3DS Homebrew for GBA, should i? Is there a risk?

[HighFive]

To clear things up first, im really not going forward yet to get that done. Its something im considering, cause i want GBA games injections, and since there is no way to get GBA games on portable ( other to find a lucky shot a good gba sp used, and also find the games ). I would throw my money to simply get the ambassador program for some GBA on my New 2DS XL, or simple being able to purchase them on the eshop. Oh and there are these gba clone like the revo k101, but im not sure it can do the same job as GBA inject.

So i came to the conclution that the only possible way is to mod my 3DS, but im worried. Can i get banned? I dont want my account blacklisted. And once homebrew is installed and you put your games in there, can homebrew get deleted and the gba inject still works? ( like i dont want to have access of the free game shop, i wouldnt feel personaly honest of getting game like without paying... ok yes, the gba are not paid, but getting recent games , it would cross a line i dont find acceptable ). Only thing i want to get done in my system is gba inject. So, is it worth it? Some people are offering this service for a fee, and im considering it.

 

[Inugami]

Can you get banned? Probably not if you aren't doing any sort of online cheating or accessing nintendo's servers to download games... but there is never a guarantee.
Can you continue to play games without homebrew after installation? No. The games are all signed, and you have to bypass that... aside from a select few games which aren't signed because they come preinstalled on systems (a few pokemon GBC games did, maybe a few others?)
Is it worth it? GBA injection puts the whole system into GBA mode, so it lacks a lot of functions of the system and there have been compatibility issues. That said, there are probably compatibility guides out there.

Honestly, your best bet if you want to go that route is to simply pick up a second 3DS if you want to be 100% sure your system will never get banned. At that point though, it might be cheaper to pick up a used SP or a K101.

 

[Garou]

since there is no way to get GBA games on portable

Click to shrink...

That's a new one!

ok yes, the gba are not paid

Click to shrink...

Try to get your piracy-shit elsewhere?

 

[neufel]

If you don't have the games it's piracy.
Get a second hand GBA and a few cheap games on ebay then wait for the Switch VC.
Aaaaany minute now.

 

[Deleted member 71]

It works well, but I'd honestly recommend just picking up a GBA/DS Lite/clone or waiting to see how Nintendo approaches VC going forwards on the Switch. Piracy is also bad.

Wii U GBA VC was fantastic, and was the best VC available in Wii U mode. It also ran great, as the emulator was developed by M2. I'm sure that Nintendo has something planned for Switch.

 

[Daysean]

Why would you even mention what lines you would cross and what not?

 

[Fat4all]

Why would you even mention what lines you would cross and what not?

Click to shrink...

I've killed before, and I'll do it again!!!

 

[kaisere]

So i came to the conclution that the only possible way is to mod my 3DS, but im worried. Can i get banned? I dont want my account blacklisted. And once homebrew is installed and you put your games in there, can homebrew get deleted and the gba inject still works? ( like i dont want to have access of the free game shop, i wouldnt feel personaly honest of getting game like without paying... ok yes, the gba are not paid, but getting recent games , it would cross a line i dont find acceptable ). Only thing i want to get done in my system is gba inject. So, is it worth it? Some people are offering this service for a fee, and im considering it.

Click to shrink...

I've had a 3DS banned due to a ban wave, it does not reflect on your account as a whole, just that specific console. I'd highly recommend NOT doing it on the same system that has all of your saves and purchases on it, if it does get banned you can system transfer them off but I'd rather not have to deal with that. If you're looking for a mod only system I'd recommend a 2Ds as they're pretty cheap and I like the screen size for GB games.

I'd highly recommend only doing GBA injects of games you already own. Otherwise, you're pirating games and there's no difference between pirating a 3DS game and a GBA one.

Speaking of piracy, homebrew =/= piracy. You have to actively seek that stuff out, it does not come bundled with any of the hacking methods or anything like that. If you mod your system via the common guide, on the surface you won't notice a difference at all.

