Changes

|type = [[:Category:ConsolesHandheld consoles|Handheld game console]]

|successor = [[Nintendo 3DS DSi emulators|Nintendo 3DSDSi]]

 {{for|other emulators that run on NDS hardware|Emulators on DS}}  The '''[[gametechwikipedia:Nintendo DS|Nintendo DS]]''' (NDS) is a handheld console produced by Nintendo on November 21, 2004 , and had 2 ARM CPUs (ARM9 and ARM7) with 4MB 4 MBs of RAM. The main selling point was the use of dual screens for gameplay, with one being a touchscreen. It is the only console to have come close to the [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PlayStation 2]] in lifetime sales (154.02 million units), as a result of attracting a large amount number of casual players, and even non-gamers, into the gaming community.

! scope="col"|Operating SystemPlatform(s)

! scope="col"|<abbr title="The Nintendo DS is backward compatible with Game Boy Advance (GBA) cartridges. On top of that inserting a GBA cartridge in the Slot-2 of the Nintendo DS while a game is running can unlock various gameplay features for several DS games, GBA/DS connectivity section for more information about this.">[https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Game_Boy_Advance_emulators GBA]</abbr>! scope="col"|NDS[[Nintendo DSi emulators|DSi]]! scope="col"|DSi[[#DS/Wii connectivity|DS<br/>to<br/>Wii]]! scope="col"|[[#Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection|Wi-Fi/WFC]]! scope="col"|[[#DS Download Play|Download<br/>Play]]! scope="col"|[[libretro#Local wireless communication|Local]]! scope="col"|<small>[https://retroachievements.org/gameList.php?c=18 Retro<br/>Achievements]</small>! scope="col"|[[Libretro Core]]! scope="col"|[[Texture_packs#Texture_Replacement (3D)|<small>Texture<br/>Replacement</small>]]</abbr>! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>

! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulatorsemulators|Recommended]]

!colspan="916"|PC/ x86|-|[[melonDS]]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}|[http://melonds.kuribo64.net/downloads.php {{MelonDSVer}}] [https://github.com/Arisotura/melonDS/actions <br/>Dev Builds]<br/>[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<ref group=N name=melonDSRA>melonDS libretro core two versions out of date (still on 0.9.3), and the generation 5 Pokemons are broken. If you turn on C-Gear, after a few minutes you'll be unable to save. [https://github.com/libretro/melonDS/issues/179#issuecomment-1407488464 '''You also can't use any wifi features'''] or do in game trades either or the game will freeze.</ref>|{{~}}<ref group=N name=noGBAbutsupportsconnection>[https://melonds.kuribo64.net/board/thread.php?id=1229 melonDS] and DeSmuME are not support backwards compatibility but supports [[#GBA/DS connectivity|GBA to DS connectivity]].</ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}[https://github.com/melonDS-emu/melonDS/issues/1000 *] ||{{✓}}<ref group=N name=WFCAlt>Possible with [https://wiimmfi.de/ Wimmfi], [https://kaeru.world/projects/wfc Kaeru] or [https://github.com/barronwaffles/dwc_network_server_emulator/wiki AltWFC/DWC].<br /> [https://melonds.kuribo64.net/board/thread.php?id=285 Tutorial: How to Connect to WFC in MelonDS]</ref> ||{{~}} ||{{~}} ||{{~}}<ref group=N name=lrRA>Only possible with libretro core. [https://github.com/melonDS-emu/melonDS/issues/1146 Github Issue page for standalone version].</ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}([https://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=182 WIP]) ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}

|Multi-platformalign=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|Web}}|[https://cidesmume.org/download/ {{DeSmuMEVer}}]<br/>[https://buildbot.appveyorlibretro.com/projectnightly/zeromuslibretro core]|{{~}}<ref group=N name=noGBAbutsupportsconnection></ref> ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<ref group=N name=WFCAlt></desmume ref> ||{{DeSmuMEVer✗}}]||{{✗}} ||{{~}}<ref group=N name=lrRA></ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}

|[[melonDSBizHawk]]<br/><small>(melonDS 0.9.5)</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux}}|[https://gitlab.com/TASVideos/BizHawk/-/pipelines Dev builds]<br/>[http://melondstasvideos.kuribo64.netorg/BizHawk/downloadsReleaseHistory.php html {{MelonDSVerBizHawkVer}}]|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||?<ref group=N name=WFCAlt></ref> ||? ||? ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} <small>(WIP)</small>

