The G6/M3 team has been very generous as to let us review their G6 Lite for our members/readers. The G6 Lite is a NDSL (Nintendo DS Lite) flashcart that comes in various size capacities; the highest capacity being 4 gigabits (roughly 512mb). The G6 Lite has both GBA and NDS modes, allowing you to play both GBA and NDS homebrew (and those illegal games that we are so strong against here at QJ). So, whether your needs are homebrew of illegal activity, the G6 Lite is almost perfect. If you want to know why I say it is “almost perfect” – check out my review below -

Review -

The G6 Lite came in my mail today (on a Sunday!) and took me by surprise. I immediately went to my laptop, grabbed my camera and started to investigate the package. It’s the usual G6 packaging with a few modified changes to reflect the G6L. Upon opening the package, you are presented with the usual G6 tin with a software CD that contains all the necessary software and instructions to get your G6 up and running.

In my package (4GB – 512mb version), I received all the replacement cartridges/shells, and the U-Disk for transferring files to my G6L. The first thing I did when opening the product was to check out the flush fit and the comparison to the GBA filler cart that came with the NDSL. Surprisingly, they were very similar (same size) and had a glossy effect to the top to be consistent with the rest of the NDSL (something of which the EZ4 Lite lacked). The G6L cartridge also had somewhat of a transparent back, something of which the upcoming M3 Lite also seemed to have.

The replacement shells to match other Nintendo DS Lites were all well built as well, the exact same as the G6L default white cartridge. Now, taking apart the cases were a bit troubling as the screws just didn’t want to come out. I took apart the black one with ease, but taking apart the one that housed the G6L originally was proving difficult. However, I found a way to do it without yanking out the screw (as other people have from what I’ve read).

To successfully remove the screw from the white GBA filler cart that the G6L comes in -

1. Unscrew it (turn the screwdriver to the left). It will not seem as if it came out at all
2. Place your thumb on the back of the cartridge and pull down, then continue to unscrew.
3. Once the screw is fully out, just finish sliding the back of the cartridge off!

Now, since I have a white NDSL – I placed it back in the white casing and put it back together. When I put the U-Disk (USB device to connect flashcart to PC), it detected it right away as a removable drive; I did not have to install any drivers (jumps up in joy!).  It was now time to check out the software that came with the product. After opening the CD (I had a mini-CD with mine) I found all the software that was available for the G6L. However, there are almost always new updates available on the G6 Flash website, so I grabbed that to be sure I had the most recent. The installation process was easy, both on the PC and on the G6 side as the installation process was well documented in text files.

After I had the software up and running, the rest was easy (and was documented as well). Now, I inserted the cartridge into my NDS, booted up (using G6L and a Passcard 3) and it booted up very fast, but at times I found that there was a short loading screen detecting what was on the cart. The M3 devices did not have this problem as they had the “not endorsed by Nintendo” splash screen before-hand (which would read the cart as you are looking at that message), but this G6L did not have one. The G6L interface was the best interface I have seen out of all flashcarts and adapters! It could be navigated by the buttons or the stylus! After loading up my first game (the new Zelda homebrew demo), I saw a short loading clock and then an instant boot to the game. This played perfectly with no slow-downs of any sort. I’ve taken the liberty as to upload a video to YouTube to represent the situation better visually.

Aside from the game department, there are several other capabilities of the G6L that are impressive. These range from viewing pictures to watching entire movies/videos. With only 499mb of accessible space, movies may not fit, but it’s great for watching short videos or TV/Anime shows. The converter is also on the CD, so no need to download extra software. It does take quite some time to convert a 24min video, but in the end it is worth it. The G6 plays movies very well, but the NDS’s screen limits the quality of the video outputted, but it is still very good quality for a NDS. I was surprised at how high the quality was, I was expecting a lower quality video where I couldn’t read subtitles. To my surprise, I could read all the subtitles just fine with the lower quality video.

The music quality of the NDS isn’t as great as an MP3 player, but it is still a good alternative to those who do not own an MP3 player. You can choose to use the built-in music player or Moonshell (comes on software CD).

There’s one huge negative to the G6L right now – DSOrganize is incompatible. This is because of Chism’s FAT Library is not compatible with the G6 (or vice-versa: G6 is not compatible with Chism’s Fat Library). This means that you can not boot up DSOrganize. Also, the built-in PDA functionality is all in Chinese, meaning you can not read or really use it to the full extent unless you know Chinese.

Pros –

• Easy to setup and use
• Instructions included with software
• Replacement shells
• Fits flush with NDSL
• Glossy top to the cart
• Nice interface for both GBA and NDS
• PDA software potential
• Built-in players for movies, music and pictures.
• Built-in emulator support
• Great Compatability (NDS/GBA games)

Cons –

• PDA software is in Chinese (will be translated in the future)
• DSOrganize is not compatible (may be fixed later in time)
• Replacement shells are difficult to take apart at first
• Loading times for games/homebrew

Note – I’m not listing the memory capacity as a weakness because it is a Flashcart which rarely are found to go up to 8gbit (1gb).

Overall Impression - Best flashcart solution for a good price. If you are looking for expandable memory and 512mb is not enough for you, I would wait for the M3 Lite to roll out to see how good that is.

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