In these days of economic doom and gloom we are looking for some good cheap stocking fillers and not just some bit of tat that will end up in the bin by boxing day! You want something that will last, be appreciated and keep the kids entertained for hours, an R4 card will certainly tick all of these boxes….. lets face it if the kids are entertained then you may even get a chance to put your feet up this Christmas and a have an uninterrupted half hour in front of the fire, sipping on a nice little glass of sweet sherry! Well you can only hope.

Seriously though the R4 card could be a life saver, reducing the whining when travelling this Christmas or when staying at home. The R4i or R4 3DS card will expand the capabilities of your DS console by allowing you to play music, videos, pictures, homebrew games and loads more. Depending on how big a micro sd card you purchase with your R4i you will be able to store loads of files and have instant access to them which will also reduce the amount of cartridges you have to cart around with you when travelling!

So there it is, the ultimate stocking filler, the R4 card! Maybe you will get that peaceful Christmas after all…..

We recently received this email from one of our members about their decision as to which R4 DS card to go for….. and thought it may also be helpful to share with others..

I had heard about these R4i cards and the question kept running through my mind, why do i need one and which one is the best?. Most of my friends have R4 cards and they kept saying to me “hey go and get your hands on one of these beauties!” But to be honest I did not quite get it, as i am not that technical!

So I did a little research into the world of the R4 DS card and other variations. There are so many to choose from, such as the R4i SDHC, M3i Zero, N5, iEDGE, SuperCard DSOnei Mini, R4i 3DS card, etc. I have to say the list was pretty endless and I was still confused.!!!

Trev!

One of the decisions you need to make when getting an R4 card is what capacity memory card you need with it. Just in case you are not aware the R4 card will not work by itself, it needs a micro sd card to store all the data. The most important thing that will be stored on the micro SD card are the kernal software files, these files are essentially the operating system of the R4i card and allow it to function. The Kernal software is a collection of folders and files which is supplied as download from the manufactuer and can be copied straight onto the card. These R4i or R4 3DS kernal files do not take up a alot of space and therefore do not require a lot of memory. The main things that will use memory are your own files which may include, pictures, music, movies and homebrew games. Obviously these files will vary in size depending on what they are and this is where you need to know how much memory you may need. Essentially it does come down to the type of user you are, whether you occasionally pickup your DS/DSi/3DS or if it never leaves your site and is a constant source of entertainment for you. To make it easy we have put together a little rule of thumb for most R4 users below:

Occasional R4i User (once a week) – We would recommend a 2GB micro SD
Average R4 User (every other day) – We would recommend a 4GB micro SD
Heavy R4i User (everyday without fail) – We would recommend a 8GB micro SD
Super Heavy R4 User (Always on it!) – We would recommend a 16gb Micro SD

Of course these are just recommendations and if you want to store large amounts of data but only user your DSi or 3DS occasionaly then go for a larger 16GB microsd for your R4i card. Always remember to keep a bit of space free on your micro sd card for game saves, etc otherwise you may run into trouble with files corrupting when they cant completely save due to insuffucient space.

There you have it, we hope you have found this useful when next choosing how much memory you will need for your R4i or R4 3DS card.

Where to buy your genuine R4 card this Christmas?

We know there is a lot of pressure around Christmas time so its important you are not messed around and you get what you pay for! We constantly receive complaints about sites people have purchased from, the most common issues being: receiving fake cards, huge delays in delivery from China based sites and non existent customer service. In order to provide the best advice we test different R4 vendors around this time of year to make sure we only recommend the best and most consistently reliable site to buy from. This guarantee’s you will receive a genuine R4 card with quick delivery and great customer service.

After our extensive research and independent user feedback we are proud to award m3izero.co.uk as our number 1 best site to purchase R4 cards from this Christmas!

These are the reasons why R4ishopper is consistently voted the best most reliable site to buy your R4 cards from:

1. They only sell genuine R4, R4i and R4i 3DS cards – this is consistently proven every time we make a random order and also from extensive consumer feedback

2. Delivery is quick – on average we would say 2 -3 days for all the orders we have received and also confirmed by a poll of our users

3. Best customer service by a country mile! – we have tested this over and over again, randomly contacting m3izero.co.uk for advice on all sorts of issues and the customer service is exceptional. Not only do they know their stuff, they really seem care about offering good advice and assistance.