|[[DeSmuME#Graphical_EnhancementNo$|DeSmuME X432RNo$GBA]]|Multi-platformalign=left|{{Icon|Windows|DOS}}|[http://shikaver01.webcrowproblemkaputt.jp/desmume_x432rde/indexgba.html 2015-04-19htm {{No$GBAVer}}]|{{✓}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux, |macOS (untested)}}

|{{✓}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>

|[[NooDS]]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS/releases git]|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>|-|[[mGBA#medusa|mGBA/medusa]]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux|macOS}}|[https://mgba.io/downloads.html #medusa alpha 2]|{{✓}} ||{{✓✗}}[https://mgba.io/timeline.html#IN+THE+FUTURE *] ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} || {{✗}} ||{{✓}} || {{~}}<ref name="medusa suspended"/>||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux|macOS}}|[https://github.com/PSI-Rockin/CorgiDS/releases 0.1git]<br />[http://www.emucr.com/search/label/CorgiDS SVN]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}<ref>https://corgids.wordpress.com/2018/02/12/extended-break/</ref> ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}|[https://github.com/rasky/ndsemu Gitgit]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-|[[No$|No$GBA]]|Windows, DOS|[http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm {{No$GBAVer✗}}]||{{✓✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}

|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux}}|[https://github.com/Cydrak/dasShiny Gitgit]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}

|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}

|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux}}

|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-!colspan="16"|Mobile / ARM|-|<small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/desmume/ DeSmuME_libretro]</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS}}|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]|{{~}}<ref group=N name=noGBAbutsupportsconnection></ref> ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}<ref group=N name=WFCAlt></ref> ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}|-|[[DraStic]]|align=left|{{Icon|Android|Pandora|Pyra}}|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dsemu.drastic&hl=en_US&gl=US {{DraSticVer}}]<br>[https://pyra-handheld.com/repo/apps/32 0.1 Pyra]|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}

|[[melonDS]]<small> (unofficial)</small><br/><small>[https://githubdocs.libretro.com/Hydr8gonlibrary/melonds/NooDS NooDSmelonds_libretro]</small>|Windows, Linuxalign=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS}}|[https://github.com/Hydr8gonrafaelvcaetano/melonDS-android git]<br/>[https://play.google.com/store/apps/NooDS Gitdetails?id=me.magnum.melonds 1.8.0]<br/>[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<ref group=N name=melonDSRA></ref>|{{~}}<ref group=N name=noGBAbutsupportsconnection></ref> ||{{~}} ||{{✗}} || ? ||? ||? ||{{~}}<ref group=N>Only possible with libretro core but [https://github.com/rafaelvcaetano/melonDS-android/discussions/1117 work-in-progress for standalone version].</ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗~}}<small>(WIP)</small>

|[[Delta]]|align=left|{{Icon|iOS}}|[https://github.com/rileytestut/Delta git]|{{✗}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}|-|[https://inds.nerd.net/ iNDS]<br/><small>(nds4ios-derived)</small><br/><small>(DeSmuME-based)</small>|align=left|{{Icon|iOS}}|[https://github.com/iNDS-Team/iNDS/releases git]|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} || ? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}}|-|nds4ios|align=left|{{Icon|iOS}}|[http://nds4ios.angelxwind.net/i/?page/downloads SVN]|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}}|-|DeeS|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}|[https://github.com/DeeSEmu/DeeS 1.0.8]|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}|-|[[NooDS]]|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS git]|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>|-|[http://jeffq.com/blog/nds4droid/ nds4droid]<br/><small>(DeSmuME-based)</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}|[https://github.com/jquesnelle/nds4droid git]|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} || ? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-!colspan="916"|Console

|Wii Ualign=left|{{Icon|WiiU}}

|{{✗✓}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}}|-|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS NooDS]|Switch|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS Git]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗✓}}

