News — Page 5
Two useful upgrades for Game Boy Advance SP.
For a shell replacement: an eXtremeRate shell for Game Boy Advance SP.
Officially the best battery for Game Boy Advance SP — FunnyPlaying, 1040 mAh!
Two new flash cartridges: DSpico and 4-in-1 ChisFlash
Two flash cartridges I had been really looking forward to have finally arrived: DSpico and 4-in-1 ChisFlash.
1. Let's start with DSpico.
Purchase link: https://ali.click/39bcza?erid=2SDnjepbyDJ
Right now it is about as basic as a flash cartridge gets: no save states, no return-to-menu function, and none of the other familiar extras.
But it has one genuinely unique feature: it can launch DSiWare directly on an unmodified Nintendo DSi, with no region restrictions.
That is genuinely impressive because nothing else can do it.
What is less impressive is that I spent six hours getting it to work. Some parts of the implementation are very strange, and figuring it out on the first try is not easy. I may write a separate guide. Would a detailed setup guide be useful?
2. Now for the 4-in-1 ChisFlash.
Purchase link: https://ali.click/ge3mj10?erid=2SDnjcK1wij
A very unusual cartridge: it has 128 MB of storage, enough for exactly four 32 MB games.
But those 128 MB are divided into four independent banks, and you switch between them using a button on the cartridge. So this is not a cartridge with a menu or firmware; it is essentially four separate cartridges in one shell.
That design can cause problems with readers: GBxCart RW does not power the cartridge, so you have to switch banks manually on the console first and only then use the reader. ChisBurner does not have this problem because it supplies power correctly.
The design raises some questions: it feels less like an original ChisFlash product and more like a third-party clone using the name.
In practice, though, it works as advertised. The only questionable choice is the 1M Flash memory used for saves, with a separate block for each bank. It is not the most versatile option. Some games will require a double conversion: first to SRAM, then from SRAM to Flash using MetroidManiac's utility.
On the other hand, this may be close to ideal for Pokémon: you can put four different games on one cartridge and save normally without any extra patching.
The site is getting a Nintendo home-console section!
I am dedicating the next month to home consoles. It all started back in mid-December and is still going: Ruslan has already sent me five packages full of hardware, games, and accessories.
Honestly, I never expected to write articles about home consoles, but our retrogaming community — Ruslan and Mikhail in particular, thank you! — turned out to be incredibly welcoming, so the site is getting a Nintendo home-console section after all. I admit I am already a little tired of churning out text, but the whole thing is genuinely fascinating, especially for someone who previously knew little beyond Dendy and Sega consoles.
You can follow the updates and see new material here: gbasp.ru/homeconsole.html
Thanks to everyone who helps out and sends interesting rarities my way!
P.S. And of course this is not everything Ruslan sent me — there are still piles of cables, upscalers, cartridges, and power supplies. I could barely fit what you see into a single shot as it is :D.
FPGBC has arrived
Of all the FPGA handhelds available today — Analogue Pocket and ModRetro Chromatic included — the most accessible option for us is FunnyPlaying's FPGBC.
And mine has finally arrived. First impression: extremely positive. This is a very cool handheld.
So, time to dive into testing.
SuperChis and DSpico
New arrivals: SuperChis and DSpico are now on AliExpress
Two interesting new products for retro-hardware and flash-cartridge fans have appeared on AliExpress.
1) SuperChis — an “improved SuperCard”
First up is SuperChis. According to the creators, this is an improved SuperCard from the creator of ChisFlash and the SuperFW firmware for SuperCard.
Link: https://ali.click/me3mj1v?erid=2SDnjcMyvHR
2) DSpico — an open-source flash cartridge for Nintendo DS
Another new arrival is DSPico, a flash cartridge for the Nintendo DS with fully open-source code. It is also already available on AliExpress.
Link: https://ali.click/39bcza?erid=2SDnjepbyDJ
By the way, I ordered both SuperChis and DSpico. Once they arrive, I'll take a proper look at both.
WS Dumper backs up WonderSwan cartridges
WS Dumper from RETRO PROTECT copies games and saves from WonderSwan and WonderSwan Color cartridges to microSD without a computer. It receives power over USB Type-C.
This is a DIY kit: the board, shell and components are included, with firmware preinstalled. The cartridge connector, USB cable and microSD card are sold separately.
