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Which DS Emulators Work With RAR Files?

The process of emulation is inherently troublesome. Not only does an emulator have to recreate the function of several custom microprocessors, it has to do so at a speed that is comparable to the original. Additionally, the files that the emulator reads must be translated through various formats. For those who utilize compressed files (such as .RAR files) the choice of emulator is even more important.

What is DS Emulation?
- DS emulation is the process of using software on your personal computer (or other device) to recreate the experience of the Nintendo DS portable gaming system. Most of the currently available emulators recreate the function of the DS hardware by mimicking the chips and other components as closely as software emulation allows. Unfortunately, software emulation of components requires considerable CPU and memory resources and is still less than perfect. Despite this, the more-established emulation programs such as no$gba and DeSmuME have a surprising degree of compatibility with both home brew and commercial applications.
Why Use Emulation?
- There are several reasons to emulate a DS game system on your PC. The larger size of your monitor reduces eye strain over using the tiny dual displays of the game console. Emulation allows the ability to create "save states" that capture the condition of the emulated game in an instant, basically meaning you can save anywhere, even if the original game did not allow it. Additionally, most emulators make it easy to apply cheat codes to games without using additional hardware. Emulation also allows you to back up games and software in a fashion that is not possible on your DS console.
DeSmuME
- DeSmuME is, as of this writing in July 2011, the only unmodified emulator that allows direct loading of .RAR files. This emulator has a number of features that make it a good choice over others, file support notwithstanding. It provides support for both DS screens in a variety of layouts, including a surprisingly useful side-by-side screen mode. These emulated screens can be scaled like a normal window or via presets, which is a flexibility few other emulators can accomplish without modification. Additionally, this emulator is one of the fastest and most compatible emulators currently in development.
WinDS Pro 2011
- WinDS Pro 2011 is less an emulator than an extension of currently popular emulators. It adds a visual interface to load games with either the no$gba, iDeaS or DeSmuMe emulators modifying the way they launch so that you can load .RAR files with a program that might otherwise fail to recognize them. It also adds the no$zoomer enhancement to the loader, enabling you many screen layouts and functions that are not available in the no$gba emulator. As a side benefit, this all-in-one solution adds gameboy advance emulation capability under the same interface.

Nintendo DS