SD card out to your PC every time you want to download an updated version of a program. This can prove to be a double-edged sword, as you will find out later.

The biggest problem with DSOrganize is that it is buggy and full of errors. While streaming Shoutcast Radio over the Wi-Fi (one of DSOrganize’s main features), there is a bug that only allows you to start streams three different times before crashing. Because streaming radio is constantly buffering, you will not be able to listen to very much under those restrictions. Search Google and I guarantee you that there’s a host a bugs, ranging from IRC to the web browser to playing MP3’s to whatever. It is simply not stable, and not useful at all for any long-term usage.

Unfortunately, due to personal issues, the author of the program has discontinued development of DSOrganize, so this is what we are left with. It would be nice if someone picked up where the original author left out, but due to the fact that the author’s permission is needed for such a takeover (and to the fact that the author has deliberately made himself unreachable and/or disappeared), this seems an unlikely venture. DSOrganize is amazing in concept, but fails in execution. It’s a shame that this remains as the last testament to what could have been a must-have application.

– DSReader: For those of you who read on the ago, DSReader is the perfect companion. Although many programs support text viewing, DSReader makes it more book-like in execution, which is perfect for those long commutes. DSReader uses TrueType fonts as a display, so you don’t have to use Times New Roman for everything you read. You can also change font sizes from small to large and back whenever you prefer. There is also a bookmark system you can use to save your place in the text file, so that when you come back to it again, it will load directly to your bookmark and you can pick up where you left off.

If you would like to test it out, I recommend heading over to The Moon Books Project, which has specifically formatted texts and movies that you can use on your DS. Everything on the site is legal and free of charge.

Speaking of movies, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a mention of Moonshell. Moonshell is a full featured multimedia player, and probably the most popular homebrew application for the DS. For video, it supports DPG video files. You can either use the included DPGTools program or use an independently programmed converter called BatchDPG. Despite the obvious compression used to make movies playable on the DS, they actually look very good when played in Moonshell.

Moonshell also supports a slew of music files, such as MP3, OGG, MOD, SPC, MDX, GBS, HES, NSF, XM, MIDI and low bit rate AAC audio files. Images are also viewable under Moonshell, and it supports non-progressive JPEG, BMP, GIF and PNG images. Chances are, even if you have not downloaded Moonshell before, you’re using it already. It is so powerful that some homebrew carts use it partly or in full as their OS.

– DSFTP: DSFTP is an FTP server for your Nintendo DS. This can be handy for transferring files to and from a remote DS. It’s more geeky than practical, but it’s still kind of neat.

– DS2Key: While DS2Key was originally designed to allow PC users to use the Nintendo DS as a wireless game controller on their PC, that’s not what a lot of people are using it for. DS2Key has a wireless scanning feature that scans for wireless signals, reporting back information such as AP names and channels, and WEP information … making it a great program to use for Wardriving.

Another similar program is DSBlue, which includes a WiFi scanner, an AP finder, Packet Spy (a sniffer) and a port scanner.

In Part IV, I’ll tie up some loose ends and hit on some miscellaneous information about DS flashcards and the programs they run.

DS Flashcards and You
Part II: The Emulators
by Jared “Gapporin” Bottorff

The DS actually offers a lot in terms of emulating your favorite consoles and computers. Read on for a rundown of the most popular ones available.

– CrocoDS (Amstrad CPC): CrocoDS, an original emulator programmed for the DS, is an emulator for the Amstrad CPC. For those who are unfamiliar with the Amstrad, Wikipedia lists that it was “designed to be a direct competitor to the Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum systems. The CPC range was very successful and over 3 million were sold during the machine’s lifespan.” The graphics were very good for a computer in that era, and some of the notable titles included Cybernoid 2, Turrican, Switchblade, and Crafton & Xunk. The CPC also had a mascot of sorts in the personage of Roland, and eight different Roland titles were created during the computer’s lifespan.

CrocoDS is a respectable translation of the CPC to the small double screen. It supports save states (saving, loading and erasing), an on-screen keyboard (as do most computer-based emulators on the DS), and a speed limiter in case the emulator runs too fast. Although, during my play testing, I found that the emulator usually hovered around an 80-85% frame rate: Not slow enough to be unplayable, but not fast enough to be at full speed.

One interesting feature of CrocoDS is the ability to save screenshots of the game you are playing. Pressing a certain button on the DS saves a .sna file of the current screen on your SD card. To convert it into a usable picture format, you will have to use a program called “sna2png” (also programmed by the same author) to convert it into a .png file. Despite having to go through a couple more steps than normal, I believe this is the only emulator on the DS that allows you to take screenshots of the game you are playing.

