Acecard 2i Introduction
Here‟s a copy of the Acekard 2i‟s official features list:
Support DSi, DSL, IDSL, DS and IDS
Perfect Compatibility. No need to convert, No need to flash.
Write save file directly to TF card. No more save type selection.
Auto patching DLDI. Run homebrew programs without convert.
Support Soft-Reset. Support Download play. Support Wi-Fi.
Support microSD and microSDHC microSD card. No maximum file limit.
Support Action Replay. Built-in editor.
Low power consumption. Long playing time.
Easy operation. Support pad and touch screen control.
Multi-languages. Support Customize Skin.
Support launch slot-2. Support expand package.
4 level brightness adjustment.
Support reading text files, listening mp3 and watching movie
Packaging and Contents
Box Contents
1x Acekard 2i slot-1 cart
1x Micro SD/SDHC USB card reader
Setting Up & Using
The Acekard 2i, like most other modern slot-1 flash kits is a piece of cake to get up and
running. As long as you have access to an internet enabled computer, micro SD or SDHC card
and card reader you‟re good to go.
Part One: Initial Connection & Firmware
As the instructions will tell you, you need to head on over to the Acekard website and
download the latest loader files. These are basically the carts operating system. Without
them the cart
Download the latest version and extract the files to the root of the micro SD card. You‟ll now
have the following on the root of your micro SD card:
akmenu4.nds (file)
__ak2 (folder)
Part Two: Copying Content Across
Now you can begin copying your homebrew, ROMs and images/movies/etc. to your card. Feel
free to set these up in folders to keep things tidy, as the Acekard 2i reads and displays
directories fine within its OS.
If we explore the __ak2 folder a little bit more, you‟ll find a few directories containing files
that you can play around with and add to.
The „cheats‟ folder contains the files that contain the cheat codes for games. These are in
both .dat and .xml format. If you download new cheat packs of the net, you‟ll have to replace
one of these files. More on cheats later in the review.
The „ui‟ folder contains the skin files – More on that later in the review also.
The globalsettings.ini contains system settings that can be adjusted to suit your preferences.
But unless you‟re an advanced user, you may want to leave these as they are and adjust any
settings from within the Acekard 2i GUI.
If you‟ve upgraded to a Nintendo DSi and have purchased an Acekard 2i, and would like to
carry across your previous gave game files from another flash cart, I recommend you use the
following web-based application created by GBAtemp‟s very own Shuny. Just choose the RAW
Format (auto-detection) output setting.
Save game files sit alongside the ROM file with the same filename, and a „.sav‟ extension.
Online Savegames Converter
Performance
Let‟s take a look and see if the Acekard 2i matches the performance of the many other carts
on the market. That means we should be expecting no slow-down in game, no corruption, no
glitches or incompatible games.
For this test I am going to use approximately 60 randomly selected clean game backups,
along with a handful of known temperamental ones. We are using loader version 4.12 with no
modifications or extra plugins. We are also using a variety of micro SD cards, and of course,
a fully charged Japanese Nintendo DSi.
Please note that due to the fact that 100% compatibility is expected amongst flash carts
these days, we no longer list every single game played. Instead we only make note of ROMs
that we have experienced issues with, if any.
When launching games for the first time from inside the Acekard 2i menu, the system will
check to see whether it‟s the first time the game has run or not, will create a save file if
necessary and will then continue to launch. This can take anything from 1 second to 3
seconds, which is the maximum time I‟ve encountered, but this speed will vary between
micro SD cards. Launching games again takes just a few seconds.
ROM Compatibility
Q: Does the Acekard 2i support “DSi Only” games?
A: As Nintendo have not yet released any DSi only games, this question can‟t be answered.
Though many people believe they won‟t work. Keep in mind that DSi only software is meant
to be region locked.
Q: Does the Acekard 2i support DSi Ware?
A: This is also unknown. But DSi Ware software is meant to run from SD card or the internal
memory of the DSi.
