The R4 DS is one of the most popular add-ons to any Nintendo DS, DS Lite, or DSi. The only tough part is finding a genuine R4 card. In order to track these down, you need to know the characteristics of a genuine R4 card and other traits that separate it from the rest.

It helps a lot to know the history of the R4 DS to better understand why there is no real “Genuine R4 card”. What stores tend to mean if they state that the R4 card is genuine, is that it was developed by one of the original members of the R4 team. It all started with a team successfully producing the first R4 in China where it achieved success. Shortly after, the R4 DS company disassembled with each of the owners continuing the success of the R4 by themselves. Basically, each owner put up their own factories to create their own version of the R4 DS sporting improvements like the support for SDHC cards.

The problem is that these units coming from the different factories are all being called the R4 DS with most of them claiming to be genuine. Because different factories are used, the quality of the exterior and interior could vary.

Because the R4 is such a popular name, many other developers are trying to cash in by making their own versions. These are the ones you should ignore as they look different slightly on the outside and look noticeably different on the inside. You can easily recognize these R4 products if they have other labels such as “Version 3” or “V3”. There might be other newer models that may attempt to fool people by putting other convincing labels. A real R4 DS is called an “R4” and nothing more than that.

An easy to spot R4 DS imitation.

Since finding an R4 in stores is close to impossible, people often look online using their trusty search engines. “R4” is an extremely short keyword that can lead to millions of results and a large percent include online stores while another portion includes dedicated R4 sites. Some websites that feature the R4 DS may look as if that website is the original website. But since owners split up early in the 2008, no true website can represent the R4 sold in shops today. The original official R4 DS website is still online but hasn’t been updated since the company broke up.

These websites that are disguised as original manufacturers often link to stores with some of them having scam intentions so try to stay away from these sites unless you only want to get more information about the R4. Be sure to check out the labels too because any pictures of fake R4 units may display fake information as well.

Check Reviews Before Buying an R4 DS!

Before buying from any store who’s reputation is not well known, make sure you seek customer feedback for the business to make sure they are not supplying you with the lowest quality R4 DS models availed in order to sell more units. Anything with a customer satisfaction rate of less than 90% isn’t really a well managed business and is more than likely to provide you with cheap imitations.

While there is no way really to determine whether an R4 card is genuine, there are definitely units out there that actually work. The many people that own and enjoy the R4 features are proof that these useful DS companions are still in production.

How to get a Genuine R4 DS Revolution

I’ve done a lot of research and there really is no way to guarantee you’re getting a genuine card. In fact what a genuine R4 DS Revolution is, is not clear any more since there are several separate companies who produce it and each seems to be entitled to use the name.

As you may have read on this site, the original R4 team have split up and have been working in their own factories producing their own version of R4 DS for a long time now. This means that there are no more original units on the market. That doesn’t mean you can’t still get a good quality R4 Revolution though.

It just means you have to be a bit more careful about where you get your R4 DS from. Have a look at our customer feedback table to get a better idea of where you can get a good quality R4.

Once you have picked where you want to buy your R4DS you need to chose what size of SD memory card you would like to go with it. If you already have one then you may not need to buy a new SD card but you will probably want a fairly large storage capacity to keeps all your homebrew in one place.

How to Tell if Your R4 DS Revolution is Fake

If you bought an R4 DS before April 2008 then it probably is real and an original model. Most units of R4 DS Revolution that have been sold since (unless it was old stock) are not made by the original team. Don’t worry though, it will likely not cause too much trouble but it could be meaning you don’t get the best out of your games if you’re not buying from a reliable source.

The best advice is simply to order from a reliable seller in the first place. Alternatively you can buy an M3 DS Real. The M3 DS Real does not have lots of imitations and includes all the same features so you can safely buy an M3 DS Real.

I would not recommend buying your DS R4 Revolution from anywhere that does not have any evidence of good customer feedback (and “customer feedback” on their own site doesn’t count, it can easily be made up). The reason for this is that as there seems to be a lot of fakes on the Internet. The fakes often work if you install the right firmware but they do tend to cause a lot more hassle than the real R4 DS Revolution. Definitely not worth the risk to save a few pound. You might end up just completely wasting your money with no chance of a refund if the business is not reputable.