4. Good quality memory cards – We always get a high quality mainstream branded memory card in retail packaging with any bundle we have ordered. This is definitely not the case for other vendors where you don’t know what type of memory card you receive in terms of its quality and reliability

5. Pricing – We have found that pricing has always been very competitive with m3izero.co.uk, we know there are cheaper sites out there and we have ordered from those cheaper sites. They constantly disappoint us by providing low quality non genuine products and with non-responsive customer service! It all comes down to the old saying, you pay for what you get.

As the details, complexity and challenges in video games become ever greater, so too do their production budgets. Prepare to be gobsmacked by the costs involved in creating history’s five most expensive games.

5) Metal Gear Solid – $60 million

Commonly abbreviated as MGS, Metal Gear Solid cost its developer, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan, an astronomical $60 million to produce.

Released in 1998, MGS was extremely well received, selling over six million copies and averaging 94% on the games-critic website Metacritic. Recognised as the game which made the stealth genre as popular as it now is, MGS is heralded as one of the most important video-games in history. The story follows a solider called Solid Snake who is tasked with infiltrating a nuclear weapons facility to eradicate the terrorist threat emanating from ‘Foxhound’, a special forces unit turned renegade.

4) Too Human – $65 million

Too Human was released by Microsoft Game Studios in August 2008 after being developed by Silicon Knights for over ten years, costing a staggering $65 million.

A futuristic retelling of Norse mythology, the science-fiction story revolves around the Norse God Baldur, the player. Following a great war between man and machine, humans are close to extinction at just a few million, hiding in the walled enclave of Midgard. Humans pray to cybernetic-enhanced humans, such as Baldur, who are tasked with the protection of mankind, revering them as gods.

3) Shenmue – $70 million

Released in 1999, Shenmue’s budget was an anomaly at the time, costing a staggering $70 million. Produced and directed by Yu Suzuki, he coined a new genre for the game, “FREE” (Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment) which entailed full interactivity and freedom for the player.

Aspects of real life were simulated in the game through the inclusion of a day and night sleep system, fully voiced non-player characters who operated on separate daily schedules, variable weather effects that corresponded to real time, and other interactive elements such as convenience stores and vending machines.

2) Gran Turismo 5 – $80 million

The eagerly anticipated Gran Turismo 5, commonly abbreviated as GT5, boasts over 1,000 cars, 26 different tracks, and 71 locations. The game took over five years to complete and cost a whopping $80 million to produce.

The visual effects in GT5 are markedly superior to the those present in the preceding games of the franchise. Drivers can now chose whether or not to drive with headlights and can see both dust and dynamic skid marks. There are also weather effects on certain circuits in the game. Other effects include a course editor which permits the player to create customised tracks according to their specifications. After outlining the time of day, quantity of circuits, and number of corners, for example, a course will be generated to meet the player’s preferences.

1) Grand Theft Auto 4 – $100 million

The production costs involved in Grand Theft Auto 4 are incomparable in the gaming industry, with a budget of $100 million; it is the most expensive video game ever made.

Rockstar North employed an astonishing 1,000 people in the production of the game which took three and a half years to complete. Over 2,000 people were contacted for rights to the 150 music tracks in the game which, through a deal with Amazon, players can in fact purchase in reality. The fictional Liberty City where the game takes place is a close likeness to New York and so meticulous research into New York City traffic was conducted through the analysis of camera footage taken over numerous months.

Tell all the sceptics that playing videos games is actually good for your health, makes you more sociable and heightens your intelligence!

Number 1 – Drug Free Painkiller!

Startling new research has unearthed numerous medical benefits to playing computer games. After fifteen years of meticulous research, Professor Mark Griffiths of Nottingham Trent University arrived at a surprising conclusion, that playing video games exert a significantly positive influence on the health of players.

Griffiths posits that in video games one can find a potent form of distraction for children undergoing agonizing treatments. Having conducted studies in which children undergoing chemotherapy and treatment for sickle cell anaemia were given computer games for entertainment, Griffiths noted a marked amelioration in their symptoms. Decreased blood pressure, a reduced amount of nausea, and a diminished need for pain relief characterised each patient following a spell of video gaming.

A symptom of one eight year old boy’s condition was lip picking to the extent of scarring. When given video games to entertain himself, he immediately deceased mutilating his face, an outcome a succession of previous treatments had not achieved. Griffiths triumphantly concluded: “Video games have great positive potential in addition to their entertainment value”.