!colspan|<small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/desmume/ DeSmuME_libretro]</small>|align="left|{{Icon|Switch|PS4}}<br/>{{Icon|Vita}}|[https://www.retroarch.com/ 0.9".13]|{{~}}<ref group=N name=noGBAbutsupportsconnection></ref> ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||Mobile{{✓}}

|[[DraSticmelonDS]]<br/><small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/melonds/ melonds_libretro]</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Switch|Vita}}<br/>{{Icon|PS2}}|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<ref group=N name=melonDSRA></ref><br/>[Android emulators|Androidhttps://github.com/rsduck/melonDS/releases git]], Pandora,<small> (Switch)</small><br />Linux [https://github.com/Rinnegatamante/melonDS-Vita git]<small>(Raspberry PiVita Port)</small>|<br/>[https://play.googlegithub.com/storeDanielSant0s/melonDS-PS2 git]<small> (PS2 Port)</appssmall><br/details?id>|{{~}}<ref group=N name=com.dsemu.drastic noGBAbutsupportsconnection></ref> ||{{DraSticVer✓}}]||{{✗}} || ? || ? || ? ||{{~}}<ref group=N name=lrRA></ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓~}}

|[[NooDS]]|align=left|{{Icon|Switch|Vita}}<br/>{{Icon|PSP}}|[https://indsgithub.nerd.netcom/Hydr8gon/ iNDSNooDS git]<br/><small>(nds4ios derivedSwitch/Vita)</small><br/>[https://github.com/Xiro28/NooDS_PSP git] <small>(DeSmuME basedPSP port)</small>|[[iOS emulators{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||iOS]]{{✗}} |[https://github.com/iNDS-Team/iNDS/releases Git]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}

|nds4ios|[[iOS emulators|iOSDeSmuME PSP]]|align=left|{{Icon|PSP}}|[httphttps://nds4ioscdn.angelxwinddiscordapp.com/attachments/590011753849421846/870274164748079104/desmume_psp_4.zip V4][https://github.netcom/Xiro28/DeSmuME-PSP git][https://igithub.com/?pageXiro28/downloads SVNdesmume_psp_experimental Exp.]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} || ? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}

|DsoidDesmumeX|[[Android emulatorsalign=left|{{Icon|Android]]Xbox}}|[httphttps://www.emucr1emulation.com/searchforums/labeltopic/Dsoid?&max35774-desmumex-v087-new-results=12 SVNupdate 0.87]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} || ? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}}

|[http://jeffq.com/blog/nds4droid/ nds4droid[DeSmuME PSP|DSonPSP]]<br/><small>(DeSmuME based)</small>|[[Android emulatorsalign=left|{{Icon|Android]]PSP}}|[https://githubwololo.net/downloads/index.comphp/jquesnelledownload/nds4droid Git1235 0.7]|{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}} || ? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||? ||{{✗}} <small>(POC)</small> ||{{✗}}

