The nooby needs some help here.

[Phathead]

Basically, I want one of these flash carts with that homebrew stuff. I don't want to pay 70 bucks unless it was really, really good. I want your input to know if this thing here is any good....

R4 Revolution DS (R4DS)

[Phathead]

Also, if you could take a little bit of time to explain how it works, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you!

[Pilot_51]

I have an R4DS, it cost me $40 for it and another $10 for a 1GB microSD, and it's definitely worth it. It's about the price of two average commercial games and you can pack in hundreds of homebrew games and apps as well as several hours of video. From what I've seen, it's the cheapest way to get into the homebrew scene and possibly even portable video.

[Phathead]

Alright, I'm going to buy the R4 exactly how it's on that pack that I gave the link to on the first post. Give me an idea of how much stuff I could hold with just that pack.

[Pilot_51]

If you want to save some cash I suggest buying from Sky2k.com (R4DS - Sky2k - The nation's leading video game and flash memory) and buying the microSD from eBay or Newegg.com for no more than $10 after shipping for 1GB or $13 with all the adapters. Believe me, I checked all the R4 resellers and Sky2k is clearly the cheapest. You might want to go with the Asian version since it's the cheapest and the English firmware can be patched to work with it.

With 1GB you can probably hold nearly all the homebrew ever made for DS or about 6-10 hours of video in DPG format. Other things such as images and audio don't need to be converted, so it shouldn't be hard to figure out how much of that you can fit.

[Phathead]

Is the Asian version worse in any way? I don't mind shelling out a few more bucks if it works great. Also, you say I should buy a "micro DS" from some other place? What's this contraption of which you speak?

I'm new so please bear with me because I'm about to ask a really stupid question and will accept flaming for it.


This thing (if my technologically retarded self can work it) will play the downloaded games, homebrew (which I don't know what that is), and some other crap, correct?

[Pilot_51]

If you patch the English firmware correctly, the Chinese R4DS should look exactly like an English R4DS, so you're basically saving $5 at the cost of patching each new firmware version you get, which for me is by far worth it.

I said "microSD", not "micro DS". R4DS uses microSD cards to store data on and without the microSD card the R4DS would be useless. Try a Wikipedia search if you want more info on what it is. I suggest buying from somewhere else because all the bundles I've seen at those R4DS resellers are ripoffs, adding about $15 or more to the total price I paid. You could get a 2GB microSD from Newegg along with the Asian R4DS from Sky2k for cheaper than an R4DS+1GB bundle.


If you're intention is to play commercial games illegally, then I'll need to stop helping you. Do a Wikipedia search on homebrew, it's a common term in modern software for gaming platforms.

[Phathead]

I've never done software pirating before but I can safely say that I don't intend on doing anything illegal. So this MicroSD does NOT come with the pack. Is the one I have to buy just a regular one you'd use on your cell phone or what have you, or is it specially made for the DS?

[Pilot_51]

Most resellers do pack in a microSD, but you pay for the convenience. Yes, it's a regular one you can use with a cell phone.

[Phathead]

Newegg.com - A-DATA 1GB MicroSD Flash Card Model MICROSD 1GB - Retail

^ Would something like that do the job? I mean, I don't think I'm going to do anything extravagant as far making the DS hold a bunch of stuff so.