Acekard 2.1 Review

[unz]

Wow, congrats on writing the most comprehensive flashcart review ever, Another World.
Pad it out a bit more and you'll have enough to make a novel.

What is the point of making an Acekard RPG review? They don't sell the flashcart anymore anyways.

i guess because i have one and wood rpg adds new features to the cart? also it is something to do =) i'm sure there are users who would gladly sell off there rpg, just as i've found some people who are willing to sell me a fas1. the fas1 is outdated, no longer supported, etc, but akaio supports gba flashing to it and for that reason i want one to play with. i hope that others think like i do and would find a review of the rpg and the updated firmware worth reading.

but like i said we have other things planned for review, and time will tell if i get to the rpg review or not.

-another world

Personally, I'd really like to read a new RPG review from you, AW. A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across an RPG being sold at a discount price by an Oztion merchant who was clearing out some old display stock. According to the merchant, it had been tested just long enough to confirm that it worked, then it sat untouched in a display cabinet for two years - until I came along and snapped it up. When I first tried it out, I found the original AKMenu v4.09 from Feb '08 was still installed. That got the flick almost immediately for AKAIO, and then Wood took over.

/cool story, etc

It would be great to see some fresh insight into the RPG. I've tried searching for info and guides, but most of what I've found is well out of date, incomplete, or the links have fallen off the web from lack of use. What's left online leaves a fair few questions unanswered. The AKAIO Wiki was helpful in setting things up in general, but specific RPG info is somewhat ummm... sparse, even there (no offence intended). I'm hoping there's one or two tweaks that I've missed, because Moonshell2 running on the NAND is verrrry sloooow to start up, and once MS2 eventually does launch, it's control response is as laggy as hell, compared to MS2 running on a traditional microsd flashcart.

Actually, any tips at all from anyone with RPG experience would be very much appreciated - even if it's just a quick PM to avoid (further) threadjacking/going offtopic...

 

[Another World]

the nand is very slow you might want to stick to the micro sd card. i've only used the nand for those problem games that didn't have fixes yet. gta comes to mind.

-another world

 

[unz]

Thanks AW, that's exactly the sort of advice I needed. I read an old post on the AK forum (I think) that said to run MS from the NAND, so yeah, in regard to MS2, that's obviously not right.

 

[A4NoOb]

until i see actual factual benchmark testing that can be recreated which proves 100% of roms work on other kits, this comment remains speculation. its just a number everyone throws out because they don't look for the problems. akaio makes no claims to have 100% compatibility, but i know for a fact that the beta team has tested each rom (right though the good set list) on more than one occasion. with that said i never stated it has perfect compatibility.

1 or 2 roms/homebrew not working is hardly a con. If 50% or more didn’t work, then yes that would be a con. as for that 1 homebrew if you read at the bottom you will see that I tested it on other cards and it continued to fail. It is more probably the homebrew and not the firmware at that point, would you not agree? if it isn’t specific to the card i am reviewing how can it be a con?

as with akaio if you find a game that is not working you join #acekard on the gbatemp irc network and report it with debugging to back it up. by the next public release it will be fixed. so what would the con be? akaio 1.6 rc2 doesn't have 100% compatibility BUT the next release might? an example, which can be a bit of proof about my comment, is that someone reported cheats did not work on animal crossing. norm has spent the better part of a year and a half since that point working on the problem. as of last night both soft-reset and cheats (up to 600 bytes) are working. so again i don't see this as being a con when akaio is the firmware that evolves and fixes problems. i can point out a majority of roms on other kits that were never fixed, while some kits keep up with fixes. its such a grey area middle ground right now it can neither be a pro nor a con.

The factual basis is that there hasn't been a cart tested that doesn't work. It's ridiculous to suggest testing 2000+ roms, so people test the major ones and if they work they put 100% until proved otherwise. Now I'm not an active member to use irc or to issue complaints but I've had an acekard on me and let's just say now I don't. The first one I had was functional (although using cheats was a bit tedious) for a couple months, until the cart actually gave out. This was only a year ago. I had to get a replacement, but by then I got another cart which was fully compatible with what I needed. And even on the new one, I've had soft reset issues such as playing Ace Attorney games. Not too sure if this is a recurring thing with akaio but it's important to point out.

Again like stated before, the cons section isn't to harp on the cart. But even the most minute details should be noted, because if we overlook the cons of acekard like you did, no card would have cons. Things such as

 

[Another World]

The factual basis is that there hasn't been a cart tested that doesn't work. It's ridiculous to suggest testing 2000+ roms, so people test the major ones and if they work they put 100% until proved otherwise.

Again like stated before, the cons section isn't to harp on the cart. But even the most minute details should be noted, because if we overlook the cons of acekard like you did, no card would have cons. Things such as

 

[A4NoOb]

The factual basis is that there hasn't been a cart tested that doesn't work. It's ridiculous to suggest testing 2000+ roms, so people test the major ones and if they work they put 100% until proved otherwise.

Again like stated before, the cons section isn't to harp on the cart. But even the most minute details should be noted, because if we overlook the cons of acekard like you did, no card would have cons. Things such as

 

[Another World]

personally, i think that every review should discuss everything good and bad about the kit and end with a conclusion. the conclusion should reiterate what was said in the review, but be more tightly written. pros and cons have no place in a review because they are only half based an fact and half based on opinion. i think the reader should make up their own mind as to what the pros and cons are after reading the review.

but then you have to consider that a large portion of the gbatemp user base are children under 15 years of age. they may not have been taught yet how to make up their own mind and read between the lines.

its a catch 22. =/

-another world

 

[Jakob95]

Another World just stop arguing and people stop arguing with him. We all know this is the best review in GBAtemp... Just because you don't have an Acekard doesn't mean it sucks.