Did the Supercard DSTwo "plus" ever actually ship?

[kenpachi]

Hey yall, so I have a Supercard DSTwo cart I bought the day it came out in 2010 and it rarely comes out of my DSi XL I'm still playing that I bought in 2009 lol, anyways, when you go to supercards website (amazingly it's still up but the DL links are not working, however the files are on the internet archive thankfully), it comes up with the Supercard DSTwo PLUS, claiming it has a twice as fast CPLD chip and 32mb of RAM. I believe the original DSTwo had a 200mhz CPLD and 16mb of RAM.

So the reason I'm asking is I cannot find one of these ANYWHERE. I check ebay all the time and I never see one coming up for sale. Just the original one. I've just started using it in my 3DS, I seem to remember it not working on my 3ds when I tried it years ago but I recently put CFW on the 3DS and i tried it a few weeks ago and now it runs NP. It runs way better than on the DSi and the screen is a big step up so I've just started doing all my gaming on my NN3DS XL. Im just not seeing the point to using the DSi any more because GBA runs much slower on the emulator, and I mean it looks better so.

Anyways, I REALLY want one of these DSTwo Plus carts if anyone managed to get their hands on one. I read somewhere that they DID release a updated version for the 3DS but I can't find it anywhere.

If anyone has one of these newer DSTwo carts I'd be willing to pay a pretty penny for it.

Is there even a reason to use the Supercard for GBA emulation? I know the 3ds with CFW has it's own emulators and the last GBA emulator for the DSTwo came out way back in 2013. A lot of games have issues on it. Maybe it's time I just retired it? I guess having a flash cart does give you extra storage space for your roms though since the 3ds limit is what 128gb? I suppose you could just put all your DS and GBA roms on the Supercard and save your 3ds sd card space for your 3ds games...

I have like over a dozen handhelds now, everything since the PSP/DS era, plus all sorts of emulation handhelds like the odin 2 and a windows handheld, But I was just admiring the New Nintendo 3DS today and this really was a stunning peice of art. The New 3ds is so well built, the culmination of a decade of DS production and it really does show. Definately one of my favorite handhelds I play it probably more than even my Odin 2 pro and that thing can run ANYTHING lol.

 

[Kwyjor]

I seem to remember it not working on my 3ds when I tried it years ago but I recently put CFW on the 3DS and i tried it a few weeks ago and now it runs NP.

Yes, installing CFW disables the internal flashcart blacklist. The only other way to circumvent that protection would be if your flashcart has some sort of firmware upgrade.

I read somewhere that they DID release a updated version for the 3DS but I can't find it anywhere.

The only thing to be gained by making it "for the 3DS" would be to bypass the flashcart blacklist, which, as mentioned, could usually be done with a firmware upgrade. There are no DS flashcarts that can make special use of the 3DS hardware (aside from being able to function in ntrboot mode, which is largely a utility function unrelated to playing games).

Is there even a reason to use the Supercard for GBA emulation? I know the 3ds with CFW has it's own emulators

open_agb_firm on the 3DS is effectively GBA native hardware.

I guess having a flash cart does give you extra storage space for your roms though since the 3ds limit is what 128gb?

Some people use larger SD cards, but it is usually not recommended.

 

[Technicmaster0]

The only thing to be gained by making it "for the 3DS" would be to bypass the flashcart blacklist, which, as mentioned, could usually be done with a firmware upgrade. There are no DS flashcarts that can make special use of the 3DS hardware (aside from being able to function in ntrboot mode, which is largely a utility function unrelated to playing games).

The DSTWO+ actually supports 3DS games. But it has that CFW approach gateway used and there is no CFW for the latest 3DS system version. It does work with older firmwares tho.

So the reason I'm asking is I cannot find one of these ANYWHERE. I check ebay all the time and I never see one coming up for sale.

DSTWO cards are pretty rare and expensive because they are still among the best DS flashcarts available today but they are not beeing made anymore. All current cards have "some issues" like non-perfect ROM compatibility or a bad menu. The additional problem with the DSTWO+ is that it was only made for a short period of time (maybe 2 years) while the original DSTWO had a much longer production run. There are simply less DSTWO+ cards around.

