I recently had the chance to chat with SapphireRhodonite, the sole developer of SeedlessDS, for what I believe is his first proper interview about the project.

For anyone who hasn’t come across it yet, SeedlessDS is a newer Nintendo DS emulator for Android that’s been built with modern handhelds in mind, especially lower-powered devices and dual-screen hardware. It uses a reconstructed DraStic-based core, but Sapphire has built the surrounding experience himself, including the interface, controller-first navigation, library, save states, scaling options and dual-screen presentation.

It has been pretty pivotal for me while testing and reviewing the Retroid Pocket Duo Lite, where its lightweight approach and proper support for two physical displays have made it my preferred way to play DS games.

In the article we talk about Sapphire’s history with programming and the original DS, why SeedlessDS exists alongside WatermelonDS, what makes dual-screen emulation harder than simply putting one image on each panel, developing for modest Android hardware, and where he hopes to take the emulator next. Hopefully it’s an interesting read for anyone following DS emulation or the growing wave of dual-screen handhelds, or just development in general!

A few days ago, after I published my review of the Super Chis, I received a lot of recognition from netizens, which gave me a lot of motivation to keep writing articles about GBA flashcarts. Today I want to talk about the EZ Flash Air that I recently got—another new product from the EZ Flash team. Even if you don't choose it after reading my review, that doesn't change the fact that it's still worth paying attention to.

Disclaimer: Technical details are based on the official manual and community resources, and all gameplay impressions come from my own hands-on testing. Prices refer to those from distributors in China (the actual price depends on the card you get). Game compatibility is for reference only—there are simply too many games, so some omissions are unavoidable.

An advanced GBA flashcart using a new architecture. Many people assume the EZ Flash Air is an entry-level product the moment they hear about it, and I thought the same myself. But after playing with it for two weeks, I found that it's actually a "trickle-down advanced model"—it inherits many practical new features from the EZ Flash DE-B, while making its own trade-offs.

Of course, the EZ Flash Air is not a completely weakened version of the EZ Flash DE-B—it also has its own characteristics and target audience. Let me start with the conclusion: in one sentence, if you're on a limited budget but still want to experience new features, the Air is a choice that can keep you caught up with the pack. If you want to try a new experience, you can go ahead and buy it, but be prepared to change your usage habits. If you want better compatibility and a more convenient experience, please choose the EZ Flash DE-B. If you already own an EZ Flash DE, this article is very suitable for you to read—just treat it as a way to learn about the EZ Flash team's product lineup.

The biggest difference between the EZ Flash Air and previous products: it uses a new hardware architecture. There's a design you may not be used to: games can only be played after being flashed to NOR first. Each game only needs to be flashed once, but it also requires waiting 1-3 minutes. The card's built-in NOR has about 120MB of actual usable space (officially claimed as 960Mb), which means that for regular GBA ROM files, you can flash about 5-7 of them, with the specific number depending on the ROM size.

Current latest firmware kernel: FW5 K1.06. EZ Flash AIR gains the ability to delete games freely and NOR check feature after update. However, it has some features that entry-level flashcarts lack: it supports RTC (real-time clock) and Mode B (rumble and linking). These used to be features only found on high-end flashcarts, and they're both practical and fun. I don't think everyone needs to choose the EZ Flash DE-B—why not first take a look at my gameplay experience with Mode B before making a choice? That way you'll have a better understanding of your real needs.

The practical and fun Mode B, and the compromises of the EZ Flash Air. The EZ Flash Air, the EZ Flash DE-B, and the previous-generation EZ Flash DE all come with Mode B, and the core experience is similar. The most fundamental differences lie in the hardware and the design philosophy. EZ Flash products released even earlier do not support Mode B.

The Mode A / Mode B toggle switch is in the upper right corner of the flashcart, above the memory card slot, on the side—you'll need a card ejector tool.

Let me first explain the difference between Mode B and the traditional Mode A: Mode A is suitable for everyday gaming, and is more streamlined and stable; Mode B adds three functions—rumble pak, memory expansion pak, and linking/single-card mode. Although these three functions aren't essential, you can experience the interesting designs of that era, which is also a kind of experience, I suppose. · Rumble Pak: can serve as a rumble pak for the DS, and can also be used to play GBA games that have rumble functionality. · Memory Expansion Pak (RAM): uses the flashcart as a memory expansion pak for the DS, for use with the browser or homebrew programs. · Linking/Single-Card Mode (LINK): linking mode can exchange data with, for example, Pokémon games on the DS; single-card mode lets you use a game flashed to NOR as a standalone cartridge, and it supports switching to a different game.