Number 2 – Increased sociability

One of the most commonly held misconceptions is that playing video games makes you anti-social. Let this myth be finally refuted.

Video-gaming is an exceptionally sociable activity in that it requires individuals to work within a team towards a common goal. Sociologist Talmadge Wright has observed online gaming communities and concluded they provide a forum for co-operation and comradeship between individuals. With headsets and microphones, players from across the globe communicate with one another, regardless of appearance or background. Gaming thus demands a level of social interaction unparalleled by other leisure pursuits.

The statistics attest to the social nature of video-gaming. Sixty percent of frequent gamers consistently play video games with their friends, thirty three percent play with their siblings and 25 percent play with their parents.

Number 3 – Heightened intelligence

A study commissioned by the US Government’s National Institute of Health has discovered that playing video games vastly improves visual skills. Researchers Daphne Bavelier and Shawn Green conducted a series of psychological tests in which the visual capabilities of both players and non-players were tested and then compared. The results were startling.

Subjects were asked to match certain shapes that appeared in a series of circles with shapes located on one side of their screens. The individuals who engaged with video games often were markedly more successful at the task and completed it much quicker than those who were not seasoned gamers.

A second test was conducted to measure the subjects’ “attentional blink” which determines how easy it is to catch someone’s attention. The gaming participants were able to correctly identify a symbol which flashed onto the screen 0.2 to 0.5 seconds subsequent to another symbol far faster than the non-gaming individuals.

The conclusive results led Bavelier and Green to comment: “Although video game playing may seem to be rather mindless, it is capable of radically altering visual attentional processing”.

Buying an R4i can be tricky since there are no well known retailers selling them. All but a handful of stores have no reputation at all. We’ve gathered as much information as we could find on those that sell the R4i in the UK to compile a customer satisfaction table. This can be used as a guide to who sells good quality reliable models and who are more likely to supply dodgy alternatives.

Why You Need an R4i (R4 DSi) Card

The Nintendo DSi surpassed all expectations and is the fastest selling handheld console of all time. It has a number of nifty features that aren’t found in the previous versions, but unfortunately it still lacks some features that you might have expected like the ability to run homebrew games through the SD card reader. This is why you need an R4 DSi. The R4 for DSi is cleverly named the R4i.

The R4DSi is a cartridge that is roughly the same size as a standard cartridge for the DSi. The cartridge has a small slot where you can insert a MicroSD card which is required to take advantage of many of its features. Nothing is installed or modified in the Nintendo DSi so it is completely safe to use and all the action is done within the cartridge.

Enhance Your experience with an DSi R4

If you’ve had the luxury of playing video games on the latest Nintendo console, you may want to enhance your experience with an R4 DSi. We’ll go into details momentarily, but first it’s important to understand how you can change the way you use that hand held console of yours. To be frank, with an R4 for DSi you’ll have the opportunity to transform it into a high-tech device.

Playing Homebrew Games with an R4i
If you haven’t had a chance to see our DS Homebrew Top 20 poll which was carried out in 2009, I really suggest you check it out. There are so many great homebrew games that people simply aren’t aware of. They can be played on any variation of the DS, personally I play them on a pink DSI (my daughter picked the colour). Even if you’re experienced with DS homebrew, you’ll probably find a few you’ve missed in the chart. With over 200 votes the poll gives a really good impression of what is the best available.

MP3 Players
Annoyingly for many the console won’t let you play every type of audio file. With an R4 NDSi that’s no longer a problem. We’ve always thought that music can change a person’s personality in just a few minutes, and this cartridge does the trick. If you have a set of tiny headphones you can change your console into an instant music player that you can take on your next run. Whatever the case may be you have to realize you’re not just going to be able to get a few titles, but hundreds on your R4DSi.

The Internet
Many once simple devices are now capable of doing many of the tasks once reserved for home PCs. With an R4 DSi you will find yourself with the ability to use the Internet just as you would at home or in a library. This means when you need to keep up with MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter, you can scan them throughout the day with your R4i wherever you are at that time. Plus, college students are finding the R4i very useful (they can pretend they are researching topics on the Internet while really just playing games).

Other Options Available
We don’t want to spoil all the excitement of the R4 DSi, but there several different ways you can use the two of these together to make one great product. Whether it be for school, work, or play, just having the opportunity at your fingertips with an R4i is a great benefit. Other options available are anything from a Word Processor or video player, to even using it as a mobile phone.

So the next time you take out your DSi R4DS have a look online for some of the free to download homebrew applications available.

