GBATemp's Nintendo DS homebrew bounty.
August 11, 2008 11:08 PM Subscribe
GBATemp is offering a generous monthly bounty for the best Nintendo DS homebrew: $200, plus donations (currently up to $200), plus $50 from Dev-fr.org for the runner-up. This move will hopefully bolster an already thriving homebrew community.
Some DS homebrew: a fairly comprehensive list on Wikipedia, a dated list of 30 great homebrew apps, a guide to emulators on the DS
If you want to purchase a DS flash cart, browse this forum for advice. (Scroll down past all the subforums.)
GBATemp is one of the best resources for DS homebrew. Unfortunately, there's a lot of piracy talk, even though ROM links are explicitly forbidden.
Some DS homebrew: a fairly comprehensive list on Wikipedia, a dated list of 30 great homebrew apps, a guide to emulators on the DS
If you want to purchase a DS flash cart, browse this forum for advice. (Scroll down past all the subforums.)
GBATemp is one of the best resources for DS homebrew. Unfortunately, there's a lot of piracy talk, even though ROM links are explicitly forbidden.
Nice post.
It will be interesting to see how the iphone/ipod apps store harnesses this. You could make the same sorts of things for the iphone and potentially sell them for thousands, rather than the meagre rewards of the admittedly amazing DS and PSP homebrew scenes.
Nintendo and Sony have failed to capitalise on smaller coders producing great software for their devices despite their impressive ( 75-80M & 40M units respectively ) sales. Presumably they are scared of piracy and this is a legitimate concern. Even the emulators posted here tread an interesting path.
In a similar way there doesn't seem to be a good way to sell software for mobile phones in general. The myriad of dodgy web sites and the fixed, apparently hard to get into distribution chains that operate via cell phone carriers don't seem to have harnessed what could be done their either.
Regardless of whether you think the iphone is an overpriced battery sucker or the best device ever, the app store is impressive.
posted by sien at 2:04 AM on August 12, 2008
It will be interesting to see how the iphone/ipod apps store harnesses this. You could make the same sorts of things for the iphone and potentially sell them for thousands, rather than the meagre rewards of the admittedly amazing DS and PSP homebrew scenes.
Nintendo and Sony have failed to capitalise on smaller coders producing great software for their devices despite their impressive ( 75-80M & 40M units respectively ) sales. Presumably they are scared of piracy and this is a legitimate concern. Even the emulators posted here tread an interesting path.
In a similar way there doesn't seem to be a good way to sell software for mobile phones in general. The myriad of dodgy web sites and the fixed, apparently hard to get into distribution chains that operate via cell phone carriers don't seem to have harnessed what could be done their either.
Regardless of whether you think the iphone is an overpriced battery sucker or the best device ever, the app store is impressive.
posted by sien at 2:04 AM on August 12, 2008
Alert to fellow non-gaming beverage snobs:
This has nothing to do with alcohol.
posted by NikitaNikita at 5:05 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
This has nothing to do with alcohol.
posted by NikitaNikita at 5:05 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
It will be interesting to see how the iphone/ipod apps store harnesses this. You could make the same sorts of things for the iphone and potentially sell them for thousands, rather than the meagre rewards of the admittedly amazing DS and PSP homebrew scenes.
One of the most notable pieces of DS homebrew I had played, PuzzleManiak, was ported to jailbroken devices fairly early and recently appeared on the App Store for 99 cents a game.
posted by Remy at 5:20 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
One of the most notable pieces of DS homebrew I had played, PuzzleManiak, was ported to jailbroken devices fairly early and recently appeared on the App Store for 99 cents a game.
posted by Remy at 5:20 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
I've recently gotten into DS homebrew == it's quite a thriving scene.
A few notes -- make sure you're using the latest Slot-1 cards with removable MicroSD/Transflash/MicroSDHC (they're all the same thing) support. Do this and you don't have to worry about any of the various patching or tweaks. It can be daunting for somebody getting into it for the first time, but if you follow my one rule, you can just download homebrew to your heart's content.
posted by taumeson at 5:21 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
A few notes -- make sure you're using the latest Slot-1 cards with removable MicroSD/Transflash/MicroSDHC (they're all the same thing) support. Do this and you don't have to worry about any of the various patching or tweaks. It can be daunting for somebody getting into it for the first time, but if you follow my one rule, you can just download homebrew to your heart's content.
posted by taumeson at 5:21 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
> Alert to fellow non-gaming beverage snobs:
This has nothing to do with alcohol.
I wish I'd known that. I melted down my DS, mixed it with some hops and barley and called it Nintenbräu. The end result was disappointingly heavy, with a distinct metallic aftertaste.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:18 AM on August 12, 2008 [4 favorites]
This has nothing to do with alcohol.
