NES and SNES emulators for the Nintendo DS

Alright peeps, we're sensing there's some perception that we're down on the Nintendo DS in favor of some other portable that just happened to be released more recently. Not so, dig? We're console agnostic. Send us your news. Anywho, here's a coupla recent releases from the DS homebrew community: NesterDS is a DS port of the Nester Nintendo Entertainment System emulator for PCs, and DSNES a DS SNES emulator (say that 10 times fast). Check 'em:

NesterDS
DSNES

[Thanks to all the tipsters]

[ipodman @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

w00t!

Also read this: http://www.neowin.net/comments.php?id=29353&category=gamers!

OMG!! :P w00tage

[aj @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

uhr?

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Sweet, thanks for posting this Engadget!

[Sheero @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

So how would you use it? With the SD card thingy?

[ken fager @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

It's cool that these emulators are up and running on the NintendoDS. But getting them onto the DS requires flash cart hardware.

http://www.gameboy-advance.net/

My PSP can handle that without the hardware. (I own both NDS and PSP btw.)

[strider_mt2k @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Since one would want a larger Memory Stick to hold the Emu games on the PSP, I would say that you'd have to spend some cash to do it "right" (have plenty of room for other stuff too) on EITHER machine to do emulation.

The amount of money and the ease of hardware aquisition on the two platforms are subjects I will leave for the attentive reader.

[Sam McConnell @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

But there are two screens! Let's see it emulate the NES and SNES...at the same time!

[Bootes @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Strider do you know how small nes/snes games are? You could fit plenty on the included 32mb memory stick.

[Lars @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

"My PSP can handle that without the hardware."

Umm, doesn't the PSP require a memory stick Duo to use emulators? Same exact thing.

[Ghostly @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

you know, i dont know if it would work with this but there is a wi-fi hack so that you dont need a passme or anythign like that to send info to your NDS effectively making all you need awireless internet card.

[JJ @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

#9:

Without getting into a console pissing contest (because I really don't care either way):

Most PSPs sold in the US were Value Pack Units. So most people already have at least 32 MB storage. I realize things are different in other parts of the world. It should be easy to score a cheap 32MB Duo there though. You can find some below $10 on eBay at the moment.

High capacity memory sticks are quite expensive (geez, the 2GB models -- that's just insane) but the 32MB Duos are dirt cheap.

[ken fager @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

If you buy a PSP you get a 32mb Memory Stick Duo. Yes you can hold a few emulators and games on it at a time. I've got three emu's and a handful of games on my stick.

[TVtheFleshtone @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Hey, how much capacity on a memory stick duo can the PSP support? Kinda off topic, but you gotta put the games somewhere...

[Jamie Phelps @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Not to get overly picky, but agnostic means you don't know anything about it (in the most philosophical use of the word). A better choice of word would have been unbiased, bipartisan, or some other word that actually indicates your open minded stance.

[snesds @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Damn, with all this talking about DS I'm starting to miss mine... I've putted it in repair (dead pixel) and the guy from the store said: "It will take about 3-4 weeks". This is like the 5th week and they still haven't called

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

SNESDS: I've heard your story before... Nintendo would have sent you one and return postage for yours. It takes like two days from what I have heard.

[HAKdragon @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Jamie, from dictionary.com

"ag�nos�tic

adj.
Relating to or being an agnostic.
Doubtful or noncommittal: �Though I am agnostic on what terms to use, I have no doubt that human infants come with an enormous �acquisitiveness� for discovering patterns� (William H. Calvin)."

i left out the noun definition as it has no revelence to this discussion.

[Lars @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Yea, I sent my DS in for a dead pixel and it was back in my hands within a week. I'd call Nintendo and make sure they actually got your DS in the first place.

[Extinction @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

"Umm, doesn't the PSP require a memory stick Duo to use emulators? Same exact thing."

