| M3DS Real Review - DS Database - 11-25-07 |
Special thanks to the
M3 Team for arranging a sample. The M3DS Real was highly hyped for quite some time. It was rumored to be in the works as soon as the M3DS Simply was released. Because of the success of the M3DS Simply, it seemed highly likely that the M3DS Real would be far superior in every aspect. However, the release of the G6DS Real was quite a failure. Its highly prized feature of 100% download play compatibility was a lie, their system was a failure. Most of the bugs for the G6DS Real were fixed, yet because reviews are rarely updated, it already has quite a bad reputation. The hype of the M3DS Real completely died down, and even with the release, there seems to be quite a few people that associate the G6DS Real’s failure with it.
The M3DS Real is the next of the M3 series, which have always been known to be high quality, high performance, and most of all, expensive carts. With the release of the M3DS Real, there was news that it has a hugely competitive price tag, and comes in different bundles with slot 2 expansion carts that can work with the M3DS Real. At the moment, the M3DS Real is one of the cheapest flash carts on the market, with a price tag of approximately $35 for the standalone cart.
- Design - In the past, the M3 products have been shipped out in a horrendously ugly box covered in blue colors, random pictures and English descriptions that didn’t make much sense. The M3DS Real’s packaging has certainly taken a turn for the best. Sure the English is still pretty bad, but at least the packaging is less cluttered and actually features the actual product and not some inaccurate pictures.
The M3DS Real ships out in several packages, in this review I have received the Perfect Bundle Version, which includes the M3DS Real, a MicroSD reader, the Rumble Pack and the GBA Expansion Pack. Unfortunately, I have not received the Rumble RAM Pack to test, therefore I am not able to comment on it.
The MicroSD reader looks quite similar to those shipped with early models of the R4, M3DS Simply and CycloDS Evolution, they are nice and cheap, however, there were lots of complaints about them breaking. The one that shipped out with my M3DS Real still works fine even after quite a bit of abuse, I would assume that the MicroSD reader isn’t a major issue. The two slot 2 carts were almost exactly the same in build quality. The plastic was quite cheap feeling, but it was sturdy enough for use. The top was glossy so that it matched the Onyx Black DS Lite, and the sticker is nice and simple. What I don’t understand is why there is a piece of the casing missing on the front of the cart. It leaves the contacts completely exposed. I imagine the idea is that it would be easier to clean the contacts with an eraser if anything was to happen, but it makes the contacts far more vulnerable to damage. Either way, it is quick and easy to clean with a rubber eraser if necessary. Both carts fit flush into the DS Lite, however, they were quite easy to insert and remove from the DS Lite, and their gloss layer was a perfect match. Too bad it is only available in black.
The M3DS Real cart isn’t all that great. It is incredibly similar to the G6DS Real, it has clips on the side so that you can change cases in the future, unfortunately they are quite brittle, and get damaged quite easily if you don’t know what you are doing. The front of the cart has a chip sticking out, and the sticker isn’t all that brilliantly designed. There is a spring loaded MicroSD slot at the top. There are those who worry that it’ll snap, and there is evidence that it is the same faulty, spring loaded MicroSD slot as the old R4 and M3DS Simply batches, but frankly, that doesn’t concern me. It works fine, and has worked fine for the past few weeks, there has been no signs whatsoever of snapping. When placed into the DS Lite, it goes in and out perfectly fine even with the chip sticking out, and the MicroSD card can be removed without removing the M3DS Real with a bit of precise poking.
- Software - As with all newer flash carts, the M3DS Real fully supports drag and drop. This means that you simply download your files and drag it into your MicroSD, there is no need to patch your games or homebrew because the M3DS Real does it automatically.
On the official M3DS Real site, you can download a tool to trim roms and convert saves to the M3DS Real’s format. I didn’t find their tools to be all that useful because there is already a massive amount of programs that can do these things for you already on the internet, most of them are better than those offered by the M3 team. One thing to add is that the M3DS Real and the G6DS Real share the same firmware. Their system files can be used interchangeably. This is quite nice as the G6DS Real menu has been refined quite a bit already. Unfortunately, the G6DS Real is superior in a few ways. In the past, the G6DS Real had a built in mini loader that can run games even if your system folder is missing, I couldn’t access this feature at all on the M3DS Real. Also, the G6DS Real was able to boot immediately, or from the official Nintendo DS menu, whereas the M3DS Real can only boot directly.
- Use - Here is a quick demo of the M3DS Real's
menu: The M3DS Real boots immediately, you will never see the Nintendo DS menu again once you have the M3DS Real inserted into the console. Once inside, there is a quick load, and you will get 7 icons. The first two, “NDS” and “GBA” go into menus that browse through your NDS or GBA collection, and you can boot the games from there. “MyCard” is the M3DS Real’s way of booting homebrew, you cannot boot it from NDS, but must boot it from this icon. “Boot” allows you to boot a slot 2 cart into NDS or GBA mode depending on which icon you click. “Media” opens M3DS Real’s built in MediaPlay-Extend player, which is a modified version of moonshell. “PDA” allows you to access some PDA features, which aren’t all that great. And the final icon, “Setting” gives you the option to choose how to boot the M3DS Real (there is no option because it was intended for the G6DS Real), change the skin, change what part of the menu you look at upon boot, and chance the language of the system. In the menu, clicking Y changes the brightness level if you are using a DS Lite, and click X swaps the screens.
