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Gateway 3DS: First working 3DS flashcart? [Still region locked]

Salsa

Member
I'm interested in the remodel capabilities for the 3DS OS. I love when electronics get that XBMC makeover.

that's the worst part. DS flashcarts and their custom skins were ghetto as fuck

31212-sc.jpg
[2173]screenshot.jpg


it was like travelling back to the early 2000s
 

Om3ga

Member
I can see the piracy debate and I hear you guys, but I personally am interested in this device for my niece and nephew. My nephew got his 3DS when he was 3 and plays it constantly. He's had it for about a year and a bit now, and some of his more favourite games I've had to repurchase as they've just randomly stopped working, got lost etc. This makes it easier for me, but obviously that's not what everyone else who buys this device's intention will be.

Obviously unless there's a way to rip your games to an SD card from the device, you'll be most likely downloading copies of any game you own, what's stopping you from grabbing a few extra games as well that you, "wanted to try"?

Will this hurt Nintendo? I don't know, I highly doubt it. The NDS is the best selling handheld ever and piracy was HUGE on it. How many 3rd Party games for the 3DS have been announced? Aren't most Developers complaining about how hard it is to sell their games on Nintendo hardware? Will more systems be sold in Europe and America now? Probably. It'll be interesting to watch NPD threads after this things release.
 

Salsa

Member
Wait has it actually been confirmed that it is region locked? I'm looking for info on it but cant find anything...

this flashcart does nothing in terms of hacking the system or games, it just replicates a cart

nothing is rewritten, no nothing. You just get a microsd to act as a singular 3DS cart and to clone it 100%, including whatever region lock is written into it
 
So if I got one of these I could put all my 3DS games on one card? That'd be great for when I have overnight duty and get paranoid about losing those tiny ass little carts I bring with me every time.
 
this flashcart does nothing in terms of hacking the system or games, it just replicates a cart

nothing is rewritten, no nothing. You just get a microsd to act as a singular 3DS cart and to clone it 100%, including whatever region lock is written into it

yeah but what about this? :

From the video you'd think you'd only be able to load a single game at a time, however, someone close to the team mentioned this: "And for those asking, it is 'early video' before the 'game manager' was finished in coding by the homebrew developers, reason for 3 microsd one for each rom."
.
 

Lasdrub

Member
It may be extreme but I'd say purchasing this for the sake of backing your games up still contributes to piracy.

The better this thing sells, the more work the guys behind it will put into it, which in the end, will benefit pirates.

Backing up my stuff isn't piracy, but I was thinking about this, too. Am I supporting piracy when I purchase the device for legitimate purposes?
 

EloquentM

aka Mannny
Backing up my stuff isn't piracy, but I was thinking about this, too. Am I supporting piracy when I purchase the device for legitimate purposes?
I wonder if people ask themselves the same thing when purchasing blood diamonds. Hyperbole, I know.
 

Lasdrub

Member
So if I got one of these I could put all my 3DS games on one card? That'd be great for when I have overnight duty and get paranoid about losing those tiny ass little carts I bring with me every time.

*high five*

All games on the system is where it's at. That's how I've been using my Vita. It is awesome to just grab the system and decide what game I want to play on it when I turn it on. Yeah, you can have that through eShop as others have said, but you give up too much. This fixes that.
 

DR2K

Banned
Thus is great news for those of us that want to rip our games. Region free should be coming eventually.
 
Why don't they take five minutes to make a new video then? It would prove it's the new R4 and boost their sales.

I dont buy it. If that was true then they would have already filmed a fuckin 10 second video with a cellphone or something and upload that

yeah now that I think about it would end alot of arguments.

The fact that it is only one SD card per game can also make people lose a lot of interest in it too in a way, right? R4 cards are convenient for some since you can hold over 20 or so games on one card, but with this you would need a shit load of microSD cards and have to swap them out constantly.

I don't see this leaving a big dent in the 3DS's software sales compared to the DS solely because of that.
 

Salsa

Member
yeah now that I think about it would end alot of arguments.

The fact that it is only one SD card per game can also make people lose a lot of interest in it too in a way, right? R4 cards are convenient for some since you can hold over 20 or so games on one card, but with this you would need a shit load of microSD cards and have to swap them out constantly.

I don't see this leaving a big dent in the 3DS's software sales compared to the DS solely because of that.

sure, but this is a big step. This is pretty much how flashcarts started on the DS, we'll most likely get to the same point eventually, and now it's been sorta fast-tracked

the reason why it might not be the same though is because with the 3DS someone could come up with a soft-mod of sorts that doesnt require a flashcart, but that's obviously gonna take longer since no one developing that would get any sort of profit out of it
 
Thus is great news for those of us that want to rip our games. Region free should be coming eventually.

Making a duplicate cartridge to trick the system hardware is different from unlocking the software's region coding.

I mean, it doesn't mean it won't happen, but this is not going to lead to region-free 3DSs. Something else would.
 