;[[DeSmuMEmelonDS]]<small class="plainlinks" style="font-weight:normal;">([https: One //wiimmfi.de/stat?m=25 servers])</small>:Unlike DeSmuME, melonDS can use Wi-Fi and has some DSi support. In terms of the most developed emulators for regular being user-friendly, options in melonDS are more simplified. Has similar DS game compatibility as DeSmuME. Both can run gamesat a higher internal resolution (sharper 3D objects) and can open ROMs inside a compressed archive (ZIP, RAR, 7Z etc. DeSmuME ). Both can display the two screens in a variety of ways, but melonDS has a hybrid mode. [https://i.imgur.com/S73Eb4m.jpg (Example)] While the developers of No$GBA had significant improvements since 2018, including lower CPU/GPU Usage, updated to use VS2015, and potentially reopen widocumented the Wi-fi/multiplayer Fi capabilities. Unfortunatelyfirst, these features are still in development melonDS is the first and are only available through either nightly/dev buildsemulator that's gotten as far as it has, meaning thereand it's been found to work reasonably well with a handful of games. Switching to OpenGL in core options may give a performance boost. ;[[DeSmuME]] <ismall class="plainlinks" style="font-weight:normal;">slight([https://wiimmfi.de/stat?m=25 servers])</ismall> chance of problems:DeSmuME has had significant improvements since 2018; new features include less CPU/GPU resource usage and high-resolution 3D rendering, though Wi-Fi capability remains neither emulated nor supported. v0.9. This emulator aims for accuracy 13 from May 2022 is the first "Stable" build in over 7 years and is highly recommended over speedall previous builds (though dev builds are also generally very usable). (see [[Common Problems and SolutionsOpenEmu]] for tips)uses a shallow fork of the v0.9.11 build and should be avoided as well.;[[DraStic]]: A payware, closed-source emulator for [[Android emulators|Android]] devices that can run games at a decent speed even on potato phones. It's on par with (or in some cases better than) DeSmuME, and emulating it through BlueStacks on PC may actually be a viable and fast alternative aside from a slight input delay. Some unsubstantiated rumours rumors have spread around that the developers deliberately put in issues to mess with pirated copies, though at this is considered unsubstantiated. At the very least, donyou shouldn't expect any support from exophase Exophase and company if you get your hands on use a pirated copy. It's on par or better than DeSmuME, and emulating though it through BlueStacks on PC may actually be a viable and fast alternative aside from a slight input delay. Available is available for free on the Raspberry Pi and Odroid via RetroPie, and runs relatively well there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=715kg1-hmxA ;[[No$|No$GBA]]: Focuses on speed, and has major compatibility issues and glitches as a result. But because Because it was originally initially a GBA emulator, the DS's 3D features are still very poorly handled. However, it might be an '''It's a good option for a very low-end machine machines, but don't expect a lot of games to run perfectly, or at all'''. A fan program, No$Zoomer, was released for version 2.6 , which increases compatibility and options, as well as the titular zooming and resizing abilities. The biggest addition is noise cancellation which clears up static that No$GBA makes with its 3D rendering. It doesn't change accuracy though. No$Zoomer hasn't never rebased yet but does add options for window resizing. There haven't been any noticeable changes with regards to accuracynewer No$GBA versions, and it looks like it was abandoned, howeverso it likely never will. As of In v2.8, No$GBA supports DSi games and is currently became the first and only emulator that doesto support DSi games, which has been their most notable feature. Only use No$GBA in the cases of for DSi gamesthat don't work on other emulators, debugging (if you've taken up romhacking ROM-hacking for DS gamesor homebrew development), if you value speed above everything, if you're using a potato PC, or just as a last resort. ;[[melonDSDelta]]: Arisotura's goal is An open-source application for iOS with the ability to make an emulator that's better optimized emulate many consoles and includes features that others lackhandhelds, either intentionally or notincluding the DS. Since version 1. While the developers of No$GBA had documented the Wi-Fi capabilities first3, melonDS is the first and only emulator that's gotten as far as it has and it has been found Delta Emulator allows you to work reasonably well emulate Nintendo DS with a handful of gamesDeSmuME or melonDS core. There's also hope that melonDS You will implement need to have DS BIOS or DSi BIOS to play DS/DSi emulation games in Delta using the future<ref name="next direction for melonDS">http://melondscore.kuribo64.netIt also allows you to boot into DS/comments.php?id=47&b=15</ref>, though not much has been mentioned since DSi home screen and probably won't be added in until much later in development if ever. It could surpass DeSmuME when it covers more featuresfunctions similarly to melonDS. ;[[mGBA#medusa|mGBA/medusa]]: [[mGBA]] developer endrift is also creating a DS emulator, but it's very much a [https://mgba.io/timeline.html#IN+THE+FUTURE work-in-progress ] and isn't nearly as far as melonDS in terms of the capabilities it's covered. As of March 2018, medusa's development is "suspended until further notice".<ref name="medusa suspended">https://mgba.io/2018/03/09/holy-grail-bugs-revisited/#postscript-a-several-month-late-explanation</ref> ;iDeaS: An abandoned and experimental DS emulator that uses a plug-in system, it's very slow and buggy but has partially gotten some features working , like the camera and slide accessories.;[[Ensata]]: Nintendo's official DS emulator that was leaked to the public. It's not very usable or compatible , but it can run a few games.