Let me talk about my actual gameplay experience. I played The King of Fighters EX2: Howling Blood, and this game supports the GBA's native rumble functionality. It gave me a very novel experience—it's just so cleverly designed.

When the character I was using and the opponent attacked each other, I could feel the feedback—I just want to say this feature was designed just right. I haven't used the memory expansion pak much; after looking up some information, I found it was used more during the early DS era, and nowadays it's more of a feature with nostalgic significance. I'm not very skilled with the linking function, since I've just started playing the Pokémon series. Simply put, you can transfer Pokémon to play across games—this feature is amazing, and I really admire the creativity of the DS back then.

Having talked about these three features, what I mainly want to discuss now is single-card mode.

First of all, as a game in single-card mode, it must be flashed to NOR. Playing games in single-card mode does not require a memory card. EZ Flash Air currently has a limitation: only the first game in the list can be used in single-card mode. The EZ Flash DE and EZ Flash DE-B do not have this limitation. Some people say this feature isn't practical and that it's more cost-effective to just insert a memory card, but I want to say that this feature is meaningful.

Let me first talk separately about the ChisFlash-MBCX. It can be understood as a derivative version of the open-source flashcart ChisFlash, taking the direction of an MBC3 clock cartridge. Although the hardware cost isn't high, using it does have a certain threshold after all. But the EZ Flash Air is very simple and can also achieve this kind of effect—it's just that it leans more toward software. Of course, I'm not comparing which one is better, but rather saying that this kind of feature is also quite meaningful.

There may be a misconception you have about Mode B.

You need to first enter Mode A, choose between the linking and rumble functions, and then switch to Mode B to play. If you switch directly to Mode B without having flashed a game to NOR, it will be recognized as no cartridge inserted, and in linking mode your DS game card also won't show up. So if you only want to experience the rumble function, it's better to choose Mode A, and then switch back to linking when you need to use single-card mode.

I once thought about a question: can the EZ Flash Air enable linking and rumble functions at the same time? The result of my experiment is that it cannot. Mode B can only be recognized as one device at a time—either a rumble pak or a GBA cartridge; it can't serve both roles at once. I feel this is a very reasonable design, perhaps to make games run more stably, though the official explanation hasn't detailed the specific reason.

Where are the compromises of the EZ Flash Air? Why did I still buy it? Actually, I struggled for a long time myself before deciding to buy the Air. The biggest compromise is that the Air doesn't have PSRAM, so games must be written to NOR to be played; saves rely on SRAM plus a coin battery, and if the battery dies, the save is gone. As for the coin battery model, the EZ Flash Air uses a CR1220, while the EZ Flash DE-B uses a CR1025—please refer to the actual cartridge for specifics. Actually, if you're not the kind of heavy gamer, coin battery memory can still meet most of your needs; stock up in advance, and this battery can last a long time.

But I ultimately bought it because I especially wanted to try Mode B. Secondly, regarding compatibility with ROM hacks and cheat codes, the EZ Flash Air is slightly worse. Fortunately, though, it can play quite a few Pokémon ROM hacks, and many such works have file sizes reaching 32MB, which many entry-level flashcarts can't play. At the same time, I also tested other Pokémon ROM hacks, and the results were also decent.

However, if you're the type who plays many GBA games at the same time, especially Pokémon-related ones, I'd still recommend you buy the EZ Flash DE-B. Compared to the EZ Flash DE of back then, its cost has come down, and the user experience is also a bit better. And the most important point: currently the EZ Flash Air doesn't support save states, while the DE-B does.

Finally, let me talk about a ROM hack I've been playing recently. At least domestically, the very popular Pokémon Edición Team Rocket has a great experience when played on the EZ Flash Air. This is a ROM hack by the Spanish creator Dragonsden, based on Pokémon Emerald. The story is set around Team Rocket, which domestic players abbreviate as the "Spanish Team Rocket." It runs smoothly, I haven't run into any problems with saving, and it's very fun to play.

If you want to know the compatibility of specific games, you can reply in the comments with the game name + region version + whether it's a ROM hack. Due to game copyright and community rules, I will not share related files, and I hope you will also follow the relevant rules.

This doesn't mean the EZ Flash Air isn't worth considering at all. The price from distributors in China is $24.50, while the EZ Flash DE-B is $41.86(as of before this article was published)—the difference is still quite significant, making it very suitable for players with a limited budget to consider.

Taking everything into consideration, the EZ Flash Air lets some players experience new features like Mode B—that is its greatest significance.

