evolvingconsole

Author: cdeschenes

Flash Cart

SuperCard MiniSD (GBA)

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This was the first GBA flash card I got and I bought it the month it was released. It served me well all these years even with all the software quarks. The glaring downside of this cart was the fact that you had to use their software to transfer games to it. The software would inject a temporary save state and any cheats you might want to enable. This sounds awesome but I would constantly get errors from the software on so many ROMs. Sometimes they would work fine even with the errors but most would not. So it was a tedious process making a card of all “working” games. With this card now being over 11 years old, it has not really stood up well against cards like the Everdrive GBA but for its time it was amazing. The way this card is a real winner is by the fact that its the size of a GBA game and does not stick out at all in the handheld. This can not be said about the Everdrive GBA.

Features:

  • Compatiable with GBA/SP/GBM/IDS/NDS/NDS Lite.
  • Built in emulators include emulators for the NES, Gameboy, PC Engine, Sega Master System and the Game Gear
  • Supports Real Time Save functions.
  • Supports compressed game files (Compress option in software)
  • Possible to store up to 32Gbit (4Gbyte) on one single SD card.

Notes:

FAT File Syystem?

Yup, this device only supports FAT/FAT16 file system. That mean no MiniSD cards over 2GB are supported.

When using GBA files:

  • L + R + B + SELECT brings up REALTIME SAVE menu
  • L + R + A + SELECT brings up SC NORMAL SAVE menu
  • L + R + START + SELECT resets to the main menu

Keeping Save Files to MiniSD:

In order to keep your GBA game saves you must reset to the MAIN menu, scroll right to the SAVE menu, locate the game file you want to save, press A to bring up SAVE prompt, and select “YES” to save to SD.

PITA GBA Setup:

For GBA games, this is not drag-and-drop solution, you can’t just copy-and-paste these games to the MiniSD and play, the games must be “patched” first using an “outdated” piece of software. For NES/GB/GBC/SMS games you can copy-and-paste normally, without patching.

Manual:

FifthE1ement – SuperCard_Guide_v1.1

Flash Cart

Everdrive GB

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Picked up a Everdrive GB from StoneAgeGamer during his 2016 Black Friday 15% off deal for a buddy of mine. I loaded a MicroSD for him and tested it in my GB Color and fell in love with it. I have a couple other GB Flash carts but this was by far the cleanest and quickest one to get up and going. I ended up ordering one for myself in December and have not looked back.

Features taken from StoneAgeGamer

Features:
  • Game Boy And Game Boy Color games supported
  • Max. ROM size up to 8Mbyte
  • Compatible with all systems which supports GB and GBC cartridges, including Super Game Boy
  • Supported mappers: MBC1, MBC2, MBC3, MBC5
  • SRAM auto backup on SD card
  • Supported micro SD up to 32GB
  • FAT32 are supported
  • GameGenie cheat codes
  • Simple menu

 

Flash Cart

Super Everdrive China Version

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I’m not 100% sure if this is a genuine version or a clone but it work and that’s all that matters to me. This was a Amazon find for about $50 and it came with a 8GB SD. This uses the same software as the original Super Everdrive and has the exact same limitations. This will not play any of the enhancement chip games, you will need to upgrade to the SD2SNES to get that support.

Collection, PlayStation VR, Sony Playstation

PlayStation 4 Pro & PSVR

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I had the opportunity to pick up the PS4 Pro and the PSVR this week. Here are my thoughts.

PlayStation 4 Pro:

I had a PS4 and I do not have a 4K TV, so why the hell did I do this? I am seeing more and more releases that will support the Pro performance boost especially with the PSVR games. I did not want to get in a position where I get subpar results with newer games & SPVR games and decided to take the plunge. I was not 100% sure on how big a difference I would see on my 1080p gaming TV with the PS4 Pro, but it ended up being a lot more that I thought. 4K upscaling/output is just one piece of the puzzle, the extra processing for texture enhancements and better/stable frame rates on supported games is a great enhancement and noticeable. This by no means feels like a “new” console release. Its more like a how Apple iPhones feel between releases. Its not a new platform but more of a updated, faster and new feature set platform.

I booted up my original launch PS4 and deleted all the disc based games I had and did the backup process using a ethernet cable between the old PS4 (I hate calling it that) and the PS4 Pro. With in 40 minutes I was up and running with my profile and digital games all running fine.

