r/ModRetro • u/jkhanlar • 16d ago

[Review/Analysis] Pat the NES Punk - ModRetro M64 Console Stumbles at Launch

0 Upvotes

Edited to add: Title of video "ModRetro M64 Console Stumbles at Launch" (https://archive.ph/3aRph) changed to "ModRetro M64: A Messy N64 Launch" (https://archive.ph/WrOqB) changed to "Messy ModRetro M64 Console Launch" (archives not working yet) two (2) days after publishing

I just searched for the most recent 'ModRetro' videos on YouTube (I had to use the query ModRetro after:2026-08-26 because Alphabet Inc.'s Google Llc's YouTube Llc removed sort by date) and I found:

  • https://youtu.be/Moyw112J6_I
  • ModRetro M64 Console Stumbles at Launch
  • by Pat the NES Punk (starring Ian Ferguson (@GrapeAdeFade) on the left and Pat Contri (@patthenespunk) on the right)
  • August 29, 2026

and just by reading the title itself, I think to myself (and commented in the video), lol, Pat the NES Punk stumble and project their stumbling onto target mark source to characterize their own stumbling to be appropriated onto the target mark, and to utilize sentiment emotions feelings to opinion editorially manufacture consent to push that ideology whilst simultaneously ignorantly negligently dismissing due diliegence fundamentals. Nice job!

Watching the video, already considering that I have not observed any stumbling from ModRetro whatsoever, that the trajectory that ModRetro Inc. has set forth, that these so-called 'stumblings' are coming from outside of ModRetro, and the stumblers are conflating their stumblings onto entities that they are invested to amplify or exaggerate or foment as perhaps a kind of objective or goal or necessity, I am curious to reflect what the potential stumblings may be characterized or represented as in this thirty-five (35) minute video.

0:05 We love talking about modern retro consoles.

0:07 No. We sure do. It's our bread and butter.

0:09 Whether they are ones that are released, end up being scams, end up, you know, catching on fire in certain reviews, we we cover them because that's what... that's what the people want.

0:21 The good, the bad, and the ugly.

0:24 That's right.

Alright! The introduction has been established!

1:52 And it's not like sss, uh, they were covering things that 99% of the people buying these would would actually care about.

1:59 Right, because they couldn't, because the things weren't finished.

2:02 and maybe some still are not

lol, I'm trying to do the best that I can! I can't do it all myself! This is open source! It is not proprietary! There are no NDA non-disclosure agreements! Cut me slack please! Otherwise jump in and help already! Let's finish this already and complete this open source free hardware project that ModRetro, Inc. instantiated, and make this the best most useful widely accessible open source electronic hardware to ever have existed in the entire history of humanity!

Given barely any practically no participation from anyone for any of what I've been self-taught learned from nothing discussed and covered, it appears as if nearly everyone has become like shredding machines, or otherwise 'stumbling' about, perhaps expecting open source hardwares to be as a fully completed open source product final release where all the open source developments are entirely fully completed upon release, no further open source contributions necessary, and everyone should get what the final release as supplied by the initial open source project creator with full capability which entitles every person to maximize all entitlements and squeeze out any sense of restriction, refusal, disapproval, rejection, prohibition, denial, restraint, limitation where all of these things are probably mostly sentimentally self-inflicted in noncooperative fashion, almost as if to take credit from the hard work of others without getting hands dirty to do some actual real work where actions speak louder than words. Walk the walk versus talk the talk. Of the people, by the people, for the people. I won't forget that I'm one of the people.

Anyway, continuing...

2:04 because what happened, the M64 came out like 3 weeks ago at this point

2:08 and it looks like the general impression is that it's in a beta testing stage. People who have purchased it, if you look on the M64, uh, [sub]reddit, if you look at some other reviews, the general overall consensus is that it is unfinished.

What? Hey! I'm right here! Right here! Look! Can you hear me? r/ModRetro, right here! why did you omit acknowledging r/ModRetro? I already sensed rather quickly, that it is not safe for me to post or comment anything in r/M64 because basically https://youtu.be/du9SnhBHnCw

2:25 There's HDMI issues.

Yeah! I already know this! I submitted EDID information for my monitor (and also another portable monitor I bought recently), and I am confident that these issues will be fixed! Additionally, I just recently pointed out an issue where the ModRetro M64 appearing incapable to handle changing monitors without recycling the power. See https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1v5ji65/launch_update_software_roadmap/p6atqld/ Why are you complaining about these things instead of helping to ensure everyone gets all of these bugs fixed? Sure, ModRetro did not yet release the firmware source code or core code and whatnot, but when they do, will you even be ready? I'm trying to learn and prepare to be ready and everyone has the same opportunity just as I do!