EZ Flash Air Usage Tutorial

Here is the English translation of the image content:

The new card, like the DE-B, does not require specifically copying a kernel to upgrade.

Kernel upgrade method: Download the new version of the ezairkernel.bin file, copy it to the root directory of the storage card, then insert the flashcart back into the console. Hold down the R button while turning on the power. After the blue EZ-FLASH logo appears on the screen, release the button, and it will automatically flash. Never turn off the power during the flashing process.

Kernel rollback method: It is mainly divided into two steps. Whether upgrading or rolling back the kernel, you must follow the order. Rolling back means flashing the modified version first, then flashing the original version, stepping back to a stable version in two steps, for example, FW3/K1.04. Getting the order wrong can easily cause problems, and in severe cases, it can cause a freeze/death.

Here is a detail: First, rename the modified version file to ezairkernel.bin, and after a successful flash, delete the modified version file; rename the original version file to ezairkernel.bin as well, and flash it one more time. Remember that the order cannot be reversed, and do not flash repeatedly to avoid wearing out the NOR chip. After the rollback is complete, it is recommended to format the NOR and rewrite the games. If you are using this method for the first time, don't be afraid—just understand the principle and follow the process. You can also consult the distributor; they are more familiar with it.

The common key combinations for the EZ Flash Air are as follows:

Main Menu Operations · L + R: Switch tabs · A: Enter folder / Pop up the launch menu · B: Return to the previous folder / Close the menu · ← / →: Page through the file list · ↑ / ↓ + A: Select an option and confirm

In-Game Shortcuts · L + R + SELECT: Toggle cheat codes on/off (requires enabling the cheat code function in settings first) · L + R + START: Soft reset, immediately return to the main menu (requires enabling the soft reset function in settings first)

Note: The cheat code and soft reset functions are turned off by default when starting a game. You need to manually enable them on the settings page first before you can use the corresponding shortcuts.

That's basically all the basic operations. Thank you for reading. Personal experience is inevitably subject to omissions.

I've been using this card for a while now, and I've also been wondering whether it's worth keeping for the long term. You ask if I'll still hold on to a card like this? I want to say that this counts as an experience, and I want to keep this story—even though there are many areas that could be improved in actual use. I believe it will become a very promising GBA flashcart. So, do you prefer the Air or the DE-B? If your budget allows, which one would you choose? Or are you already struggling over whether to buy something with Mode B? You're welcome to share your situation in the comments—based on the number of games you play, your save needs, and how often you play ROM hacks, I can give you the most practical advice directly.

I wrote a blog post on the current trend of game decompilations using AI and where we're going with this. It's all very promising but oh boy are the implications scary.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/73125837

What you are about to do has not been approved by the Vatican. As a young priest, struggle against demons, cultists, and your own weakening faith in this pixel horror game inspired by the era of classic 8-bit gaming and the "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s.

(from the game's steam page, here).

I didn't think I could be scared by a game that looks like it came right out of the Apple II era, but the smoothly rotoscoped 2 - 4 color animations in Faith are plenty freaky. The story is delightful, too, with multiple endings possible and interesting lore to discover as rookie priest John Ward is forced to confront his own weaknesses.

I still find the death screen so memorable and haunting, even though it's just a black screen with an electronic voice reading the text "MORTIS" to you.

It was originally released in 3 individual chapters, but with Unholy Trinity, you can get all 3 at once on steam for $14.99 right now.

Supposedly a 4th chapter is in development, although it's been a long time with no news. Still, I think the first three are satisfying enough.

I always get a kick out of games that let you choose the names of all the in game characters.

Wave race 64!

• Invidious, a privacy respecting frontend for YouTube: https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=Fr3vlpBehcI
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/Fr3vlpBehcI

Video description:

---

***A quick disclaimer before we begin: Yes, the story and script for Shenmue were written first, and Yu Suzuki is deeply involved in the story and characters.

When I talk about what I believe Suzuki cares most about, I’m talking about my interpretation of his work, not claiming that this was his explicit intention.

My argument is that, more than simply telling a story, Yu Suzuki always seemed more fascinated by creating a world that felt truly realistic above all else.

__

In 1999, Yu Suzuki and SEGA created something unlike almost anything else. Shenmue was ambitious, strange, expensive, and obsessed with details that most games would never bother with.

A lot of videos ask the question "What" Is Shenmue, but in this video I want to discuss the Why. Why is the game the way it is, and why were those decisions made?

0:00 Beyond the walking simulator
1:33 Yus Suzuki's design history
2:54 Redefining the RPG genre
3:59 The philosophy of realism
5:47 Details for their own sake
7:46 World vs story
9:54 Reflecting on the legacy

I suggest using it with SuperFW firmware. I will also share some usage tips.

