[GUIDE/INFO] Flash Carts, ODE, and more!

[KalessinDB]

Flash Cart information! I love flash carts.

Flash Carts you're missing (still in production):

Richard Hutchinson of http://www.vectrex.biz makes 2 Vectrex flash carts, VectMulti and VectFlash iirc (or maybe he's only making the SD-based version now but has a few of the older ones left available?) and a Virtual Boy flash cart, the FlashBoy+.

AtariAge makes the Harmony cart of the Atari 2600 (and is in talks to make one for the 7800, but nothing has appeared yet)

AtariMax makes their Ultimate SD flash cart for the Atari 5200 and the Colecovision

and obviously there's still a handful of DS carts out there, but this seems like a retro-themed thread.

Not Yet in Production

Krikzz is actively working on a GB/GBC cart -- he's put pics of the prototype on his twitter, we'll see it before the end of the year I'm sure.

GroovyBee on AtariAge is talking about making an Intellivision cart but that hasn't materialized yet. I'm sure it will though.

There's someone on AtariAge (can't recall their name) that has a very basic Lynx cart, but I don't think they're mass producing it.

Out of Production:

The various CuttleCarts (including the only extant 7800 and Intellivision carts I'm aware of)
The much-hallowed SkunkBoard for the Jaguar.

Anyway, I have all the Krikzz carts (besides the Super ED, I went with sd2SNES instead), the Harmony, the 2 AtariMax ones and both of Richard's carts. I'll see about getting at least a basic review written up of what you need next time I have some time off.

[Nyukki]

Also, I've always wondered, regarding the various special chips in SNES carts, is it not possible to essentially emulate the chips within the OS of a SNES cart, therefore eliminating the need for donor carts etc.. Similar to (my understanding of) how NES flashcarts have the data for mappers stored in the flashcart's OS.

Obviously, I don't have a clue about how these things actually work.

[KalessinDB]

Also, I've always wondered, regarding the various special chips in SNES carts, is it not possible to essentially emulate the chips within the OS of a SNES cart, therefore eliminating the need for donor carts etc.. Similar to (my understanding of) how NES flashcarts have the data for mappers stored in the flashcart's OS.

Obviously, I don't have a clue about how these things actually work.

That's exactly what ikari is doing with the sd2SNES. Some are obviously more difficult than others though. Hopefully between him and others, we can see them all done eventually.

[Nyukki]

Nice.

[TheSegaSaturnGuy]

I will submit a review on another Genesis flash cart when I get home from school tonight.

[KalessinDB]

Also, if you're on about Video Game Preservation, you might want to add some sort of info on PS-IO and DC-IO (unless you're considering them vaporware, which they very well may end up being but I hope not), DC-Swat.ru's dreamshell and loading through SD cards, and Mnemo's 3DO USB adapter.

I have my DC done with an internal SD card mod (though I've barely used it) and I got Stone Age Gamer to install Mnemo's 3DO adapter as well...

Ugh I should really start doing writeups, but I don't even really know what to say...

[Ziggy]

I want to talk about the preservation of physical hardware, but mostly as a counter point to what repro carts are. I've seen that 3DO thing on Stone Age Gamer though, and that's really cool. That's something that I would love to see for every disc based console.

[Sano]

Ill add a little weigh in as I own the EverDrive for the SNES. I absolutely love it; so easy to use. All your favorites can be had with this. The EverDrive works off a SD Card (You can use a MicroSD with a convertor to SD as well).

I also recently obtained an R4 for my DS and it works fantastically. The R4 uses strictly microSD for its slot. So based on your memory card size, you can have tons of games.

The EverDrive is not so cheap at $100ish bucks. The R4 is pretty cheap at $35; it is what I paid for the R4 + an 8GB microSD card.

[Lokkenjawnz]

Also, if you're on about Video Game Preservation, you might want to add some sort of info on PS-IO and DC-IO (unless you're considering them vaporware, which they very well may end up being but I hope not), DC-Swat.ru's dreamshell and loading through SD cards, and Mnemo's 3DO USB adapter.

I have my DC done with an internal SD card mod (though I've barely used it) and I got Stone Age Gamer to install Mnemo's 3DO adapter as well...

Ugh I should really start doing writeups, but I don't even really know what to say...

That 3DO adapter is awesome! If they could do that for all the old disc based consoles, I'd die a happy man.

I checked out StoneAge Gamer's website, and it only has listings for Goldstar and FZ-10 versions, do you know if there's one for the FZ-1?

[KalessinDB]

Also, if you're on about Video Game Preservation, you might want to add some sort of info on PS-IO and DC-IO (unless you're considering them vaporware, which they very well may end up being but I hope not), DC-Swat.ru's dreamshell and loading through SD cards, and Mnemo's 3DO USB adapter.

I have my DC done with an internal SD card mod (though I've barely used it) and I got Stone Age Gamer to install Mnemo's 3DO adapter as well...

Ugh I should really start doing writeups, but I don't even really know what to say...

That 3DO adapter is awesome! If they could do that for all the old disc based consoles, I'd die a happy man.

I checked out StoneAge Gamer's website, and it only has listings for Goldstar and FZ-10 versions, do you know if there's one for the FZ-1?

Can't remember where I read it, but I think SAG said on Facebook or something that an FZ-1 version was in development. Makes sense, it's preeeeetty similar to the Goldstar version so I can't imagine it would be too hard to make.

FZ-10's definitely the best bet though, you can close the disc area and have it all hidden out of the way. Now I just need to sell off my old FZ-1