I wish I'd known that. I melted down my DS, mixed it with some hops and barley and called it Nintenbräu. The end result was disappointingly heavy, with a distinct metallic aftertaste.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:18 AM on August 12, 2008 [4 favorites]
I was really into DS homebrew for a while, but as time ticks on, there are only a few apps I use with any consistency.
NitroTracker: This is pretty much mankind's greatest invention. By only beef has nothing to do with the software and everything to do with the hardware limitations of the DS. Still, I have a 2gig MicroSD with nothing on it except NitroTracker and a bunch of samples. If I'm on a train and a song idea pops into my head, I can actually have a working demo thrown together by the time I reach my station. This thing beats the pants off of sheepishly singing into my answering machine.
Colors!: I'm awful at art, but drawing is fun.
nesDS: Although there are playabe SNES emulators, the DS emulates an NES perfectly, and this has pretty advanced rewind and real time save features, which is nice when you can only grab a few minutes of play here and there.
Moonshell: I actually don't use this much, as its tough to find stuff I want to watch online, and there's no good encoding solution for Macs yet (all published methods end up in pretty severe video lag). Still, watching video on your DS is boss, and it is still useful as an MP3 player.
Otherwise, nothing I've tried has resonated too strongly. DSOrganize is cool, but to actually use it as a PDA would require keeping my DS on all the time, which I'm not that keen on. (I also can't see myself pulling this out of my pocket in the middle of a meeting and being taken particularly seriously.
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:45 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
NitroTracker: This is pretty much mankind's greatest invention. By only beef has nothing to do with the software and everything to do with the hardware limitations of the DS. Still, I have a 2gig MicroSD with nothing on it except NitroTracker and a bunch of samples. If I'm on a train and a song idea pops into my head, I can actually have a working demo thrown together by the time I reach my station. This thing beats the pants off of sheepishly singing into my answering machine.
Colors!: I'm awful at art, but drawing is fun.
nesDS: Although there are playabe SNES emulators, the DS emulates an NES perfectly, and this has pretty advanced rewind and real time save features, which is nice when you can only grab a few minutes of play here and there.
Moonshell: I actually don't use this much, as its tough to find stuff I want to watch online, and there's no good encoding solution for Macs yet (all published methods end up in pretty severe video lag). Still, watching video on your DS is boss, and it is still useful as an MP3 player.
Otherwise, nothing I've tried has resonated too strongly. DSOrganize is cool, but to actually use it as a PDA would require keeping my DS on all the time, which I'm not that keen on. (I also can't see myself pulling this out of my pocket in the middle of a meeting and being taken particularly seriously.
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:45 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
"Alert to fellow non-gaming beverage snobs: This has nothing to do with alcohol."
Phew. Thanks for clearing that up. I was SO not looking forward to an entire day of trying to figure out why I was being told that Fuggles had more "power shield" points than Goldings.
posted by Mike D at 9:05 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
Phew. Thanks for clearing that up. I was SO not looking forward to an entire day of trying to figure out why I was being told that Fuggles had more "power shield" points than Goldings.
posted by Mike D at 9:05 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
(I also can't see myself pulling this out of my pocket in the middle of a meeting and being taken particularly seriously.
What if it were the black one?
posted by drezdn at 9:28 AM on August 12, 2008
What if it were the black one?
posted by drezdn at 9:28 AM on August 12, 2008
The right stylus might make it more professional-looking.
posted by box at 10:11 AM on August 12, 2008
posted by box at 10:11 AM on August 12, 2008
What if it were the black one?
White is always more professional looking.
Yeah, that would help, I suppose. But it's still not a compelling enough piece of software for me to buy a new system and flash-cart and use it solely as a PDA. But then, PDA's have never been particularly useful to me.
posted by SpiffyRob at 12:33 PM on August 12, 2008
White is always more professional looking.
Yeah, that would help, I suppose. But it's still not a compelling enough piece of software for me to buy a new system and flash-cart and use it solely as a PDA. But then, PDA's have never been particularly useful to me.
posted by SpiffyRob at 12:33 PM on August 12, 2008
If one were a PDA user, wouldn't a DS with a cartridge be cheaper than most that are on the market (not a PDA user, I'm just curious why Nintendo hasn't tried to market them as one)?
posted by drezdn at 1:09 PM on August 12, 2008
posted by drezdn at 1:09 PM on August 12, 2008
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That said, any DS devs in the audience? I've got money and an idea I'd like to see made a reality.
posted by lekvar at 12:27 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]