The most important files that you'll be using will be are the cheat codes, system software, pdaDS and patched MoonShell. MoonShell has been patched to work with the M3DS Real as it needs a little fine tuning to get up and running. You may run into some "404 Not Found" errors when trying to download from the M3DS Real's website in which case you can download the files from the G6 Real's website. Alternatively, I've created an archive that weighs in at 56MB which can be download here.

Preparation

Before you use your M3DS Real you're going to need to prepare your MicroSD card. To get your M3DS Real to function without any extras you're going to need to either copy over the SYSTEM folder (aka directory) to the root of your MicroSD card or download the latest version from M3DS Real's website then copy it over. I would strongly recommend downloading the most recent version as the one on your MiniCD is most likely outdated. Once you have the SYSTEM directory on the card you'll need to copy over some homebrew and/or games. Nintendo DS games should be placed in the \NDS\ directory and GBA in the \GBA\ directory. Once you've done this you're good to go - unless you want to fully utilize the M3DS Real's functions. In this case you're going to need to copy over a few more files before you're up and running.

To properly prepare your MicroSD card you're going to need a few more things copied over than just the \SYSTEM\ directory. You're also going to need to copy over the pdaDS, patched MoonShell and NDS/GBA cheat databases. The pdaDS program which you can find on the MiniCD enables the PDA functionality of the M3DS Real while the patched MoonShell allows you to playback the DPG format movies which aren't supported in the Crystal Engine Media Player. Lastly, the cheat databases are for cheaters who can't play games and need cheats to make themselves feel better. Below is a breakdown of how much space we're talking about for all of these files to be housed on your MicroSD card. Note that the size of the GBA cheats is much larger then the NDS as the GBA cheats are stored in separate files (one for each game) and take up a lot of space due to the many MFT entries they create (we're talking 2000+ files).

    SYSTEM - 9,146,368 bytes
    pdaDS - 86,446,080 bytes
    MoonShell - 5,124,096 bytes
    NDS Cheat ENG - 1,072,588 bytes
    GBA Cheat ENG - 69,435,392 bytes

    Total - 171,224,524 bytes (approximately 163MB)

Make sure you copy both the pdaDS and MoonShell archives to the root of your MicroSD card. The cheat files go in the \SYSTEM\ directory with the .db in the main directory and the GBA files in a sub directory. Once you've got all of these files copied over your next step is to put some multimedia files on your MicroSD card. As the M3DS Real supports Clean ROM images all you need to do is copy over your games to their respective directory (NDS for Nintendo DS and GBA for GBA). If I were you I'd make sub-directories for my music, books and pictures. Homebrew must be copied into the root of the MicroSD card which tends to make a mess of your main directory. I'm told a solution for running homebrew from sub-directories is in the works so hopefully it's released soon.

Usage

When you boot up the M3DS Real it automatically skips the Nintendo DS firmware's selection menu and brings you to it's GM Manager. From the GM Manager you can select from seven animated icons including Game, GBA, MyCard, Boot, Media, PDA and Setting. You can also adjust the brightness level of the LCD screens via five different levels by using your stylus and touching the "sun" graphic in the lower left corner of the screen. Lastly, in the right hand corner is an icon which will tell you what version of the M3 Manager you're running (I used v2.42c for this review).

The Nintendo DS game selection screen is entered into by tapping on the Game icon. The screen contains a list of your Nintendo DS games contained in the NDS directory in the root of your MicroSD card. The list is by name and includes the internal icon of the game along with it's size in megabits (Mb). If you press "select" on a game a menu pops up allowing you to backup and restore your save game data from two slots for preservation purposes. The save game data is always stored in the main file, but you can backup the data and restore it using this menu and the two extra slots.

When you select a game you're brought to a new screen which contains the icon and name of the game and directly under it what cheat file you're using along with the Cheat Switch, Soft-Reset Key, SlowMotion Switch and SlowMotion Level options. Additionally, located in the next tab is the cheat entries for your particular game (if supported). From this tab you can enabled and disable cheats using your stylus. You can also change the .db file which the cheats are stored in by selecting the "select file ..." option underneath the game icon and name.

