novice NDS gamer has a few questions

derm58

Hi all,
I’m new to all this gaming/techno stuff so I have a few (stupid?) questions for anyone willing to take a little time to reply. Have just bought a NDS lite for daughter so…
1. I’ve been told to get a Fire link card on the net and to download available NDS roms - is this legal ?
2. Are these ROMs proper games or just demos ?
3. Are there any legit sites for NDS downloads?
What does a Fire link cart/card do ?
I'd appreciate any comments as I dont know one end of a DS lite from another !!

animaX

There are numerous "special" DS carts available (R4, M3, CycloDS) but they all do the same thing: they allow you to play "backup" DS roms. Yes they are full roms, exact copies of the real games and therefore it is of course illegal. But then again, so is j-walking in America but we do it anyway! At this moment there are no legit DS downloads although there will be soon when the new model of the DS comes out (this is one of the main reasons for the redesign).

Mr E

Hi derm58,

To answer your questions:

1. Downloading ROMs is illegal, and you won't get any information on how to do it (or where) here (its against the Charter).

2. There are ROMs for full games and demos (demos are the kinds of demos that run in game shops on demonstration DSs). Since demos are not officially available in shops, and not released through other sources (magazines for example), they aren't really legal either.

3. Legit downloads for the NDS would be homebrew titles (games and applications that people write themselves for the DS for use on flash cards). If you google "Best DS Homebrew", you'll get lots of examples of legitimate DS software you can run yourself.

Hope this helps!

derm58

thanks animaX and Mr E for your replys.

For homebrew applications what is the best cart/card to get for NDS ?

animaX

They're pretty much all the same to be honest. But I would go for one that is well known and trusted and update regularly (R4, cycloDS, M3)

derm58

So let me see if I get this straight- If i want to play homebrew games I need to get a cart to stick into the NDS and a compatible flash memory card to stick into the cart, download the homebrew to my PC, drag and drop to the card and Bob's your uncle ? Will the NDS automatically play them ? Can you save games on the NDS itself instead of carrying around all these cartridges.

Sorry for all the questions but my head is melted reading stuff on some of the other websites.

sombaht

Derm58,
The following card will work with the NDS

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2911

And a microSD card, a 2GB one should be more than enough.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2396

Regards,
sombaht

iamirish

r4 sdhc works a treat and you can get with 4gb for 35 euro i think pretty good value at www.consolemodz.com

thats where i got mine a while ago mind you i paid a lot more .... damn