'''Comparisons of several Nintendo DS emulators:'''* [https://emucross.com/the-next-generation-of-ds-emulators/ Looking Toward the Next Generation of DS Emulators] (By [[Dolphin]] tester, [https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/authors/JMC47/ JMC47], AKA Justin M. Chadwick. 5 June 2017. Tested emulators: melonDS (0.2 and 0.3), medusa (Alpha 2) & GBE+ (1.1) compared to the mature DeSmuME.) ===High Resolutionresolution===;[[melonDS]]: Has added support for an OpenGL renderer and with upscaling as of version 0.8.<ref name="melondsopengl">http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=90</ref> The renderer is much faster than DeSmuME's and supports increasing the internal resolution up to 8x 16x native resolution. More features , such as texture filtering , are planned. ;DeSmuME X432R:A fork of DeSmuME, that has many more graphical enhancement enhancements, such as an option to increase internal resolution and use MSAA, the . The devs of DeSmuME have now included an option for increased internal resolution and (see below), making X432R is outdated. See the [[DeSmuME]] page for more details. ;[[DeSmuME ]] <small>([[libretro]])</small>:Also has an the option to increase internal resolution since the [https://github.com/libretro/desmume/commit/5e430dfbc22f9d54c77f291304a38352ee1e5a63 August 8, 2015 /8/15 git commit]. It requires a very high-end CPU to run at a reasonable framerate.

===Local Multiplayer, Wi-Fi Connection, and Wii/The DS Connection===offers five types of connections:* MelonDS supports '''Local wireless communication with several games, including New Super Mario Bros. and Pokemon. No$GBA can emulate it but the connection fails somewhere during establishing the actual connection communications''' - ''(despite the names from the other DS showing just fineMultiple cartridges).''* '''DS Download Play isn't supported by any emulator so far, though NDS'' -bootstrap homebrew on the Nintendo 3DS can boot some of them. MelonDS fails during the download process though some actually go as far as booting, but never to the actual "game".''(Single cartridge)''* Nintendo WFC '''Wi-Fi Connection''' - ''(Online Multiplayer) was successfully emulated with third-party DeSmuME forks but has quite a bit of requirement (Ethernet cable, though this can be circumvented with external software). After service shutdown, there was a version compatible with the fan servers (restoring all DLC data but sadly most multiplayer games had their content lost forever).''* '''DS/Wii connection isnconnectivity't emulated in any capacity. ''Pokémon Battle Revolution* '''GBA/DS connectivity''' playability is very limited this way.

These features are not supported by the mainline DeSmuME project in particular due to The major challenge with emulating multiplayer functionalities is timing inaccuracies and ''creative differences'', and it's highly unlikely they will ever be included in the futurewhich have made many projects, such as DeSmuME, not want to implement them. If you're interested in these features So far, follow other projects and refrain from contacting the developers about them as per their wishes in their "official stance" on Wi-Fi features in generalonly emulator to actually make any progress is melonDS, but even that is still under development.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle;"|- style=GBA/DS Connectivity==="font-weight:bold;"! Name! melonDS! DeSmuMEInserting GBA cartridges in Slot-2 of the Nintendo DS while a game is running can unlock various gameplay features in some DS games. It's unknown if NO! No$GBA supports this, but it can be done in DeSmuME by going to Config > Slot 2 (GBA Slot) and selecting GBA Cartridge. Select the GBA ROM file, and make sure its <code>.sav</code> file is in the same folder. You may need to reset the game for it to take effect. However, DeSmuME does not support features like the solar sensor from GBA Boktai cartridges used in Boktai DS (Lunar Knight).

|-| [[#GBA/DS connectivity|GBA/DS connectivity]]| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{~}}|-| [[#Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection|Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection]]| {{✓}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| [[#Local wireless communication|Local wireless communication]]| {{~}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| [[#DS Download Play|DS Download Play]]| {{~}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| [[#DS/Wii connectivity|DS/Wii connectivity]]| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|} ===Local wireless communication=DSi==Nintendo released Players who have a copy of the same game can link together using the DS's wireless signals (given that the DSi on April 5game offers this feature). melonDS supports wireless communication with several games, 2009, doing away with Slot-2 (used by GBA cartridges including ''New Super Mario Bros.'' and Guitar Hero the ''Pokémon'' games) , but also adding new lighting effectsyou need to have either multiple instances opened, which can slow down overall performance, or connect multiple computers via LAN. No$GBA can connect but fails before the actual connection is finished. ===DS Download Play===This feature allows players with a camera, more RAM, DS and downloadable titles called DSiWare though those were capped to 16MB because they were installed only one copy of a game to the very small internal NAND memoryplay together. DSiWare releases were also region lockedThis way, and the system language couldn't be changednot everyone needs a copy of a game. The Nintendo 3DS is also compatible player with those the physical cartridge will host the game while the other players connect using a "downloaded" version received from the host. Normally they are either simple mini-games and offers , stripped-down demos of the main game, or a way limited version of multiplayer. In most cases, it's better to back them up use multi-cart instead. However, some games, like ''Mario Party DS'', require Download Play to an SD carduse its multiplayer.

