<s>
A	O
flash	B-Device
cartridge	I-Device
is	O
one	O
of	O
several	O
cartridges	B-Protocol
containing	O
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
that	O
have	O
been	O
developed	O
for	O
use	O
in	O
video	B-Device
game	I-Device
consoles	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
cartridges	B-Protocol
enable	O
homebrew	B-Application
applications	O
and	O
games	B-Device
to	O
be	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flash	B-Device
cartridges	I-Device
offer	O
a	O
means	O
of	O
storage	O
for	O
keeping	O
the	O
games	B-Device
until	O
a	O
user	O
decides	O
to	O
run	O
a	O
game	O
,	O
which	O
then	O
it	O
is	O
copied	O
to	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
's	O
game	B-Device
ROM	I-Device
for	O
the	O
console	O
to	O
run	O
the	O
game	O
as	O
if	O
it	O
were	O
a	O
normal	O
ROM	B-Protocol
cartridge	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
storage	O
can	O
be	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
onboard	O
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
on	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
,	O
although	O
more	O
recent	O
cartridges	B-Protocol
use	O
external	O
memory	O
cards	O
as	O
storage	O
in	O
place	O
of	O
onboard	O
memory	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Compact	B-Device
Flash	I-Device
or	O
Secure	B-Device
Digital	I-Device
memory	O
cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Recent	O
flash	B-Device
cartridges	I-Device
may	O
also	O
use	O
RAM	O
instead	O
of	O
ROM	B-Device
for	O
flashing	O
games	B-Device
to	O
run	O
on	O
the	O
console	O
as	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
offer	O
faster	O
loading	O
times	O
than	O
what	O
is	O
possible	O
on	O
reprogrammable	O
ROM	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
cartridges	B-Protocol
remain	O
the	O
best-known	O
way	O
to	O
create	O
and	O
distribute	O
homebrew	B-Application
games	B-Device
for	O
many	O
consoles	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
Advance	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
another	O
option	O
in	O
this	O
case	O
being	O
the	O
GBA	B-Device
Movie	O
Player	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
run	O
specially	O
designed	O
homebrew	B-Application
programs	O
but	O
cannot	O
run	O
illicit	O
copies	O
of	O
commercial	O
GBA	B-Device
Game	B-Protocol
cartridges	I-Protocol
due	O
to	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
onboard	O
RAM	O
for	O
fast	O
data	O
access	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Games	B-Device
are	O
written	O
to	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
with	O
a	O
device	O
called	O
"	O
linker	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Depending	O
on	O
the	O
brand	O
of	O
flash	B-Device
cartridge	I-Device
,	O
the	O
linker	O
either	O
connects	O
to	O
a	O
link	O
port	O
on	O
the	O
console	O
and	O
writes	O
to	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
through	O
the	O
console	O
,	O
or	O
connects	O
to	O
a	O
mini-USB	O
slot	O
on	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
itself	O
and	O
writes	O
directly	O
to	O
the	O
flash	B-Device
cartridge	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
linkers	O
usually	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
PC	B-Device
through	O
a	O
USB	B-Protocol
or	O
parallel	O
plug	O
on	O
the	O
other	O
end	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
linkers	O
that	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
link	O
slot	O
are	O
capable	O
of	O
copying	O
ROM	B-Device
information	O
from	O
commercial	O
software	O
cartridges	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
more	O
recent	O
flash	B-Device
cartridges	I-Device
use	O
digital	O
media	O
cards	O
(	O
SD	B-Device
,	O
MMC	O
,	O
CF	B-Device
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
in	O
which	O
files	O
are	O
placed	O
via	O
a	O
memory	B-Device
card	I-Device
reader	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
devices	O
have	O
been	O
released	O
which	O
use	O
popular	O
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
cards	O
such	O
as	O
SD	B-Device
and	O
CF	B-Device
for	O
storage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
