Hack: How To Play Music On Your Nintendo DS

Here's a nifty trick to get the most from you DS Lite.

Hack: How To Play Music On Your Nintendo DS

Though Nintendo's revamped DSi has been out in Japan since the start of November, Americans won't get to enjoy its new features-including a slimmer profile, a VGA camera, and music playback via internal memory or an SD Card-until "well into 2009".

But though we don't necessarily condone it, the reality is that geeky gamers have long enjoyed music playback on the Nintendo DS. One method of doing so is to use MoonShell, a homebrew media player that supports MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and AAC files (the DSi supports only AAC).

To use MoonShell, you'll need the hard-to-find Revolution for DS (aka R4)-an unofficial cartridge used for hacking the Nintendo DS handheld game machine. The R4 is a Slot-1 cartridge that reads data from removable microSD cards.

  • * Pop your microSD card into the provided USB card reader, insert it in your PC's USB port, and update the software (currently v1.18).
  • * Download and install Moonshell.
  • * With SD card still mounted, copy music files into the root directory of the card.
  • * Eject the USB drive, put the SD card back into the R4. Power on, open up Moonshell, and pick a song!
  • * For more information on DS homebrew and storage devices, visit the Nintendo DS Homebrew Wikipedia page.


As for upgrading from my DS Lite, I reserve final judgment for when the DSi is officially released in the US. But currently, the new changes aren't terribly compelling. For starters, DSi will have a shorter battery life compared to DS Lite and will sell for a higher price- $179 as opposed to $129. Finally, the DSi will no longer be compatible with Slot-2 games or devices, such as GBA games or Guitar Hero: On Tour.

Comments [11]

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jstern

Teaching people how to hack their system. I don't know if that's the professional thing to do for a magazine that depends on the big 3. Feels fishy. They are not teaching us how to play mp3s on the DS they are promoting how how to play games for free on the DS and suggesting that we shouldn't buy the DSi because it's protected. This would only hurt the DS game sales. I'm really not liking gamepro to day, it really feels like they are getting paid off by one of the other 2 companies.

AngelofChaos

Uh...

The R4 is more than capable of playing music you know. If anything, by encouraging these people to get an R4, you're condoning piracy of games (because that's what the R4 was made for).

I've seen legit carts that play music in big stores like Best Buy. They're in the DS section.

richard_m_morales

They make it sound like you have to have an R4. As if the R4 is the only thing that allows this or is the only Slot-1 Flash Card. I have an N5 and use that. The only thing that sucks is music videos that I have on the it. When I play them. They don't play flawlessly. They tend to skip during playback. But the MP3s (audio) don't only the DPGs (video) do.

BlitzGear

So GamePro let me ask you this: Why write something that you don't condone and thus wouldn't do yourself?

Tzak28

Jesus Christ.. it's just a fucking guide to show how to play MUSIC... there isn't even any altering of the DS hardware what so ever so there's nothing illegal going on...

They aren't say, "Hey, go but the R4 so you can pirate games..." They are only telling you how to alter a CARD.. not the actual system... and again... it's only to play MUSIC...

You guys act like just because it's for a video game system there's something illegal going on here... People put third party shit all the time on their cars and mod there stuff all the time and that's not illegal.. As long as you don't do anything to violate what was agreed upon (which there's no such case here) or any actual LAWS.. everything's fine..

Stop being so fucking whiney....

seereal

way to much work to play music on a little kids hand held get a psp is it just me or are people just dumb for nintendo the ds is a lesser system most games suck not all but most and they shit on all there hardcore fan with all these different type of ds system just to get more of there money all this shit should have been there from the start don't get me wrong im a old school nintendo fan i just dont like what they do to they hardcore fan now and im not the only one.

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