Datel Max Media Launcher Review (Finally!)

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Created on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 21:43

Last Updated on Wednesday, 11 September 2013 02:40

Written by Lynx

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Finally, I have had time to do a full review.

WARNING!!! At least one Nintendo DS has been damaged by this device!! The poor quality of the "click in" slot on the card is the reason. Before I even heard of this, I was already going to comment on the tight fit (not as bad as the Super Card in the GBA Slot, but still makes you notice).
UPDATE It appears this issue has been fixed.

Let's begin. I placed my order on codejunkies.com for the Max Media Launcher (MML) on 4/17/2006. According to their web site, it was available. I was excited to receive it so I selected express shipping (up to 5 business days) I checked my order status a few days later, it is was listed a completed and dispatched. Time went by and I still had not received it.. So, on 5/10/2006 I sent them an e-mail requesting the tracking number. I received an e-mail response the same day stating that my order was currently in transit between their UK office and their USA office. And they provided a tracking number that it would be shipped under.

Needless to say, it was another week or so before the tracking number said anything other than "Billing information has been received by the sender". AKA, they created a shipment with UPS, but still haven't sent anything.

Well, I eventually recieved it on 5/16/2006. YES! 1 day short of a WHOLE MONTH!

Ok.. so now that I actually have the thing.. let's take a look at it.



Box Front



Box Back


It comes in very attractive packaging.. Some of the best I have seen. No generic stickers or last minute packaging changes. But, with most of these products, the packaging is about 30x bigger than the product. Good, if you expect the shipping carrier to beat the heck out of the package. Bad, if you have to pay the shipping for a box of air or have to keep them in stock on a shelf. I paid $10 for this shipping.. Why, I don't know.. I guess so I could get it before the month was over.. But, a prime example of how a smaller box would benefit the end user is the GBA MP. When I sold them on dspassme.com, I gave the option of "with box" and "Without box". The reason for this was I could ship the unit for $1.75 (within USA) without the box, and $5 with the box. Why spend $3.25 more for no added value? Sure, it doesn't seem like much, but when you are talking about a $25 item, that is 13% of the cost of the item.

Anyway, onto the use of the item. As expected, a NoPass doesn't require the use of a DS game card inserted into it (Like PassMe1/2). It also doesn't require SRAM to be on your media (Like PassMe2), and it also fits into the DS slot without sticking out. Now.. Onto that issue. When I first put the MML into my DS, I heard a clicking sound. I didn't think much of it, but did realize how snug it fit into the slot. I originally thought the MML was thicker than a standard DS game, and was catching on something inside the DS, but after I was informed about the "click in" mechanism causing damage on a DS, I soon realized the clicking sound I was hearing was coming from the "click in" mechanism on my own DS. So, as I learned from the PassMe1/2 sales, not all DS slots are exactly the same. I'm assuming when Datel designed this product, they used a DS with a slot even bigger than mine. I'd like to think they didn't design it expecting it to fit tight and make sounds the end user isn't going to want to hear. Or to cause damage for that matter.

Ok, so the MML is inserted. I put my Chishm'd GBA MP into the GBA Slot and turned my DS on. I was greated by the standard NDS disclaimer and was not required to touch the screen to continue. I then received the MML Logo on the top screen, and about 2-4 seconds later, Mighty Max's progress indicator was on the screen. (it's still my prefered bootloader for the GBA MP)

I launched a few homebrew, and everything seemed to work as expected. The product seems to work fine without any issues. If they can reduce the physical size of the card a little to make it fit in the DS better, I really think they have a winner here.

Technical stuff : As we expected, the MML does have it's own header, game code, etc inside of it. It does do all the authentication itself, and doesn't appear to "borrow" code from any commercial games. Which is a good thing!

So, here is what is inside of it:


Final thoughts: I would still suggest EVERYONE that purchases one of these devices installs FlashMe onto their DS before going to far into the homebrew scene. Main reason is the recovery code. You are able to launch unliscensed software on the NDS that isn't authorized by Nintendo. There is no way to tell if it will do harm to your DS's firmware. If Datel actually stocks the item, and can ship within a few days of your order, I'm sure there will be many pleased customers. Aside from the tight fit and potential damage to the NDS, the device works as anyone could hope, and puts the GBA MP back into the main running for the lowest cost homebrew media. ($25 for GBA MP, $20 for MML, and $10 for 128MB CF card = $55)