The announced price was ¥6780. See the WS Dumper product page for kit contents. A useful way to preserve a cartridge collection and its old saves.
A new version of the EverDrive GBA Pro is out
Krikzz has released an update for his high-end EverDrive GBA Pro flash cartridge. The main addition is an in-game menu, which lets you open the cartridge interface while a game is running, without returning to the main menu, along with a suite of sensor features.
Main updates:
Multi-layer save-state system: up to 98 slots per game. You can save at any point and switch between slots.
Support for multiple sensors at once — solar sensor for Boktai, gyroscope, and tilt sensor. This makes it possible to run games that previously did not work properly on flash cartridges.
Independent RTCs: each game now has its own clock.
Support for custom menu themes.
Shipping will begin at the end of January.
New section on the site: Famicom and NES!
Good news for retro-gaming fans! A new section dedicated to the iconic Famicom and NES consoles is now live on the site.
Special thanks go to Ruslan, a man with a truly impressive collection that has raised a slight suspicion here at the editorial desk. Ruslan has always insisted he is Tatar… but after I received three boxes full of consoles and cartridges to review, I started wondering whether he might have some Japanese roots after all.
Thanks to this “Tatar-Japanese” generosity, the first article is already live in the new section — «Review of the Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom)».
And this is only the beginning. Expect more articles, reviews, and possibly some unexpected finds from readers' collections soon.
Stay tuned and enjoy the nostalgia with us!
Two new articles on the history of EZ-Flash cartridges
The retro section keeps growing. Two large new articles are now on the site, covering the evolution of EZ-Flash — one of the most recognizable and influential flash-cartridge families for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS.
🔹 History of EZ-Flash, Part 1 — from EZ-Flash 1 to EZ-Flash 3
The first article covers the earliest models in the lineup: from the first flash cartridges that helped define the idea of a universal GBA device to the EZ-Flash 3 generation, an important milestone in the development of the homebrew scene.
👉 Read the article: History of EZ-Flash, Part 1 — from EZ-Flash 1 to EZ-Flash 3
🔹 History of EZ-Flash, Part 2 — the GBA/NDS transition era
The second article focuses on the transition period when the community was balancing the GBA against the arrival of the Nintendo DS. It was a time of experimentation, increasingly complex hardware, new compatibility demands, and the first solutions that ultimately shaped the future of the EZ-Flash series.
👉 Read the article: History of EZ-Flash, Part 2 — the GBA/NDS transition era
Reviews of Watara SuperVision flash cartridges are now on the site
The site now has two detailed reviews of flash cartridges for the Watara SuperVision — and both are based on open architectures, giving enthusiasts more ways to explore this unusual handheld.
🔹 SuperPico — a project by Zwenergy
The first cartridge is SuperPico by developer Zwenergy.
It is a simple, tidy solution that works well for the basics: running homebrew builds, experimenting with ROMs, and getting started with SuperVision development. Its minimalist design does show, though — SuperPico is noticeably behind more advanced options in both features and convenience.
Read the review: /superpicowatara.html
🔹 WataPico — a project by Xrip, Vrodin, Sa Gin, and Melovanovi4
The second cartridge is WataPico, created by members of our community: Xrip, Vrodin, Sa Gin, and Melovanovi4.
This really is the flagship SuperVision flash cartridge: thoughtfully designed hardware, broad capabilities, excellent compatibility, and useful tools for developers. At the moment it is the best flash cartridge on the market and effectively the new standard for the community.
Read the review here: /watapico.html
New additions
I recently managed to add several more flash cartridges to the collection, and this batch contains some genuinely interesting pieces.
1️⃣ Bung Doctor GB flash cartridge and GBxChanger — both complete with boxes and manuals.
This is the very first commercial flash cartridge for a handheld console! It cost me 500 złoty. Shipping route: Poland → Montenegro → me.
2️⃣ Flash Advance PRO 128M — one of the earliest GBA flash cartridges.
It is a model from the Flash Advance family, the third version of the device, distributed by Success Company — a direct competitor to Visoly.
3️⃣ Lynx's PassMe — the early version he sold on his website before switching to proper connectors.
And also the Datel Max Media Launcher — the world's first NoPass! 🔥
