Datel Action Replay Cheat System (3DS/DSi XL/DSi/DS Lite) - DS blue

For the most part, people have been complaining about it not coming with a CD and it not working. These people are not very tech savy. Yes it is supposed to come with a CD to download the Code Manager software which allows the codes to be put into the Action Replay. I recieved mine without a CD like everyone else it would seem; but this is not by any means difficult to fix. It's easily downloadable from Datel's Customer Service section on their own website. Their new version of the software also gets rid of the "Error 52" that people have been experiencing when they first download the software which essentially wouldn't read that you had your Action Replay plugged in. There are MULTIPLE YouTube videos which explain how to update your Driver so it'll read your Action Replay. Once that's complete then you'll be able to input your own codes into your Action Replay.There's tons of rules when operating the Action Replay. 1) Do not have the Action Replay in your Nintendo DS while it's also plugged into your computer. 2) Do not have multiple cheat codes activated at once as it may cause your game to freeze or become completely corrupted. 3) Use cheat code websites that have people reviewing and checking to make sure the code actually works; and for those who complain about their game freezing when they use a specific code while others say it worked, it's because they input the code wrong--which is easily done if you decide to manually enter the codes instead of Copying and Pasting them to your Code Manager software. 4) Be sure to research how the code works. Most of the time you merely have to activate it by L + R but some cases require other activations. Read EVERYTHING that the person who posted the code has to say. Example: In Pokemon Soul Silver, there is a code so you can find Wild Shiny Pokemon all the time. The author noted that you should not BREED the Shiny Pokemon. But what do you know? Someone did and it corrupted his entire saved game and had to restart all over.Action Replay is an AMAZING tool that works once you get the software up and running. I bought it for my use of Soul Silver and all the codes I used work like a charm. Don't let negative reviews caution you away from this tool if you REALLY want help in games. Some "fanatics" frown on using a cheating device; but without it I would have never had the oportunity to get a Celebi, or a Mew, or any other Legendary Pokemon that you can only obtain if you were at a special event that was giving away these Pokemon. That's my own personal use for this device, but I know from other people that it can be used for a plethora of games that are extremely helpful. Hope this review is helpful and clarifying for some people.

I'm not going to lie, I bought this for Pokemon. I played Red and Yellow when they first came out and I played the card game and had Charizard holographic (shinies now, apparently). I remember some of my fondest moments were encountering MissingNo and Togepi and Mew. Then, I stopped. I don't remember why, but I just moved on. Until a few months ago. Then I traded my XBox 360 in for a 3DS XL and Pokemon. I couldn't believe how much had changed yet It was still so much the same and so much fun.After a playthrough, I started reading more about it. I found out that Mew is virtually unobtainable! I was so annoyed. I had played the very first game, and because I hadn't bought each subsequent generation and traded my Mew from game to game I would never be able to get one. Same with a lot of other Pokemon! I was livid.So I bought a copy of Pokemon White and plugged in my Action Replay. It... didn't work. Datel has been horribly lazy with the software that makes this work. I'm on a Mac, and they cancelled their Code Manager for Mac, even though that's what is advertised on the AR packaging (see the small coloured circles in the top left of the window?). No matter, I had Boot Camp and Parallels. Uhoh! Even Windows doesn't like Windows software. Nothing would work. I spent a good hour a day for a few days trying to figure it out. After all, the software installed fine, it just wouldn't connect to the hardware.After much struggling and lots of Googling, the problem is that Datel doesn't have their driver signed for 64-bit. Windows won't tell you this when Code Manager installs, so you can go mad over why it isn't working. Booting up with a special flag lets Windows run with unsigned drivers. Finally!After that, I had a steep learning curve and Datel's Code Manager software isn't the best, but it works. The device doesn't sync/merge sorted codes automatically and you have to drag and drop new codes (I could only replace the entire list, not code by code) and then commit them to the AR. I should note that since I fixed the driver issue and run Windows with unsigned drivers, the software has worked great. It was just set up that really vexed me.As for the hardware, the AR looks a little bit bulging. Like a battery is expanding inside. It doesn't stop it working, or from fitting my 3DS XL. Just a bit odd. The fit and finish certainly have room to improve.When in my 3DS, there are a few occasions where the DS doesn't recognize the Action Replay. Taking it out and putting it in usually solves this, but I something's blow on the cartridge. Hey, it's Nintendo, right? As with any memory editing hardware/software, this is prone to crashing your DS. Bad codes are the usual culprit, but Pokegen allows you to set activation keys, letting you choose what buttons will activate the cheat. Other times, it could be many things like if the DS runs dynamic memory allocation, the game may be in a different location in memory than the AR was expecting. And you'll crash. I always reboot the DS before doing anything with my AR and I've seen very little in crashes since I sorted the codes out and started properly rebooting.While the AR has let me live my dream again, it's not without flaws. It is flimsy and a bit finicky. Support is non-existent for the software, and I'd expect the hardware, too. They know the 64-bit drivers are unsigned and would rather let their users work with it that get the drivers signed. It's a common problem with an easy solution. I wouldn't rely on Datel for support. Canceling a Mac version that they advertise on their products isn't very nice, especially when it looked pretty much done. I wouldn't count on Datel being in this space very long, either. As Nintendo gets more multiplayer and competitive, they are going to start working much harder to shut down cheating like this. They've already done a good enough job that there are no Action Replays for 3DS games (Powersaves doesn't count and doesn't run on the console).But, this product still works. It's pretty cheap, too. Though it feels cheap, also, it does give a huge amount of control to the user. I give it 4 stars because of the software set up. It was infuriating and when I figured it out, I couldn't believe it was something so trivial.

It does work, but when I tried to update its firmware to be 3ds compatible like it claims to be, the program specifically stated it was NOT 3ds compatible at all.

I got this recently and I was really excited to be able to use my AR again. However, it won't work with my 3DS. It just says that there's an error and to turn it off. So for all of you who aren't lucky enough to have a DSi or something older to use this with, DO NOT BUY. It does not come with the PC software disc, but you can download it off of CodeJunkies's website. For these reasons, my review has lost two stars.And for those of you who might wonder, yes, I did check that the Action Replay itself had the latest firmware.

This is the perfect solution to get you through those tough to beat games. It only lets you cheat on DS games, but that isn't a big deal for me, as I only play DS games right now. Always did like Datel products, so this is a welcome addition to my 3DS when I'm playing a DS game by myself. I did have to update it so it can work on latest system update for the 3DS, but that isn't a problem if you can get the PC software from Datel's website. This version didn't include a CD in the box, so you'll have to look online 4 that. Otherwise, it's a great product overall. :)