A new flash cart dubbed the R4i (yes, that’s R4i, a pun for the name R4 for the DSi) for the new Nintendo DSi which is hitting US soil this April 5 (the DSi release date).  No word if this still comes from the R4DS maker since it’s not on their official site plus the fact that selling of R4 is illegal by law in Japan.  The cart however, is already on sale on the interwebs.

If you haven’t been around the DS scene lately, all current flash carts don’t work with the DSi, save for maybe the one from Acekard and the R4i, the R4 for Nintendo DSi.

Here’s a video of the R4i on Nintendo DSi.

R4i On Nintendo DSi Demo

R4i Features

• Able to memorize and restore to the previously selected game or application after restarting machine and soft reset.
• Sleep mode function, for power saving and longer standby time.
• Multi-languages are optional, they are Simplified Chinese, complicated Chinese, English, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Spainish and Dutch.
• Friendly interface, easy to operate.
• Realtime smart help windows.
• Integrated the latest Moonshell 2.0 Beta version.
• Game compatibility: 100%.
• No need to flash. Built-in launch Slot-2 (gba) function.
• Support SDHC micro sd cards (4GB、8GB、16GB、32GB).
• Support DMA read and no lag while using any microSD card.
• Support FAT16 and FAT32. Files can be transferred with PC, PDA, Cellphone and Camera.
• Support clean rom and drag-drop to play. Fast loading.
• Support NDS and iDS games. DS games can run on any DS versions.
• Files are to be saved directly to TF card, copy or restoration is not required.
• Automatically recognise saved new game types, no need to update the database.
• Support moonshell and home brew.
• Power saving design. Enter optimized mode automatically.
• Double screen UI, abbreviated picture and game title display, button and touch operations.
• Easy to use, setting or adjustment is not required.
• Support Wi-Fi, rumble pack and browser expansion.
• UI background can be changed.
• 4-level brightness adjustment.
• Support soft reset.
• Support AR cheat code.
• Support soft-reset of moonshell 2.0 (back to main menu of R4 NDSI by pressing START button).
• DLDI auto-patching.
• Support Download play.

R4i package

At the risk of being Captain Obvious, this just needs saying. If the R4i works, then other flash carts for the DS and DS Lite like EDGE will be getting a for DSi iteration.

Personally though, I would avoid anything with the R4 name in it.

The R4 offered less than carts that went on sale beside it.  The R4i does offer more but the stigma is already there so buy at your own preference.  If you’re looking for a this car though, you won’t find it on Amazon and Ebay as Nintendo had it banned.  You can get it elsewhere on the internet though.

If you’re looking to update your r4i firmware, just check out r4i’s updates.

To everyone who already got an R4i already? Post your review.