ChronoX

Member
The end is near but honestly this doesn't surprise me in the least. It was bound to happen at some point unfortunately.
 
sure, but this is a big step. This is pretty much how flashcarts started on the DS, we'll most likely get to the same point eventually, and now it's been sorta fast-tracked

the reason why it might not be the same though is because with the 3DS someone could come up with a soft-mod of sorts that doesnt require a flashcart, but that's obviously gonna take longer since no one developing that would get any sort of profit out of it

"stability updates" from Nintendo can fix stuff like that which is why we never had a DSi only flashcart
I think? I don't remember exactly lol
 

evanmisha

Member
But, if you load it with a 3DS rom, could you not edit the rom itself to change its region? Easier said than done, obviously, but does this not open atleast that door?
 

Mlatador

Banned
I hope the firmware releases will not allow this. I mean, they are even on the carts themselves. You sometimes can't run a newly bought game unless it updated some of the firmware.
 

Eusis

Member
Making a duplicate cartridge to trick the system hardware is different from unlocking the software's region coding.

I mean, it doesn't mean it won't happen, but this is not going to lead to region-free 3DSs. Something else would.
The path that leads to region free will lead to homebrew. As this is just a way to play backups it's nothing but a means to piracy, or an insurance method for those who lose games absurdly easily.
 

watershed

Banned
I hate how blasé some people are about illegally downloading games, especially parents who use flashcarts for their kids. They don't care to think that people put their time, effort, and passion into a product, and that product has a cost and worth.
 

Salsa

Member
"stability updates" from Nintendo can fix stuff like that which is why we never had a DSi only flashcart
I think? I don't remember exactly lol

this is pretty easy to "fix" if nintendo introduces an extra way to check if you're using the real cartridge in future games and a firmware udpate

question is wether the flashcart will be updatable as well
 
Maybe this is out of line, but I got a 3DS a month ago and have been tracking down old DS games I never played, so far I have, GTA Chinatown Wars, LoZ:pH, LoZ: ST, Aliens: Infestation which is added to my current lineup of 3DS games of Luigi's Mansion 2, Steel Diver, and Donkey Kong Country Returns. What is the cart thing I need to put my DS all my games on? I don't care for my 3DS ones ATM if this whole cart business for it needs to be ironed out, I'd just like to have all my DS games on one cart. What do I need?
 
This is definitely the wrong direction. People would rather have something like a homebrew channel where they can turn off region locking or/and can install their retail games to SD. But then again, it would also enable piracy. A one time installer which removes the region lock would be all people are asking for. I'm not really in need for that, but I can understand people with a US/EU 3DS not being able to play japanese games. That means being able to run unsigned code and the method would also leak sooner or later, which would enable piracy too. In other words, anything enables piracy at some point unless Nintendo removes the region lock themselves.
 

DonMigs85

Member
this is pretty easy to "fix" if nintendo introduces an extra way to check if you're using the real cartridge in future games and a firmware udpate

question is wether the flashcart will be updatable as well

In some cases the flashcart hardware itself needs to be upgraded
Dunno if they really couldn't program an update or if it was just an excuse to sell more flashcarts
 

DonMigs85

Member
Maybe this is out of line, but I got a 3DS a month ago and have been tracking down old DS games I never played, so far I have, GTA Chinatown Wars, LoZ:pH, LoZ: ST, Aliens: Infestation which is added to my current lineup of 3DS games of Luigi's Mansion 2, Steel Diver, and Donkey Kong Country Returns. What is the cart thing I need to put my DS all my games on? I don't care for my 3DS ones ATM if this whole cart business for it needs to be ironed out, I'd just like to have all my DS games on one cart. What do I need?

Currently there's no DS flashcart that can run on the recent 3DS firmware versions.
Your best bet is to track down an old DS Lite or something.
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
This is definitely the wrong direction. People would rather have something like a homebrew channel where they can turn off region locking or/and can install their retail games to SD. But then again, it would also enable piracy. A one time installer which removes the region lock would be all people are asking for. I'm not really in need for that, but I can understand people with a US/EU 3DS not being able to play japanese games.

There's no way to "region unlock" unless you:

A) Modify the firmware on the 3DS that does that verification (custom firmware)
B) Modify the game so that it reports being from another region (rom hacking)
C) Create a loader that reports to the 3DS that's running a game from Region X when it's actually running a game from Region Y (homebrew code)

A is impossible to be done: Nobody is reverse engineering the 3DS firmware and/or coding an alternative. Nobody ever will.

B and C are only possible with Flashcards*: You either need a flashcard to load such modified ROM Dump or you need a Flashcard to run said loader that "lies" to the 3DS firmware.

* technically, one could create a loader that runs on the 3DS itself and reads games from the SD card that the 3DS has, but that would basically require Homebrew, user code running on the 3DS, and the only way to introduce that would be either through a "Official Game" exploit (that's what the "homebrew channel" was on the Wii, a game save exploit) or something being loaded from the Cart Slot - On the latter option, you might as well create a flashcart, because if you can run homebrew off the Cart slot, you defeated their encryption and copy protection.
 