CrocoDS uses .dsk files to run the CPC games, and auto starts the game that you select, so there’s no guesswork involved with trying to get the game to run. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support multi-disk games. Nevertheless, it is a very good emulator if you’ve always wanted to try out the CPC.

DreamZZT (ZZT): Do you remember back in 1991 when a little game called ZZT was released? Using ANSI art for graphics, it was reminiscent of top-down RPGs like Rogue. But whereas Rogue and similar games focused on battling creatures and gaining experience, ZZT was more about exploring your world and solving puzzles to advance further in the game.

When ZZT was first released, there was a level editor included with the game that allowed people to create their own ZZT worlds using the ZZT-OOP engine. The creator did not expect the editor to be that popular, but it did, with users creating new worlds by the score. These user-created worlds weren’t just adventure games like the original; they spanned from shooters to puzzlers to just plain exploring. Even today, users create new ZZT worlds for people to discover.

That’s where DreamZZT comes in. Originally programmed for the Sega Dreamcast (hence the “dream” title), DreamZZT is an open-source ZZT-OOP interpreter for the Nintendo DS. It allows you to play user-created ZZT levels, or just play the original levels as you remember them. There’s not much in the way of extra bells or whistles, but with a program as simple as this, it’s not really needed.

A caveat, however: With my Max Media Deck, I noticed that DreamZZT seemed to crash a lot. After I got my Supercard DS One, I didn’t notice as much crashing, although it still occurred occasionally. I’m not sure if the problem lay with DreamZZT or the way the world was originally programmed. Just something to note.

– DSMasterPlus (Sega Master System/Game Gear): DSMasterPlus is an SMS/GG emulator with a very good-looking GUI. It supports most of what you can throw it at, but it does have a limitation in which you can only select from 255 games at a time, no matter how much space you have on your SD card (other emulators suffer from file limitations as well — more on this later). Speed is imperfect depending on which game you play: Some run faster than they’re supposed to, while others run slower. However, there is an option to submit a bug report directly to the developers through the DS’s Wi-Fi. Neat.

There’s also an option to use Pro Action Replay codes when playing a game. Features that like are what I like to call “uncommon additions” — things you would think would be included in every emulator, or at the very least, seem to be standard on any PC emulator. However, these things aren’t very common when dealing with DS emulators, so it’s a nice addition. Save states are also supported, so you can pick up right where you left off.

– fmsxDS (MSX): Unfortunately, in the world of DS emulators, there is no clear-cut choice if you want to emulate the MSX computer. There are two main MSX emulators available: fmsxDS (a port of Marat Fayzullin’s fMSX) or PenkoDS. Neither one of them emulates the MSX perfectly yet, but each one has its advantages. fmsxDS seems to possess better sound support while lacking in overall performance. PenkoDS, on the other hand, has better performance, but has awful sound support.

I used to use PenkoDS when I used my Max Media Dock, but after I made to switch to a Supercard DS One, PenkoDS refused to work and hung at the title screen. I never did figure out what the problem exactly was, so I switched to fmsxDS.

Firstly, fmsxDS is written completely in Japanese. Therefore, if you decide to use fmsxDS, I would recommend taking the time to read Gus’ quick guide to fmsxDS, as it explains what each menu option does and how to get fmsxDS up and running.

A few things I do want to note, however. The guide mentions that “I noticed that if you put too many roms (don’t ask me how many is too many!) in that directory fmsxDS will hang or crash!” That’s not exactly true, as I have a lot of MSX 1+2 roms in the same folder and fmsxDS works fine. The problem, however, is long filenames. You can have filenames longer than eight characters, but not by much. If the filename extends the space in the menu (about 12-15 characters), fmsxDS will crash upon loading. That’s the only file limitation I’ve noticed about fmsxDS. Oh, yeah, do not touch the touch screen, either, or fmsxDS will crash. Therefore, as you can tell, it’s not perfect. For MSX enthusiasts like myself, however, it’s a small price to pay for portable MSX gaming.

– FrodoDS (Commodore 64): FrodoDS is, obviously, a port of the Commodore 64 emulator Frodo to the DS. While it has some very good points about it, it seems incomplete and buggy overall.

First, the good: The emulation itself is actually pretty accurate. I’ve noticed no problems with graphics, and all the games I have used so far have no compatibility problems. One of the trademarks of the C64 was the unique 8-bit sound that it produced, due to its built in SID chip. FrodoDS recreates the SID chip very well. There’s also an on-screen keyboard for typing, and there’s a neat feature in which, before loading a game, you can press the R button and it automatically types in and runs the LOAD,”8″ commands. No fuss, no muss.

But then the bad: Depending on which version you get, there are different bugs to watch out for, and sadly, no release is bug free. Sometimes, when running FrodoDS, the keyboard will not work and the sound is missing. This is an arbitrary cause, and you may need to re-run FrodoDS 2-3 more times before these start working again. In another version, you have to load the first .D64 file twice before you can run it, otherwise FrodoDS will toss up a “DEVICE NOT PRESENT” error.