Next you can toggle the cheats from actually being used with the "Cheat Switch" option. You can also toggle the Soft-Reset key combination (either L+R+B+A+X or L+R+B+A+Y) which allows you to reset your Nintendo DS without having to manually power-cycle it while you are playing a game. Tapping on the "SlowMotion Switch" will allow you enable the slow motion feature and also pick the key combination used to enable it. Directly below the SlowMotion Switch is the Level you want your game to be slowed down to. You've got five levels to choose from 1 being slow and 5 the slowest. Lastly, to start the game with "Download Play" (if the game supports it) press "Y" instead of "A". If you just want to play press "A" or "START".

The next icon you can choose from the main menu is the "GBA" one which brings you to a similar game selection sub-screen as above, but there are no internal icons to be listed. It still displays the name of the GBA game along with it's file size in megabits (Mb). Pressing select will do the same as outlined above and let you backup and restore your save game data from the two available slots. Once you select the GBA game you wish to boot you're brought to it's launch screen where you can select the cheat's you wish to use, toggle the cheats, enable the Real Time Save (RTS) option and the RTS method.

Once you press "A" or "START" the game will launch after a short "processing" period when the M3DS Real will flash the GBA game to the GBA Expansion Pack (if present). The flashing period is quite short (around 30 seconds for a 128Mb game). Unfortunately, to run a GBA game you must flash it each time as if you reboot the console and try to use only the GBA Expansion Pack it's not recognized as a game.

The next option which will be most used by homebrew authors and fans is the "MyCard" icon which will bring you to a file browser where you can select and execute .NDS and .GBA homebrew files. Once selected you get to choose to launch the homebrew from Slot 1 or flash it to the GBA Expansion Pack in Slot 2. One down point to the M3DS Real's homebrew support is the fact that your Nintendo DS homebrew executable and support files must reside in the root directory of your MicroSD card and cannot be contained in a more orderly sub-directory.

An upside to this situation is the ability for the M3DS Real to automatically patch DLDI homebrew executable and launch them without fail. DLDI is an add-on for libfat (and GBA NDS FAT). It allows people to patch new interfaces for their disc devices into existing applications, provided they were built with DLDI support. Basically, DLDI makes it possible for homebrew authors to create their work and publish it without having to write in specific support for the various development units on the market. The M3DS Real has no issues with patching these so you don't need to pre-patch them. Just copy them over to the root directory of your MicroSD card and you're good to go.

The Boot icon is the next one on the list and will allow you to boot Nintendo DS code from Slot 2 in either Nintendo DS Mode or GBA Mode. This is very helpful as it allows you to use your M3DS Real as a "passme" type device so you can boot up your older Slot 2 solutions such as the M3 Perfect SD or boot homebrew from your legacy GBA device such as the Flash 2 Advance Ultra 1GB GameBoy Advance Development Unit. I tested a few Slot 2 solutions along with the mentioned GBA flashcart and both homebrew and backups worked as designed to.

Before I get into the embedded applications that include the Media Player and Personal Data Organizer (PDA) I'll briefly cover the last icon which is the Settings. This icon brings up the settings sub-screen which allows you to toggle the Boot Icon and current Skin. The Boot Icon will disable or enable the automatic booting of your M3DS Real when you turn on your Nintendo DS and the Skin will of course allow you to change the theme for your M3DS Real's display.

Usage - Media Player

When you select the Media icon you'll be booted into the most recent version of the Crystal Engine Multimedia Player which until the M3DS Real was an exclusive application for the G6 line of Nintendo DS line of products. You see, the M3DS Real and G6 Real are basically the same products, but one has internal flash and one uses external. This is actually a good thing as now all M3 users have access to GBALPHA's Crystal Engine Multimedia Player.

The player has been heavily modified since it's last incarnation seems to be a modified version of MoonShell. I'm not sure why the M3/G6 Team decided to use a modified version of MoonShell, but it works out well. It features a cleaner interface along with a few advanced options missing in action. It's DPG file support has also been cut in favor of the Crystal Engine and DSM formats.

