Nintendo DS cards, and more recently Nintendo DS
cards, were created to allow users to play not only games on their Nintendo
handheld consoles, but also use them as MP3 players or even movie players. Newer
generation cartridges now carry support for other activities such as reading
eBooks and PDFs, turning the Nintendo DS console into a more practical machine
designed not only for the casual gamer. The EZFlash Vi card firmly belongs in
the latter category.
"A wise man learns from the mistakes of others."
This is a phrase that rings especially true for the EZFlash Vi Nintendo DS card.
The architecture and design of the the card is well thought out and has
incorporated improvements from past failed DS cards. For example, the original
R4 card had a
spring mechanism which has been removed in the EZFlash Vi to reduce the number
of mechanical parts inside the card. This has increased the card's physical
reliability. Another improvement is to place the Micro-SD card slot on the side
of the card rather than on the top, unlike most mainstream cards including the
R4, M3 and Acekard. This helps to prevent the Micro-SD card from getting lost or
slipping out of the console during play.
Dimensional control is excellent
with the EZFlash Vi, with variation in size negligible and usually less than
0.1mm. This is important because variation in the size of the DS or DSi card can
sometimes cause the card not to fit properly in the Nintendo DS or DSi console.
A small difference causes the pins on the back of the card and the connector
strips in the Slot-2 of the DS to not align properly and thus data is unable to
be read off of the card. Good dimensional control during the manufacturing
process minimises the percentage of cards that don't fit in the end user's
consoles.
Firmware updates are occasionally a problem for the end users
purchasing their card from an old store. Unlike the R4 and R4i cards, the
EZFlash Vi card cannot be updated on a Nintendo DS console that has already been
upgraded to the 1.4 firmware. The firmware updates can only be performed on a
regular Nintendo DS / DS Lite console or a Nintendo DS that has not yet been
upgraded. This is usually not a problem as most reputable stores will sell the
EZFlash Vi already upgraded, so that it is capable of working on any console.
NDS-Gear.co.uk is a good example of where this happens with every card to ensure
customer satisfaction.
The EZFlash Vi has a long established team working
on software updates and compatibility issues with the card on a daily basis. New
updates are released on average every three weeks (accurate as of the 31st of
May 2010). The development team have been in existence since the year 2000 and
appear to be very responsive to fix software issues with the card. An example of
this was the speed at which a fix was released after the Nintendo 1.4 firmware
aptch came out. It took the EZFlash team only a week to come out with a firmware
update which allowed existing users of the EZFlash Vi on the Nintendo DS console
to continue using their cards as normal. The EZFlash Vi team were the first
Nintendo
DS card manufacturer to successfully create a patch for the
firmware.
The EZFlash Vi team also interact with their customers which
may explain the speed in customer service. They have a dedicated forum on the
Sosuke website which has the latest information about the team's developments as
well as upcoming projects in the pipeline. Because of the forum, the team also
has a large database containing a wealth of information on any sort of
troubleshooting issues.
To summarise, the design and quality of the
EZFlash Vi is nothing short of exceptional, and with a team who are not only
dedicated but interact and listen to their customers, makes the EZFlash Vi a
prime contender for the number one supported
Nintendo DS card in the
world.