Juice

Member
If the eShop had sane user-friendly terms & conditions, carts like these would be indefensible.

But it doesn't, so I'm stuck with a dozen carts I don't want to bother managing. Sigh.
 

Pikma

Banned
Isn't Nintendo supposed to be able to brick consoles if they have some kind of unrecognized software? Not sure how they could identify said cases though.
 

Bodacious

Banned
I hate how blasé some people are about illegally downloading games, especially parents who use flashcarts for their kids. They don't care to think that people put their time, effort, and passion into a product, and that product has a cost and worth.

With current gen systems that have new retail games on the shelves, I absolutely agree with you. For 'dead' systems like, for example, NES or Genesis, I think flashcarts are wonderful.
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
If the eShop had sane user-friendly terms & conditions, carts like these would be indefensible.

But it doesn't, so I'm stuck with a dozen carts I don't want to bother managing. Sigh.

Piracy aside (which is bad and nobody should do it ever), people using the eShop as an alternative to a flashcard to keep your games together are fucking out of their minds.

1) Games are always more expensive than their physical counterparts. Sure, they're priced accordingly on release. However, two weeks after a game is out, it price drops everywhere. Except the Digital version. You know, the one that costs nothing to manufacture, distribute and deliver to your userbase.

2) Once your hardware is gone (stolen, broke, eShop is called off), everything you purchased is history. You'll have to call Nintendo and hope to god they figure something out for you: Either refund you so you can buy everything again or straight up give your digital content back.

I'm not even mentioning the price difference on eShops from different regions: A 3DS game costs 75 dollars on the Brazilian eShop.
 

Danthrax

Batteries the CRISIS!
The whole piracy argument is just a strawman. You'd have to assume that pirates are the majority of consumers. When half of the consumers have no clue how to pirate. I have a hacked Ps3 sitting at home. I can assure you, there isn't a lot of people knowing to do it and if they did, risk trying to do it in fear of losing it forever, paying for a new PS3 and ending up 150-200 less.

As for this 3DS, out of how many who knows about Gateway3D now, what would you say the percentage of actual consumers for 3ds games? Then you have the younger kids who don't have the money to support it (since you have to buy micro SD cards it seems) and you have others who don't have a 3DS, others who express not caring because you can't break the region lock, and others who say PC is the master race, screw consoles.

Let's not go overboard like 3DS will plummet overnight.

Dude, DS piracy was rampant in Europe. Parents would buy flashcarts at your average, everyday retailer and download ROMs to it off the Internet for their children all day. It was a serious, serious problem.
 

jwhit28

Member
2) Once your hardware is gone (stolen, broke, eShop is called off), everything you purchased is history. You'll have to call Nintendo and hope to god they figure something out for you: Either refund you so you can buy everything again or straight up give your digital content back.

This can happen with my 3DS case and physical games as well.

edit:the stolen/lost thing
 
What the...? I don't want this. I want region unlock!! Gimme region unlock so I can get my grubby hands on those nice looking 3DS XL not released in my region and buy other region games to play!
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
This can happen with my 3DS case and physical games as well.

edit:the stolen/lost thing

Yes, and you definitely won't get Nintendo to give those games back to you.

Sure, but then you're losing the physical thing: Your cartridge broke, your cartridge got stolen. Your 3DS got stolen with your copy of Luigi's Mansion 2 in it.

Now, my 3DS breaks and EVERY SINGLE DIGITAL purchase I made on their system is GONE? Shit's digital, why can't I re-download it on another system?
 

jwhit28

Member
Sure, but then you're losing the physical thing: Your cartridge broke, your cartridge got stolen. Your 3DS got stolen with your copy of Luigi's Mansion 2 in it.

Now, my 3DS breaks and EVERY SINGLE DIGITAL purchase I made on their system is GONE? Shit's digital, why can't I re-download it on another system?

Yeah it's definitely not a good situation and I hope they change it when they put the accounts on 3DS but I don't understand how it can aggravate people enough to swear off eshop altogether.
 

DonMigs85

Member
Sure, but then you're losing the physical thing: Your cartridge broke, your cartridge got stolen. Your 3DS got stolen with your copy of Luigi's Mansion 2 in it.

Now, my 3DS breaks and EVERY SINGLE DIGITAL purchase I made on their system is GONE? Shit's digital, why can't I re-download it on another system?

You can if you bitch and whine enough
Anyway yeah let's just wait till e3 - maybe they might finally reveal a unified account system.
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
You can if you bitch and whine enough
Anyway yeah let's just wait till e3 - maybe they might finally reveal a unified account system.

And that would be a better option than a FlashCard.

I just don't think nintendo cares enough (about their users, that is), to tell you the truth.
 
Nintendo please destroy this asap.

Get a cartridge carry case for $5 and we can move on from this piracy madness.
No? I don't want to have to carry 7-8 cards with me. I want to be able to install my games that I bought without having to buy said games on the estore since there isnt an account system in place.
 
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