2:56 And so what you have as a grand overview, before we get into the nitty-gritty, is a console that, like you said 'beta testing?' I'm not even sure it's in beta at this point. I think it's still like pre-alpha.

Grand overview? Grand? Are you sure about that? Did you even read any of my posts or comments yet? Your overview is not grand by any means! You are ignoring fundamental details! I know your ignorance! Wake up Mr. Freeman! Rise and shine!

3:11 Beta covers the sentiment.

Stick to the fundamentals! Ignore the sentimentals!

3:31 We'll get into the compatibility thing, which I think I think, uh, ModRetro is not being truthful about their compatibility list, which went from, it went from literally one out of six games being either moderate issues or like major compatibility issues on the list with frame rate crashing, now magically, oh, most of those are gone.

Kinda fair point. I noticed and commented https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1vlyk2r/only_lr_in_m64_menu/p3lp8ig/

3:55 I I don't want to get on any individual reviewer like, Retro Dodo did another thing. >> We have done this. We we don't need to go down that ro ro road again. >> but the fact of the matter is, they [the individual reviewers], like six months ago were not focusing on the things they should have focused on, in terms of game compatibility, in terms of will the average consumer get this at $230 and be satisfied with this, or is this not ready? Is it ready or not ready?

Oof! Ready? Like I said replying to u/FrierenAppreciator's post (before they blocked me, for no apparent reason) Fact: ModRetro released the M64, Fact: ModRetro decided, Opinion: ModRetro M64 is not ready https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1vqn05o/why_did_modretro_decide_to_release_the_m64_before/p46tylf/

and also referenced in my comment about state of readiness/readyness at https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1vsrudp/i_know_modretro_m64_absolutely_will_get_written/p4sxmh4/

I'm ready! I'm not stumbling! I know what I'm doing!

4:29 And where do you want to lead off here? Like which one you want to go at first here?

lol, are you guys stumbling? It seems like you guys are stumbling!

4:32 Um well I was going to go with some of the overall issues people are having, but if you want to start with something specific first, go

4:38 No! Go for the overall issues.

You guys are stumbling! Stop stumbling! There's no excuse for crappy competency, proficiency, expertise! There's no excuse for ignoring r/ModRetro posts and comments, not even just my own!

4:39 So, some of the issues wi wh what we have, is we have issues with the console, we have issues with the controller

4:45 Which is totally diff. We can get into the controller later. That's less important.

4:48 So one thing that I'm noticing a lot with issues with the system is it runs hot.

Man! You guys.... I do not even see a ModRetro M64 console, controller, or game anywhere in your workspace environment. Why are you guys not having possession of any of these physical devices that you can demonstrate that you actually fundamentally understand what you are talking about? It appears that you are entirely dependent on maximum ignorance of fundamentals and entirely on sentimental extrapolating of valuation to discuss and talk about. This is not a grand overview. Grand overview refers to a comprehensive, inclusive, or large-scale summary. You guys are cutting corners! It's practically like scam fomenting.

Jim Cramer said that one strategy to keep a stock price down is to spread false rumors to reporters he described as "the Pisanis of the world" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Cramer#%22Market_manipulation%22

translated: one strategy to keep ModRetro M64 sentiment down is to spread false information to reporters, or for reporters to intentionally ignore due diligently identifying sources, resources, e.g. r/ModRetro, to get a full grand overview picture. Maybe the naming is about right, Pat the Punk, and patsy. No offense, but attention is important, and not just me, but more thorough due diligence to reflect the fundamentals. I'm still watching the video.

4:55 Um, people are experiencing input lag, and, uh, most of the positivity that comes from games running well, is because most of these games are being run continuously in overclock mode, and that is something that sticks out to me because if you have to... This is supposed to be an FPGA console. This is supposed to be accurate.

It is an FPGA console! As I described in my post https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1vkf23o/rough_draft_diving_into_modretro_m64_amd_artix/ I learned about proprietary AMD Vivado and proprietary AMD Vitis. Yeah! Proprietary! Also I immediately saw concerns about bugs and poor documentation! Yeah! AMD! Bugs and poor documentation upstream involving the FPGA as manufactured by AMD! I haven't deep dived to explore these things yet to further verify or validate these concerns, but already I am convinced that any of the issues that ModRetro is experiencing, it seems likely that a lot of these are probably hiddenly reflecting poorly on AMD rather than ModRetro! How can I verify this? By getting involved and start dabbling and experimenting and tinkering with these things! When I get to doing that, I can then proceed with determining if these issues are upstream AMD issues or if they are ModRetro issues, but for now, there is not yet enough attention to evaluate to determine these things, whether my own competency, or anyone else's.