Multi-disk games are not supported, so if you want to play one of these games, you have to make sure it has been merged onto a single .D64 file. Speaking of which, only .D64 files are supported by FrodoDS. There is no save states, either. Actually, there is a way to use save states, but it involves creating the save state using the PC version of Frodo and coping it over to your SD card. FrodoDS cannot save or overwrite save states, anyways, so the whole process seems counterintuitive.

I don’t mean to knock FrodoDS too much, because it really is a nice emulator. Nevertheless, it just a little bit more polish to bring it to the top of the list.

– Lameboy (Game Boy/Color): Lameboy is actually a quite accurate emulator for the Game Boy. It can play both Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, and plays each with full speed. The emulator notes that it only has “preliminary” sound, but it sounds very good despite not being fleshed out.

It saves your game once you exit out onto a file that acts as the GB’s game SRAM. Once you re-enter the game, you can pick up right back where you left off, just as if you would if you saved in game on a regular Game Boy. There is even a Fast Mode that you can trigger on and off to speed up gameplay.

Not many extra trimmings with this emulator, but if you want an accurate, well-programmed Game Boy emulator, this is your best bet.

– nesDS (NES): nesDS may be the second most accurate emulator available on the DS (second to ZXDS), no matter what platform. A port of the GBA emulator PocketNES, nesDS is DLDI-compatible, so it runs on most every flash card available. There is a bevy of options to choose from when setting up the emulator. You can configure the buttons to use in the emulator, and there is even fast forward and rewind buttons as well.

You can move the screen around to fit what you prefer. You can also load and save states whenever you want to, and there is no filing limitations or filename restrictions.

The NES emulation itself is very good. I would say it’s about 90% accurate. There’s a few noticeable problems (for example, the graphics glitch in Baseball Stars, or the drums in Super Mario Bros. 3 are missing), but otherwise, it’s almost perfect. If you enjoy NES, this is the emulator to get.

– SNEmulDS (SNES): SNEmulDS is probably the most advanced SNES emulator you’ll find for the DS. Unfortunately, it still requires a bit of work before it could be considered an accurate emulator.

The sound is very good. A lot of the SNES music really sounds great, such as Final Fantasy III. There is a variety of settings to change the speed of the game, for instance if it runs too fast or too slow. It’s easy to control, and there’s automatic saving of the SRAM for save files.

So you may be thinking to yourself, “Well, what’s the problem?” The biggest problem that SNEmulDS has is that it cannot correctly configure the priorities of some of the background and graphics used in a game, mainly because it varies from game to game (or even from scene to scene within a game). For instance, a character sprite may go “over” instead of “under” a background tile. Background may look jarred or cut in half. Some graphics may be completely missing or just white instead of their natural colors.

Fortunately, SNEmulDS offers many menus to try and re-configure the graphics as to where they become playable. For those who love to tinker, this is a blessing. But most of us, when we want to play a game, we don’t want to spend 15 minutes setting up the graphics, 5 minutes playing, another 15 minute setup, and so on. We just want to play. Unfortunately, SNEmulDS lacks that ability.

SNEmulDS shows a lot of promise. Aside from the graphics issue, it would be a fantastic emulator. It just needs a bit more work before it can become a serious contender.

– StellaDS (Atari 2600): Speaking of the ability to pick up and play, StellaDS offers just that. No frills, no extra hoops. Just some good 2600 emulation.

StellaDS is a port of the PC emulator Stella, so the emulation itself is outstanding. There’s accurate graphics, sound and control. You also have the ability to choose which variation you’d like to play, just like a real VCS.

However, even as simple as is this, there’s still a few omissions. For one, there’s no way to change the screen from Color to Black and White. Even though this isn’t a practical option, it would still be a nice throwback to the actual console. There’s the ever-present filename bug as well. Nothing causes the emulator to crash, but if your filename is too large, it messes up the continuity of the list. For example, say you have a lot of roms in a folder and they all have filenames that are too long. If you choose a certain game, it will actually load the game that’s several entries farther up on the list, so you have to count it out and actually go farther down the list than normal. It’s a very annoying bug, so remember to keep those filenames short.

Overall, StellaDS is a very nice emulator that’s perfect for those 5-10 minute play sessions.

– ZXDS (ZX Spectrum): From the moment you start up ZXDS, you can tell that it’s a very professional looking emulator. Right away, you are greeted by the help menu that tells you the lowdown on everything that ZXDS can do. The bottom screen, which is the onscreen keyboard, is designed to look exactly like a ZX Spectrum, right down to the rainbow stripe running across it.