1) PSP includes one for free
2) PSPs can be bought in any PC store or EB
3) I paid $90 for my 512 meg mem stick

4) I paid $150 for my 32 meg GBA flash cart
5) You can only buy GBA flash carts online
6) Certain GBA flash carts require a link cable port, which DS lacks. Enjoy that one.

[Grupstra @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

"4) I paid $150 for my 32 meg GBA flash cart" - You got ripped off then. Or, maybe you havent realized times have changed. You can pick up a 256 MB version for about 60 bucks at most places. And, you dont even NEED to use the GBA anymore, most comes with direct USB links into the cart.

"Enjoy that one"

[Synbiosis @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

256 MegaBYTEs or 256 MegaBITs? Most flash carts are measured in bits. If you've found a 256 megabyte flash cart for $60, I'd like to see a link. I was shopping for one two months ago, and they were quite expensive.

[sfu.engineer @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

@ Grupsta:

"You can pick up a 256 MB version for about 60 bucks at most places." -Grupsta

You can probably pick up a 256 megaBIT GBA cartridge for $60 nowadays but several months ago $150 was the norm. So Extinction was right: a 256 megaBIT GBA cartridge only holds 32 megaBYTES (knowing 8 bits are in a byte).

So yup. PSP emulation is tons better than DS emulation. At least when it comes to what you can do right out of the package. It would cost nothing to play roms on your PSP whereas the DS would need you to invest in the GBA/DS flash cards.

[Deuz M.A. @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Here's a crazy idea: don't use emulators.

[Falsoman @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

well... there could be some other cool emulator things in the nintendo ds that can not be done on the PSP as well... like touchscreen menu for selecting, cheating, save states, or emulating the Snes Mouse/Bazooka and the gun for the nes... but we will have to wait until it get's easier to run hombrew for the newbies.

[hobo @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

can you play snes roms on psp?

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Granted, PSP can't even emulate SNES games at fullspeed yet, but the DS can...significantly fewer games, but I trust Loopy more than some SNES9X porter.

[Dan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

"So yup. PSP emulation is tons better than DS emulation. At least when it comes to what you can do right out of the package. It would cost nothing to play roms on your PSP whereas the DS would need you to invest in the GBA/DS flash cards."

Except there's also the upfront cost of a PSP to factor in in the first place, it's $100 more.

[Justice @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Guys, the supercard is what you want for emulation on the GBA/DS. It's basically just a little adapter that lets you play ROMs from a CF card. Soon an SD card version will be released. So... that's the best deal it terms of cost. All the ROMs you could ever hope for on one card.

[mr.DS @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

to #26 - just one problem with SuperCard - it can not run any Nintendo DS roms couse it doesn't have the flash memory inside and has to be run in GBA mode. Good for gba and gba roms on DS but not for DS games.
http://www.gameboy-advance.net/nintendo_ds/passme.htm

[Extinction @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

" And, you dont even NEED to use the GBA anymore, most comes with direct USB links into the cart. "

I said CERTAIN ONES need the link cable poret, not all.

"You can pick up a 256 MB version for about 60 bucks at most places"

Thats Mb, for megabits. I was also going by canadian prices. You wanna go american fine.

The 512 megabyte memstick cost $50 USD. Your 32 megabyte flash cart cost $60.

The memstick costs .09765625 dollars / megabyte
The flashcart costs 1.875 dollars / megabyte
The flashcart costs 19.2 times more than the memstick

"Granted, PSP can't even emulate SNES games at fullspeed yet"

Actually it can with speed set to 333 mhz, frameskip to 3, most games run full speed.

"but the DS can"

1) I doubt that very much
2) With no sound.
With no sound the PSP runs games faster too

[Extinction @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

"I trust Loopy more than some SNES9X porter."

Loopy didnt make the SNES emulator for DS. IT was some SNESAdvance porter (The PocketPC version)

[Liam @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

A little off subject, but I recently downloaded a SNES emulator for my SPV C500. I am using the new 4.2 version and when I load a rom the SPV blanks out and restarts. Anyone know of any good working emulators and roms that work on Windows Mobile. I would like a SNES & a Sega Mega Drive emulator.

