Homebrew on DS
August 1, 2007, by xKarma (Also check out our guide to the best homebrew applications)
Recently I ran into an old friend with a Nintendo DS who was more than happy to introduce me to something that I had yet to hear about: the wonderful world of homebrew. Yes, homebrew. There are independent programmers out there creating excellent applications for the Nintendo DS - but these applications are free and cannot be found in stores. This is what homebrew is all about. To utilize these freeware indie applications, you need only to download them off of the appropriate website, place the files on a MicroSD card, pop the MicroSD card into a special DS cartridge, and... that is it! People have made applications such as AOL Instant Messager, MP3 and Video players, mIRC, and more for your Nintendo DS. There is a top-notch organizer application that turns your DS into a PDA. Hell, you can even turn your DS into a wireless video game controller! If you have not heard of this before you are probably beginning to wonder why. To be blunt: Nintendo does not want you to.
Yes, even Doom runs homebrew style
(Before I continue, it should be noted that this is not limited to the Nintendo DS - this is simply the example used in this article. The PSP has a very established homebrew scene as do many non-portable consoles...)
Reading homebrew applications on the Nintendo DS is a special cartridge known as the R4DS. The R4DS reads the MicroSD card that is full of whatever homebrew applications you choose to include on it. Putting applications on your MicroSD card requires only a computer with a USB port and is a simple drag-and-drop procedure. Insert the MicroSD card into your R4DS cartridge, put the cartridge into your DS and power your DS up to be greeted to a nice interface that is even skinnable whereby you can browse and work with all of your media. It really is simple and all together the equipment will run you less than 50$. Roughly 50$ and you get access to tons of freeware games and applications that transform your DS into a bad-ass little machine.
Why does Nintendo hate this whole business so much? Because the R4DS does not limit you to only using homebrew applications. You can easily drag and drop any Nintendo DS game you want onto your MicroSD card. Recommended MicroSD cards have 1-2 GBs of space on them. Nintendo DS games are usually under 128 MBs and can even be trimmed down with special applications. This means that at anytime you can be walking around with a good 20 Nintendo DS games. And finding games is not at all a difficult procedure. Simply heading to sites like JustRoms or BTJunkie will take care of most, if not all, of your needs. It really is that easy to download Nintendo DS ROMs and the R4DS knows how to read the ROM files meaning that with a R4DS you really do not need to buy any DS games anymore. If that is not bad enough for Nintendo, you can also run SNES and NES games on the R4DS by simply loading them up with the appropriate emulators.
What if you own the Nintendo DS games legitimately and simply want a way to take your entire collection with you without taking more than one cartridge? Well this is the perfect solution but as far as the moral and legal aspects are concerned I guess it depends on who you ask. It is almost a certainty that Nintendo does not care whether you own a game or not - so long as you are playing it on a cartridge like the R4DS it is unlikely they will be pleased. I own many DS games that I have installed on my R4DS and I am extremely happy that I do not have to carry each individual game around. Much like people fighting the RIAA over how they use their legal MP3 collections, the same applies to this situation.
Why the hell would you want to carry this around...
...when you need only this... this is portable gaming after all.
Many of you are thinking - "But most people will just steal the games like they do music." In the music industry, many artists are just now realizing that people sharing their music for free actually helps them in that it exposes their goods to a greater number of people. Many people use pirated music to discover new music and to try out music that they normally would never listen to and especially would not have spent money on. Likewise, being able to download and play games before having to buy them may have the effect of preventing people from accidently buying games that they hate and will expose gamers to games they normally would have never known that they would like.
Am I condoning game piracy? Hell no. I'm just not naive enough to think that it will disappear and thus I am providing you all with facts and commentary. I encourage you all to pay the retail price for any game that you play often and love. I also encourage owners of the Nintendo DS and PSP to check out the great homebrew communities on the web. Homebrew exists for better or worse. Homebrew applications are generally freeware and there are a ton of very cool ones out there. While homebrew readers like the R4DS can promote piracy they can also provide DS owners with a greater overall experience. With all of the applications that enhance your DS (or PSP or other system) and turn it into something that it ordinarily is not, the homebrew scene is a good one after all.
Demo of the R4DS in action
Buy R4DS here for only $35!
Still want more information? Check out our guide to the best homebrew applications.
& DIGG THIS
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