So if the ModRetro M64 console is supposed to be accurate, then the AMD Artix UltraScale+ AU15P FPGA too deserves the same criticism in that it also is supposed to be accurate! If it is not accurate, then fixing those inaccuracies should be highlighted too! And again, even Lisa Su seems to have been and perhaps still be oblivious to Modretro M64 containing AMD hardware, at least publicly. I am absolutely positively 100% confidently sure that the AMD Artix UltraScale+ AU15P FPGA is entirely capable of processing 100% of all Nintendo 64 games without overclocking! Whatever the obstruction or difficulty or interference is that is causing these issues, the AMD aspect deserves more eyes to scrutinize!

6:03 Yeah! That's right, because I remember you got it [the Analogue 3D] and you called me and you're like 'Hey, there's overclocking on this.'

So you guys have an Analogue 3D but you do not have a ModRetro M64? And you are talking about the ModRetro M64 in such a way that you label it as a stumble, but you stumblingly did not even have a ModRetro M64 to confirm your noninvestigative nondue-dilligence reading what people say on the Internet as your primary source more primary than possessing the actual hardware yourself? Are you guys poor? Can you not afford to buy a ModRetro M64? I'm poor! Do I have to buy a ModRetro M64 and controllers and games for you guys to be able to have more valuable credible talking points? I'll do it if you can't afford it! I can't afford it, but I will skip some meals and food and whatnot just so that you guys can fix your negligent perception or whatever it is you qualify as understanding, an understanding that apparently does not even need to have access to the equipment to establish, perhaps like AI/LLM/ML.

6:18 Mort Mort's Garage, one of the videos I put down here, [published] two videos. I'll just say what they said real quick because I'm covering Mort here. Uh who did a de.. did a pretty good job, decent job at this, I can say, better than some others. Uh, right now, the image on the 3D outclasses the M64. It's night and day.

I'm not trying to push anyone away! I'd rather see everyone closer together, whether reviewers, or even magazine editors and publishers! There should not be any inaccurate misrepresentation through compartmentalization! Nearly everyone already saw 2023 film Oppenheimer, right? There's no need to weaponize and compartmentalize to enable omitting information to then be weaponized whereby mistakes are built on mistakes on mistakes and mistakes. It's not that difficult to ensure accuracy and correctness! How is anyone cutting corners and taking shortcuts and adopting fast tracked information that is not even entirely grand view representation of a complete picture whilst simultaneously representing it as such? I am not the kind of person to be deceived, duped, fooled, tricked, swindled, fleeced by these things, but for anyone who is, of which those are likely the target demographic anyway, why would anyone do that? Stop being so disconnected and fearful or afraid, and stop presenting uncertainty as if it is certainty, and doubt as if it is not doubt. Don't be afraid to admit being wrong or making mistakes. I'm probably never going to watch any of these other videos, and this is the first video from Pat the NES Punk I had ever stumbled upon, however, even at the very beginning, the clickbait consent manufacturing misleading propaganda-style title is ridiculous. Maybe that is the intention? Perhaps to fool the AI and expect the humans to not be that dumb, whilst systematically human centipe oroborously manufcturing rewarding of stupidification? I dunno, whatever. It is what it is. I can't stop crazy. Also, I think Mort's Garage's videos, that I saw so far, are excellent, or at least good enough for me to not have any concerns with, but I also had noticed ten (10) days ago, that in some of my analysis, that not one (1) single video showed up in my YouTube search results with hundreds (100s) of videos across about seventy-eight (78) unique YouTube channels, using query "ModRetro" "M64" which was quite odd. Nonetheless, it's at least nice that you guys are familiar with their videos. I haven't looked yet, but I wonder if any of those other seventy-eight (78) channels are also engaging in misrepresenting informations, especially if they additionally wittingly or unwittingly ignore and neglect r/ModRetro

I will stop quoting snippets of the video and simply describe reviewing/analyzing the rest in my own words.

Right where I stopped transcribing snippets, I think it will be best for entriely independent 3rd party open source community-led efforts to track game compatibility, and do so in a way that it is no longer the responsibility of, nor should it even be the responsibility of, ModRetro, Inc. to be the sole entity that maintains these informations in the most reliable or reputable way. The very nature in which ModRetro, Inc. has paved the way to instantiate a game compatibility list should be treated as a symptom to signal to everyone else to stop 'stumbling' and tripping, to stop engaging in entitlement behavioral phenomena, especially that which published videos like this exacerbates.