Is there even a reason to use the Supercard for GBA emulation? I know the 3ds with CFW has it's own emulators and the last GBA emulator for the DSTwo came out way back in 2013. A lot of games have issues on it.

Nothing regarding GBA compatibility will beat open agb firm or gba virtual console injects on 3DS. It's basically original hardware and no emulation.

I guess having a flash cart does give you extra storage space for your roms though since the 3ds limit is what 128gb? I suppose you could just put all your DS and GBA roms on the Supercard and save your 3ds sd card space for your 3ds games...

Personally I prefer flashcarts over twilightmenu++. I think that most flashcarts have better/faster menus and a better game compaibility. They also have superior compatibility when it comes to DS homebrew. But that's just my personal taste.

 

[Kwyjor]

The DSTWO+ actually supports 3DS games. But it has that CFW approach gateway used and there is no CFW for the latest 3DS system version. It does work with older firmwares tho.

Oh. But that means the cartridge only supports 3DS games and isn't useful for DS games, right?

 

[Technicmaster0]

Oh. But that means the cartridge only supports 3DS games and isn't useful for DS games, right?

It is a normal DSTWO including the DS game support and it supports 3DS games with a proper CFW.
(Side note: another cartridge that supports both, DS and 3DS games, is the stargate 3DS)

 

[Kwyjor]

It is a normal DSTWO including the DS game support and it supports 3DS games with a proper CFW.
(Side note: another cartridge that supports both, DS and 3DS games, is the stargate 3DS)

That's news to me. I thought the Gateway had red and blue cartridges because such a combination was not feasible.

How does that work? Is there a physical switch to change modes?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

That's news to me. I thought the Gateway had red and blue cartridges because such a combination was not feasible.

How does that work? Is there a physical switch to change modes?

No switch AFAIK. Booting into "Gateway" CFW switches it over to 3DS mode.
Gateway didn't make the blue cart, they just rebranded the Ace3DS+. It would've been more work for them to design both the DS and 3DS side and figure out how to fit it all in the shell. Not that they wouldn't have been able to do it, but they probably wanted to get the thing out of the door as fast as possible since it was released only a short while into the 3DS' life span, and it was already patched on current FW (so the longer they waited, the harder it would be to find a console it would work on)

Hey yall, so I have a Supercard DSTwo cart I bought the day it came out in 2010 and it rarely comes out of my DSi XL I'm still playing that I bought in 2009 lol, anyways, when you go to supercards website (amazingly it's still up but the DL links are not working, however the files are on the internet archive thankfully), it comes up with the Supercard DSTwo PLUS, claiming it has a twice as fast CPLD chip and 32mb of RAM. I believe the original DSTwo had a 200mhz CPLD and 16mb of RAM.

So the reason I'm asking is I cannot find one of these ANYWHERE. I check ebay all the time and I never see one coming up for sale. Just the original one. I've just started using it in my 3DS, I seem to remember it not working on my 3ds when I tried it years ago but I recently put CFW on the 3DS and i tried it a few weeks ago and now it runs NP. It runs way better than on the DSi and the screen is a big step up so I've just started doing all my gaming on my NN3DS XL. Im just not seeing the point to using the DSi any more because GBA runs much slower on the emulator, and I mean it looks better so.

Anyways, I REALLY want one of these DSTwo Plus carts if anyone managed to get their hands on one. I read somewhere that they DID release a updated version for the 3DS but I can't find it anywhere.

If anyone has one of these newer DSTwo carts I'd be willing to pay a pretty penny for it.

Is there even a reason to use the Supercard for GBA emulation? I know the 3ds with CFW has it's own emulators and the last GBA emulator for the DSTwo came out way back in 2013. A lot of games have issues on it. Maybe it's time I just retired it? I guess having a flash cart does give you extra storage space for your roms though since the 3ds limit is what 128gb? I suppose you could just put all your DS and GBA roms on the Supercard and save your 3ds sd card space for your 3ds games...