ZXDS handles a variety of files like a pro. .rom and .z80 RAM snapshots are supported, as well as complete .tzx and .tap tape images. You can also save and load states at will as well.

You can setup the DS to manipulate any key on the Spectrum keyboard that you would like. Because of the wide variety of inputs that the Spectrum supported, you can set up any of these that you would like from within the emulator, such as the Kempston joystick, the Sinclair I and II, the Cursor joystick and more.

Speed is also a configurable aspect of the emulator. You can set it for fast or slow speed, or gradually speed it up or slow it down. You can even toggle the speed between normal or fast/slow at will. If you are worried about losing any of your settings, ZXDS saves to a separate file to be loaded again the next time you start it up.

As you might imagine, if the emulator is this rich in settings, the emulation itself has to be pretty good. And it is. Tapes load up and take time to run, just as if they would on a normal Spectrum computer. Sound and graphics are perfectly recreated. The whole program is polished to perfection.

Even if you aren’t acquaintanced with the Spectrum computer, everyone should at least check out ZXDS, to see DS emulation done right.

Did you know your DS can do more than just play games? In Part III, we’ll talk about some of the applications you can use to expand your DS’s functionality.

Jared “Gapporin” Bottorff has written an excellent overview of homebrew and flashcards for the Nintendo DS. Here is part one of Jared’s four part series.

DS Flashcards and You
Part I: Introduction/DLDI/The Games
by Jared “Gapporin” Bottorff

So you’ve bought a flashcard for your Nintendo DS. You’ve taken that first step into the world of DS homebrew. There is one question, however, that still lingers: Where to begin? The sheer amount of applications and games available is staggering, and no one certainly has the time to try everything that has come down the pike. That’s where I hope this guide comes in handy – as a reference to simplify the world of DS homebrew and to point out the best of what it has to offer.

Before we get into the meat of the subject, though, there should be a few words about the concept of “DLDI patching”. In ye olden days of DS homebrew, it was the homebrewer’s responsibility to make sure that his program worked in every card available at the time. Of course, this required very extensive betaing and development, and the author usually had to outsource beta testing to multiple people, as he often did not own or have access to every type of card available. Even under these circumstances, compatibility was very low from card to card.

When DLDI was created, however, this changed dramatically. DLDI stands for “Dynamic Linked Disc Interface”. DLDI’s main purpose is to allow homebrew programs to read and write files on the memory card inserted into one of the DS’s slots. Since every card works differently, different patches have been created for each card. If a homebrewer adds the ability for his program to be DLDI patched, it means that his program ensures compatibility between cards, no matter how it was originally programmed. Not all programs have the ability to use DLDI, but most homebrewers now use it as the “de facto” mode of compatibility.

How DLDI works is thusly: For example, a person who wants to use homebrew on their DS has a Supercard DS One card. They would need two different files: The DLDI patcher itself and a specific DLDI driver for the Supercard DS One. After loading the driver into the patcher, the person would then point the patcher to the DS homebrew file they would like to patch. The DLDI patcher inserts the specific patch onto the DS file, and the file is then ready to be transferred onto the flashcard. A file can be patched indefinitely, so that when you want to change the DLDI driver used on a DS file, the new patch simply overwrites the old one.

If the above sounds complicated, it’s really not. You simply have to make sure that you have the right driver for the flashcard that you use, and the DLDI patcher simply does the rest. Some manufacturers have even taken it one step further, and added the ability for the flashcard to auto-DLDI patch any file with their specific driver once that file is first run. It’s virtually pain free, and it saves the homebrewer tons of testing and headache.

[/>—–

So now that you know how you can run homebrew on your card, let’s start running down some of the better homebrew games that are available to play:

– Closed: Some may remember Notporn, which was a series of difficult puzzles using various methods of Internet and web browser manipulation. Closed brings the same idea to the DS. You are given a scene, and it’s up to you to figure out the clues in order to solve the puzzle. Some scenes may be solved by using the screen. Some scenes may be solved by physically manipulating your DS in other ways. A real mind binder.

– Kongregate: Simple to play, but hard to master. In this game, your stylus acts a magnet, attracting to small dots to the wherever you press on the screen. You cannot touch these dots, or you will lose. A small grey box also appears on the screen, which your stylus also cannot touch. You also cannot lift your stylus up away from the screen at any time during the game. The object of the game is to make the small dots smash against the box without either of them. Very simple in concept, but once the dots start adding up and adding up, it becomes a frenzy to avoid all the objects on screen. Deceptively fun.

– Lemmings DS: A port of the Amiga version of Lemmings, faithfully recreated for use on the DS. Not only are all the original Lemmings levels available, but all the levels from “Oh No! More Lemmings” are included, plus the 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994 Christmas Lemmings levels. That’s almost 300 levels to play through! Other features include the ability to create your own levels, plus automatic progress saving, which means that you don’t have to remember any more long passwords. Lemmings DS also makes use of the DS stylus, and has the option to magnify and zero in on any part of the screen.