I want to play GBA games. The fun and sense of ritual of playing with cartridges is completely different from emulators. I bought an original DS console. Its shape is very recognizable. Chinese players also call it the lunchbox machine. This is an interesting folk name.

Note: This is a personal review, not a commercial promotion. The tutorial link comes from the creator's official documentation. The document may contain a QQ group contact for the Chinese community, which is the official support channel provided by the creator and does not involve payment.

GBA flashcarts are discussed a lot among retro game players. I still remember when I first came into contact with this kind of product seven years ago. At that time, the mainstream products in the Chinese market included Super Card, EZ Flash, and EverDrive series, corresponding to entry-level, advanced, and high-end positioning respectively. They are all products worth paying attention to.

Last week I came into contact with Super Chis by chance. This is an open-source project. ChisBread is responsible for the hardware architecture reconstruction, and Davidgf (the author of SuperFW firmware) is responsible for the firmware. By the way, ChisBread is a Chinese hardware expert.

Disclaimer

1. This is my personal usage experience. Mistakes are unavoidable. Friendly discussion is welcome.
2. The hardware prices appearing in this article are only current reference prices in the Chinese market. Overseas players need to pay attention.
3. I will not provide merchant information or game download services. I can help test.
4. This is an open-source project. If someone sells public content for a fee, please report it.
5. I will not pretend to be a DIY hardware expert. The content of the article comes from real testing and the internet.
6. Making a Super Chis flashcart requires soldering. You need to find tutorials yourself.
7. For purchases in China, it is recommended to find merchants cooperating with ChisBread. He himself does not sell it.
8. Due to hardware cost, RTC function is not supported for now. Someone has implemented it for Pokemon rom hacks.

Super Chis flashcart price, and why I am very optimistic about its development

Its current price is about $15 USD. It uses SRAM battery and does not support RTC (real-time clock). It has a certain impact on playing the Pokemon series. For example, berry growth time cannot be synchronized with the real world. If you only want to play the story, you can use an emulated clock. The time accuracy may not be perfect, and some fun is missing.

At present, the parts that can be modified are mainly save battery memory and NOR, such as ferroelectric (battery-free) and MT 01G, and upgrading SDRAM. The price of EZ-Flash Air is about $24 USD, which is about the same as the price of a modified Super Chis. If you play Pokemon series games, I recommend EZ-Flash Air more, after all, it has RTC function and better compatibility with modified versions of Pokemon. The battery design is similar to the modified Super Chis. This battery is used for saving. If it runs out of power, the save will be lost. After replacement, it will become a blank save. It is recommended to back up the .sav file in advance.

Secondly, EZ-Flash Air can only write games to NOR when loading. I remember Super Card also has this limitation. However, Super Chis can write directly to the storage card.

SuperChis lacks support for the GBA-DS link feature and rumble function found on the EZ-Flash Air. These were interesting designs back in the day, which makes sense when you look at the product positioning.

I think there are two aspects in which Super Chis truly has development:

In hardware, it has reached a balance between cost and player needs. At around $15 USD, it seems very friendly. Super Card is about $11 USD. Perhaps it is even better in cost performance. After all, Super Card also has a problem: no virtual clock.

The role of SuperFW. Super Card looks completely new, and Super Chis is even more unique.

1. In software, it remains open, enhancing the subsequent product vitality. SuperFW has more possibilities in soft reset, cheats, save states, and even emulators.
2. When I was playing Tekken A, I found that choosing to load to NOR can significantly improve the playing experience.
3. You can also save SuperFW settings on the storage card. Changing to another Super Chis saves the time of setting up again.
4. The interface is relatively user-friendly. It supports folder secondary directories, history play records, multiple languages, and a more powerful soft reset function.

Let me first explain that Super Card is a classic entry-level GBA flashcart developed by the SC team. Its representative works also include DSTWO, which can be considered a high-end DS flashcart.

The Super Chis flashcart is a hardware reconstruction based on Super Card, improving some of the original defects. It is not from the same production team as Super Card. The main connection is that it uses SuperFW firmware. When downloading, be sure to choose the corresponding file. Cross-file kernel upgrades are not supported.

Super Card was not designed to support playing GBA games without flashing at the beginning. The capacity limit for storage cards is a maximum of 2GB. Some games have slowdown problems. SuperFW solved no-flash playing and storage limitations, and slightly improved the slowdown problem. Note that the slowdown problem is a hardware design defect. If you can accept this situation, then you may not necessarily need to buy a Super Chis flashcart. If you know DIY hardware relatively well, you can also make it yourself. I do not know whether ChisBread has written an English tutorial.

