Is the AM3 DSVision for the Nintendo DS A Big Mistake?

If you've been following news about the Nintendo DS lately, AM3 is going to bring in a Nintendo-backed special Slot-1 cartridge with a built-in Micro-SD card adapter for the DS. It will provide the means of playing/viewing downloaded content such as movies, tv shows, books, magazines and comics on the Nintendo DS.

Let us review here, Slot 1 cartridge with Micro-SD card adapter, check! Playing or viewing of downloaded movies, tv shows, books, magazine and comics, check! Sounds like something that is already out in the market and it is called the R4DS.

This might seem like re-inventing the wheel and even though it has a legitimate/legal slant to it, the download content is not free! It's like providing a Microsoft operating system that can and will only run original software.

I would rather much have AM3 provide software to run exclusive and copy-protected content on existing Slot-1 devices such as the R4 or the M3, more of like iTunes and the iTunes Music Store minus the iPod exclusivity. AM3 is not like Apple, which enjoyed first-mover advantage with the iPod, as the R4 and its ilk are already out in the market for nearly a year. Software, unlike hardware is key here.

With the R4 already prevalent even in Tokyo, and I bet it's going to be a favourite stocking stuffer this Christmas, an iTunes like service is the way to go. Even a person who plays original Nintendo DS games like me has one, and that's to run homebrew and old-school ROMS :).

Alternatives to the R4DS

For the latest R4DS articles for the Nintendo DS, head over to the brand new www.nineoverten.com.

Look about the Internet and you would probably read reports/rumours that the R4DS is not readily available for sale. Now, the R4 has an unsavoury light in my books when it used to run pirated ROMs, but as a device that enables the use of homebrew on the DS, it's pretty top notch. And with the demise of the R4 forums, I probably need to go somewhere else for my homebrew fix.

All things considered, what are your alternatives for running homebrew on the DS? As far as Slot-1 solutions are concerned, there are plenty of choices.


First up you have the nearest cousin to the R4DS, the M3 DS Simply. According to one flashcart website, this is manufactured by the same factory as the R4DS and both are identical. However, do note that R4 firmware won't work on the M3 and vice versa.

Second would be the new kid on the block, the CycloDS Evolution Slot 1 Enhancer. A mouthful of a name with a feature set geared at pirated ROMs, it appears to be a good alternative to the R4 when it comes to homebrew. Amongst other things, it has support for SDHC (bigger storage space possible).

I remember reading in a forum that this particular Slot-1 solution doesn't boast a good built quality so caveat emptor.


Third up would be the G6 DS Real. This is probably for people who don't like using external media such as micro SD cards with their Slot-1 solutions. My R4 in particular is sometimes finicky and makes for an excellent SD card launcher. Talk about being as crazy as a spring. This on the other hand comes with 2 Gigabytes of internal flash memory, more than enough to store tonnes of homebrew and media files. Cool isn't it?


Last but not least in this feature is a Slot-1 solution from the very makers of Supercard themselves, the Supercard DS(One). This is probably one of the more common offerings at local game shops to "uninformed" buyers when it comes to "lowering the cost of ownership" for the Nintendo DS Lite since the R4DS is now hard to come by.