I have like over a dozen handhelds now, everything since the PSP/DS era, plus all sorts of emulation handhelds like the odin 2 and a windows handheld, But I was just admiring the New Nintendo 3DS today and this really was a stunning peice of art. The New 3ds is so well built, the culmination of a decade of DS production and it really does show. Definately one of my favorite handhelds I play it probably more than even my Odin 2 pro and that thing can run ANYTHING lol.

FWIW I'm pretty sure the DSTWO works on a stock 3DS as long as the firmware is updated. And the DSTWO firmware can be updated even if you aren't able to boot it, thanks to the onboard chip.

The DSTWO+ wasn't actually a huge upgrade over the DSTWO. People apparently didn't see much improvement in emulators. Whatever the CPLD is used for it sure didn't seem to make much of noticeable difference.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

DSTWO Plus did ship, but didn't really last long because it wasn't the best solution for the 3DS by the time it did ship.
It was essentially a DSTWO with one extra feature that it didn't do any better than the competition. Most people who wanted a DSTWO already had one and it wasn't worth buying the new model for the extra feature.

 

[emcintosh]

Hey yall, so I have a Supercard DSTwo cart I bought the day it came out in 2010 …, it comes up with the Supercard DSTwo PLUS, claiming it has a twice as fast CPLD chip and 32mb of RAM. I believe the original DSTwo had a 200mhz CPLD and 16mb of RAM.

I would not recommend it. I initially ordered the DSTwo+ in ?2015, and it did not work when it arrived. This actually turned out well for me, as I was able to return it and got an original DSTwo second-hand off eBay, with a 3DS, for less than the flashcart alone had cost.

The main feature of the plus model was including a bootleg 3DS Gateway cart as another chip. Remember that is the cart that was supposed to have bricking code that activated if the firmware was mucked about with? Hacking your 3DS will be a much better option than using even Gateway's own cart, let alone a clone of it. And it was even more bulgy than the base DSTwo, which already puts stress on the cartridge port and can suffer from poor pin connection.

TBH the main use case for a 3DS user for the DSTwo at all is getting save states for DS games, which is not possible in TwiLightMenu. And maybe SNES emulation on O3DS / DS, which is not available natively. But ISTR it had poor performance in technically challenging games (SM RPG, anything that used extra chips).

 

[Technicmaster0]

It was essentially a DSTWO with one extra feature that it didn't do any better than the competition. Most people who wanted a DSTWO already had one and it wasn't worth buying the new model for the extra feature.

In my opinion the main argument for the DSTWO Plus is the better build quality but that's something that probably doesn't work in the DS scene as buying reason

 

[Kwyjor]

TBH the main use case for a 3DS user for the DSTwo at all is getting save states for DS games, which is not possible in TwiLightMenu.

Lots of DS flash carts supposedly support real-time save, but I have the impression it doesn't always work very well. Did the DSTwo have an implementation that was uniquely superior?

And maybe SNES emulation on O3DS / DS, which is not available natively.

You can't use the official Virtual Console SNES emulator on o3DS, but I understand homebrew alternatives like SNES9x are largely adequate.

 

[emcintosh]

Lots of DS flash carts supposedly support real-time save, but I have the impression it doesn't always work very well. Did the DSTwo have an implementation that was uniquely superior?

You can't use the official Virtual Console SNES emulator on o3DS, but I understand homebrew alternatives like SNES9x are largely adequate.

The DSTwo 'real-time save' mostly worked. Occasionally there would be some texture corruption until you moved to a new room, where the game would normally load new data, but I was able to use it to reduce tedium in parts of games I struggled with.

Yes, Bubble2k16's SNES9X works on O3DS, but won't run SuperFX / SA-1 games at full speed. Nintendo presumably didn't include SNES VC on O3DS because it wouldn't be a polished experience (plus later giving people an additional reason to upgrade to the New! hardware). I honestly can't remember whether the DSTwo's CatSFC/BagSFC worked better than native O3DS emulation.