===Game Formats===There are three types of Download Play is supported by melonDS. Like with local multiplayer, it is very hit and miss but unlocking the framerate helps. melonDS will often fail during the download process, but some games using DSi hardware enhancements:actually go as far as booting and sometimes in-game as well.

;DSi===Nintendo Wi-enhanced retail cartridges: Regular DS retail cartridges compatible with Fi Connection=== Nintendo had an online service that was available for the older DS models, but unlocking more RAM Wii and features when used on the DSi, similar DS that was free to some late GBC games on the GBAuse. A couple of dozen games from Japan and US/EUR relied It was shut down on this method. Those games will still boot on DS emulators but without the DSi enhancements.;DSi-exclusive retail cartridges: Retail cartridges relying heavily on the DSi hardware features. A boot-up error screen will show when attempting to load those on regular DS models (and by extensionMay 20, emulators for those). Only five games were released this way2014, either launch games or because they were too big due to fit in 16MB.;DSiWare: Downloadable titles downloaded only through the DSi eShop (discontinued)company GameSpy, or the Nintendo 3DS eShop (though it uses a different file packaging format)ones who were managing these servers, shutting down its multiplayer services after being bought out. They have a 16MB size limitation and there are lots of interesting exclusives for the system released A popular game that wayused this feature was ''Mario Kart DS''.

All three formats There was a third-party DeSmuME fork that successfully emulated WFC but has quite a bit of requirement (Ethernet cable, though this can be converted to *circumvented with external software).nds format. Compared to regular DS gamesAfter the service shutdown, there was a version compatible with the fan servers (restoring all DLC data, but sadly, DSi most multiplayer games had some additional header information that wasn't even correctly dumped in their content lost forever). melonDS is one of the earlier broken dumpsonly emulators to offer Wi-Fi capabilities. The 2017 set has updated many of those, though itIt's still severely lacking a work-in DSiWare exclusives. DSiWare dumps exist in both NDS format or CIA format (for the ones who want to boot -progress, but it on their 3DS)works relatively well.

On ===DS/Wii connectivity===Uses wireless communication on the old DS or DS Lite models, as well as most Nintendo DS emulators, to connect to the Wii. The idea is parallel to the first type will load in regular DS mode without any DSi enhancements, GBA Link Cable for the second will show an error messageGameCube, and just like the third will crash on bootLink Cable, [https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Wii-up due to missing encryption abilities and DSi hardware support-DS_connectivity only a handful of games actually have this feature].Some notable examples include:

On * ''Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time'' - which is essentially the DSi/3DS family of handhelds, same as the first two formats DS port but can be played on some select DSi-compatible flashcarts like connect with other DSes with the (discontinued and now expensive) CycloDS iEvolution flashcard (which wongame.* ''Pokémon Battle Revolution't work on a stock 3DS not with custom firmware to whitelist it). As for the third type, it's available for digital purchase at - in which players could transfer their respective stores (DSi Shop for DSi, eShop for Pokémon from the 3DS) Generation IV main series games and installed use the DS as apps to the limited TWL NANDa controller. In the 3DS* ''Animal Crossing: City Folk'' case, they can also - in which data could be installed as custom titles in .cia format transferred between the DS version (like all 3DS applications''Animal Crossing: Wild World''), but here itand the ''Nintendo Channel''s also a container for a <code>.nds</code> rom in this caseon the Wii, and converting back and forth is possiblewhere players could download demos of DS games to their console using Download Play (basically the same idea as the Download Station kiosk).

