R4 3DS .org

One of the biggest questions we are asked is Does the R4 Revolution work on the 3DS?  It is a perfectly valid question.  There are a lot of different R4 DS and R4 3DS cards available and it can get pretty confusing as to which cards work on which consoles.  The R4 DS was released at a time when the 3DS was likely not even a thought in developers minds.  As such, it would be very hard for the R4 DS card to predict or anticipate what it needed to have in order to ensure compatibility with a system that was not yet released.

Therefore, the short answer to the question Does The R4 Revolution Work On The 3DS is no, it does not.  Keep reading though to find out about all of the R4 cards that DO work on the 3DS as well as the 2DS systems.  

The situation was similar to the release of the DSi systems.  The original R4 Revolution DS was not compatible with the newer DSi consoles.  It required a new hardware revision in order to make it fully compatible.  Without hardware change it never would have worked.

The R4 3DS cards were released as an upgrade to the R4 DS Revolution cards.  Much like when the DSi was released and our R4i Cards were released, the R4 3DS was the answer to the new Nintendo 3DS consoles.  And with the 3DS support, the 3DS XL and the 2DS consoles are both supported.

It is important to note that while the R4 DS does NOT work on the 3DS systems, all of the newer R4 3DS cards are fully backwards compatible with the DS and the DSi consoles.  This means that you can use it in system, from the Original DS, the DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL and of course all of the 3DS and 2DS handhelds.

These are the following R4 Revolution cards that work on the 3DS console.  Each of the support even the latest 3DS updated system software version.  If you currently have the original R4 Revolution for DS, you will still be able to use it in a DS Lite, or could sell it with your DS Lite console as a package bundle and upgrade yourself to the newer R4 3DS cards that are compatible with the 3DS.

The R4 3DS card was one of the first cards that worked on the 3DS systems.  It offers all of the same features and functions as the R4 Revolution DS card did, with the added benefit of much newer firmware kernels and of course full support for the 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS and the 2DS XL systems.

Another one of our customers favorites.  The R4i Gold 3DS Plus card is the newest in the line of the R4i Gold 3DS brand cards.   This card replaced the original R4i Gold 3DS by adding an internal switch that switches it from a regular flashcart to an NTRBoot compatible card quickly and easily - without having to flash the card itself.

For those of us that like the GOLD brand cards, this is another R4 3DS GOLD version. The Newest R4i Gold 3DS Pro offers up another option for gamers.  It does come with the added bonus of being part of our Buy 2 Get 1 FREE promotion and makes a great birthday or Christmas gift.  Especially if you're looking to buy a few cards for various friends and family.

The R4 3DS DUAL CORE is our customer favorite, and one of our very best sellers.  Our newest 4.0b firmware update also does away with some of the minor bugs and the date bug on these cards.  The dual processing power of the authentic dual-core card makes it a fantastic option for using some of the most powerful emulators and has great compatibility with the 2DS, 2DS XL, 3DS and 3DS XL systems.

Much like the R4 3DS Dual Core, the R4 3DS RTS card offers up an easy to use menu system and full support for even the newest 3DS system software versions.  It also happens ot be another one of our customers favorite cards.  The R4 3DS RTS card, like the other cards in this post, is also backwards compatible with the DS and DSi systems.

This brings us to the end of the quest to find an R4 DS card that will work with the 3DS systems.  If you have an older R4 card, the only way you would be able to ue an R4 on your 3DS is to purchase a new compatible one.  As I mentioned earlier, you can sell your old R4 card to put towards a 3DS compatible card which will likely mean having to add just a few dollars out of pocket to be upgraded to a brand new card.

Enjoy, and keep on playing!   We'll be adding some more amazing new homebrew and freeware games to our 3DS homebrew section in the next coming week as well!  We have also updated the emulation section with some great emulators for classic computer systems such as the Apple II and the ZX Spectrum.  We'll be adding even more in the coming weeks.

If you have any additional questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact us.  We're here to help.