Q&A for How to Make Your Own Nintendo DS Games

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Question

Will my games be uploaded to my DS?

Community Answer

No, but if you have a flash card, like an R4 cart, then you can copy your game to it and play it.

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Question

Can I make any game I want?

Community Answer

Yes. As long as you don't use someone else's ideas and then try to sell your game, you're welcome to make any game you want.

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Question

Is it free to download this software?

Community Answer

Yes, completely free. Just install and get ready to go. Happy Coding!

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Question

How much space does an R4 card have for games?

Community Answer

An R4 card doesn't have space; it works with a Micro SD card, so it depends on your Micro SD's storage amount.

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Question

Does the game I made support multiplayer?

Community Answer

Only if you code it in.

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Question

Can I make a Mario game?

Natalie Tellechea

Top Answerer

If that is what you want to do, try Super Mario Maker.

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Question

Does this work on Mac computers?

Community Answer

No, I don't believe it would work unless you could get Windows 7 (at a minimum) onto a Mac with a virtual machine (Eg. VirtualBox). You could then install the software necessary to create your own homebrew games for the Nintendo DS.

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Question

Does anybody have advice on how to obtain an empty DS cartridge? Alternatively, is there a way to remove the game data from an existing one?

Community Answer

No. You can't. Only Nintendo has the authority to do that.

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Question

What language should these games be coded in?

Community Answer

C/C++ and Assembly (ARM) is used to make DS games, Although you could just stick to using one or the other.

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Question

Will I require any coding knowledge to use the software?

Community Answer

The procedure requires intermediate programming skills. Making games in fairly complicated in its own way, so anything between starting and finishing will definitely require coding, polishing and optimization.

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Question

Can this method work on a New 3DS XL?

Community Answer

All models of the 3DS, including New 3DS, can run NDS games, so yes as long as you have a flashcart.

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Question

Could I play my game on an emulator if I don't have an R4 card?

Community Answer

Yes, actually. You could also convert it to a 3DS install file and play from one, but it requires a Homebrew setup if you plan to do that, as R4s that support 3DS (especially GateWay) are known to brick your NAND if it is fake or, sometimes, some component fails in the card and bugs it and it executes the NAND bricking code.

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Question

How do I make a DS game with JavaScript?

Community Answer

Doing so would be futile, as the Nintendo DS doesn't use Java.

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Question

I can't use this software normally because it just shows error messages. What do I do?

Community Answer

Try searching online for the specific error messages to see if anyone else has experienced them. Another option is to completely uninstall everything mentioned above, and start again.

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Question

Is R4 the only way to do this or are there empty DS cartridges that can be used?

Community Answer

No, as there are more flash cartridges out there, and if you have a DSi, you can softmod it with only an SD card.

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Question

Can you do this for Nintendo Switch?

Riley Hollingsworth

Community Answer

Yes, you can create a Switch game and you can even put it on the eShop if Nintendo allows it. A useful resource is the official developer website by Nintendo.

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