An R4 DSi is the Answer

An R4 DSi is the answer many people have been looking for, for a long time. The reason you need this device is because it is much cheaper than you would pay for an original DS game, and it lets your Nintendo DSi do some amazing things! Some of these include that it can be used as a Web Browser, PDA, MP3 Player, Word Processor and Video Player. Last but not least, with the R4NDSi you can play free homebrew games too.

There is one thing though that you will have to be careful of, and that is fake R4i. Many people have come across R4 NDSi but they do not perform as they should, which means they are not the original ones and you have probably been scammed. Be sure of your source when you are looking into investing in something like this, because it is very easy to be given something that looks the same but doesn’t perform the same. It is difficult to get the correct item from the same place once you have been sold a dud, so it is advised to avoid places like this in the first place.

Nintendo DS games are sometimes difficult to keep track of, especially if the kids have had a hold of them. Have you ever had a time when all you feel like doing is relaxing and playing your favourite game, only to be looking for it for an hour? Then once you find it you really don’t feel like playing any more… or what about when the dog has gotten hold of your favourite game? The list of things that go wrong with Nintendo games is almost endless! With the DSi R4, which is a 2GB SD memory card, you can save all your games and you only have one item to look after and keep away from dogs and kids!

An R4 DSi is a great invest for any gaming family to have. Even if you don’t play games as often as others do, it is nice to know that you have all your games safe and sound for that rainy day when you feel like doing nothing but sitting under a blanket and playing games on your Nintendo. Or the kids Nintendo…

Create the gamer’s paradise.

So in an ideal world, what would make any gamers life complete? Here we will look at a run down of the best things a gamer could wish for to make their experience playing the Nintendo 3DS, or DSI, the ultimate in gaming heaven? Right across the board – from stylish accessories to video game perfect junk food. Here we go!

Seating – an aspect often overlooked by gamers who concentrate solely on building up their games collections and hardware. So what are the best seating options for gaming?

1. The La-Z-Boy is the ultimate in one person gaming seating. They are insanely comfortable, with the optional recline for the ultimate laid back gaming experience. Down sides are they expensive and not very portable.

2. The sofa – more traditional house hold seating in general, but a great way to indulge in multi player gaming with maximum comfort. Downsides are, attractive sofa’s are often very expensive, they take up a lot of room and aren’t exactly the most portable option.

3. The bean bag! Perhaps the best option for portable gaming, they are both comfortable, portable and inexpensive. Although they are only good for seating one person, it is relatively easy to get enough bean bags to seat all your friends and then clear them all away when it’s game over. Worst idea in seating – “Gaming chairs.” Although they come with built in subwoofers, they are often uncomfortable, expensive and ugly. Best avoid these gimmicks!

Gaming Junk Food – a very important idea for the serious gamer who wants to power on through those long hard gaming days, and keeping energy levels up for fighting those difficult bosses.

1. Take away pizza! No time to prepare, good for sharing, and comes in whatever toppings you like. Downsides are, it is expensive to keep ordering take out, and you will get fat if you eat too many.

2. Nachos – easy and cheap to make. Just bung a load of tortilla chips, slathered in cheese and salsa in the oven for 10 minutes and enjoy. Great for sharing, but can be quite messy. Watch you don’t get salsa all over the controls.

3. Pop tarts. Ultimately in lazy gaming junk food. Comes in a variety of different flavours, just stick it in the toaster and in 2 mins you have a brilliant snack. Downsides are they don’t fill you up for a long time, and aren’t too good for sharing.

Accessories – There are so many different gaming accessories out there, some of them being absolutely ridiculous, like the Wii inflatable gaming car for example. What on earth where they
thinking with that one? But there still are some pretty cool things out there. Here are some of them.

1. Super Mario Family Pouch for 3DS, DS light and DSI consoles, comes decorated with the entire Mario family of characters and it looks really cool. It also protects the console from all dust/ scratches, and has internal pockets for games and styluses. You can even play the console without removing it from the case!

2. The Powerboard module for the DSI. This little beauty is a godsend when the console is refusing to charge or has suffered water damage. It is a mount port for the battery and reset button, and will allow gamers to carry on regardless. Genius!

3. Last but not by no means least – the R4I memory card. This little card it the best way to improve the functionality of your console, for a very reasonable price. It is easy to install, good value, and can allow users to store all their music and picture libraries on their console as well. Brilliant!