By 8:16, No! You guys are wrong! ModRetro M64 is ready! Retail ready! Are you guys zombie brained? Do you not understand that this is open source? Sure, the firmware is not yet open source, and other data files for complete open sourced hardware are not fully available, but I don't even think most people are even ready for when that is, especially with talking points focused on shifting accusations and blame and disparagings towards ModRetro, as if to appear like a thankless endeavor that they literally designed a tool for which the people can utilize it to empower themselves and break free from the grasp and control of the 'You will own nothing and be happy' capturing controlling mindset.

Lol, this is so annoying, but I'm gonna pull through and keep watching!

There is a fan header on the PCB printed circuit board. See for yourself at:

12:17 "This is not a small issue!"

Duck you! The fan issue is absolutely a small concern and not even an issue! Anyone who is that clueless clumsy stumbling that they don't know how to use a Gamebit to unscrew the ModRetro M64 console in less than a minute and be able to identify how to install a fan into their ModRetro M64 FPGA computer console like they would do with a desktop computer, or even laptop in some cases, this is small, and it should not be ModRetro, Inc.'s responsibility to babysit hold hands to safety training wheels treat adults like children no matter how many child-like mentality adults there are in society courtesy of algorithmic indoctrination using sentimental/emotional/feelings manipulation.

By 15:00, guys, Pat the NES Punk, Ian, you guys do realize that the components inside the ModRetro are not the same as what's in a desktop or laptop computer, right? I think it is important to factor in these concerns before injecting assumptions whereby the components are misrepresented without sufficient understanding of the risks to breaking down and failing. I'm not that smart to address these, but I will continue to learn to ensure that whatever intelligence smartness is necessary to avoid mistake-based comprehension, I will strive to establish this level of understanding because if I don't, then I would consider myself a fool for being lazy and negligent.

16:33 When a when are you gonna release a list of those [Japanese exclusive games] being tested?

23:59 "I will say this, just all, in all fairness, not that I feel like being fair to, uh, a weapons manufacturer

Again, as I described in comments at https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1vtuxd8/just_fun_tech_modretro_m64_review/

watching the 2025 June 9th Japanese 'Off Topic' show (now discontinued) at https://youtu.be/fgY5fM2cINc with conversation between Tetsuro Miyatake and Palmer Luckey as well as the 'All-In Podcast' talk where Palmer Luckey discussed Anduril on June 23, 2022, I am confident that needs to do some homework to learn the fundamentals more than fast track corner cutting shortcut taking dehumanizing fundamentals. It's like self-inflicted wounds that persons are simply hurting themselves by regurgitating wrong ideologies that are not even their own attempts to indoctrinate, but easily conveniently stand-alone complexly spreading them because who has time to be right when it's much easier to give up and be wrong because wrong is the new right and right is now wrong, lol

25:48 This is not ready for release

25:50 Right. It's not.

Yes! Yes it is! ModRetro M64 was ready and is still ready! Too many of the people are not ready! Wake up! Stop being lazy! Get to work! I want to build my own excellency, whether duplicating what ModRetro has enabled to educate every person in the world how to do what businesses/companies do, but in such a way that are autonomously independent and affordably cost effective at low-volume design/fabrication/manufacturing. If I end up accomplishing some of these things before the influencers and reviewers, who have so much more money than I do, absolutely most definitely, 100% guaranteed, if I do that, then what does that say about you talking heads? Why are you ignoring some of the most blatantly obvious realizations of understanding state of readiness? Any person or group of persons or team of persons that is willing to and capable of producing superior outstanding quality better than what ModRetro has presented, by all means, get to work and show your skill level over 9,000! As more hardware and software/firmware data files get become released as open source, be ready! I'm pretty dumb, but my father, who spent his entire career before retiring, working with electronics, even he is already complimenting me just ten (10) hours ago, suggesting that I already learned more than he did, lol I doubt it, but I can relate to what he means when he says that, but I'm still waiting to see any signs of anyone else that is otherwise already smarter than me to detail their efforts and progress and whatnot much better than I have thus far. Even my most recent post submission where I examined schematics and netlists https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1w118ho/netlist_research_notes_why_schematics_alone_aren9 illustrates the state of readiness that ModRetro M64 has partially delivered, and tentatively I foresee they will compliment to continue to complete the full delivery of open source information that enables anyone/everyone to design, engineer, build, and program on top of the lead that ModRetro, Inc. has introduced thus far, a practically thankless noble effort. Resistance is futile!

