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GBA games on the M3 DS simply

Discussion in 'Nintendo DS' started by gibbers17, Jun 19, 2007.

  1. gibbers17

    gibbers17 Member

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    I keep reading that you can not play a GBA games on the slot 1 M3 DS simply but you can put a DS game on the slot 2 M3 perfect. This makes no sense to me, I would think it is the other way around. DS games are more complex due the dual screen but you can put them on a less advanced game slot.
     
  2. magus7091

    magus7091 Regular member

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    It's not the gameslot that's the problem, it's mainly the speed of the memory. Gba uses MUCH faster memory than the DS, which is why you can't play gba games off a flash card in the DS Slot. They're going thru the same system, so it'll still run because a ds compatible slot 2 flash card tricks the ds into launching in ds mode (other processor and screen turned on). You could theoretically trick the ds into booting into gba mode from slot-1, but then there would be speed issues... (picture playing castlevania: PoR or DoS (whichever is the one with the worst issues) on the worst OEM microsd you could find it... Or for a better comparison, playing on the nes with too much on the screen... SLOOOOOOWWWWDOOOOOWWWWNNNN.........
     
  3. gibbers17

    gibbers17 Member

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    If this is the case then why would anybody buy a M3 perfect? It uses the same microsd card. plus the games I would be playing would be the final fantasy series which I do not believe would need that much speed. But I could be wrong.

    Does anybody know of a way to trick the M3 simply into playing GBA games like you can trick the M3 perfect into playing DS games. It would save me about $70
     
  4. spathi

    spathi Regular member

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    Actually magnus is not totally correct. GBA games use ROMs for software storage just like real DS carts, and these ROM chips are much faster than the expandable storage available on today's slot 1 devices.

    An M3 perfect is designed to run NDS as well as GBA software. It doesnt have to be tricked into doing it. The NDS does have to be tricked into doing it, with either a flashed firmware or a passme device.

    Slot 2 devices employ NORFLASH storage which is very expensive compared to just a microsd reader that slot 1 devices use. It is also much faster than any expandable storage solution can be.

    If money is the main concern here, and you already have a slot 1 device, buy an ez 5 3in1 expansion, which comes with 2mbit PSRAM and 256mbit NORFLASH. you can get one at dealextreme for $19

    Rudolph's 3in1 loader will let you use your slot 1 device to put your GBA ROM onto the 3in1 expansion, and while this process is slow, once done, the 3in1 will act like a normal GBA cart till you decide to write a different ROM onto it. This is a problem if you plan to go through many GBA games at a time, but if you have a few favorites you plan to revisit, its a great bargain.

    PS. you will have to patch GBA roms, to change how they save games. This is true of any slot 2 device.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2007
  5. gibbers17

    gibbers17 Member

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    Thanks for the info.

    According to modchipstore.com the in order to play ds games on the perfect they have to be patched for them to work.

    I see there is another version of the M3 Lite called pro. Now this is the only difference between the pro and the perfect that I can tell:

    "with all the functions of the M3 Adapter except GBA support above 32Mb (4MB)"

    What does that exactly mean and are there any other differences?
     
  6. mr_hanky

    mr_hanky Regular member

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    Yes games need to be patched using the M3 Gamemanager. Patching is required for all slot-2 device to be able to play DS games.

    Basically it means all the advantages of having a slot-2 device are void. it lacks the memory needed to play most GBA games (only very small games work) And it cannot be used in conjunction with a slot-1 device as memory for the DS Opera Browser
     

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