is m3 better than mmp?

[Joel92]

well, first off, i dont quite get m3, with all the different versions and adapters and m3 perfect and whatnot, but i hear it makes your ds almost exactly like a computer, and works pretty good for movies and stuff, too. if someone could explain a bit about m3 for me that would be great, but now onto the main question.

is m3 better than mmp? and if so, how much? do you think mmp will be able to make up for it with its updates?

[Quay Cur]

M3 is by far the superior flashcart. Just look around in this section and you'll find two things: people talking about how great the M3 is and people talking about how much the MMP sucks. You can get the MMP to do the same things as an M3 to a certain extent, but it requires a firmware change and other stuff. There really isn't any reason to buy any sort of MMP. Stick with an M3, G6, or Supercard.

I think saying that an M3 makes your DS exactly like a computer is stretching quite a bit. Look at their site, there's a lot of good info on it.

M3 site: http://www.m3adapter.com/
G6 site: http://www.g6flash.com/

[Joel92]

What m3 perfect should i get to run on my nintendo ds? m3 sd, m3 mini sd, m3 cf, and should i get it with a passcard or passkey or passkey2?

also, where is a good reliable place to buy it? (living in the united states)

[Quay Cur]

An M3 is an M3, the only differences are memory types. If you already have a flash card or two that you want to use in it then get the corresponding one. But, if you don't have any preference I'd say to go for the mini SD one. It's the same size as a standard GBA cart so it doesn't stick out of your DS like the CF one does. If you have a DS Lite you might want to wait for the M3 Lite to come out (mid August I heard), which will use micro SD cards and fit flush with the DS Lite. There's also the Supercard Lite which should be out soon, if not already. And yet another option is the G6 Lite, which can also be used in a normal DS or GBA since you can transfer the innards of the card to a GBA sized cart (these have built in flash memory that is faster than an M3, but you can't upgrade it so yo're stuck with 512MB, which is plenty if you don't watch a ton of movies on it).

Oh yeah, and get a Passcard 3, not a PassKEY.

[Joel92]

ok, so why does m3 need a passkey or passcard? and what is the difference between passkey and passcard?

[Quay Cur]

Well, it doesn't always need it...

The Passcard is used when you want to run DS games or homebrew. The DS loads the Passcard as a DS game and the Passcard redirects the DS to the GBA slot, where your flashcart is. In essence, It makes your DS run the files on your flashcart as if it were a DS game. If you didn't have the Passcard in the DS it would treat the flashcart like a GBA game (which is fine if you're only running GBA homebrew).

The differences between a Passcard and Passkey are:

- A Passcard (http://www.divineo.com/cgi-bin/div-us/dd-ds-pssc) is the same size as a regular DS game card.

- A Passkey (http://www.divineo.com/cgi-bin/div-us/dd-ds-pk2) is a big, hulking device which ultimately acheives the same thing. These came before the Passcard types of devices.

Places to buy:

http://www.realhotstuff.com/
http://www.divineo.com/
http://www.gamersection.ca/ (can be pricey)
http://www.hopebuy.com/ (their payment system scares me)
http://www.psxbox.net/ (not sure how reputable they are)

There are a bunch of others, but those are the more well known ones for the US. Some places offer M3 and Passcard (or key) bundles. Just make sure you get the Passcard 3 and you should be fine.

[The Hombrew Hunter]

Might wanna be watching out from the Canadians.

I was sent a defective M3 and I'm STILL waiting for it to be shipped back.

[Quay Cur]

Ha, yeah. And to that end, I still haven't received a shipping notice from Divineo (US) for my G6 Lite. Though, they did say "end of next week" last week, so I guess I'm just being impatient, and angry that I paid $35 for shipping. That damn thing should be teleported into my hands for that much money.