R4 “Revolution for DS”

This is a bit late but worth the read.

Every once in a while you come across a product which solves many problems and does it well. What problems you ask? How do I easily back up my DS games and have them all available (and playable) in one location. Secondly, is there a way of doing this which requires little effort and no modding knowledge?

The R4 DS Card is the solution to these problems.

From the outside, you can hardly tell this is anything special. Looking more like a memory card than a game, it is exactly the same size as a DS card. It accepts any size of Micro SD cards; mine being 2gb. As you can see, those micro SD cards are smaller than a nickel. It locks into place with a secure click.

So what exactly does this mystery card do? That is the amazing part.

It’s main use is to take any DS rom and make it playable on the DS. With an average rom size of 64mb, you can fit quite a few DS games onto a 2gb SD card. And yes, these roms are fully functional exact duplicates of DS games. Everything is the same minus the source where they are found.

The very best part about all of this is that there is no external software needed. You don’t need a synchronization program on your computer to copy certain file types over. Just drag and drop roms, video, and music onto your Micro SD card and plug ‘er in. It really is as easy as that.

Additionally, the R4 is capable of loading and playing a number of homebrew apps. I personally have Doom which takes advantage of wireless multiplayer and a NES emulator with a whole slew of NES games.

To find out where you can buy the R4, refer to its official website. R4DS.net
The website also has information on what media is accepted and other details not covered in this review.

The R4 is truly a milestone for DS homebrew. I think this leapfrogs it over the continuously dominant homebrew gorilla, the PSP. With its ease of use and variety of applications at a cheap price tag, I recommend this card to all DS owners.