First of all: This is a Chinese fan-made project. Not official merchandise, not genuine game, just for fun.

Here is what happened. I seemingly got the NS2 launch title Pokémon Emerald for only $14. The seller said he had exclusive access, and even claimed his friend worked on manufacturing NS2 game cartridges.

He sounded really confident. I thought if I could get this for $14, posting it online would blow up. He told me this was top secret, do not share it publicly, and he would send me more updates later.

Three days later I got the package. What was inside was nothing like what I expected. I thought the NS2 Pokémon Emerald box looked a little small… And it works perfectly on 20-year-old GBA and DS consoles! I get it now. Nintendo wants old players to enjoy this game. I want to ask everyone, did I get scammed?

The big reveal

Actually, I had a buddy in the modding community build this for me at cost (total $14): The cart is based on the open-source Chis Flash PCB with RTC support (cost $11, playing this romhack while waiting for my authentic copy to arrive), and I added a standard blank GBA cart ($3) just to round out the order. Let's keep it on the down-low—he only charged me for the pure hardware and DIY labor, this is absolutely NOT some scalper flipping roms for profit.

Box: A fan-made NS2-style GBA storage case from another shop. I originally planned to buy a normal case and found this by accident. The maker likes NS2 cartridge boxes and is a veteran GBA player, so he made this custom case. It uses a tape-style outer shell + 3D printed PLA inner tray + custom high-res cover art. Single unit costs $3.5, discount if you buy three. I also pretended I own GBA Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. Genuine physical copies of these three GBA games are very expensive right now. These are great for personal play!

Disclaimer: My friend only charged for the bare PCB hardware. Theoretically, you can put any GBA game into this shell and flashcart.

Lastly, for hardware mod fans, I share a comparison picture of chips used on different homemade GBA cartridges. What is fully integrated hard-packaged chip? What is COB soft-packaged "cow dung chip"? You can see the difference clearly. Decide yourself if it is for collection or casual play.

Quick info: Chis Flash is a well-known open-source GBA flash cart project from the Chinese homebrew community. People can order PCBs and solder it themselves. It focuses on RTC and low cost.

I’m sorry, this seems cool, but the AI-generated comparison chart is illegible and off-putting.

"To clarify: I used AI to help translate the Chinese descriptions into English for the original image. I've now separated and extracted the text into a standalone post."
"Thanks for the feedback!"

What does NS2 mean?

Nintendo Switch 2