 

[Indy13]

I would not recommend it. I initially ordered the DSTwo+ in ?2015, and it did not work when it arrived.

These things happen sometimes, this was also the case for me once with a dstwo+ and several times with EZ Flash 3in1 cards which I was able to reset fortunately but I think that we should not generalize either, that there are still separate cases and then these are products which, we must not hide, consist of components that are not always of very good quality.

Honestly, from experience, given the number of pieces I own, I think I know what I'm talking about. A few years ago, I embarked on a somewhat crazy project to create a dozen customized packs including a DS Lite, an EZ Flash 3in1, a DStwo+ with a 32GB SD card, an R4 SDHC with a 128GB SD card and a classic 2GB R4. I had special boxes made, I wanted to make old-fashioned manuals like for old 8-bit computers. All this with the aim of running as many systems and games as possible on a DS Lite.

Originally it was a great idea but I'm not going to lie to you, I was quickly overwhelmed, my eyes were bigger than my stomach and my project was too ambitious at least for me alone, yet I continued always my search for the ultimate configuration but in my opinion it is more denial than anything else, I am not yet ready to accept that the last 8 years spent doing all that and the 4000 euros invested in this project are more a loss rather than a gain. Well afterwards, I still learned a lot but still I sometimes tell myself that I'm such a fool for being so stubborn !

But to come back to the quote above, I think that these are separate cases and as I said a little above, it happened to me too but rarely, the photo proof, here is some of my material basics for my endless project:



IMPORTANT, don't bother asking me, nothing is for sale!
P.S: The girl message on the sticker we see on my pink and white n3ds is a special dedication to Big N and its despicable policy towards the indie scene

 

[WanderingHunter]

Hey yall, so I have a Supercard DSTwo cart I bought the day it came out in 2010 and it rarely comes out of my DSi XL I'm still playing that I bought in 2009 lol, anyways, when you go to supercards website (amazingly it's still up but the DL links are not working, however the files are on the internet archive thankfully), it comes up with the Supercard DSTwo PLUS, claiming it has a twice as fast CPLD chip and 32mb of RAM. I believe the original DSTwo had a 200mhz CPLD and 16mb of RAM.

So the reason I'm asking is I cannot find one of these ANYWHERE. I check ebay all the time and I never see one coming up for sale. Just the original one. I've just started using it in my 3DS, I seem to remember it not working on my 3ds when I tried it years ago but I recently put CFW on the 3DS and i tried it a few weeks ago and now it runs NP. It runs way better than on the DSi and the screen is a big step up so I've just started doing all my gaming on my NN3DS XL. Im just not seeing the point to using the DSi any more because GBA runs much slower on the emulator, and I mean it looks better so.

Anyways, I REALLY want one of these DSTwo Plus carts if anyone managed to get their hands on one. I read somewhere that they DID release a updated version for the 3DS but I can't find it anywhere.

If anyone has one of these newer DSTwo carts I'd be willing to pay a pretty penny for it.

Is there even a reason to use the Supercard for GBA emulation? I know the 3ds with CFW has it's own emulators and the last GBA emulator for the DSTwo came out way back in 2013. A lot of games have issues on it. Maybe it's time I just retired it? I guess having a flash cart does give you extra storage space for your roms though since the 3ds limit is what 128gb? I suppose you could just put all your DS and GBA roms on the Supercard and save your 3ds sd card space for your 3ds games...

I have like over a dozen handhelds now, everything since the PSP/DS era, plus all sorts of emulation handhelds like the odin 2 and a windows handheld, But I was just admiring the New Nintendo 3DS today and this really was a stunning peice of art. The New 3ds is so well built, the culmination of a decade of DS production and it really does show. Definately one of my favorite handhelds I play it probably more than even my Odin 2 pro and that thing can run ANYTHING lol.

DSTWO 2 in 1 As well as DSTWO +, the hardware of these three is basically the same, there will not be a situation where DSTWO only provides 16M RAM

 

[MyJoyConRunsHot]

I have a DStwo I bought in 2011. Does this one have any new features other than 3DS games?