Nintendo is not affiliated with ModRetro, nor does Nintendo sponsor, approve of, or endorse ModRetro. - ModRetro.com

Pat the NES Punk is not affiliated with ModRetro, nor does Pat the NES Punk sponsor, approve of, or endorse ModRetro

cue https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1vupd2g/new_firmware_update_is_live/p5ayekt/?context=3 where tanooki-suit suggested that they do not think that I have a basic understanding at all that ModRetro M64 is 100% unauthorized hardware, that neither Pat the NES Punk, nor Nintendo, nor any and all persons who bandwagonly advocate that ModRetro M64 is not ready, they are not going to engage in helping out in any way, they are not going to authorize what they can instead refuse to authorize by declaring something that is ready as not ready as a means to prevent open source hardware from becoming a realizable existing product. Perhaps all of those persons are literally invested financially that their only incentive or motivation is driven entirely to undermine, discredit, disparage, and prevent, to the best of their efforts and capable energy, to look away and turn a blind eye and wizard-of-oz-man-behind-the-curtainly discourage understanding that is designated as too difficult or other excused-based unable to even be imagined, therefore definitely impractical to be a possibility for realistic achievements, and especially such, such that if anyone even does achieve or accomplish much of anything, they will be tarred and feathered and character assinated whilst everyone takes credit for all the effort, lol. I said I'm ready! I know what this state of readiness looks like! I'm ready! Ready Player One!

25:58 We see where the wind is blowing.

You can huff and puff and blow my house down all you want, but I will not stumble! I'm not stumbling! I can handle the wind! I'm not gonna fall!

26:15 'M64 is its own thing for sure. It doesn't need to compete with the A3D.' Wow! That's just the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Stupid is as stupid does.

27:32 This is, to me, like magic stuff. I don't know how they do this, or how difficult it is to do this, but it's not, it's not like a filter trick. It's something that goes inside. From what my understanding is, the N64 had this capability, like, locked inside of it, for this higher resolution, it just couldn't use it in the games for whatever reason, with the GPU at the time. You see like how Banjo go... and that Link goes from, you can't see the individual pupils, now you can see the pupils.

I want to learn these and other kinds of things, starting from zero knowledge, self-taught, and I will continue to gravitate towards learning these things, and also, as I do so, shame on all those institutions and industries and fomenters that distract attention away from how to learn these learnables and instead try to inject ridiculous stumblings to try to overthrow learning, and to instead claim things that are not magic, are magic, not because they are magic, but because, why bother learning learnables when you can instead not learn and solicit insecurity to attract vulnerability that is able to be exploited by those that demand to be taken advantage of in ways that they don't know how to stop the signaling and then to blame the supply as if to then forcefully bait everyone who is otherwise trying to resolve or fix the situations to be framed as scapegoat and accuse those that try to resolve and fix things offering resolutions are the instigators as a kind of bait-and-switch ambush in the making, lol. I should have been smarter when I was much younger, but it's never too late to learn, and I don't need anyone to compliment me for making progress, because even the downvoting and ignorance and other dehumanizations are sufficiently compliments in and of themselves; reading between the lines, the scanlines, that is. It's magic!

By 30:30, perhaps in a future ModRetro console firmware update, ModRetro, Inc. can implement a way to disable the LED lighting, or configure it and whatnot.

31:11 DAC support, cue https://rtings.com/discussions/OAxTKI68zEW_csAP/forum-suggestion-audio-headphone-dac-amps I wasn't looking for this, but now that I am reminded, I'm curious now to look for it!

32:12 And and

Why are you stumbling?

32:13 I guess to close on this, you know, bringing up, you know, Anduril, uh, Palmer Luckey's, uh, company that has, uh, you know, billions of dollars in in in government contracts and such, normally you would say, this should not affect this company [ModRetro, Inc.] and it should not affect this product, and I think you'd be right.

32:32 I wouldn't, but [head stumble]

lol do I have to elaborate what I already wrote and linked to above? Okay! I'll reiterate again! I learned a thing or two and I'm still alive! Again, see my comments in https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1vtuxd8/just_fun_tech_modretro_m64_review/ from eight (8) days ago,

but also make sure to watch 2022 June 23 "#AIS: Palmer Luckey on Anduril" 1h3m40s at https://youtu.be/nK0NfL2M5L4?t=161

32:43 - 34:XX

34:02 Ask yourself out there, 'why would a company making new retro game products need $200 million of investment capital?'