Now, the DSM format isn't the same as Infantile Paralysiser's DSMPlay file format which I refer to as iDSM in this review. The DSM movie format used in the Crystal Engine Media Player is much more efficient then iDSM as it doesn't take up huge amounts of space. To convert your movies to DSM format use the included DSM Video Encoder tool included with your M3DS Real's MiniCD.

From the Main Menu of the Media Player you can select from the My Video, My Music, My Ebook, My Pictures, My Disk, Help & Support and Settings icons. The all of the icons except the last two will bring you a file browser where you can select to either view or play your multimedia files including as the icons suggest videos, music, ebooks and pictures.

Once you select a DSM or Crystal Engine format movie it will automatically start playing on the top screen. Once it's started playing you can tap the bottom screen which will move the display down to that screen and allow you to select from a few options including next, previous, screen mode, align mode, key lock and close. Next and previous will play the previous or next movie in the directory. Screen mode will let you switch between LCD screens and align mode will align the video to the left, right or center. Key lock will turn of the shoulder L+R buttons which is helpful so you don't accidentally press them which would skip to the next or previous movie file in the directory.

The Music player will simply play the file you've selected. I'm not sure why you can't also lock the L+R buttons as they are bound to be pressed if you put your Nintendo DS in your pocket and walk around while it's playing. The sound quality is great and the volume right on. I can recall earlier versions of MoonShell where you could barely hear the music and it had poor bass. No problems here.

The Ebook icon will let you pick a .txt file to read and you can still listen to your music while reading a book. The Ebook menu allows you to save a bookmark, change the display mode to either the top screen, bottom screen or both and also also you to change the character set for reading in other languages. Lastly, you can change the font size to your desired liking.

The picture viewer will you view JPG and BMP images either on the top screen, bottom screen or both screens and works like a charm. The file browser will let you select media files directly without having to go through any of the icons. Lastly, you can change the skin, LCD brightness and either reset or turn off your Nintendo DS using the Settings Icon.

Video Support Overview

One of the best features of the M3DS Real is it's ability to let you watch movies on your Nintendo DS. It's a great feature and not to be overlooked if you don't have another portable video player at your disposal. It took a little bit of time, but I've narrowed down what format of movie looks best, plays back smoothly and sounds great.

Before I get into the specifics there are four different movie formats you can use with two of them being natively supported in the built in Crystal Engine Media Player (CEMP). CEMP will playback DSM and the Crystal Engine movie formats. To play DPG format movies you'll need to use the patched version of MoonShell and to playback iDSM format movies you'll need to use DSMPlay.

My first line of tests was to see which format gives you the best quality so I searched through my music video archive and found that old Paul Simon - Call Me Al music video staring Chevy Chase. I converted it into the four different formats and below are the results.

Paul Simon - Call me Al (MPEG1) - 4:44 / 47.2 MB
Crystal Engine
Quality	Time	Size	Video	Playback	Sound
Low	4:44	5.87 MB	Poor	Choppy	Poor
Medium	4:44	8.77 MB	Poor	Choppy	Average
High	4:44	23 MB	Average	Average	Good
DPG / MoonShell
Low	2:30	12.1 MB	Average	Smooth	Average
High	15:05	10.1 MB	Good	Smooth	Good
iDSM (DSMPlay)
10:45	10:45	150 MB	Good	Smooth	Good
DSM
Low	1:35	13.2 MB	Average	Average	Poor
Medium	1:45	12.7 MB	Average	Average	Average
High	2:08	12.6 MB	Average	Average	Good

As you can see MoonShell's DPG High Quality format came on top. The video was crisp and clear, the playback smooth and the sound was excellent. I had my hopes up for the DSM format, but DPG won hands down. With this in mind my next round of tests was to convert a full length feature presentation to see how it turned out in the DPG format. There was no point in using the other formats as DPG was clearly the winner.