PlayStation VR:

Right off the bat, this thing was package like an Apple product. It seems like it was packed with such care and felt like a “premium” product. The instructions were very well written and easy to follow. I was up and running with in 20 minutes or so. The was an update for the PS4 and also for the PSVR (The hardware does get updates that are different from the OS updates) that needed to download and install. 2 reboots later I had the VR demo disc downloading.

I am not going to go in to it to much in this post but, I was really taken back by the immersion and quality of the VR experience. There are so many mixed reviews of it on the net and I think I figured out why so many don’t give it the praise it deserves. Many of the people online that have been very vocal about the quality of the PSVR have also played with the Vive & Rift on really powerful PCs. I do not feel like the PSVR is a direct competitor of these other VR devices since a PS4/PS4 Pro do not have the same hours power and GPUs that a nice gaming PC rig would have. Since the PSVR is the only VR device I have ever tried, its the only thing I know, from what I have seen/felt with the PSVR is not short from amazing. It really is amazing we are now able to have a consumer friendly VR device that can be used in the comfort of our home.

Rambling.. If you have not tired it yet, DO IT! Its a blast. I will be adding some posts on various VR games I like playing.

Sega Dreamcast

Dreamcast GDROM Notes

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Random Notes: I was looking for some info on Title Name and Disc Artwork and this is what I can find:

Default game titles from the IP.bin header

The disc icons also come from the GDI’s. If there is a file called 0gdtex.pvr in the GDI then it will display an icon. Not all GDI’s have this so sometimes there is no image, and also sometimes the image is upside down (in the dreamcast music player the icon would spin so orientation did not matter).

More to come…

Broken, Game Boy, Mods

Game Boy Advance SP Case Replacment

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I had a back-lit (AGS-101) Game Boy Advance SP that had a broken hinge for a year or so. I picked it up cheap on eBay with the intent on fixing it. I came across a vendor on Amazon that was selling full shell replacements for the SP and jumped on it. I always liked the black SP but the back-lit models did not come in this color. It was a perfect opportunity to accomplish this with a new shell.

As you can tell from the photos below, this thing was in bad shape and needed some TLC.

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After about an hour or so I ended up with a working black back-lit SP.

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I ended up not using the screen protector that came with the Amazon one since the original actually looked fantastic after a good cleaning. I also changed most of the triwing screws to standard screws.

Flash Cart

DSTTi

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I bought this cart when It first came out for my DSi as most of my R4 based carts would not work on the DSi at that point.

Features:

  • Slot-1 DS cartridge size and interface.
  • Plug’n’play functionality. Drag and drop files from your PC to a flash memory card.
  • No FlashMe required. Built-in NoPass, allowing slot-2 GBA carts to be started directly.
  • Supports CleanROM, no conversion necessary.
  • 100% SDHC TF and standard TF card compatibility.
  • High-speed SDHC compliant. Supports any MicroSD card speed with no in-game lag.
  • Save directly to a MicroSD card, not to the onboard chip. Never lose your saves.
  • Automatically detects and generates save types.
  • Supports Moonshell and homebrew. DLDI auto-patching.
  • Supports FAT/FAT32, works on any OS.
  • Supports Action Replay. Cheat and edit the code base.
  • Energy-saving design.
  • User-friendly skinnable interface. Touchscreen or button controls. Supports skin DIY.
  • Supports “Hot-Key” SOFT RESET.
  • Supports download and WiFi play, as well as DS Rumble Pak and DS Browser support.
  • Supports 4-scale lighting adjustment (DS Lite and DSi,DSi XL).

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This is a slot 1 DS cartridge sized flashcart.

Supported Hardware:
DSi V1.4.1, DSi V1.4, DS, DS lite
Note: This will not work on the 3DS

Latest Kernel:
DSTT V1.18 kernel
WoodAllinOne (WAIO)

Memory Card Info:
Supports FAT/FAT32

Notes

Battery replacement list

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Nintendo 64 Cart Memory Battery:
CR2032

Nintendo Game Boy Advance Cart Battery:
CR1616

Nintendo Game Boy Cart Battery:
CR2025

Nintendo Game Boy Color Cart Battery:
CR2025

Nintendo SNES Cart Memory Battery:
CR2032

Nintendo NES Cart Memory Battery:
CR2032

Nintendo Game Cube Memory Battery:
CR2032

Sega Saturn:
CR2032

Sega Dreamcast:
2032 or LR2030 (NOT a CR2032 as it is not rechargeable)

Sega Dreamcast VMU:
CR2038 (Takes two of them)

SEGA CD Model 2 RAM Battery:
CR2016

 

I will add more as I think of them.