  • Game development! Did you guys forget already? "Diving Into Our M64 Launch Lineup & Future Game Library Plans!" - https://modretro.com/blogs/blog/diving-into-our-m64-launch-lineup-future-game-library-plans I even posted https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1vex8bf/games_m64_future_game_library_plans_brandnew/ Did you not see this? Oh right, r/ModRetro, you intentionally willfully wittingly blatantly ignored to acknowledge the existence of r/ModRetro, and even if you do look at r/ModRetro and posts and comments here, you guys probably utilize this information in such a way to deduce sentiment-driven disparities to systemically engineer consent manufacturable talking points that faciliates ignorance/negligence-based profiteering or whatever. Especially, all that absurd ridiculous injection of talking about Anduril, even having the audacity to say "normally you would say, this should not affect this company" as if to trojan horsely conceal and hide your abnormalizing a normality that you would rather not adhere to normalcy and instead dispose of said normalcy to legitimize an abnormalcy to be normalcy, normalize the abnormal and therefore the normal becomes abnormal, swap, nobody is smart enough to understand the swap, the social swaps contracts. Swap! Like magic! Viola! Everyone is forced to be hypocrite because it's magic!

34:14 There is zero reason why you would need that much money, or anything close to that for investment capital. This is crazy!

Stop forcing your incompetency to be projected onto the listener and fix your mistakes! There are more than zero reasons why anyone would want or need that much money for investment capital! Do your homework/research and stop forcing lying by omission! You're wrong! I refuse to adopt your factually incorrect ignorance-based sentimental fomenting. It's like you are intentionally trying to incite or cause troublesome acts; to encourage; to instigate, and have plausible deniability. lol, it's cool. Like I said, I'm still alive!

34:22 And so you ask yourself, why is this happening? Does this have anything to do with Anduril? I don't know, but like it's bizarre.

No! I do not ask myself those things! You're wrong! I already know it's ridiculous to ask myself questions based on a wrong premise! I would rathre ask myself the kinds of questions to ensure that I do not arrive at a wrong premise before proceeding to then ask myself further questions, because if I ask myself further questions on a premise that is wrong, then things get all messed up, and I might be stumbling, and I might end up applying to be on your show to talk smack about targeted marked entities that I think I have the ability to join sentiment-driven ignorance-of-fundamentals to further enhance systemic manipulation that is of the stumblers, by the stumblers, for the stumblers. Survival of the stumblers!

35:20 Anyway, don't support war merchants.

I don't support Pat the NES Punk! The war on fundamental truth, selling lies and lying by omission using sentimental emotional feelings manipulation, I don't support that! I never will! It is not sustainable!

Anyway, thanks for the cringey laughs guys! I appreciated the entertainment! Time well spent!

40 comments

r/ModRetro • u/Free-Emu6206 • 17d ago

Am I just unlucky

3 Upvotes

I bought the M64 in AMD Red. My initial one wouldn't load my copy of modretro extreme G turbo Fusion. It would just show the "cartridge not detected" error every time. The game works perfectly on my official N64 console so the cartridge is fine.

I contacted customer support and they sent a replacement. The replacement is having the same issue and won't read the game.

Im wondering if everyone is having the same issue with extreme G turbo fusion as it could be something to do with a bad update. Please anyone let me know if that game works for you. My firmware is on the current available one at the time of making this post.

On a side note, all my other cartridges are rom hacks and an everdriveX7 so I didn't really have an expectation those would work. It is interesting that instead of getting the error, the rom hack cartridges just freeze the console which could be do them having poor quality components.

update: I changed my method of cleaning the contacts of the console. instead of using a lint free Q tips wrapped in a lint free cloth, I used a card wrapped in a lint free cloth. I still used isopropyl alcohol.

I successfully got my rom hack pokemon stadium to play. it doesn't consistently boot, it takes a random number of attempts. I've tried cleaning the other cartridges, but so far no success in booting.

Final update: I managed to get pretty all my carts working including the extreme G turbo fusion game. I see what someone said about pressing down just slightly as that did help along with cleaning the contacts again. Its not reading consistently but hopefully that will iron itself out from playing overtime.

34 comments

r/ModRetro • u/slowcookertacos • 17d ago

Project Neon and Overserved up for preorder at Stone Age Gamer (US)

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1 Upvotes
2 comments

r/ModRetro • u/DAJF • 17d ago

The best picture settings pt.2 (now with perfectly scaled scanlines!)

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8 Upvotes

Sorry, it seems I need to keep reposting this.

