Modding a DS

ZacksMama · Modding a DS

Just curious if anyone here has modded their DS and if so what you used to do it. And also, I know what the PSP can do when modded but what are the benefits of modding a DS? Thanks in advance

J

It depends what you mean. A DS doesn't need a physical mod to run unofficial code, so the term usually refers to a (generally) cosmetic casemod. I have a microsd flashcart for homebrew if that's what you mean (it behaves like an ordinary game card but you can put whatever you like on it) and I love it. I could go on and on about it, so if you could tell me what you mean I'm sure I could help you. I'm not in on the PSP scene at all (I don't have one), so I couldn't make a comparison.

ZacksMama

Im sorry I wasnt more specific but Im referring to being able to play homebrew games and backups. I wasnt sure if the DS was capable of that or not because of it being cartridges and not CDs. I've done it with my original xbox and 360 so I didnt have to worry about my son destroying the originals. So I guess what I really wanna know is what the DS is capable of. Someone else had told me to pick up a ds-extreme or R4DS chip but I wanted to know if anyone on here had tried either. Thanks

J

*Deep breath* ('cos I love talking about homebrew Smile

)

Basically, a flashcart looks and acts like an ordinary game card, but has a either a slot for a microsd card or built in memory like a thumbdrive. It doesn't involve physically altering your console either, so there shouldn't be any warranty issues. I have an R4 (one of the microsd kinds) and it works pretty well, save for a few compatibility issues, mostly in older games. A different make of flashcart would probably be fine - shop around if you like. They're not expensive. Mine was £30 ($60?) and that's with a 2GB microsd card and a usb card reader for it. It was bought from http://www.gobiodon.com and they did a good job, but bear in mind I'm on a different continent - you may find a better deal.

As for what it can do, it's possible I think, to take advantage of all the DS's hardware features when you're writing your homebrew, and there are libraries for making graphics easy, at least in 2D. I don't know if you're into coding, but it's (IMO) a great system to develop for. The scene is pretty lively too, which is always good.

I'll give you some examples of what's been done. This is all stuff I've used, stuff that works for me.

* Ports of Doom and Quake Very Happy

* Text-only and graphical web browsers (a little shaky)
* Nethack and classic text adventures
* MP3 Playback (Depending on the size of you collection, it makes a perfectly usable mp3 player). Also video, but only in an an obscure format. Check out moonbooks.net for downloads.
* Painting
* Ebook readers
* Linux, bearing in mind you've only 4MB RAM - I could only play go-fish
* SCUMMVM (for point-and-clicks)
* Clones of plenty of arcade and board games (including tetris, megaman, chess, jezzball, xbill...)
* And loads of (reasonably) funky and imaginative homebrew games

I'll point you in the direction of these sites.
http://nintendo-ds.dcemu.co.uk
http://ds.qj.net/category/Homebrew-Games/cid/373
http://moonbooks.net/moonbooks/download.php
http://www.dsfanboy.com/category/homebrew/ - they fairly recently did a week of features on homebrew

As for backups, I've never gone there. Hope I've helped you though. I'd say go for it. To anyone.

*Edit* It may be worth looking for a flashcart that supports high capacity microsd cards - my R4 doesn't. Also, there are ones with built in motion sensors, like the R6. I imagine both of these features would increase the price, though.

Nietha

Thanks for all the info J, that's pretty sweet.

J

No problem, anytime! Hope it was useful. I love homebrew (had ya guessed Smile

), but nobody I know in person seems very interested Sad

Nietha

Since it doesn't actually modify your DS physically there doesn't seem to be a reason not to do it... it's just getting a card and putting content on it (sounds like anyway). Maybe I'd play my DS more. Razz

J

ZacksMama

Thank you so much for all the great info J. Im definately gonna pick a card up, just trying to decide which one is better for me. I didnt realize all this could be done without changing the DS so that clinched it for me. I just still have nightmares from having my original xbox in dozens of pieces on my kitchen table..lol.