The R4 Revolution is a great add-on for any Nintendo DS (whether it be a standard or lite). It’s a MicroSD reader that plugs into the DS’ game port. Insert a MicroSD card into the R4, and it will run any game, music, video, and application it finds on the memory card.

It’s hard to gauge the reactions over at Nintendo’s headquarters. On one hand, it’s an easy way to pirate games. Just download the game ROMs, copy them to a high-capacity MicroSD, and literally have tens or hundreds of games at your disposal. It’s definitely easier than creating your own DS game cards.

On the other hand, the versatility offered by the R4 provides more incentive to buy a Nintendo DS. The R4 turns the portable gaming console into a portable media player, and a gadget with many capabilities is always attractive to consummate gamers/geeks. It’s nice to be able to upload say, your favorite songs, and listen to them when you’re not in the mood for games.

Keep in mind that you can only legally run games on the R4 revolution if you already own an actual copy of the game itself. The R4 Revolution is currently available from Amazon UK for £46 (around $90).