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The '''[[gametech:Nintendo DS|Nintendo DS]]''' (NDS) is a handheld console produced by Nintendo on November 21, 2004 and had 2 ARM CPUs with 4MB of RAM. The main selling point was the use of dual screens for gameplay, with one being a touchscreen. It is the first and 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 of casual players, and even non-gamers, into the gaming community.
==Emulators==
;[[DraStic]]: A closed-source payware emulator for [[Android emulators|Android]] devices that can run games at a decent speed even on potato phones. Some unsubstantiated rumours have spread around that the developers deliberately put in issues to mess with pirated copies, though at the very least, don't expect any support from exophase and company if you get your hands on a pirated copy. It's on par or better than DeSmuME, and emulating it through BlueStacks on PC may actually be a viable and fast alternative aside from a slight input delay. Available for free on Raspberry Pi and Odroid via RetroPie.
;[[No$|No$GBA]]: Focuses on speed, and has major compatibility issues and glitches as a result. But because it was originally a GBA emulator, the DS's 3D features are still very poorly handled. However, it might be an option for a very low-end machine but don't expect a lot of games to run perfectly, or at all. A fan program, No$Zoomer, was released for version 2.6 which increases compatibility and options, as well as the titular zooming abilities. The biggest addition is noise cancellation which clears up static that No$GBA makes with its 3D rendering. No$Zoomer hasn't rebased yet but does add options for window resizing. There haven't been any noticeable changes with regards to accuracy, however. As of v2.8, No$GBA supports DSi games and is currently the first and only emulator that does. Only use No$GBA in the cases of DSi games, debugging (if you've taken up romhacking for DS games), if you value speed above everything, or just as a last resort.
;[[melonDS]]: Probably the first and only emulator that has 's provided any signs of hope for competition in the PC space. StapleButter's goal is to make an emulator that's better optimized and includes features that others lack, either intentionally or not. While the developers of No$GBA had documented the Wi-Fi capabilities first, melonDS is the first and only emulator that's gotten as far as it has and it has been found to work reasonably well with a handful of games. There's also hope that melonDS will implement DSi emulation in the future<ref name="next direction for melonDS">http://melonds.kuribo64.net/comments.php?id=47&b=15</ref>, though not much has been mentioned since and probably won't be added in until much later in development if ever. It could surpass DeSmuME when it covers more features and supports more games.
;[[mGBA#medusa|medusa]]: [[mGBA]] developer endrift is also creating a DS emulator, but it's very much a 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.
