

Therefore it’s not backwards compatible with any Gameboy systems. The switch is considered a console, and not a handheld. But you can play new versions you buy from the official store. You can’t play your physical DS games on the switch. You have to properly decrypt them first before you can run them on Citra emulator. ĬIA ROMs which are the default file type supported by the actual handheld 3DS console. I can finally open and play these games, albeit very sluggishly.The more challenging part is, Citra can’t run. Once it’s done installing, you should be able to play it.Navigate to the CIA file you want to install. On the menu bar, choose File > Install CIA.Make sure that you have copied over your system archives from a 3DS.Currently, Citra is able to install (decrypted) CIAs easily.

Our decrypted CIA can now be used to install to other 3DS systems the reader may have lying around, so it is important to store this aside (for example, in a redundant storage system or in an online service).

If it completes, we now have a decrypted CIA. Note that it will fail if the CIA is already decrypted. Select CIA image options., choose Decrypt file (.), and select Decrypt inplace.Open up our CIA options by pressing A on it.Open up GodMode9, and navigate to the CIA file.Make sure that there is sufficient free space. (At times, installing encrypted CIAs on my 3DS works, but at others it fails completely.) To do so, we have to use GodMode9. Our CIA file is encrypted, so we have to decrypt it.

Because of a modification of the way the CDN functions for Nintendo 3DS servers, downloading from a CDN outside the eShop no longer works for now.īut we are not yet done with our CIA. Now, for those without a CIA, you may create your own using FunKe圜IA. Guides are available for creating a CIA from a physical cartridge or from an installed title. To be able to use a CIA, one must first have a CIA of said game. These CIA files can then easily be installed in Citra. The CIA format is utilized because it is a simple enough way to “install” software into the 3DS, as well as ease of modifying its contents (in the case of “modding”). Our goal is to run 3DS games both in the 3DS and in the PC. Our motivation is to get a way on installing software in the Nintendo 3DS using a CIA, and make sure that said software can work on Citra, a 3DS emulator.