– Nethack DS: The classic Nethack game ported to the Nintendo DS. Even though Nethack can be easily played on just one screen, both screens are used in this port. The top screen displays information and status messages, while the bottom contains your playfield. The stylus is implemented for movement and menu selection (but the joypad can be used as well). You can also have the option to use enhanced graphics and tiles, or scale it back and use the old ASCII art for your character and enemies. A great time waster.

– No Place To Hide: A series of ten mini-games that all have one goal in mind: Avoid all objects. Using the stylus, you must guide your character away from the multiplying baddies filling up the screen. Seems simple in execution, but it becomes harder to succeed as the game progresses. Each mini-game has its own theme, and some of the games have additional requirements besides avoiding (for example, one uses the joypad instead of the stylus).

– Omalone: Here’s an interesting puzzler. The object of the game is to push your opponent’s pieces off the board. The game boards look like a variation of Chinese checkers, with each player’s pieces off to its own side. The way you push your opponent’s pieces off is by grouping your pieces together and moving them in the direction of your opponent. If you want to push one of your opponent’s pieces in a certain direction, you have to move two of your pieces against your opponents. If you want to move two of the opponent’s pieces, you have to group three of yours together, and so on. A lot of strategy has to be involved if you want to win. There’s seven different characters to play against (plus a couple unlockable), with varying difficulties either skewed towards the player or the CPU. You can also play a 2-player game using the same DS, or over a Wi-Fi connection.

– Pocket Physics: Not really a game, per se, but one you’ll still spend quality time playing. You are given a blank screen, and the ability to draw two types of lines: Blue and red. Red lines are static, and stay in place wherever they are drawn. Blue lines are affected by physics, and drop, bounce or roll. You can use these two types of lines to draw various contraptions. For example, a red line may be a wall or a floor, and the blue line may be drawn into a wheel. Once you draw everything you would like and see the results of added physics, you can either start it over and make modifications to your original plan, or pick up from where it ended and add more objects. An interesting diversion.

– Puzzle Maniak: Like the name suggests, this game for puzzle maniacs. Twenty-seven different puzzle games are integrated into one. The selections range from the well-known (Sudoku, Lights Out, Picross, Mastermind) to the more obscure (Tents, Netslide, and Inertia). The game even features a Daily Challenge, in which players compete on a new puzzle each day for points and bragging rights.

– Sensitive DS: Based off the old Commodore 64 game, Sensitive requires the player to move around a certain shape or outline in order to reach an Exit square. However, it usually must be attempted in one try, because once you cross certain sections of the outline, they disappear and you cannot retrace your steps. Not only does Sensitive DS have multiple puzzles, there is also an “Endurance” mode in which you have to beat a series of puzzles without dying, or else you must start at the beginning.

– Spout: An interesting shooter concept. In Spout, you play as…well, a spout, shooting out multiple streams of dots in one direction. However, gravity plays a part as well. To levitate upwards, you must shoot your dots downwards to propel yourself up. The object of the game is to get as high as you can. There are dirt-like shapes and obstacles blocking your path in the air, though. To destroy them, you must shoot your stream of dots into the obstacle, but being careful not to run into any other obstacles or fall down to the ground. The majority of the game is spent balancing out trying not to run into any obstacles while trying to stay in the air. There are many versions of this game available for the DS, but I recommend SpoutEx, which adds color, sound and score keeping to the main game.

– Square DS: A port of the flash game Squares, you control a small black square with your stylus. The goal is to avoid red squares that cross the screen while collecting black squares similar to your own. The more you collect black squares, the bigger the main square gets, and thus, the harder it is to avoid the red ones. Fortunately, there are black circles that give you power-ups, such as more points, invincibility and size shrinkage. On the other hand, there are red circles that can be collected, but make your job more difficult. Simple and addicting.

– Tetatt DS: A Tetris Attack clone created for the DS. Although it may be a takeoff of an already popular game, Tetatt shows a lot of potential. The graphics and music are all original, and the creator throws in a variety of modes, such as Endless and even Wi-Fi play. In addition, all the high scores are saved onto the card when you play. If you’re a fan of Tetris Attack, you’ll feel right at home with Tetatt DS.

– Word Up!: If you’ve ever played Scrabble Blast, Boggle or anything else similar in execution, then you already know the basic premise of this game. Multiple lines of letters fill up the bottom screen of the DS, which each letter containing a different point value. Your job is to make a line from one letter to another and make words from the different letters. Once a word is formed, those letters disappear and more drop down. If the top screen fills up with letters as well, the game is over. Bombs are special items that can wipe out single lines of letters from the screen. What makes “Word Up!” stand out, however, is simply the presentation of the game. The game looks, feels and is programmed so professionally, it is probably one of the very few DS homebrew programs that could justify having a price tag attached to it. There’s also an unlockable “Arcade” mode that contains half the fun just trying to rack up enough points to try to unlock it. A very solid title.