Movie (XVID) - 1:30:26 / 697 MB
DPG / MoonShell
Quality	Time	Size	Video	Playback	Sound
Low	0:22:14	197 MB	Average	Smooth	Average
High	2:48:00	167 MB	Good	Smooth	Good
DSM
High	0:29:30	248 MB	Average	Average	Good

Sadly, the DPG Encoder has issues with the majority of DIVX and XVID I tried as it won't convert them at all, but after converting the XVID to MPEG1 it converted fine. Temp space required while converting was about equal to the size of the movie itself give or take a few hundred megabytes. The quality was the same as my previous tests. I realize that most people won't want to pre-convert their movies to MPEG1 or MPEG2 so I decided to convert the movie using the DSM Converter. Although the quality isn't the best the DSM Converter didn't give me any issues with the DIVX and XVID formats.

In conclusion I would recommend using the DSM format if you don't have a lot of time to convert your movies, but if you're not in a hurry I would use the DPG format as it's superior video quality, smooth playback and great sound make it the optimal format to use.

Usage - pdaDS

As long as you've copied over the pdaDS application over to the root directory of your MicroSD card you'll be able to launch the "TouchPod for Movie Player M3" PDA application (v1.1 beta as of this review). Once you're into its main menu you're again presented with various icons including NDS Game, Setting, Password, Time, Phone, Note, Units, Calculator and Memo. If you select the NDS Game icon you'll be brought back to the M3DS Real's main GM Manager.

The next icon is the Settings which will allow you to set your location via the closest City that represents which timezone you're in. You can also enter in your primary username along with being able to set the back light timeout and set the auto power off time. The last two settings can be disabled completely.

The password screen will allow you to choose a master password for accessing the PDA. The Time icon will bring you to a screen with a clock, calander and the current date. You can toggle from this view to a larger view of the calander by using the Menology icon at the bottom. There are also a few more icons on the bottom including Timer, Countdown and World Time. The Timer will let you run an advanced timer, Countdown is a countdown timer and World Time allows you to view the current times around the world.

The Phone Icon will allow you to view and edit your contact list. Each contact can hold a name, job, company name and various phone numbers including work, home, fax, mobile and bb. Of course you can enter in anything you like in these fields allowing you to store addresses, websites and emails. Using the bottom icons you can also assign a picture to each entry along with a note. I like the fact you can assign your own picture to your contact as it ads a bit of personalization to the PDA. The note option is also really handy as you can jot down whatever you like for each contact.

The Note Icon will bring up a drawing board where you can jot down notes using the stylus. It's more like a miniature drawing application if you ask me as you're allowed to use some drawing tools including a pen, line, box, circle, text and smileys. You can also change the color of these objects. You're also not limited to just one note as once you've saved it you can enter as many more notes as you would like. One thing I dislike about the notepad is the touchscreen detection - it sucks. You'll find yourself scratching over the lines you're trying to make multiple times to get them right.

Units is a pretty handy addition to the PDA. This will give you a list of conversions between various units of measurement including length, area, cubage, weight and temperature. I guess this could be an excuse to use your Nintendo DS in a classroom environment (as long as you don't get caught playing Tetris of Wifi I assume). The Calculator bring up a basic calculator. Nothing really special here. Although, having a calculator in your pocket can come in handy I wish they would of programmed a scientific one instead of a normal one.

The last option is a simple text based memo. The memo is completely text based and serves as a great alternative to the notepad. You can enter as much text as you'd like and save as many entries as you would like.

Overall I'd say the PDA application is a great addition to the M3DS Real's already impressive feature list. It could come in very handy and if you don't already have a PDA your Nintendo DS can easily become a substitute. Although this is a great application there is an alternative in the form of a homebrew release called DSOrganize which doesn't sport a fancy interface, but allows for more in-depth PDA functions including a basic Web Browser and IRC client.

Usage - Homebrew

Homebrew is one of the main reasons why I like products such as this. Homebrew is software produced by amateur developers which aren't licensed by Nintendo. To become a "licensed developer" you must pay outrageous fees for approval, membership and for special hardware. Some licensed developers actually use products such as the M3DS Real for game development due to the high prices Nintendo charges for development hardware. Although homebrew isn't officially sanctioned there are some great releases out there including multimedia players, emulators, drawing applications and games.