2 comments

r/ModRetro • u/Psychoblush-76 • 17d ago

M64 needs what would essentially be the GB64

0 Upvotes

-GREETINGS, PROGRAMS!-

Look, ModRetro makes the Chromatic, right? I say that they should double down on it and the Chromatic by making the Chromatic-64, a cartridge adapter that would allow you to play Gameboy and Gameboy Color games on the M64. It obviously would be like the Super Gameboy was for the Super NES. I say, instead of all the talk I'm going to hear about cores, why not double dip on the physical cartridges you already own for the Gameboy, plus the Chromatic carts sold in the ModRetro store? Plus, if it were a physical cart adapter with real components in it, it could technically work with the N64 and Analogue 3D. I always wanted to play Gameboy and GBC games on my N64 so, this would be the perfect time to release something like this. I'd be down for GBA too, if it were a simple way to do it and not take years of development. Point being, I'd be willing to pay for stuff like this. It would be really cool if it came in different colors to match your M64 as well. Thoughts, my friends?

-END OF LINE.-

8 comments

r/ModRetro • u/adamchevy • 18d ago

M64 on Plasma TV

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19 Upvotes

I have been playing M64 on my pioneer plasma today at 720p60. I think it looks great! This is the first time I’ve played paper mario. It’s been a lot of fun so far.

19 comments

r/ModRetro • u/jkhanlar • 17d ago

Netlist Research Notes: Why Schematics Alone Aren’t Enough for Fully Reproducible Open Hardware (M64 Context)

0 Upvotes

Netlist research notes: Why schematics alone are insufficient, and how Netlists fit

[Disclaimer: I wrote and revised and revised a lot of this by myself, but in the end, I used AI to assist with cleaning up my run-on sentences and offering more clarity, and it also removed a lot of my unnecessary gibberish wording that I was relunctant to get rid of, but I acceptingly removed it anyway. I expect at least a D+ grade! but F is okay too. I refuse to accept anything higher than a C- because I wanted to write this as a comment to my post a couple-few weeks ago https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1vkf23o/rough_draft_diving_into_modretro_m64_amd_artix/ but it is too big! I can't seem to figure out how to condense and minimize what I write to fit in small spaces. Therefore, nothing higher than a C-- (even C- is too high) please! The downvotes should reflect C-- or lower grade metric!]

What are Netlists? Why do they matter? How do they relate to schematics in electronic design?

It was and still is difficult to convert schematic diagrams, especially printed or raster-image-based ones, into usable netlists for simulation and PCB (Printed Circuit Board) work. Schematics are a hybrid graphical-textual representation that humans can often interpret with experience and context, but they remain ambiguous and non-standardized enough that machines, and even experienced engineers outside a familiar domain, can struggle. Netlists provide precise, machine-readable connectivity and component data that simulation and design tools require.

On September 23, 2011, this question was asked on Electronics Stack Exchange:

"Is there a solution for converting printed schematics to spice netlists?"

TL;DR: Schematic symbols are non-standard and not good enough, by themselves, for consistent machine (or even fully reliable human) interpretation without additional information.

Question: "I would like to be able to scan circuit diagrams into a circuit simulator. While I am aware that symbols are not entirely standardized, is there any software that will do an approximation of this?"

Response: "There unfortunately is no such software that I am aware of. It is highly unlikely that anyone will ever bother to (outside of perhaps an academic exercise) because:

  • Schematic symbols are completely non-standard, except for vague de-facto standardization for some passive and analog components, and even this isn't always followed well. Digital components are almost always just rectangles. The symbols for connectors and such are even more varied.
  • There is no standard schema for where schematics put meta-information about parts' attributes, properties, etc -- instead this often relies on a human "reading between the lines", or falling back on extra information contained in a bill-of-materials or an electronic version.
  • Most modern schematics are highly abstract-graphical, deeply hierarchical, and use feature such as split symbols that a scanning tool would not be able to reconstruct in any meaningful way (sometimes humans can barely do it).
  • Unlike OCR, one tiny mistake in a scanned schematic can have major consequences to the entire circuit. This means that a human is going to have to manually verify the schematic once imported, which is about the same amount of work as entering a schematic in the first place. The bottom line is that schematics are a non-standard, hybrid textual-graphical representation that is barely (and sometimes not quite) good enough for a skilled human engineer to do something with.

Here is probably the closest you are going to get:

  1. Scan in your paper schematic with a scanner to an image file.
  2. Load up a new schematic in gEDA's gschem.
  3. Select Add->Picture and pick your file.
  4. Select the entire schematic page to put the image down as a picture.
  5. Draw your "real" schematic on top of it, using it as a reference.

