Saturday, March 22, 2008

NDS Homebrew

My Nintendo DS Lite (NDS) is really getting customized. And, the NDS is truly delivering pure excitement unrivaled by any of my other toys, with perhaps exception to the MOTIF and O1X.

I just bought some really cool add-ons for my NDS. I chose the M3DS ReaL slot1 ROM. This allows me to play games AND do everything you do on your PC and MAC. I can listen to my favorite music in OGG and MP3 formats. I store videos and photos that I like to share with others when I am mobile. Providing I got a hotspot to jump onto, I can surf the net, do email and even chat using all of my favorites thanks to ebuddy where just TWO taps of my stylus on the NDS logs me into AIM, MSN and Yahoo chat clients! By the way, ebuddy works great on any PC and MAC too using your web browser. But, having these capabilities on a handheld gaming rig is pure joy. And, the NDS is a deluxe all-in-one mobile solution. The only thing better is the Apple iPhone and it doesn't have the gaming capabilities of the NDS.

The M3DS Real is a single slot1 passcard solution that supports microSDHC memory up to 32GB. Additionally, I plugged my slot2 with a EZ-Flash 3-in-1 Expansion, mainly because I wanted its 16MB SRAM for fast browser cache. The expansion also hosts 256Mbit Norflash for GBA ROM and sports both a battery for no data loss and a 3-level rumble-pak for games supporting that feature! Now that I have the M3DS Real rigged, I had to jack some memory for all my stuff. After sorting brands, pricing and performance I settled with a Kingston 4GB microSDHC. This easily accommodates EVERYTHING I want on my NDS including 100's of OGG, lots of WMV video and at least TWO full length DVD movies, and still have tons of space for all of my homebrew apps with room to spare! This is Handheld-Heaven! The NDS executes everything FAST, but stick to mobile apps when using the net. Going for the gold using the Opera browser will add to loading times if you fancy MySpace and the like. Afterall, the Nintendo DS is not an Intel Pentium. But let me tell you something. Surfing the net on this handheld using the stylus is pure magic. In the time it takes most PC's using Windows to coldboot and get to the desktop, I can check my Yahoo! mail, turn off my NDS, and put it back in my pocket! Does it appear that I am sticking my tongue out at PC and MAC users? You bet I am! Now the Nintendo DS is a productive pocket computer. It can do what most iPods do. But, unlike the iPhone it doesn't cost $$$ to use it. Plus, using SIP DS you got FREE wi-fi mobile telephone calls. Did I say free? I thought so ;;grin;; Saving the best part for last, the NDS is a FUN-tastic handheld gaming system, and the 2008 games are incredible. Awesome, awesome, awesome!!

;;cheers;;