Development units such as the M3DS Real open up a new world to non-endorsed 3rd party applications. There is some neat stuff out there which shouldn't be overlooked. If you want to get the most of your M3DS Real I woif you're up to it, you can even create your own homebrew applications using the C and BASIC programming languages or scripting in Lua.

As already stated, you must place your homebrew in the root directory of the MicroSD card whether you pre-patch it with the M3 DLDI driver or not. As the M3DS Real has automatic DLDI patching built into it there is really no need to pre-patch your homebrew, just copy it into the root directory of your MicroSD card and you'll be good to go. I tested a handful of homebrew titles.

Everything worked like a charm and DSOrganize is a great alternative to pdaDS. I would use it over pdaDS. The only homebrew title that failed to boot and produced two white screens was the DS Linux Links Edition. The M3DS Real has great homebrew support as long as you use DLDI enabled titles which most recent homebrew titles support DLDI patching. If you're interested in obtaining more information on homebrew I would suggest visiting DS-SCENE as they offer a larger selection than TehSkeen does.

Usage - Nintendo DS Backups

While some could abuse this feature, the M3DS Real allows you to boot "backup" copies of your original Nintendo DS games. Be it for archival or safe keeping purposes you can make backups of your original Nintendo DS games just in case your original is damaged, lost or stolen. Once you have created a backup of your original game, you can play it just like it's meant to be played at 100% full speed, with full sound, controls, saving support, download play support and GBA -> NDS linkage. I tested a handful of backups and everything worked like a charm including download play, which was an issue in the past. If you're having a problem with a download play compatible game, simply launch it by pressing "Y" instead of "A" or "START" and this will fix any issues you were having. I also tested running a few "trimmed" ROMS and they worked just fine.

Usage - GBA Backups

GBA backups also work great, run at full speed and allows you to save your progress. You can also save your game at any point by using the M3DS Real's Real Time Save feature. This is a great feature for a portable handheld video gaming console as you might need to turn off your Nintendo DS quickly and would lose the progress you've made if you couldn't reach a save point in time. Real Time Saving will let you save the game where you are currently at and resume it right from there. Of course, GBA support requires the use of the GBA Expansion Pack so if you didn't purchase the bundle with the pack you're out of luck. What would an M3 be without GBA support!

Usage - Emulators

The M3 Real has a few built in GBA based retro console emulators including NES, SNES, GameBoy, Sega Master System/Game Gear and PC-Engine. To boot your ROM files (granted you have the GBA Expansion pack) place them in the GBA directory and simply select them. The NES emulator is based on PogoShell and works well with full sound, but the screen scaling is horrible - even more so then nesDS. I would use nesDS instead. The SNES emulator is also horrible and your best bet is to use SNEmulDS which is superior in every aspect. The GameBoy emulator only supports Mono (original) games so you're better off using Goomba. The SMS/Game Gear emulator is also outdated. Lastly, the PC-Engine emulator only supports Japanese games as has no sound. Below is a list of alternative emulators to use.

Usage - Included Tools

Browser Patch Tool

The Nintendo DS Browser Patch tool will allow you to "patch" your own backup of the official Nintendo DS Web Browser™ to be able to be run without the official RAM expansion pack in place. It will be patched to use a compatible Slot 2 expansion pack like the GBA Expansion pack that is included with the bundle. Once patched you can use Nintendo's Opera based web browser to browse the Internet given you have a Wifi connection available.

Cheat Code Combiner

The Cheat Code Combiner application allows you to combine .xml and .db cheat code databases into one single file. This is useful if you're going to update your database with your own cheat codes that you've created in the .xml format that the Cheat Code Combiner can understand. Example XML files are available from the M3DS Real's website.

Real Save File Renamer Tool

This tool is used to rename older save files from previous M3 products so they will work on the M3DS Real. This is handy if you're upgrading from an older Slot 2 product as you won't have to lose all the time you've invested in playing your games. Simply select the save you wish to convert and you're good to go.

Real Trim Tool

This tool will decrease the size of your NDS or GBA games by removing the "filler" aka garbage data from the end of your games. Each ROM image has been padded to fit onto it's original cartridge and includes this filler data to make it fit. This tool will remove that data and still allow you to play the your games. It will save you file space if it's a concern to you.