Q: Is there any game that hasn‟t worked properly?
A: All games tested (65+) have worked fine without error. There are currently no known
compatibility issues.
Q: Do you have to perform any ARM7 patching or modifying, such as Worms: Open Warfare
2?
A: No. All games appear to work fine without prior tampering.
Q: Have you experienced any slow down and or lag in games?
A: I have tested both Castlevania (DoS/PoR) titles on a variety of micro SD cards and none
appear to suffer from slowdown. The intros play at full frame playback on the Acekard 2i.
Q: Have you encountered any random freezing in games?
A: Again, we turn to „Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin‟ for this part of the testing, a game known
to freeze in certain areas on slower access SD cards during game play. Our results show that
the game has not locked up on us during our testing.
Q: Does it matter what micro SD card I use?
A: While slower access cards do not appear to hinder performance, we still recommend you
buy a quality micro SD/SDHC card with fast access times for best performance.
Multiplayer, Download Play and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support
After testing a handful of games that have had trouble with download play on other carts
before (eg. Yoshi Touch & Go), I can confirm that they all appear to work fine on the Acekard
2i just as long as the „Download Play‟ support option is enabled in the „Patches‟ menu.
Nintendo Wi-Fi connection works just fine in all games. While this has never been a problem
on ANY flash kit, I always make a note of it here for those that are new to the scene.
Battery Life Results:
I have yet to test the battery life between the DSi and Acekard 2i. I will update this section
once the test has been completed.
Save Game support
The Acekard 2i writes saves directly to the SD card during gameplay in RAW format. That
means you do not need to reboot the system for the save file to be updated.
The Acekard 2i supports all currently known save types and uses an auto-detection method,
meaning there is no need to manually select a save type.
Additional Features
Let‟s take a look at some more of the advanced features of the Acekard loader.
Press the Start button and you‟ll be presented with various options.
From here you can Copy/Cut/Paste files around the micro SD card. This is done by
highlighting a ROM file and selecting the required option from the Start menu, then
navigating to the target directory and hitting Paste. The copy time will vary depending on
what micro SD card you have, but is also limited by the DS hardware and while convenient,
is not a replacement for your PC. If you‟re going to do any serious re-arranging of files, we
suggest you just hook the SD card up to your PC.
The second and third available options in the Start menu are the „Patches‟ and „System
Options‟ sections which I have already covered in this review (see GUI (OS).
Multimedia Support
The Acekard 2i has basic support for a few multimedia files, which are handled via bundled
homebrew. You should be able to play both DSM and MP3 files off the bat, as well as being
able to view basic text files. There‟s always Moonshell if you fancy something a bit more
advanced.
Cheat Support
Pressing „X‟ with a ROM highlighted will open up the cheat window, and load cheats for that
game. Before the cheats will appear however, they must be built from one of the cheat
databases you have in your “cheats” folder. Here‟s the process broken down:
1: Have .XML or .dat file in the “cheats” folder.
2: Open the cheat window with the game you want to use.
3: Click “DB Select” and cycle to the database you want to use.
4. Hit “Rebuild”. A “GAMENAME.cc” file will be created.
From then on whenever you open the cheat menu, the cheats from the “GAMENAME.cc” file
will be loaded. What‟s a tad annoying though is that you have to do this for each game (steps
2 and 4), and every time you want to update the cheats. Once you have your cheats loaded,
check/uncheck the ones you want active with the „X‟ button.
Extra
- Skinning Support
As the Acekard 2i uses the same loader as the RPG and Acekard 2, there are already hundreds
of available skins for use on the cart.
The Acekard 2 range have a very in depth skinning engine, with over 25 customisable
graphics and the ability to rearrange on-screen fonts and info placement.
Just drag and drop new skins to the „__ak2/ui/‟ folder and select the skin from within the GUI
options.
http://gamehouse88.com/acekard-2i-acekard2i-for-nintendo-dsi-p-53.html
You can download many skins from the official Acekard website via the following link
Acekard Skins
- Micro SDHC support
Just in case you missed it already, the Acekard 2i does support the micro SDHC standard.