– World Of Sand: If you’ve ever dabbled with the World Of Sand flash game, you know what to expect here. Another “non-game”, the concept of World Of Sand is unique. Four different colors of sand particles drop from the top of the screen. These can be turned off and on, and there’s a variety of objects to use with the sand. Walls can be built to keep sand in sections, and effects such as green plants may affect one type of sand and not the others. Despite the fact that there is no real object to the game, that does not stop some people from spending lots of time with it.

Next time in Part II, I will talk about the various emulators you can run on your Nintendo DS, and get you on your way to playing all the classics from yesteryear.

One feature of my new LCD television I hadn’t given much thought to was the VGA input. Downstairs I already run a PVR system, so when I saw the VGA port on my new television I decided I would build another computer and hook it up upstairs, so I could watch divx and other downloaded video files easily. But then it hit me — can’t new consoles such as the PS3 and Xbox 360 stream media? I’ve heard about people using the original Xbox for multimedia streaming, but had never personally tried it. This weekend I decided to give it a go.

Streaming media to the PS3 involves the installation of UPnP (Universal Plug-n-Play) software on your PC. This software acts as a server, to which your PS3 will connect. Your media (music, pictures and video) remain on your PC and are streamed over a network connection (wired or wireless) to your PS3, where they are displayed on your television. There are many uPNP programs to choose from, but the first four I found were Nero’s MediaHome, TwonkyVision’s TwonkyMedia, TVersity, and Free UPnP Entertainment Service. TVersity and Free UPnP Entertainment Service are free; Nero’s MediaHome is not, but I already own it (comes with Nero Ultra 7 and 8). TwonkyMedia is also not free, but a free trial is available.

First up — Nero’s MediaHome, a really slick product. Nero’s MediaHome was the easiest uPnP server I attemped to set up. The computer did everything. Unfortunately, it didn’t do anything quickly; Nero Ultra 8 took over 30 minutes to install on my 2ghz/1gig of RAM Windows 2003 Server. While I realize this machine is not the powerhouse it once was, the only installation I can remember taking longer than this one was Windows itself.

Behind the scenes is Nero Scout, a program that scans your hard drive for media files to include in its database. Actually, “scan” is probably an understatement; “seriously thrashes” is much more accurate. From the moment Nero Scout launched, my CPU maxed at 99% and stayed there until I stopped the service. A Google search of “Nero Scout” turned up complaints from multiple users. Unfortunately, MediaHome won’t run without Scout, and when Scout’s running, my computer is so maxed out that it can’t stream video. That makes it unusable to me. Nero certainly got the installation and configuration down smooth, but it must require a beefier box than I own.

Next up — TVersity. TVersity was almost as simple to set up as Nero’s MediaHome, which makes sense as its performance was almost the same as well. The PS3 found the TVersity service running on my server almost immediately, and while viewing photos and listening to MP3s worked well, videos were completely unwatchable. Even low quality videos would only play for a few seconds before they began to spit and sputter. Concerned that my wireless network was not fast enough, I directly connected my PS3 to my 100 megabit switch with no improvement in performance. I skimmed the TVersity forums for help, but instead found other PS3 users with similar complaints. Strike two.

The third uPnP server I tried was Free UPnP Entertainment Service, or FUPPES for short. FUPPES appears to have been written for Unix/Linux and ported to Windows, and it shows. Documentation was sparse and disjointed; I spent a lot of time on Google just to get the program up and running; more modifications were needed to make the streaming PS3-friendly. FUPPES’ configuration program allows you to change about four settings in the program’s cfg file — everything else must be done by hand. The PC interface is decidedly unpolished and requires technical knowledge (or patience and Google) to configure.

And you know what? FUPPES worked FLAWLESSLY. Videos began streaming perfectly from my PC through my PS3 to my HDTV. And not only did those videos stream flawlessly — I was able to stream videos from a machine connected via wireless to my server; I was streaming videos from PC (wireless) to my server, to my PS3 (wireless) to my TV with no stutter. A winner is you, FUPPES. The program was a bear to configure, but was definitely worth the effort in the end. My CPU hovers at around 15% while streaming DIVX movies, a completely acceptable overhead.

At the time of its release, Venus Corporation’s Multi Game Hunter (MGH) was a unique console copier that could connect to both Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis game consoles. The Multi Game Hunter included two interchangable adapters allowing it to plug into either machine; a third adapter, which allowed the MGH to play and dump Sega Master System ROMs while connected to the Genesis, was also available. These luxuries, however, were not cheap; MGH units (without the optional SMS adapter) originally sold for around $400.

