There comes a point where you have to admit that your beloved console is outdated and – apart from the odd homebrew title – will never play new games again. You’d think Nintendo’s 2008 DSi handheld would be in this category, though [gavff64] has a solution. What if the odd homebrew title streamed games over the net?
At its core, the RNDS stream just decodes an MJPEG stream from a server on a Linux PC, giving you the content of an X11 or xWayland window with relatively low latency at around 15-20FPS. So while you won’t be entering e-sports tournaments, you can enjoy more relaxed, casual games like Counterstrike. Well, at least there’s no audio streaming yet, so you don’t have to hear the other team’s trash talk. That should make it more relaxing.
Sound can come; the project is very much in progress, and also a showcase of RubyNDS, [gavff64]’s Ruby-based homebrew framework for the DSi. Why Ruby? Why the DSi? For no other reason than [gavff64] likes both of these things. You can watch it in action after 4:48 in the video below – just be warned, the editing is geared towards a TikTok-using audience and won’t be to everyone’s taste. Don’t let the videography get in the way though, because the hack is the thing and it’s on GitHub for all and sundry under an MIT license.
The DSi is no stranger to hackers, having received its first flash cart the year of its release. Still, we’ve seen surprisingly little homebrew for the dual-screen device, this augmented reality app being an exception.