What hardware upgrades does Super Chis have compared with Super Card?

More efficient CPLD, larger capacity NOR Flash, optimized storage card read and write speed, and SDRAM latency optimization.

At the software level, compatibility with Pokemon series games is better, but compatibility with modified versions has certain problems. When the ROM file reaches 32MB, it is very likely that it cannot run even with a patch. This is a design limitation of the GBA.

For example, the modified work Pokemon Edicion Team Rocket is called the Spanish Team Rocket in China. Super Chis cannot run it directly. It is said that flashing a modified version of SuperFW can play it. However, in order to avoid freezing problems with the flashcart, I did not try it. But I can provide three ideas:

1. Use an emulator to play. It can break through the GBA native limit on ROM and also supports RTC. 2. When ordering custom cartridges, RTC can be added as an option. Chinese finished-cart vendors profit from this technical work.
2. Choose other GBA flashcarts. EZ Flash series products can play it, and the cost performance is also good.

Super Chis production tutorial

Source from Chis Bread's official community. Players who love DIY hardware can refer to it. Overseas netizens can use translation software. Specific material prices can be found by yourselves.

https://docs.qq.com/doc/DVmpqR3V5ZXZ4aWpT I don't know much about DIY hardware, but I can still help test whether a ROM runs properly. I will not actively share ROM files. If you want me to test a ROM, you can reply with: game name + language version + whether it is homebrew or a mod. I will help as much as I can.

ChisFlash V1.1 RTC single cart has both hardware RTC and FRAM save memory, but it is not SuperChis. SuperChis is the TF-card flashcart series that only uses firmware-emulated RTC. The ChisFlash V1.1 is a NOR single-cart with no TF slot, requiring a programmer to write ROMs. Although they share the same project developer, they belong to completely separate hardware product lines.

One of the most infamous Doom WADs. Or is it the most awesome? Well, you decide. The author commentary is pretty funny no matter what.

I’m lucky enough to call both Russ from Retro Game Corps and Lee (who some of you will probably know better as Wild Lee from Venture Electronics) friends, which made this a particularly fun article for me to put together.

It’s a look at Lee, VE and some of the earbuds he sent me to try, including the Monk GTS and GTR (the latter designed specifically with retro gaming in mind, with Russ helping to bring it to life), but it also gets into the friendship and history between Lee and Russ, how they’ve worked together over the years, and a little of the story behind the people involved rather than a review on the earbuds. I’ve tried to make it as much about Lee and the strange, enthusiastic little world around VE as it is about the hardware itself. Hope some of you enjoy it!

I’m lucky enough to call both Russ from Retro Game Corps and Lee (who some of you will probably know better as Wild Lee from Venture Electronics) friends, which made this a particularly fun article for me to put together.

It’s a look at Lee, VE and some of the earbuds he sent me to try, including the Monk GTS and GTR (the latter designed specifically with retro gaming in mind, with Russ helping to bring it to life), but it also gets into the friendship and history between Lee and Russ, how they’ve worked together over the years, and a little of the story behind the people involved rather than a review on the earbuds. I’ve tried to make it as much about Lee and the strange, enthusiastic little world around VE as it is about the hardware itself. Hope some of you enjoy it!

Well, here's my feature on spruceOS and where the project is heading with their 4.5.0 update. Rather than just running through a changelog, I wanted to get into why spruce has grown the way it has: the push toward that “one card to rule them all” idea, making the same SD card useful across more handhelds, the work behind dArkMoss/BaseOS, offline RetroAchievements, and how the project has expanded without losing the hobbyist spirit that made it interesting in the first place.

To put it together I interviewed all four members of the spruce team: SundownerSport, Ry, Arkun and Chris, all about their own parts of the project, how they work together, and what 4.5.0 represents for spruce going forward. There’s quite a lot in there about the technical side, but also about the people behind it and the wonderfully informal “follow the fun” philosophy that seems to shape a lot of what spruce becomes.

I like to interview developers in the retro handheld scene so people can get a peek behind the curtain about what goes on, so hopefully there's something in here for anyone curious :)

I've just released what I think is a stable version of a Esp32-S3 based serial bridge for the Retrotink4K. This is separate from the recently released "Retro-Bridge". The biggest difference right now between our projects is mine is fully local and open source, theirs has much more advanced controls. I'm hoping once they release their specifications I can update my project to act as an interface for their tools.

If you have a esp32-s3 devkitc and a retrotink 4k, I would love to have some feedback.