have	O
proven	O
popular	O
since	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
techniques	O
to	O
run	O
Nintendo	B-Device
DS	I-Device
software	O
from	O
a	O
GBA	B-Device
cartridge	B-Protocol
,	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
smaller	O
size	O
of	O
DS	B-Device
games	B-Device
and	O
the	O
low	O
price	O
of	O
these	O
cards	O
compared	O
to	O
conventional	O
GBA	B-Device
flash	I-Device
cartridges	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
those	O
that	O
use	O
a	O
program	O
called	O
to	O
write	O
games	B-Device
to	O
the	O
cartridges	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
some	O
people	O
(	O
especially	O
people	O
with	O
older	O
computers	O
)	O
use	O
other	O
software	O
to	O
write	O
games	B-Device
to	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
of	O
this	O
software	O
is	O
X-ROM	O
Frontend	O
by	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
flash	B-Device
cartridges	I-Device
use	O
specialized	O
software	O
designed	O
for	O
the	O
specific	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
,	O
such	O
as	O
Power	O
Writer	O
and	O
USB	B-Protocol
Writer	O
software	O
for	O
the	O
Flash2Advance	O
Ultra	O
cartridges	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
presents	O
several	O
conflicts	O
in	O
regard	O
to	O
homebrew	B-Application
,	O
as	O
Power	O
Writer	O
uses	O
a	O
large	O
database	O
for	O
proper	O
naming	O
and	O
saving	O
of	O
games	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
ROMs	O
that	O
are	O
not	O
in	O
the	O
database	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
emulators	O
or	O
any	O
other	O
GBA	B-Device
homebrew	B-Application
)	O
are	O
prone	O
to	O
saving	O
issues	O
,	O
and	O
editing	O
the	O
database	O
manually	O
is	O
difficult	O
and	O
involves	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
hex	B-Application
editor	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
cartridges	B-Protocol
often	O
have	O
a	O
proprietary	O
interface	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
difficult	O
or	O
impossible	O
to	O
use	O
operating	O
systems	O
other	O
than	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
for	O
writing	O
to	O
the	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
with	O
a	O
few	O
exceptions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flash	B-Device
cartridges	I-Device
are	O
also	O
available	O
for	O
other	O
Nintendo	O
consoles	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
DS	B-Device
,	O
DSi	B-Device
,	O
and	O
the	O
3DS	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DSi	B-Device
and	O
the	O
3DS	B-Operating_System
have	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
update	O
their	O
system	O
firmware	O
via	O
the	O
Internet	O
,	O
which	O
makes	O
it	O
possible	O
for	O
Nintendo	O
to	O
fix	O
the	O
exploit	O
that	O
allowed	O
the	O
flashcarts	B-Device
to	O
work	O
,	O
and	O
essentially	O
block	O
the	O
flashcart	B-Device
from	O
loading	O
on	O
the	O
console	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
also	O
project	O
files	O
existing	O
on	O
the	O
Internet	O
that	O
guide	O
people	O
through	O
creating	O
their	O
own	O
flash	B-Device
cartridge	I-Device
for	O
the	O
original	O
Nintendo	O
Game	O
Boy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
legality	O
of	O
flashcarts	B-Device
has	O
been	O
called	O
into	O
question	O
many	O
times	O
,	O
primarily	O
by	O
Nintendo	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
2010	O
high	O
court	O
case	O
,	O
the	O
court	O
ruled	O
in	O
Nintendo	O
's	O
favour	O
,	O
and	O
flashcarts	B-Device
were	O
outlawed	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
Kingdom	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
game	O
consoles	O
have	O
official	O
flash	B-Device
cartridges	I-Device
(	O
and	O
official	O
emulators	O
)	O
used	O
by	O
developers	O
to	O
test	O
prototypes	O
of	O
their	O
games	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
cartridges	B-Protocol
are	O
usually	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
console	O
's	O
software	O
development	O
kit	O
and	O
are	O
only	O
available	O
to	O
licensed	O
developers	O
.	O
</s>