The MGH is a large unit that overhangs the power and reset buttons of the Sega Genesis and hangs off the back of the machine as well. As a result, the MGH gets rocked and tilted quite a bit through normal usage. Unlike some of the later copiers, the MGH requires power from an external power source (I picked up a power adapter from Radio Shack that did the trick). The MGH can use 720k, 1.4, or 1.6 meg floppies.

The menu system is not as polished as many later units. The icons are oversized and undercolored, with the entire menu presented in four colors (not including the blue background). The menu presents the icons horizontally, but since they’re so large you must scroll back and forth to see all the options. The SRAM, SNES, Genesis icons all contain the same choices, which makes one wonder why they didn’t put them all under the same icon. Two other icons, labelled “options” and “MGH”, don’t do anything at all (“option not available”). With just a little thought, the menu system could have been greatly improved.

The MGH came with two memory configurations — 16 megabit (2 meg) and 24 megabit (3 meg) — which worked for a while, but could not dump the later 4 meg cartridges for either system.

Despite its memory limitations, the unit works quite well. The MGH is one of the more reliable Genesis backup units, and the fact that it does SNES ROMs as well is icing on the cake.

Right after the Christmas of 1994 I attended HoHoCon, the first “modern” hacker con that later inspired DefCon and HOPE (Link). I remember seeing a lot of cool things that weekend, but one of the coolest was a console copier. As I watched DrunkFux (the founder of HoHoCon) and several members of the Cult of the Dead Cow demonstrating the unit, I knew I had to have one. Tracking down a console copier was not as simple of searching eBay back then. After a few months of searching, in the Spring of 1995 I tracked down Anthrox (a SNES demo group) who connected me with Fairlight, the infamous C64/Amiga/PC cracking group. For several years Fairlight was reselling console copiers. During the transaction I was informed that Fairlight was going to stop selling console copiers, and that I was receiving the very last one. A couple of weeks later, my Super Wildcard DX arrived.

The Super Wildcard DX was made by Front FarEast (FFE), and shipped with 32 megabits (4 megabytes) of RAM, expandable up to 96 megabits. The top of the unit contains a female cartridge port for inserting SNES cartridges. The left hand side contains the floppy drive. The bottom of the unit contains the male cartridge port that inserts into the Super Nintendo.

When powered on, the unit launches into a graphical menu. Each of the menu’s 8 items lead to sub-menus:

Wildcard Options allows users to run programs, transfer cartridges to disk, edit memory or obtain program information.

Disk options allow users to format disks, rename files, delete files, edit files, and copy files.

Realtime Save Options allow users to backup and restore real time save data.

Password options allow users to edit, backup and restore passwords, and search for cheat codes.

Cart options allow users to run a cartridge, transfer programs, transfer battery RAM, and edit memory.

Game/Utility options include a PCX picture viewer, a freeware game (Shingles), and a demo (in Chinese).

Setup options include screen setup, user message, and reset to default.

Diagnostics include self test, Wildcard info, System info, and credits.

Through the menu system, dumping cartridges to floppy disks is simple. Games larger than 1.4 meg are automatically split, and users are prompted to insert additional floppy disks as needed. Loading games is just as simple — games can be loaded from the main menu or, if a disk is in the drive when it is powered on it will autoload, bypassing the main menu completely. The loading screen contains a progression bar, showing users how much of the game has loaded. Once the game is completely loaded, it is stored in the SWC’s RAM and stays there until the unit is powered off. If the SNES is reset, the game remains in RAM and will simply restart. The SWC does have a port for a power adapter but does not need one, as it can be powered from the SNES cartridge port.

It should be noted that dumped games end up in .SWC format, which is identical to the .SMC format (same headers). That means ROMs dumped with the SWC will work on any Super Nintendo emulator. This also means the inverse is true; any ROM downloaded from the Internet in SWC/SMC format will load and play on the Super Wildcard.

The Super Wild Card DX is my all time favorite console copier. It’s fast, simple to use, and reliable. Its memory editing capabilities and password features greatly expand the functionality of the SNES, and it’s high compatibility means almost anything can be dumped and played.

Although predated by a few consoles including the Sega CD and the 3D0, it was the Sony PlayStation that ushered in the era of CD-based consoles to the masses. Cheap manufacturing costs and the ability to store 650 megs of game data per CD won out over cartridges, which were more expensive to produce and limited in storage capacity (64 megabytes, on the Nintendo 64).