With the recent flux of decompiled and recompiled projects for retro games to play them natively on PC, which game do you want see tackled on? And why? Or do you rather want Mods and Romhacks for the actual Rom for emulation?

Why Did I Pay Extra for a 17-Year-Old Handheld? A Chinese Player's Gaming Story

This is a personal nostalgic essay, not a hardware review.

Half a month ago, I spent about $39 on a blue, original, unmodified DSi. It looks very nice. The only flaw is that the screen has some yellowing, which is caused by the natural aging of the LCD. The only way to fix it is to replace the screen. I'll share my experiences playing on the DSi. By the way: Chinese players are used to putting the letter N in front of DS. If overseas friends search for "DS" on the Chinese internet, they can easily end up with a lot of unrelated results. But I believe that everyone's love for games is universal.

Opening: From Emulators to a World Different From the PSP

Eight years ago, I bought a PSP with money I earned from a part-time job. It wasn't a collector's item, but it meant a lot to me. When I was a kid, I only knew about the PSP as the mainstream handheld, and I was always curious about who its rival was back then, and whether it was even more fun than the PSP.

I looked things up online and found that phones could run DS emulators. I tried Super Mario Bros., and the experience was pretty good. I didn't live through the GBA era as a kid. Before the PSP, I had only played on pirated handhelds that could run Famicom games. Phone emulators could play the games, but they couldn't reproduce the unique feeling of the dual screens. Not long after, I got a DS Lite for about $17, and it brought me a lot of surprises.

Anyone who has played the Famicom version of Super Mario Bros. knows that Mario grows bigger after eating a mushroom. Chinese players gave this scene a very vivid nickname: "eating a mushroom to grow bigger." If the DS had become popular in China earlier, this nickname would have fit even better. On the DS, Mario not only grows bigger after eating a mushroom, but also becomes invincible. That was one of the reasons the DS attracted me back then.

I Sold My DS Lite Cheaply to Buy an Overpriced DSi, and I Don't Regret It

A year and a half ago, the A button's rubber pad on my DS Lite had poor rebound, and the screen yellowing had become more obvious. It could still play normally, but I was fairly busy at the time. It just so happened that a high school student online wanted to buy one. At that time, the second-hand market for DS Lites in China had already started to rise. I told her that this DS Lite could play GBA cartridges, came with two flashcarts and a memory card, and I even taught her step by step how to use it. She said the handheld let her relax amid heavy schoolwork, and she had a lot of fun with it.

I only charged her about $29 for the whole package. Now it could sell for at least $7–$14 more, but I don't regret making less money. Compared with obsessing over the price difference, letting idle devices continue to be useful matters more to me.

So do I regret buying the DSi at a premium? My thought is: if I had bought it back in the day, the value for money would definitely have been better. But second-hand old machines vary a lot in condition, and this one is in pretty good shape, letting me experience a kind of fun different from the DS Lite. I'm not encouraging everyone to jump on the retro handheld bandwagon. For playing retro games, the best time is the present.

The Misunderstood DS: Chinese Players Jokingly Called It a "Dual-Screen PSP" and Thought It Was Just a Kids' Console

In China, the DS was far less popular than the PSP. A big reason is that besides games, the PSP could also be used as an MP4 video player, and a large number of knockoff handhelds also rode the PSP's popularity. I'll go into that story in a later article.

Once, I was playing my DS Lite on a train. The young person across from me curiously asked what kind of game console it was. Maybe because the art style looked cute, they thought it was a dual-screen version of the PSP, and that it was just a machine for kids.

Later I learned that they had never really played this kind of handheld, and just called all handhelds PSPs. I explained to them that this was Nintendo's handheld from the same generation as the PSP, and that its global sales were even twice as high as the PSP's. They didn't really understand, so I brought up Mario — Nintendo's signature IP, aimed at all ages, not just kids.

In the early years, there were also TV quiz ads in China with prizes labeled as PSP and DS. But after dialing the number, people would be charged exorbitant phone fees, and almost no one could actually get the prizes. The ads only promoted the DS as a "Mario console," which led many people to mistakenly believe that the DS could only play Mario games, causing them to miss out on the fun this handheld had to offer.

Chinese Players' Obsession With the DQ9 Fan Translation, and Why That Version Froze So Often

Chinese players back then had a deep obsession with fan translations. Early Nintendo handhelds almost had no official Chinese versions, and many DS fan translations were very high quality. But Dragon Quest IX ran into trouble: The Chinese font file in the DQ9 fan translation was very large. When run on an ordinary R4 flashcart, it would exhaust the DS's limited memory and cause random freezes. The only stable way to play the Chinese version of DQ9 back then was to buy the expensive DSTWO flashcart. Many players were willing to pay for it.

