Nintendo DS and DSi are both great gaming platforms made better by homebrew software. A common misconception is that homebrew software is only used by hackers and pirates to play illegal and pirated content. Despite the poor reputation, homebrew software continues to prevail on the DS and DSi as a legal and ethical way to expand the functionality of your Nintendo DS and DSi. Many different software solutions are released via homebrew that enable the DS and the DSi to complete more functions that are perfectly legal and ethical. Imagine a full media player, notes application, map viewer and even the full bible on your Nintendo DSi and DSi.

There are many different methods to enable homebrew for the Nintendo DS and the DSi. Such methods include using flash carts such as Supercard DSTWO and R4 Nintendo DS. Flash carts such as Supercard DSTWO and R4 Nintendo DS are simple to use and enable users to utilize homebrew software. Simply insert the Supercard DSTWO or R4 Nintendo DS into the game slot and the Nintendo DS or DSi is able to run homebrew. The term homebrew simply refers to software that is designed by home users to run on the DS and DSi and not designed by Nintendo. The term homebrew does not imply pirated software or illegal content and is not illegal to run homebrew on your Nintendo DS or DSi.

Occasionally users utilize flash carts such as Supercard DSTWO or R4 Nintendo DS for incorrect purposes but that does not mean that everyone who owns a flash cart and homebrew is doing something wrong. Simply running homebrew software on the DS or DSi is not prohibited and generally does not cause harm to your gaming console. Expanding the functionality and fun of your DS or DSi is one thing that running homebrew software does do. There are many different free DS games that are homebrew. Some of these great free DS games include titles such as AsteroiDS which is a great remake of the classic Asteroids game for the Nintendo DS. Other great titles include AlienDS which is a full 3D first person shooter for the DS. There are even some great homebrew kids games available for the DS such as Bunny Jumps which is a creative platformer where you take control of a bunny.

Nintendo DS and DSi homebrew enables much more than the ability to play free DS games. Running homebrew means the ability to run applications such as Moonshell which is a fully featured media player. Moonshell brings a beautiful new interface to the DS and enables access to all of your favorite media content. Supported file types by Moonshell include DPG Video files, plenty of music files: MP3 / OGG / MOD / SPC / MDX / WMA and more. Moonshell even has support for all of your favorite image formats such as JPEG / BMP / GIF / PNG. Viewing all of these major file types and unlocking the true potential of your DS and DSi is simply not possible without the use of homebrew on your gaming system.

Homebrew even enables users to run a console emulator. Using a console emulator it is possible emulate prior consoles and play games from prior consoles directly on the DS or DSi. DS homebrew software opens the door to possibilities on your tiny handheld gaming device. Consider the ability to run NES, SNES, Turbo Grafx and other types of games directly on your Nintendo DS or DSi. DS homebrew software is the only way to unlock all of the potential of the DS and the DSi.

Here are a few popular homebrew games and utilities:

Games	Console Emulators
Duck Hunt (homebrew version) Super Mario Galaxy (homebrew version)     Lode Runner Returns (homebrew apps) Super Smash Bros Demo (homebrew version)	Atari 2600 dsemu_StellaDS_v0.71.zip 280 kB StellaDS Home Page Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) dsemu_nesDS_31072007.zip 46 kB nesDS Home Page Super NES (SNES) dsemu_SNEmulDS_v06a.zip 146 kB SNEmulDS Home Page Sega Master System/Game Gear dsemu_ApprenticeMinusDS_v0.4.0.zip 144 kB ApprenticeMinusDS Home Page Sega Genesis aka Mega Drive dsemu_jEnesisDS_v0.7.4.zip 135 kB jEnesisDS ) Home Page ColecoVision dsemu_ColecoDS_v2.1.zip 404 kB ColecoDS Home Page GameBoy / GameBoy Color dsemu_Lameboy_DS_v0.12.zip 101 kB LameBoy Home Page NeoGeo dsemu_NeoDS_v0.2.0.zip 942 kB NeoDS Home Page Arcade Emulator - MarcaDS Download | Official Site Computer Emulators Commodore C64 dsemu_FrodoDS_52308.zip 268 kB FrodoDS Home Page Sinclair ZX Spectrum dsemu_SpeccyDS_v0.3.zip 316 kB SpeccyDS Home Page Amstrad CPC dsemu_CrocoDS_v2.0.zip 634 kB CrocoDS Home Page TI-83+ calculator dsemu_WabbitDS.zip 469 kB WabbitDS Home Page
more to come!