How to Play Nintendo DS Games on a Computer

Ah, the Nintendo DS. A fine piece of equipment, indeed. Unfortunately, the price tag is rather high, and the cost of individual games isn't what you would call a "steal." Luckily, a savvy group of programmers has provided a beautiful piece of software for one purpose: to allow us to play Nintendo DS games on a computer for free!

Things You'll Need

• PC or Mac with a reasonably powerful Intel processor
• Web browser
• Internet access

Instructions

1. Open your web browser and go to http://desmume.org/download/

   DeSmuME is currently a work in progress, but it runs pretty much every Nintendo DS game smoothly.

   Locate your system under the Downloads section and click to download the file to your computer.

2. Go to http://www.romulation.net/ and navigate to Downloads > Nintendo DS and pick up as many Nintendo DS roms (games) as you want, free of charge! This website also hosts roms for Game Boy Advance, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, PlayStation and many others. Popular series include Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Kirby, Metroid, Mega Man, Sonic and Final Fantasy.

3. Unzip the DeSmuME emulator and the roms you downloaded. Run DeSmuME and navigate to wherever you unzipped your roms. It is recommended to keep your roms organized in a separate folder, or within the DeSmuME folder itself. You can either start playing with the default keyboard (button) settings, or configure the settings yourself under Options/Preferences. DeSmuME even supports joystick input, so you can make your controller function just like a Nintendo DS. You can also configure audio settings and add video filters to enhance your playing experience.

   With DeSmuME, you can bring the magic of the Nintendo DS straight to your computer!

Tips & Warnings

• DeSmuME supports savestates, which allow you to save your game at any point and load them from that point instantly!

• Make sure your computer has a relatively powerful processor. An Intel Core 2 Duo or higher is recommended.