Back then, the atmosphere in Chinese gaming forums was great. Players paid out of their own pockets to buy all kinds of flashcarts, test game compatibility, power consumption, cheat functions, and so on, and posted side-by-side reviews, comparing both original and domestic clone cards. I also learned a lot from those posts.

Nowadays, the DQ9 fan translation is somewhat more stable, but there is still a chance of freezing. We developed a habit: manually save every few minutes to prevent losing progress. I also bought an official DQ9 cartridge as a keepsake.

DS flashcarts for Chinese retro gamers: Relive your childhood for just $2.80

There are two mainstream DS flashcarts in China: clone R4 flashcarts built on domestic PCBs, and the DSpico flashcart. Each has its pros and cons.

The biggest difference between them: the R4 project long ago stopped official maintenance, but its DS game compatibility is very strong, and it can run DS games on a 3DS; its weakness is that native GBA game compatibility is very poor. DSpico is an open-source project deeply optimized for DS/DSi, and it cannot run 3DS-exclusive games; its DS game compatibility is a little weaker, but its GBA emulator compatibility is better. My DSi paired with DSpico gives a very good DS gaming experience.

If you have a DSi, I recommend installing the TWiLightMenu++ frontend, and I will share my experience.

Pros: Built-in emulators, custom themes, overclocking, and extra features.

Cons: Compatibility with modified ROMs is mediocre. Save corruption and cheat codes may stop working. It loads ROMs via nds-bootstrap instead of reading them at the flashcart hardware level.

Note: Cold boot and soft reset may seem similar, but they work very differently. When a game crashes in TWiLightMenu++, using soft reset raises the risk of save file damage. In this case, cold boot is recommended. When the game runs normally, soft reset is preferred and usually won’t cause issues.

Soft reset operation: Hold L+R+SELECT for 2 seconds inside a game to return to the TWiLightMenu++ game list. Hotkeys can be customized in TWiLightMenu++ settings.

Addendum: DSpico does not natively support soft reset (cold boot and soft reset look alike but function differently). TWiLightMenu++ is third-party boot software that loads games through nds-bootstrap, rather than reading ROMs directly from the flashcart hardware. Most sellers in China only document native cold boot functions on their product pages and manuals, without mentioning this third-party soft reset feature.

Disclaimer: This post combines online resources and my own real hardware testing. My knowledge is limited, so my observations may not be entirely accurate. Corrections and discussions are welcome.

Why are prices so low in China? I think production costs have come down, and these are not scarce items. That’s why they are affordable and durable. I plan to keep writing about my original Nintendo DS experience later on. I will also test the Chinese GBA flashcart, SuperChis. It uses the SuperFW firmware and offers good value for money. It does not support RTC for now.

Final Interaction Question: Do You Have Any Interesting DS Stories or Questions? Welcome to Share Them.

Repo: https://github.com/Niborian/gameyfin
Docker: https://github.com/niborian/gameyfin/pkgs/container/gameyfin

From what I could gather it seems like the most well maintained fork of Gameyfin: https://github.com/Niborian/gameyfin/network

Does anyone have experience with it?

An impressive effort has been made to replicate the exact appearance of old CRT televisions on modern LCD and OLED panels. The page I've linked is very well written.

Time for an article I wrote about Slot, an interesting custom firmware made specifically for the Anbernic RG SP. I chatted with its developer K-Wall about where it came from and why it deliberately does things a little differently.

Rather than trying to turn the RG SP into an everything-machine, Slot sticks to the Game Boy family and leans hard into the SP nostalgia: games appear as physical cartridges on your screen, the carousel encourages you to keep a smaller collection, closing the lid saves your game, and even the old stretched GB/GBC display mode is recreated. K-Wall took that attention to detail right down to the sounds, recording himself physically pushing a cartridge into his childhood GBA so that familiar 'thunk' could become part of Slot itself.

We also chat about burnout, his other projects Cannoli and Grout, why Slot started as something he never intended to release publicly, and his very candid approach to using A.I. during development as a tool. If you like the RG SP, unusual CFW projects, or software designed around a very specific bit of hardware rather than endless feature creep, hopefully you’ll enjoy it :)

This guide allows you to softmod your PS2 fat model in easy steps without an existing FMCB card or any rom manager. Thanks to the Reddit user u/quisys for the original guide. Disclaimer: make sure you know what disk you're writing to when using dd command, I am not responsible for any data loss.

