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Geeky stuff

R4 card / similar - what they do and how to get one!

24 replies

sleepwouldbenice · 15/05/2012 23:57

Hello all

yes she's nearly 9 but already my DD1 makes me feel as though I dont know anything about new gadgets!

She is 9 soon and she has asked for an R4 card??? she has a DS lite

she only plays it occasionally and has about 8 games.

She says the card is full of games? But a quick google does not really tell me where to get real ones and if they come with games. So..:

  • what are they
  • worth getting or something else similar?
  • where to get from?
  • how do you get games on them (I assume legally or am I being daft!)
  • how much etc


Thanks very much!!!
OP posts:
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Seona1973 · 16/05/2012 08:08

they are cards that you illegally download lots of games on to and then you can play them in your nintendo console. You buy the cards and memory and then 'someone' puts the games onto them via a computer. My BIL gets them from hong kong!

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niceguy2 · 16/05/2012 09:38

You can easily google R4 cards and find sites which sell them. But they don't come full of games. You have to download them from dodgy sites off the Internet.

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PooshTun · 16/05/2012 13:14

There are people out there that will sell you the card pre loaded with games. We bought something similar 5 years ago off a workmate who was selling these cards as a side line.

It is obviously illegal but I got £500 worth of games for price of a couple of legit games so I was prepared to temporarily suspend my sense of moral outrage :)

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smalltown · 16/05/2012 13:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PooshTun · 16/05/2012 13:31

forgot to answer the request for background info.

The DS, like any games console, is programmed to check the game cartridge you buy from HMV, to ensure its legit. The R4 card has 'stuff' on it that tells the console not to do this anti piracy check. These cards are freely available in major chains in Asia.

It's quite a cottage industry here in the UK. You bulk buy these cards from Asia, load it up with pirated games that you've downloaded and then sell them online or to workmates and the like.

What I am trying to say is that obviously you need to be aware of who you are giving your credit card details to but we are talking about ordinarily geek types trying to make some money as opposed to Russian mafia types out to con or scam you for your credit card details.

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Lougle · 16/05/2012 15:23

What you are actually talking about is the theft of someone's hard work, imagination and time. It is no different from stealing food from a supermarket because you can fill your trolly much cheaper than if you pay for it.

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sleepwouldbenice · 16/05/2012 22:05

sighh...... thanks for your comments everyone. I did wonder if it was illegal as why would you buy blank cards and then fill them etc

But sort of hoped it might just be lots of older, not popular games that they'd bundled together in a cheap deal which I wouldnt mind getting

Will rethink (and scare DD1 by telling her its illegal and her mates are going to jail Wink

OP posts:
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PooshTun · 17/05/2012 09:11

Lougle - Are you telling me you've never driven over the speed limit, pocketed a cheap biro from work, used the work photocopier for personal stuff, taken fag breaks during work hours, called in 'sick' when you weren't, not declared to HMRC the cash you got paid for some casual work etc etc?

Yes I know downloading is illegal. Yes I know its no different from shop lifting the game from HMV. I wouldn't shop lift and yes I know that its double standards. But, as the Bible says, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

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Lougle · 17/05/2012 11:13

PooshTun - yes, driven over the speed limit. No to all your other questions.

HTH

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PooshTun · 17/05/2012 19:06

So you've never loaded a cd onto DC's phone who in turn Bluetoothed it onto mate's phone? You've never lent a DVD or cd to a friend who would have bought or rented the item if you hadn't given them a free copy?

Anyway, the OP asked about R4 cards so U explained it to her. I'm not really interested in parlaying this into a AIBU to download copyrighted stuff? So I agree not to give you grief for driving dangerously and you agree not to give me grief for downloading games. Fair swap? :o

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Lougle · 17/05/2012 19:28

No, never. Bone of contention in my family because they do and I won't.

I'm not giving anyone grief, just disagree with people using euphemisms for theft Smile

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PooshTun · 18/05/2012 06:58

You don't mind breaking the law if it will get you faster from point A to B but you object to file sharing because it breaks the law? Very consistent .... not. Sounds like you select the laws that you obey.

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PooshTun · 18/05/2012 09:47

I was discussing this with a workmate and it made me think of something I studied in Sociology class a long time ago. People were asked for their positions on various law and order issues. An overwhelming number were against shop lifting, burglary and the like. When asked to rate themselves on how honest they were a substantial proportion rated themselves quite highly. Yet when questioned about whether they had or would exaggerate an insurance claim a significant number said yes. How do you reconcile this with the high honesty rating that you've just given yourself they were asked. Apparently the people did not see large insurance companies as 'victims' in the same way as they saw a shop owner or a little old lady as a victim. Others would rationalize it with the point that it was loose change to the insurance company and that the companies factor this into the premiums that they get charged.

Most of us, and yes I am including you, are dishonest to varying degrees. It is just human nature.

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PandaG · 18/05/2012 09:52

our kids have R4 cards for their DS's. Only games they have on them are games we own legitimate copies of. Means there is no swapping of cartridges to play a different game, and therefore the possibility of losing a cartridge, they only take the one out with them.

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Ryoko · 18/05/2012 16:38

Theft?

I have 2 Wii's one is multi-region and has a hard drive attached to it, I copy friends import games onto it, if Nintendo are going to continue to refuse to sell us the decent stuff (I want Gundam and other Anime related games that they only sell in Japan!) I wouldn't call that theft.

And I'm not ever going to import titles not sold here ever again, not after buying a GBA game from the US for £20 that turned up on the doorstep with a customs charge of £3 (fair enough) and an £11 handling charge from RM.........11 POUNDS!

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Lougle · 18/05/2012 16:45

Poshtoon Smile You asked if I had ever broken the speed limit, not whether I think it is acceptable to break the speed limit.

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PooshTun · 18/05/2012 17:21

Can I refer you to my comment about
people who rationalise their deeds and tell themselves/others that the principle is different? :o

If you were to crash into something or someone, the fact that you don't accept that it is right to speed will be small consolation to the other party.

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Lougle · 18/05/2012 17:57

Which is why I do my very best to keep within the speed limit, whilst admitting that I am guilty of having broken the speed limit in the past.

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PooshTun · 19/05/2012 09:13

What's stopping you from keeping to the speed limit? Faulty pedal or speedometer? :)

As I've said, people rationalize. You break the law but you acknowledge that its wrong so, in your mind, that's ok.

My closing comment on this thread - let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

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Lougle · 19/05/2012 18:10

'Break' implies that I do so, not that I have done so.

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PooshTun · 20/05/2012 12:47

You are now using semantics to justify your illegal activities??? :o :o

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Lougle · 20/05/2012 15:56

You're barking mad Smile. No semantics there Grin

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cafelatte12 · 30/07/2012 15:10

Hello. I just wanted to clear the air a little bit.

An R4 card itself is NOT illegal - the content, however can be illegal - For example: the games (or ROMs) that are downloaded from the internet. There is a possibility of just backing up already bought games onto the R4 card - this is not illegal.

Pre-loaded R4 cards are available but chances are these will have already been used. I think for the best experience with an R4 card they should directly be bought and then buying a memory, low price Micro SD card from Ebay.

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mattkenny · 22/08/2013 21:46

@niceguy2
I'm sorry. But you are very wrong! All websites that provide are safe.

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