M3 questions

[kevhamster]

I have done a search, and couldn't find the answer (so apologies if it has been answered and I've missed it).

I've decided to get an M3 Real set to run some emulation and homebrew, and I've noticed that there's a few different packages that can be bought.

- Just the slot-1 card
- slot-1 card & Slot-2 Rumble
- slot-1 card & Slot-2 Rumble RAM
- slot-1 card & Slot-2 Rumble RAM & GBA Expansion

My main query relates to the Rumble RAM and GBA Expansion carts. Can anybody explain these to me and let me know which I need. Basically, I'm looking to run SNES, Genesis and NES emulators.

Thanks in advance!

[jazzat_135]

Slot 1 devices are things that go in the DS card slot and slot 2 devices are things that go in the gameboy slot. Rumble RAM packs are like a normal rumble pack but with built in RAM. RAM pretty much makes games and other stuff on the slot 1 card run faster. For example if you were playing a game that was lagging a bit (doesn't happen to me) the ram would probably speed it up. I wish I had brought mine with a ram pack because my ds lags and freezes when I play movies. The gba expansion pack is the same thing as the ds card except it can play gba games and homebrew. The ds card can't play gba games without a gba expansion pack. I've heard about emulators lagging a lot so I would go with the ram pack or the ram+gba if your want to play gba games. If you just want to play ds stuff, go with the ram pack.

[kevhamster]

Thanks for the response. I'm not too concerned about the GBA stuff as I can play my GBA games using slot 2 anyway. Although I may have a look the GBA homebrew to see if I change my mind! So just to get it straight in my head, the GBA expansion is put in slot 2 to enable the DS to launch GBA programs that are stored on the slot 1 device?

[thedicemaster]

from what i understand from the M3 you can best go with the ram-gba pack.
the M3 comes with nes gbc and gb emulators built in.
however these are slot-2 emulators so they need a gba-compatible slot-2 card such as the m3 ram-gba card or the ez-flash 3 in 1

and there are several homebrew/ports that need the extra ram.

also, i advise you not to get the rumble-ram
the rumble-ram has a bad rumble, is very fragile, and can rumble uncontrollably with some homebrews.

just a note:
- slot-1 card & Slot-2 Rumble RAM & GBA Expansion
is 1 slot-1 m3 real card, 1 rumble pack, and 1 gba+ram card.

m3 has 3 types of slot-2 cards:
rumble
rumble-ram
ram-gba

[masterchief929]

i advise you get just the ram, not the rumble ram.

[kevhamster]

Thanks for the answers everyone.

[jazzat_135]

I don't have a gba expansion so I don't know but it would either store gba files or launch gba files from the slot 1 card. Either way, it lets you play gba games and apps.