Required Hardware

• Fat PS2
• Memory Card
• PS2 Network Adapter
• Controller
• HDD
• USB key
• SATA to USB cable

Required Software

• dd, exfat-utils, util-linux (you probably already have these in your distro)
• wLaunchELF KHN HDD image
• FreeMCBoot installer
• wLaunchELF 4.43x_isr
• OpenPS2 Loader

Install FreeMCBoot

• Connect your HDD to your computer, then write "__mbr.raw" (wLaunchELF KHN HDD image) to the HDD: sudo dd if=__mbr.raw of=/dev/sdX [Determine the path of your HDD using lsblk. It should be /dev/sdX, with X being the letter of your disk. ENSURE YOU USE THE PATH OF YOUR DISK! IT SHOULD NEVER BE /dev/sda]
• Unmount and remove the HDD
• Extract FreeMCBoot Installer then copy BOOT.ELF, OPNPS2LD.ELF and FMCBinst folder to your USB key
• Plug HDD and USB key into your PS2, then turn on the PS2
• Enter file browser, go to mass: and launch BOOT.ELF
• Enter file browser, go to mass: > FreeMCBinst folder and open FMCBInstaller.elf (not the exfat one), then select Install FreeMCBoot following the on-screen instructions. Restart your console
• Open wLaunchELF and go to file browser, go to mass: and hover over OPNPS2LD.ELF and press R1, select Copy. Go to mc0: or mc1: (depending on which slot your memory card is in), go to OPL and press R1, select Paste to overwrite OPNPS2LD.ELF
• Restart your PS2, open OpenPS2Loader, go to About and make sure the version is not 1.0.0, then turn off your PS2 and remove the HDD

HDD Management

• Connect your HDD to PC and format it in ExFAT (I suggest you a partition manager, or you can use mkfs.exfat /dev/sdX)
• Make a folder called DVD and a folder called CD in the root of your HDD
• Copy your videogames .iso to the DVD folder or your .cue/.bin to the CD folder

OPL Setup

• Plug in your HDD to the PS2, turn on your PS2
• Go to OpenPS2Loader > Settings and turn on cache game list (HDD), set BDM start mode to Auto
• Go to BDM Devices, disable USB, enable HDD
• Press OK, hit Save Changes

Follow-up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20IZqIOrZPc

WHAT'S COVERED

Somari (1994)
The original bootleg. Most of its graphics are based on Sonic 1 for the Genesis, while the Green Hill background and the Special Stages come from the Master System version. Somari himself was drawn over Mario's sprite from Super Mario Bros. 3. It includes every zone except Scrap Brain and even adds the Spin Dash, but the physics are clumsy, the level design is poor, and there are no checkpoints or continues.

Sonic the Hedgehog (1998)
A Hummer Team hack, also sold as Sonic 3D Blast 5, that puts Sonic back in the lead. It adds a new title screen and an attract mode, but starts in Spring Yard Zone and comes with a misassigned level select and typos like "Spring Yand."

Level Fix (2016), by Hybrid
Puts the start back at Green Hill Zone, fixes the level select mapping, and corrects "Spring Yand."

Improvement V1.0 (2016), by the jabu
Made for Sonic's 25th anniversary, this is where the community's work on the original Somari begins: new Sonic sprites, retouched palettes, extra animation, a better-centered camera, a controllable Spin Dash, and reworked acceleration. Fifty rings now get you into the Special Stage, though the Chaos Emeralds are still missing.

Improvement + Music (2016), by Ti, with tracks by Amilgi
Every track redone using only the NES's own sound hardware, and sound effects no longer cut off the music.

Improvement + Graphics (2016), by Terwilf
A graphics-focused patch covering scenery, items, enemies, and Sonic himself.

Improvement V1.2 (2017), by FuriousHedgehog
Another graphics pass, with the jabu's, Ti's, and Terwilf's work already included: a reworked title screen, corrected Sonic sprites, updated background tiles, redrawn rings, a Genesis-style number font, and a life icon inspired by Sonic Mania.

Sonic the Hedgehog Vol. 2 (2020), directed by Terwilf
An unofficial continuation of the jabu's project and a full rebuild of the game: overhauled physics and collisions, variable jump height, checkpoints and continues, the Chaos Emeralds and Super Sonic, fourteen emeralds with a second round of faux 3D Special Stages in the style of Sonic 3's Blue Spheres, a redesigned Labyrinth Zone, Scrap Brain Zone made from scratch, proper endings with cutscenes, and an optional FM soundtrack for EPSM hardware and compatible emulators like Mesen-X.

Channel members get full longplays of several of the versions featured in this video.