Crystal Engine Movie Converter

The Crystal Engine Movie Converter is used to convert various formats of movies into the Crystal Engine format to be played using your M3DS Real. The converter is easy to use and supports a wide variety of input formats including rm (Real Media), vob (DVD), avi (Plain/XVID/DIVX), mov, wmv and asf. You can convert the media using three video quality settings which are High Compression Mode, Standard Mode and High Quality Mode. Additionally, you can select which console you'll be playing your videos back on, but for the sake of the M3DS Real you'll be sticking with the NDS. Lastly, you can change the targeted file size, but to be safe I'd leave it at 512MB.

GBAlpha's DSM Movie Converter

This movie converter is used to encode your movies into the DSM format and is more robust and reliable then the Crystal Engine one. I would use this format over the Crystal Engine as it's superior in video, playback and sound quality. You have a lot of control over the conversion process including selecting the frame rate, video bit rate, audio bit rate, audio sample rate, encoding mode, colors, subtitles and you can even make an introduction image or video.

Usage - Battery Life

One factor not to be overlooked is the extra power the M3DS Real draws from the Nintendo DS while being used. I've tested it twice. The first test was music playback (MP3) with the Nintendo DS closed so the screen was powered off. The second test was the "Castlevania" introduction loop. The introduction plays back at full speed with sound and a movie so it's a good way to test how much life you'll get out of the battery. Here are my results ...

Conclusion

The M3DS Real is hands down one of the best Nintendo DS development/backup units I've ever had the privilege of reviewing. With its superior features including it's own PDA, Media Player and built in functions such as it's Action Replay compatible cheat codes it stands above the rest. Add into the mix it's support for high capacity removable media and a slick and well refined GUI, you can't go wrong with this console. Additionally, the integrated support for GBA homebrew and games is a step above the rest as you aren't reliant on third party applications to manage your GBA titles.

For previous owners of M3 products looking to upgrade now would be the time. The M3DS Real has all of the features you've come to love and also adds a few new ones. The slim form factor of the M3DS Real and GBA Expansion carts make for a clean looking Nintendo DS Lite with nothing sticking out to get snagged on various objects. The support for MicroSDHC cards is one major reason why I would upgrade from a current model, as you can take advantage of its major storage capabilities so you won't need to carry around and switch extra memory cards all of the time.

Lastly, with the M3 Team's dedication to their massive line of products you won't be left in the dust if you invest in the M3DS Real. They are constantly updating their software with more features and support for the latest generation of advancements with games and homebrew title. Either way you can't go wrong with the M3DS Real.

Negatives

PDA Notepad Touch Screen Issues
DPG Format Not Supported in Crystal Media Player
MicroSD Card spring loading mechanism prone to failure
M3 Real Cart is made from medium quality/thin plastic

Positives

100% Game Compatibility
99% Homebrew Compatibility
MicroSDHC Support :)
Automatic DLDI Patching
Sleek and well refined GUI
Multimedia Functions
pdaDS is now translated to English!
Download Play Issues Fixed

Links

M3's Website - Home of the M3DS Real
Mod-Chip.com - Worldwide Distributer

-=[ M3DS Real Review Discussion Thread ]=-

Nintendo DS Flash Carts also known as "Development and/or Backup" units are intended for expansion of the Nintendo DS's abilities including running "homebrew" software which is created by amateur unlicensed developers. Homebrew is totally free and legal to use as long as you follow the licensing agreement that comes with each title. Homebrew comes in many forms, but most "Flash Carts" come with homebrew that allows you to listen to music, watch movies, read books and look at pictures. These flash carts also let you run other homebrew titles. The use of homebrew does not infringe on Nintendo's or any of it's related companies rights. Flash Carts also allow you to make and playback backups of original and third party games for safe keeping purposes. Making backups of your data is also a non-infringing action. However, it is illegal to download and play ROM images of games you do not personally own. ISO-420 Reviews and TehSkeen.com do not encourage using Flash Carts in any illegal manner and do not endorse or condone users to "pirate" ROM files. Please support game companies and their developers by purchasing your games.