 

[HighFive]

It works well, but I'd honestly recommend just picking up a GBA/DS Lite/clone or waiting to see how Nintendo approaches VC going forwards on the Switch. Piracy is also bad.

Wii U GBA VC was fantastic, and was the best VC available in Wii U mode. It also ran great, as the emulator was developed by M2. I'm sure that Nintendo has something planned for Switch.

Click to shrink...

Kind of forgot DS Lite was an option. Thanks for the reminder. I owned games on my Wii U , yeha enjoyed it, but wanted a portable solution.

 

[HighFive]

I've had a 3DS banned due to a ban wave, it does not reflect on your account as a whole, just that specific console. I'd highly recommend NOT doing it on the same system that has all of your saves and purchases on it, if it does get banned you can system transfer them off but I'd rather not have to deal with that. If you're looking for a mod only system I'd recommend a 2Ds as they're pretty cheap and I like the screen size for GB games.

I'd highly recommend only doing GBA injects of games you already own. Otherwise, you're pirating games and there's no difference between pirating a 3DS game and a GBA one.

Speaking of piracy, homebrew =/= piracy. You have to actively seek that stuff out, it does not come bundled with any of the hacking methods or anything like that. If you mod your system via the common guide, on the surface you won't notice a difference at all.

Click to shrink...

Well, i think you convince me to put a stop to this idea. I felt not great about doin it, i dont want to risk it.

 

[DigitalTravis]

You are better off with a backlit GBA SP in my opinion. Actual hardware is hard to beat. Scaling GBA to a 2/3DS screen is pretty awful looking.

PSP isn't too bad but performance isn't perfect. gpSP gets the job done. Super cheap solution. You get the benefit of a perfect PS1 capable handheld.

The Revo K101 is better than a 3DS if you don't care about other systems.

Another option to consider is the VERY capable GPD XD. Perfect performance and supports a ton of systems.

Then again the 3DS catalog (and DS) is godlike and the Virtual Console for SNES and NES is also fantastic.

 

[Redhead On Moped]

IMO, the absolute best way to play GBA games on the go is iPhone SE. I wrote about it at length in another time, another place. Since you are giving up on your 3DS idea, why not get a DS to dump your own ROMs, and play them with iPhone SE?

 

[DigitalTravis]

IMO, the absolute best way to play GBA games on the go is iPhone SE. I wrote about it at length in another time, another place. Since you are giving up on your 3DS idea, why not get a DS to dump your own ROMs, and play them with iPhone SE?

Click to shrink...

The iphone se could be a winner but homebrew isn't always the easiest. But if you get a jailbreak capable firmware, add in the Logitech PowerShell and its a pretty ok solution.

 

[Why would you do that?]

IMO, the absolute best way to play GBA games on the go is iPhone SE.

Click to shrink...

I personally think the PSP is the best way. High compatibility, full speed gameplay, actual buttons, great response time with almost no lag (important for Rhythm Tengoku!)... It was amazing to me back in 2006, especially since gpSP on the PSP could run various games well that VisualBoyAdvance on my PC couldn't.

 

[Redhead On Moped]

Math on PSP display doesn't work out though. Need that full integer scale.

 

[HighFive]

IMO, the absolute best way to play GBA games on the go is iPhone SE. I wrote about it at length in another time, another place. Since you are giving up on your 3DS idea, why not get a DS to dump your own ROMs, and play them with iPhone SE?

Click to shrink...

Iv tried GBA4IoS, result are not bad, but its not an handheld. Touchscreen is not a dpad. I just dont feel im playing on a console.

 

[L.O.R.D]

Yes, you could get banned if you run non app released from Nintendo, meaning if run emulator, you could get banned, the safest way to not get banned is running emulator using hombrew channel from download and play method.

If you get banned, only online play is restricted.

 

[Redhead On Moped]

Who said anything about a touch screen?

iPhone SE + one of these...