===Emulation==={| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"|-! scope="col"|Name! scope="col"|Operating System(s)! scope="col"|Latest Version! scope="col"|DSi (enhanced)! scope="col"|DSi (exclusive)! scope="col"|DSi (digital)! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]|-|[[No$|No$GBA]]|WindowsSo far, [[Intel CPUs|DOS]]|[http://problemkaputtno emulator has been able to emulate this feature, nor have attempted to.de/gba.htm 2If this were ever going to be emulated, it would require work on both ends.9b]|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}|}

No$===GBA added support /DS connectivity===Inserting a GBA cartridge in the Slot-2 of the Nintendo DS while a game is running can unlock various gameplay features for DSi games of all three formats starting with version 2[https://nintendo.8, although some games won't boot and others have graphical glitchesfandom. You'll need to enable "16MB DSicom/wiki/retail" under the settings. Emulation is very iffy due to a so-so List_of_Nintendo_DS_games_with_GBA_connectivity several DS emulation foundation in No$GBA, and the camera is just spoofed as a static image but just causes an emulator crash whenever used, meaning games that use it may boot but it won't be very playable].

DSi used an encryption system for the game dumps that went on It's unknown if No$GBA supports this, but it can be done in DeSmuME by going to be enhanced Config > Slot 2 (GBA Slot) and used for selecting GBA Cartridge. Select the 3DSGBA ROM file, and make sure its <code>. This encryption sav</code> file is checked at start-upin the same folder. You may need to reset the game for it to take effect. As of version 0.9, hence why Nintendo DS emulators don't [https://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=110 melonDS supports GBA connectivity] and even manage to boot DSiWare dumps. It's very unlikely DSi-mode emulation is ever going to be implemented added support for the solar sensor on GBA Boktai cartridges used in Boktai DS (Lunar Knight), something DeSmuME in particular due has yet to various ''creative differences'' unique to that projectsupport. Either drag and drop the GBA ROM onto the program before starting or open the file before loading the NDS file.

===BIOS Files=Nintendo DSi=={{Main|Nintendo DSi emulation requires a copy of the lower 32K-halves of the ARM7/ARM9 BIOSes (BIOSDSI7.ROM and BIOSDSI9.ROM), which are different from the regular DS BIOS files and needed for the decryption. All the needed files are bios7i.bin, bios9i.bin, BIOSDSI7.ROM, BIOSDSI9.ROM, BIOSNDS7.ROM, and BIOSNDS9.ROM. These unicorns can be found [http://archive.org/details/DSiFirmwareFiles here].emulators}}

It's also advised (but still completely '''optional''') to use a NAND dump as well to increase compatibility (though adding games is more complex, and a soft==Special hardware=={| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; vertical-modding solution to dump it is still being worked on). Rename it to align:middle;"DSi|-1.mmcstyle=" (should be about 250MB). Change "Reset/Startup Entrypoint to font-weight:bold;"! Name! DeSmuME! melonDS! No$GBA/NDS BIOS" to now boot the emulator and games in DSi mode. Hex editing required to "install" new DSiWare titles, though loading retail games in DSi mode from the menu is still possible easily. This fixes lots of glitches and crashes related to languages and use of the internal DSi font.

==Special Hardware==|-| Guitar Hero pad| {{✓}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Piano for Easy Piano| {{✓}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Taito paddle controller| {{✓}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Rumble pack| {{✓}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Nintendo Wireless Keyboard| {{~}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Tilt sensor| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Pressure-sensitive touchscreen| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Slide controller| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| DS camera| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| Bayer DIDGIT| {{✗}}| {{✗}}| {{✗}}|-| iQue DS region lock| {{✓}}| {{~}}| {{✗}}|};Guitar Hero Padpad: Used in the "Guitar Hero: On Tour" series (required) and Band Hero DS. Supported by DeSmuME (Slot 2).

