I want to start running a couple games on DS and also want to run some GBA games. How would I go about recording/streaming these consoles. I would like for prices to stay low but if the quality is good enough im more than willing to shell out a pretty penny. :D

If you don't want to go for emulators, then :

GBA :

• Use a Gamecube with GB Player, then use a capture card to record (could be less expensive than second option, GB Players are around 30 and you'll need to buy some extra cables probably, also SD capture cards aren't too expensive compared to HD)
• Use a DS capture board (expensive), don't need a capture card to record since it's already in the DS, just need to connect the cables to PC (might need a USB soundboard to get rid of static noise from DS audio though)

DS :

• 2nd GBA option
• Use a 3DS capture board (probably more expensive than DS, unless you do the wi-fi streaming method, i don't know much about it though)

DS capture board can be from 65 to 200, depending on how you do it (install the capture board yourself or not, send a DS or not, etc) 3DS capture board, afaik, is 300+

(prices are in € since i'm in france)

Some notes on the above, from experience (I run DS and GBA*): 3DS capture cards are currently quite expensive, ($250+, not including the cost of a 3DS,) primarily due to an upset in the amount of producers. There is one somewhere in Europe, I think, and I know most are in Japan, but the reviews for those tend to discouragingly mixed. It seems like you've just gotta get lucky if you don't want to shell out $300 and wait a month or two for shipping. (They also only install, and won't sell the card separate even if you wanted to DIY.)

I personally use a self-installed DS card from the 3dsCapture site, since the maker is in the US (less shipping and wait), and has the best reputation from what I can find regarding the makers. His DS cards, which are intended for use in an original model DS (no idea if it works in the DSi model sets), will cost you only about $60 if you have the skill to install it. (It's not easy, and you'll need some stuff to cut plastic with.) The guy who makes these is supposedly working on a new set of 3DS cards, but news about it is sparse.

Video-wise, it looks quite nice even if the program for it is old and sometimes freezes if the window is left out of focus for an extended period of time. Since it's an intercept between the screen and the computer itself, it's unaffected by any dead pixels on the screen. It records GBA games fine from experience, and the DS static noise has never really been a problem for me- just mix your audio carefully and you should never hear it. On this note, it doesn't capture audio at all. You'll have to record the output from the DS headphone jack, which isn't too hard to do. (Mine ended up being a strange setup that uses, of all things, an RCA splitter to get microphone input, since my computer doesn't have a microphone jack. Ordered the thing by accident, and I was darned if I wasn't going to make it work.)

I didn't intend for this to sound like a promotion for Loopy's cards, just came out that way. The market for 3/DS capture cards are pretty much as exposed as you could get to scammers, and I've already seen lots of fishy-looking deals when I was looking for a 3DS card a long time back. I'm a frugal person and I really dislike overspending or getting cheated, (thus the odd RCA setup.)

If you've got any more questions about the cards or their installation, feel free to ask.

[quote]GB Players are around 30[/quote] Just wanted to add onto this - while the GB Player is usually that cheap, the startup disc can actually be quite expensive (I've seen them for as high as $90). Not sure if that's the same outside the US, maybe the sellers here are just assholes, but that price can get high for no good reason. Obviously GBI is an alternative, and is probably a better choice anyway.

Well, where i live, there's a retro store that sells GB Players, usually the guy would always sell the disc with the GBP for 30~, so i guess i'm just lucky

Otherwise, if you can't be as lucky and get a disc with the GBP for cheap, GBi is probably better yeah It'll probably save some money in the long run, on top of having, afaik, higher quality when recording

As for DS capture boards, i wanted to avoid advertizing, but if there's scammers, then i may as well share where i got mine i suppose

Got mine from https://www.merki.net/?v=11aedd0e4327 wich is apparently ran by the same guy that did http://3dscapture.com/ds/order.html If you want to go for a DS capture board, i'd definitly recommend these, though it might not be the cheapest option since merki is in the EU (shipping to US in general is ridiculously expensive)

@xDrHellx gave good suggestions! To add: I bought my DS capture card install kit from here: http://3dscapture.com/ds/order.html It is quite expensive but with this you can stream DS and GBA games easily.

Otherwise I always suggest this video, it is a free and rather good quality to record your DS screen:

Thank you all for the replies! I appreciate everyones feedback and I plan on looking into one of these solutions for future running! :D