The unfortunate product of CD and DVD based games was piracy. With CD and DVD burners installed in even the most inexpensive computers, it was only a matter of time before enterprising hackers put two and two together and figured out a way to circumvent the copy protection included in CD-based gaming consoles. Figuring out ways around the protection was the hard part; duplicating the disc based media was simple.

Not so however with cartridge-based games. The average gamer did not have hardware or skills needed to extract (or “dump”) the game data from cartridges, or put that data back on to new, blank cartridges. Doing so (especially on a small scale) would have been cost prohibitive, which is essentially the entire reason for pirating software. So even though cartridge-based consoles did not have the copy protection that the CD-based systems had, because of the obscurity of the cartridge format, those systems were safe from pirates. Right?

Well, not really. While blank cartridges were expensive, floppy disks were not. Thus, the idea of console copiers were born.

[What is a Console Copier?]

Console copiers are devices that attach to cartridge-based systems and perform two primary tasks. The first is to allow users to load games from some form of removable media (other than a cartridge) into the console, tricking the console into thinking a cartridge has been inserted. A console copier’s second function is to allow users to dump their games from cartridge form to some other type of storage. I am being intentionally vauge here, as media differed from machine to machine; most earlier systems used floppy disks for storage. As cartridge-sizes grew, so did the media — Nintendo 64 copiers used Zip Disks or CD-Rom drives for storage. Console copiers had other uses as well, such as ROM hacking and serving as inexpensive software development units, but the primary demographic was undoubtedly pirates.

Flash cards are not console copiers. Flash cards are cartridges that contain memory that can be “flashed,” or reprogrammed, multiple times. Flash cards typically plug into game consoles the same way a cartridge connects. Depending on the amount of RAM the cartridge contains, a flash card may contain multiple games.

Due to inconsistancy between cartridges on earlier systems (such as NES mappers) and the expense in developing and manufacturing such devices, console copiers were relatively rare for 8-bit systems. There were copiers, such as simple EEPROM duplicators for the Atari 2600 or the original Game Doctor for the FamiCom, but it wasn’t until the arrival of 16-bit systems such as the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis launched that console copiers began readily appearing — and by “appearing,” I mean “in the back alleys of Hong Kong.” In the early 1990s, console copiers were difficult to locate in the US. The only way to get one was to order one from some shady overseas company, or buy one from a local importer (and paying his import fees, of course). According to this archived FAQ from 1993, copiers run between “$280 and $370.” That was a lot of money to mail to an overseas company selling illegal devices. As manufacturing prices went down, companies began cranking out console copiers. Companies such as UFO Enterprises, Front Far East, Venus Corp. and the oddly-named Bung Enterprises began churning out dozens of different models.

Most of these devices were similar in design and function. Each unit plugged into a console’s cartridge port, and contained a floppy disk drive and a cartridge port of its own. Insert a game cartridge into the copier, and these machines were able to dump the contents of that cartridge on to a floppy disk. These ROM dumps are the same ROMs that are used for computer-based emulators. Without a cartridge in the unit, games (via the floppy drive) were able to be loaded into the unit and played on the original console. Likewise, ROMs downloaded from the Internet (or BBSes, back then) could be copied to a floppy disk and played, without needing the original cartridge.

3.5″ floppies were large enough to store Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis games at first, but as games grew in size, so did the needs for more RAM on console copiers. Most copiers were able to span large games across multiple disks. For the Nintendo 64, the makers of console copiers upgraded their media storage. The Z64 uses Zip Disks; the V64 and CD64 both use CD-Rom drives. Some copiers included parallel ports for linking units directly to computers. Others began including multiple adapters for connecting to multiple systems. Venus’ Multi Game Hunter could connect to both the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis. Bung’s Multi Game Doctor could dump SNES, Genesis, Neo-Geo, PC-Engine, Super Graphics, Game Gear, and Game Boy games (Link).

[What happened to Console Copiers?]

The same thing that happened to dinosaurs. No, they didn’t fall into tar pits — they became extinct. After losing a lawsuit to Nintendo in 2000, Bung/Mr. Flash stopped distributing Nintendo copiers. In fear of more lawsuits, other companies quickly followed suit. With all new consoles moving to disc-based media, there was no need for new console copiers. Handheld consoles such as the Gameboy Advance and the Nintendo DS moved to flash carts. Flash carts were even developed for many of the older systems as well; Tototek.com currently sells flash carts for the Sega Genesis (which also supports 32X games), Super Nintendo, Game Gear, PC Engine, Sega Master System, and other systems. Some of these include parallel adapters that allow owners to also dump cartridges to their PC, although typically flash carts are simply associated with playing both copyrighted and non-copyrighted (homebrew) games on vintage hardware.

The rest of this week, I’ll be reviewing some console copiers from my private collection. These include copiers for the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and the Nintendo 64. If I haven’t bored you to death by then, I’ll move on to some of the flash carts I own.