;Taito Paddle Controllerpaddle controller: Compatible with Arkanoid, Space Invaders Extreme, Space Invaders Extreme 2 , and Space Bust-a-Move. Supported by DeSmuME (Slot 2).;Tilt Sensorsensor: Used in "Tony Hawk's Motion/Hue's Pixel Painter." No emulators support this add-on yet. (Slot 2);Pressure-sensitive touchscreen: Used in "Harvest Moon DS", "Colors!", "Metroid Prime: Hunters", "Okamiden" and "Rhythm Heaven". No emulators support this feature yet (can work with analog triggers or DualShock 2/3 pressure-sensitive face buttons).;Rumble Packpack: Supported by DeSmuME (Slot 2). Requires compatible Joystick.;Slide Controllercontroller: Required by "Slide Adventure Mag Kid". Yasu made a shoddy [http://home.usay.jp/pc/etc/nds/iDeaS_slide.zip plug-in] for iDeaS (the recommended version was 1.0.2.9.) to try to emulate it. No emulators support this add-on at the moment.;Pokémon Nintendo Wireless Keyboard: Bundled with the "Learn with Pokémon : Typing game Adventure" (JP/UKEU/FRAU). The game refuses to boot without a keyboard, but it can be run on emulators with an anti-piracy fix and another DeSmuME-specific save bug fix. There is also [http://pokemonlog.com/pokemon-fuligin-download-rom/ a pre-patched ROM.] While it's playable using the on-screen keyboard on the lower screen, the keyboard isn't actually emulated. There is [https://github.com/AnimeCommander/Learn.With.Pokemon-Typing-Adventure.lua/blob/master/Pok%C3%A9mon%20Typing%20DS%20Keyboard%20Script.lua a Lua script] that permits using the actual keyboard by mapping presses of the actual keyboard to taps of the virtual Touch Screen. However, you are going to 'll need to blank out all the control/hotkey bindings of DeSmuME if you are going to play this game , because some of the keyboard keys also activate some controls; otherwise, pressing the Q key would also pause the game, given one example. A recommendation would be to have a separate copy of 32-bit DeSMuMe , which purpose is playing *only* the Pokémon typing gamesthis game. In that copy, place the patched ROM, the Lua script, and a 32-bit version of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/luabinaries/files/5.1.5/Windows%20Libraries/Dynamic/ lua51.dll.] (The platform used in building the <code>.dll</code> should not matter.) Even then, not only is the emulated workaround a little slow, but saving is still broken. Use savestates, instead.;DS Cameracamera: Accessory bundled with the Japan-only Face Training (a European localization for Christmas 2007 was canceled, and it was released as a retail DSi game in 2010 using the internal camera rather than the original accessory). Not to be confused with the built-in DSi camera. No emulators exist for it at all.;Bayer DIDGIT: A glucose meter for diabetic children with a game entitled called ''Knock 'Em Downs: World's Fair'' that rewards them for checking their blood sugar levels regularly. The game has been dumped , but no support for the glucose meter peripheral exists as of the time of this writing; it may, however, be possible to add reward points through Action Replay codes, not to mention that the game will still function without the glucose meter attachment anyway (albeit with reduced functionality, of course).

===iQue DS Region Lockregion lock===iQue is Nintendo's Chinese subsidiary (previously a partnership between them and Wei Yen until 2013), so when they released the DS with a few localized games, their ROMs had special flags set in them to check if the hardware that ran the cartridge was iQue's or Nintendo's as a sort of region lock. Nintendo's own hardware would fail this check, throwing an "Only for iQue DS" error in white text on a black background. No other DS games have this mechanism; , not even for Korean releases. This region lock is bypassed by the 3DS for these DS games, even though 3DS games have their own region lock. It's weird.

Emulators differ in their behavior to this region lock. No$GBA crashes, while DeSmuME can load them. DeSmuME is accurate to non-However, for melonDS, you need a [[Emulator Files|Firmware Dump]] from an iQue hardware and DS, otherwise, it will replicate the failureregion lock.

The only way the ROM will accept other hardware (and thus emulators) is with a hack, involving a simple byte change. Use a hex editor to change the byte located at <code>0x1D</code> from value <code>80</code> to <code>00</code>.

Certain games, such as American Girl titles (e.g. , ''Julie Finds a Way'' and ''Kit Mystery Challenge'') , suffer from severe flickering issues which keep those games from being playable on most emulators. [[DraStic]] was the first emulator able to run the two games properly, and while DeSmuME r5043 had an initial fix that worked around the glitch, it was removed in later revisions as it broke compatibility with ''Pokemon Pokémon SoulSilver'' , among others; this has since been patched on r5531 once the true nature of the [https://sourceforge.net/p/desmume/bugs/1134/ bug] was better understood. The fix would be later incorporated in into other emulators. ''Ultimate Mortal Kombat'' suffers from flickering and slowdown due to the way it loads sprites, though it isn't as serious in DraStic. ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance'' is an even more egregious example, crashing due to timing differences between actual hardware and an emulated system.