[Bryan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

That's all very well guys but if you're so picky about emulation side, there are better alternatives than PSP/DS.

[madmagi @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Don't rely upon a simple dictionary check of a word, look at where it comes from. But don't trust me, here it is from good ole wikipedia.

The word agnostic comes from the Greek a (without) and gnosis (knowledge).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic

[Grupstra @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Last I checked, there was sound for the latest SNES emufor DS.

[snes in pocket @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

There are 2 versions of snes emu for DS - one with sound and one without it.

[Drew @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

SO ok, I have a ds, and a wireless net connection. What is this wireless hack you speak of to get this emulator on my ds without a flash cart?

[Brandon Daiker @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

"Actually it can with speed set to 333 mhz, frameskip to 3, most games run full speed."

Well let's see. Frameskip to three does not equal full speed. Full speed at 40 fps, sure, but that's not full speed.

[Eran Hawke @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

"Actually it can with speed set to 333 mhz, frameskip to 3, most games run full speed."

So, if you overclock the system and drop frames, it runs faster? Who'da thunk it!

From everything I read, the DS just works. I'll have to give it a shot myself soon. Currently I have SNES emulation on my Treo, but using the DS plus pad and buttons would be nicer.

[Waseem Hammoud @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

ITS NOT FAIR!!! I just sold my Nintendo DS on ebay to buy a PSP. I feel really sad because i LOVE snes more than anything. Well at least I can play DVD's and PSP games. Not to forget the mp3s, photos, wifi browser and co graphics. Still kinda ticked though. (*_*)

[Dan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

"ITS NOT FAIR!!! I just sold my Nintendo DS on ebay to buy a PSP."

Selling a DS now would be like selling Xbox a week before Halo 2 came out.

[Vin @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

To Synbiosis.

MB = MegaBytes
Mb = Megabits

Storage is always measured in Bytes, not bits.
Bandwidth is usually measured in bits per second.

[benhc911 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Thought I'd mention, regarding the whole price between emulating on the two. Forget the price of the memory, look at the price of the hardware. Big difference there, making up for the difference in the memory cost. But... not much beat a cheap pda for price to emulate, especially if you have one with sufficient built in space, or an sd slot. Oh the wonders of sd, sure it transfers a lot slower and is larger in physical size... but it is cheap, and readily avaliable.

[Trejkaz @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Good start, but they really need to include a more convenient way to build the ROMs. All I see in the bundle is a Windows executable, which doesn't really help me.

[Stephen Mastrangelo @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Just buy "GBA Movie player" which plays movies, music, images, text files, and ROMs. Just put the files on the CF card. Nothing like playing Contra, Mario, and Metroid on DS :p

http://www.movieadvance.com/

[FFC_2050atHOTMAILdottCom @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Ey yo, what do i need to do to play snes games on my nds? im a newbie so... if i have to get a flash card, can i also play movies on it 2?

[Theorga @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

What kind of flash card do I need to do all this? I have a GBA ROM cart so will that work to emulate, or will I need a DS card to play SNES games?

[GADGET @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

OFF SUBJECT or WHATever

I cant even find the DS flash cards where can I find the info about em?

[Theorga @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

Currently there aren't any DS flash cards, just GBA. I looked it all up and and what you need is a GBA flash cart and a PassMe for your DS. Or you can have a compatable Wifi card and use that.

Try this site for more info:

http://www.pocketheaven.com/boards/viewforum.php?f=36

I don't think loopy is currently working on snesDS for some other projects. Hopefully he can get back to it soon.

[pocket @ Dec 19th 2005 1:23AM]

You say there are no NDS flash cards, so what do you call this > http://www.gameboy-advance.net/nintendo_ds/neo-flash/neoflash-review.htm So what if roms are read from gba slot - as long as it runs the games I'm cool.