- Soft Reset
As long as the option is enabled in the settings, the Acekard 2i supports soft reset. Enable it
in the Special Menu and hit L+R+A+B+X+Y in-game to reset back to the main menu. Or, as
you‟re using a DSi, you can just hit the power button to reset to the main DSi menu, for those
trickier situations!
- DLDI Support
The Acekard 2i supports automatic DLDI patching. No user modification is necessary.
- Language Support
The Acekard 2i loader is able to display in the following languages: English, Traditional
Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Korean and Dutch.
Homebrew Support
I have also tested a handful of random DLDI supported homebrew apps. The Acekard 2i
supports automatic DLDI patching so no modification of DLDI enabled homebrew is required
before copying them to your SD card. Most homebrew software appears to work fine in DLDI
mode.
Conclusion
So, the Acekard 2i, the world‟s first DSi flash cart… Or is it? In a way, yes it is. You can run DS
homebrew and games on the DSi. But really, this piece of kit is nothing more than a standard
DS flash kit (Acekard 2) that has been modified to run on the new DSi. It doesn‟t bring
anything new to the table, and even has recycled options from previous Acekard kits such as
slot-2 support (completely useless as the DSi does not have a GBA port).
It is still early days for the Nintendo DSi, and without any software that is designed to run only
on the DSi, or take advantage of the DSi‟s new features, it is hard to say how well the Acekard
2i will hold up. There is even a possibility that this cart could be blocked by a firmware update
issued by Nintendo. If you aren‟t already aware, much like the Wii, Nintendo has made the
new DSi firmware fully updatable.
Will that happen? It‟s uncertain. It all depends on the method they used to get the AK2i
working, and whether or not Nintendo have the ability in the firmware to block it. Although I
have already upgraded my DSi from v1.0J to v1.1J and the Acekard 2i works just fine. If they
do block it, then well, you‟re $30 out of pocket, and we‟ll be back to square one.
For what it does though, the Acekard 2i is a very good flash kit. Just like the original Acekard
RPG and Acekard 2 were. What you have is a cart that offers a solid, fully customisable GUI,
100% compatibility with all DS games, full DLDI homebrew support and many other
additional features that work very well. A few features that some previous DS flash kits
offered are missing though, such as slow-motion support and real time save, for example.
It‟s a given that we‟re going to be seeing more DSi compatible flash kits in the very near
future, but what we can‟t know is whether or not these new kits will offer any improvements
over what the Acekard 2i currently has. We might however, see a completely different range
of modifications designed to open up the DSi to homebrew, such as custom firmware, or that
SD card slot that‟s begging to be toyed with.
When it comes down to it, if you‟ve gone and picked yourself up a DSi and are eager to get it
loaded with all your favourite homebrew, then the Acekard 2i is your only choice – but a very
good choice. It‟s a tried and tested cart that simply does its job, and well.
Pros:
+ The world‟s first commercial DSi compatible flash kit
+ Backwards compatible with both original and Lite DS, including slot-2 functionality
+ Micro SDHC compatible
+ 100% ROM compatibility
+ Full download play support
+ Drag and drop all files – no patching of any kind needed – auto DLDI patching
+ On-board file management & trimming
+ Great looking, customisable GUI
+ Extra features such as cheat support and soft-reset
+ Easily skinnable, lots of skins already available
+ Loader updates are plentiful, good support from the manufacturer
+ Great build quality, fits flush
Cons:
- Still lacks some features of its competitors
- Feels like a rush job as when the cart is run on the DSi, non-DSi compatible options still
appear, needs a hardware check/option to disable these
- Currently only available in black
Buy acekard 2i
at:http://gamehouse88.com/acekard-2i-acekard2i-for-nintendo-dsi-p-53.html