Because most of the extra features are either self explanatory, or can be better done by other homebrew, we will focus more on the NDS and GBA menu.
In the NDS menu, you get a list of games, when you select a game, you get prompted to another menu. In this menu, you can toggle cheats soft-reset and slow motion before loading the game. If you plan to use download play, you don’t click A or start to start, but Y to enable download play. When you boot the game, it loads for a minute on a M3/G6 wallpaper for a few seconds before the game loads.
The GBA menu is far more surprising. It can only be opened if you have an M3 GBA Expansion Pack. You get a list of games, similar to the NDS menu, and when you select one, you are, once again, moved to another screen. This screen allows you to toggle cheats and Real Time Save (which is a feature that allows you to save at any point of the game, and not where the game restricts you). As well you get two methods to load the game, which didn’t make a whole lot of difference in booting time or how the game plays.
- Functionality - It is expected that the M3DS Real has high compatibility. For NDS games, everything worked perfectly. All games worked, and there was no lag with a 1GB Made in Japan Kingston MicroSD. I am told that almost all MicroSD cards, including no name brands, cheap memory cards, etc should work full speed even on Castlevania and Tony Hawk games. However, I was unable to test this. As well, SDHC MicroSD cards should also work full speed with the M3DS Real, once again, I was unable to confirm this.
Homebrew boots quite slowly on the M3DS Real, it seems to need to patch every time, and it has to recognize that it is a DLDI capable homebrew file and then patch, quite slowly as well. But afterwards, everything works perfectly fine. I haven’t run into any troubles yet.
The M3DS Real was advertised to have 100% download play compatibility. It seems that it has succeeded, unlike the G6DS Real. By pressing Y to boot the game, it enables 100% download play compatibility. Working Not Working Pokemon Battle Revolution was the first game with Wii and DS connectivity. Surprisingly, the G6DS Real was one of the few carts able to access this connection without the need for a patch. It would make sense, logically, that the M3DS Real, which shares the same firmware, and many similar components, would work just as well. Unfortunately, the M3DS Real was unable to connect to the Wii. GBA games are probably the reason you want to purchase the M3DS Real. Their expansion pack is the only expansion pack that works with a slot 1 cart and still has features such as Real Time Save and cheats. Originally with the first firmware, all games worked when they were clean, but the Real Time Save was a hit and miss. However, with the latest firmware, 2.6, I have saved hundreds of times and have only been met with one or two problems. This is impressive, it is even more capable than some flash carts that are dedicated to GBA playback.
Unfortunately the GBA Expansion Pack lacks parts such as the Real Time Clock (RTC). This causes problems for games such as the Pokemon series. Thankfully it can be patched. As well, the GBA Expansion Pack can act as a RAM pack for the Opera Web Browser too. Simply patch the Opera Web Browser rom with the file provided on the CD that came along with the M3DS Real to run.
The other two slot 2 companions that shipped out with the M3DS Real are the Rumble Pack and the Rumble RAM pack. Unfortunately I did not received the Rumble RAM pack, but according to the M3 team, it should be the same as the Rumble Pack, plus capabilities to act as RAM for the Opera Web Browser. The rumble works with games without patching, and has a nice feel to it. It is quite loud, but still quieter than the EZ Flash 3 in 1, and gives better feedback.
- Conclusion - The M3DS Real should dominate the next generation of flash carts. It has an unbeatable price, great features, and a superb team behind it. It works flawlessly with its expansion packs to provide one of the most feature rich carts on the market. There is no reason not to pick up one.
The M3DS Real has great features, particularly in the GBA side. It is able to provide features that aren’t available on other expansion packs, and they work surprisingly well. For the NDS side, all games play full speed, with download play support. All of this is offered at an incredibly low price.
Unfortunately, the build quality of the M3DS Real isn’t all that great. There are a few features that the G6DS Real has that the M3DS Real should have as well. Homebrew isn’t done quite well on the M3DS Real. And the English bundle of the M3DS Real is only offered in black, all of the slot 2 carts are also black and lite sized, which is an inconvenience to anyone with anything other than an Onyx Black DS Lite.
Overall, the M3DS Real is probably the best cart for its price. It is cheap, and still feature-rich. If you are purchasing the M3DS Real, I’d highly recommend going all the way and purchasing the Perfect Bundle Version, which includes a Rumble Pack and the GBA Expansion Pack because that is where the M3DS Real really shines. But even without them, the M3DS Real offers solid playback of NDS games and homebrew as well as some neat features.
- Score - Design – 4/5 Overall – 37/40 Special thanks to the M3 Team who arranged the sample for this review. |
