NDS Application reviews

Took me quite some time, oh well at least it's finally done. I had really some tough time deciding the scores as the software is very varied.

FAT Player Mikmod 8/10
Tracker format player

Like chiptunes as much as I do? Well then this is the ultimate tracker format player, supports formats ranging from MOD, XM, IT over S3M to 669, I don't even know if there's any known tracker format it doesn't support. Also the execution is pretty nice so when you get into the program the controls are really simple and you'll be listening to your favorite tracked tune in no time.

+Supports variety of tracker formats
+Functional GUI
+Frequence visualizer

-Can access only the „Musics“ folder on the root of your card
-Can't go over 100% volume

Reno Studio 6.5/10
Notepad and paint

The main feature of this program is the support of writing pinyin characters but other than that it's very basic. Supports saving, loading, copy and paste in a kind of weird way and has a drawing application. What really puts it down is the GUI, instead of adding more buttons on the touch screen you're required to do DS buttons with virtual keyboard keys combinations to achieve some of the functions.

+Almost fullscreen virtual keyboard and handwriting
+Copy and paste functions
+Supports pinyin characters

-Unintuitive GUI
-Strange keyboard layout in places
-Per screen scrolling
-Cursor can't be moved with the dpad
-Motion drawing is 8-way only
-You need to write .bmp to the filename manually

Spinal's Media Player 8/10
Video player with converter

While still very early in development this application has a lot of potential. What's already there is lightning fast converter that supports every format that you can play with ffmpeg and a quite nice player for the DS with WMP9 graphics. As long as you want to play just one video file you're fine, however when you switch to other videos you may end up stuck on the end of the file and there's no folder support yet so all your video files need to be in the root. Once these issues are fixed it's gonna be one hell of a video player though.

+Encoding is quick
+Working seek bar
+Nice GUI
+Allows for both 16:9 and 4:3 screen ratios

-Converter lacks GUI
-Movies must be placed in the root
-Some sync problems may occur when switching video files

Motion Plotter 3/10
Simplistic drawing

It's surprising that you can find such entries in the NEOFlash competition. There's no other use for this than draw colorful lines with the d-pad or DSMotion. You're better off with pen and paper though, believe me.

+Wraps around edges

-Only 8 directional drawing
-No save

DS-DOS 5/10
File manager

Unless you want to copy between slot-1 and slot-2 cards or you really loved MS-DOS file browsing without Norton Commander you'll want to skip this one. As it clones the style of MS-DOS where every command has to be written and thus it's very slow to control. If you just want to manage files on one card get DSOrganize if you don't already have it.

+Copying between two carts

-No scrolling through the output
-Tries to launch any existing file as homebrew if no command was entered
-CD command is broken

Flashcart OS: N 2.1 6/10
File browser

I don't see much use for this. Most flashcards already have a filebrowser and this one isn't all that special anyway. Files can't be accessed with stylus taps and scrolling up and down using the d-pad is too fast. This makes for an awkward control scheme where you select files with the stylus and launch them with A. Also finding the file you want can be quite hard since this program doesn't put the folders on top of the list. Maybe if it at least had some kind of text reader or something.

+Skinnable
+Special button for Moonshell
+Boots homebrew

-D-pad up scrolls too fast
-Files aren't properly sorted
-Not particularly useful
-FAT errors happen time to time

Mediatheque 7.5/10
Database for your media

Pretty much the complete database application for any kind of media you own. Allows for many information to be set for an entry, there's even a „Lent to“ cell so you never lose track of your precious bought stuff anymore. GUI could use some work though.

+Good categorizing system

-Can't select movies from search
-Complicated information entry
-Overtransitioned

DSision 7.5/10
File browser

Nice looking file browser with clock on the top screen, what more to ask for? Well maybe setting up the shortcuts right inside DSision.

+Skin support
+Neat clock
+Docked menu style
+Runs homebrew quickly
+Can start GBA mode

-Settings only through an .ini file

Lowres directory icons.

TabBed 7.5/10
Guitar tabs viewer

If you play guitar and keep forgetting how all the chords are this homebrew comes to the rescue. With a full blown chord browser and finder you'll find the chord you need quickly and easily. On top of that it sports a drum machine, guitar tab reader and even a metronome. However when you want to load a tab file you're presented with a very, very simple filebrowser that isn't even alphabetically ordered and on top of that I have no idea what kind of tab files to feed it.

+Reads guitar tabs
+List of chords along with chord finder
+Drum machine

-Drums samples are quiet
-Only mono MP3 files
-Minor sprite corruption

DSF 5/10
Brainf**k interpreter

I wasn't able to fully test this since I don't have any brainf**k files but what this does is interpret the Turing machine.

+Nothing quite like it on the system

-Just an interpreter
-Files have to be entered manually, no filebrowser

DSBash 6.5/10
Quote reader

Definitely great if you like reading IRC quotes on the go. The bash.org archive contains countless (around 850000 at the time of writing) amount of short quotes for your geeky amusement. This application allows you to read random, latest and specified quotes which you can then save to Favo.txt on the root of your flashcard.

+Reads Bash.org quotes
+Favorites can be saved

-GUI could use a makeover
-Needs a better font
-Requires external wifi settings
-Won't start up without wifi connection

JabberDS 7.5/10
Jabber client

Almost but not quite the perfect Jabber client. While it works and has nifty features such as custom keyboard layout it's still missing some. Namely chat history and file transfers. What also puts it a bit down is the little unresponsive keyboard along with the fact that it's impossible to change your connection settings from within the application.

+Custom keyboard layouts
+Displays avatars

-Settings only through an .xml file
-Your password can be found in the XML file, unecrypted
-Keyboard misses quick taps
-No history

Wee Basic
Unreviewed

If you don't agree with any of these tell me why and I'll look into it.