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-940-000151-Powershell-Batteryaccs-Ctlr-iphone/dp/B00FHREO8K

 

[DigitalTravis]

Math on PSP display doesn't work out though. Need that full integer scale.

Click to shrink...

When you are all in for less than $50 integer isn't really needed. And the controls matter too. Hard to get even psp quality controls over to an iphone. Like I mentioned earlier the logitech PowerShell is adequate.

I mean if we are honest, the best would be 1440p amoled phones like the One Plus 4 or Galaxy 8/9. Better controller options for android as well. Still nothing perfect. Controller adapters for the DualShock 4 are pretty ok but a bit unwieldy compared to a psp.

 

[Why would you do that?]

Math on PSP display doesn't work out though. Need that full integer scale.

Click to shrink...

It doesn't look so bad with the non-Integer scale factor, IMO. Especially since the scaling is just under 2x, anyway.

But to be honest, I think integer scale is a bit overrated. Definitely great to have and use, but still overrated. Especially for GBA games, which were meant for a tiny, dark screen that kids used $8 front lights on that plugged into the Game Link port.

 

[Slick Butter]

So i came to the conclution that the only possible way is to mod my 3DS, but im worried. Can i get banned? I dont want my account blacklisted. And once homebrew is installed and you put your games in there, can homebrew get deleted and the gba inject still works? ( like i dont want to have access of the free game shop, i wouldnt feel personaly honest of getting game like without paying... ok yes, the gba are not paid, but getting recent games , it would cross a line i dont find acceptable ). Only thing i want to get done in my system is gba inject. So, is it worth it? Some people are offering this service for a fee, and im considering it.

Click to shrink...

You could get banned, but I think it's pretty unlikely. The banwave a year ago seemed kind of random, but I think most who got banned were probably obvious pirates.
No, you have to keep custom firmware on your system to be able to keep playing GBA injections, I'm pretty sure, since other homebrew CIAs require CFW to still be there. I don't see why you would go through the trouble of uninstalling it.
I think you should just install it yourself, AFAIK the process has become very simple, safe, and easy. What kind of fees are people charging to install CFW?

 

[Amiibola]

You could get banned, but no one actually got banned just for installing a CFW since the great banwave. And even if you get banned, it would only affect to that console only.

Is it worth it to play GBA games on 3DS using injection? Yes it is. Games look a little dim (and there's some injection firmware that allows you to undim them, however, that may cause burn-in on your 3DS screen) but compatibility is perfect and there's no performance issues either.

but I think most who got banned were probably obvious pirates.

Click to shrink...

This is another can of worms, but not exactly. There were pirates, yes, but there were also people who got a significant game before street date,played it (not online) and got banned.

 

[Rodney McKay]

I have both my regular n3DS and n3DS XL homebrewed and I LOVE having my GBA collection on my 3DS, they're probably my favorite systems to play them on.

My backlit GBA SP is nice, but has some noticeable ghosting/blurring during movement.
OG GBA... lol. Mainly just got to trade Pokemon with myself (and then never actually did that, haha).
GBA Micro is alright, but has similar ghosting that the SP has (but a little less), and the backlight is a little uneven around the edges. Main problem is that it's just SO small.
DS Lite is probably my favorite next to the 3DS, it's very bright and good quality, but a little small.

I removed all of them from my n3DS XL when that big ban wave was happening. It's my main 3DS with all my digital purchases and ambassador games and where I play any online 3DS games so I wanted to make sure I didn't get it banned. But neither of my 3DS got banned and since I haven't heard of problems since then I'd probably be safe to put them back on my XL again.

I also love that there's some patches for certain GBA games to make them look better than the Ambassador games. Yoshi's Island for example looked bad because it had washed out colors and ghosting, but there's a fix for that by injecting the game so it looks great now. No idea why Nintendo did such a bad job with some of those, but I guess they were a last minute apology for the huge 3DS pricedrop early on.

 

[Deleted member 5086]

Thread has been locked as while homebrew and emulation is permitted for discussion here, the OP is advocating piracy, which is against our ToS.