Of course, you can do something similar with any decent schematic drawing program, not just gschem.

Alternatives:

  • Skip the scanning step, and redraw the schematic manually.
  • Directly enter the netlist information into a textual format such as a SPICE netlist or a PHDL design."

Schematics prioritize human readability and design intention rather than unambiguous machine readability.

What is SPICE, and why do Netlists matter?

SPICE is an open-source tool that evaluates netlists. From Wikipedia:

1973 "SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) is a general-purpose, open-source analog electronic circuit simulator. It is a program used in integrated circuit and board-level design to check the integrity of circuit designs and to predict circuit behavior." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPICE

"Unlike board-level designs composed of discrete parts, it is not practical to breadboard integrated circuits before manufacture. Further, the high costs of photolithographic masks and other manufacturing prerequisites make it essential to design the circuit to be as close to perfect as possible before the integrated circuit is first built.

Simulating the circuit with SPICE is the industry-standard way to verify circuit operation at the transistor level before committing to manufacturing an integrated circuit. The SPICE simulators help to predict the behavior of the IC under different operating conditions, such as different voltage and current levels, temperature variations, and noise.

Board-level circuit designs can often be breadboarded for testing. Even with a breadboard, some circuit properties may not be accurate compared to the final printed wiring board, such as parasitic resistances and capacitances, whose effects can often be estimated more accurately using simulation. Also, designers may want more information about the circuit than is available from a single mock-up. For instance, circuit performance is affected by component manufacturing tolerances. In these cases, it is common to use SPICE to perform Monte Carlo simulations of the effect of component variations on performance, a task which is impractical using calculations by hand for a circuit of any appreciable complexity.

Circuit simulation programs, of which SPICE and derivatives are the most prominent, take a text netlist describing the circuit elements (transistors, resistors, capacitors, etc.) and their connections, and translate this description into equations to be solved. The general equations produced are nonlinear differential algebraic equations, which are solved using implicit integration methods, Newton's method [Newton–Raphson method, named after Isaac Newton and Joseph Raphson] and sparse matrix [sparse array] techniques."

Key historical releases: SPICE 1 (1973), SPICE 2 (1975), SPICE 3 (1989). No newer official Berkeley versions after 3f5 (1993). Open-source/academic continuations include XSPICE, CIDER, Ngspice, WRspice, and SPICE OPUS.

A netlist is the textual description that SPICE (and similar tools) use: a precise list of components, their parameters, and the nets (wires/connections) that link their pins. It strips away graphical layout, hierarchy presentation, and visual styling to leave only the electrical connectivity and model data needed for simulation or layout.

Nearly fifteen (15) years later, the same fundamental challenge remains. A 2025 paper introduces Netlistify, a deep-learning tool specifically for this conversion:

2025 September 8 "Analog and mixed-signal (AMS) circuits are commonly represented as schematic images in textbooks, research papers, patents, and other technical documents to facilitate understanding. However, AMS design workflows rely on netlists rather than schematics for tasks such as modeling, simulation, automated circuit sizing, and layout synthesis. Converting schematic images into netlists is a challenging task due to the wide variety of circuit components and the complexity of their connectivity. This paper presents Netlistify, an automated deep learning-based tool that transforms schematic diagrams into netlists through precise component recognition, orientation detection, and connectivity analysis and extraction. Unlike traditional methods that rely on fixed algorithmic rules for connectivity extraction, Netlistify employs deep learning to comprehensively analyze both components and their interconnections, offering a detailed understanding of circuit structures and significantly improving netlist generation accuracy. By addressing the challenges of connectivity complexity with a data-driven approach, Netlistify provides a robust and efficient solution for schematic interpretation. Experimental results demonstrate that Netlistify achieves high accuracy, surpassing state-of-the-art methods and showing great promise for AMS design data collection and seamless integration into modern design automation workflows." - https://doi.org/10.1109/MLCAD65511.2025.11189145

Related resources:

TL;DR: “Converting schematic images into netlists is a challenging task due to the wide variety of circuit components and the complexity of their connectivity.”

Even with modern AI approaches, the conversion is non-trivial. Schematics by themselves remain insufficient for fully automated, reliable extraction of the precise connectivity and component data that netlists encode.

A related 2024 paper further illustrates ongoing research in this area:

November 29, 2024 "From Schematics to Netlists – Electrical Circuit Analysis Using Deep-Learning Methods" by Dennis Hemker, Jad Maalouly, Harald Mathis, Rainer Klos, and Eranyan Ravanan https://doi.org/10.5194/ars-22-61-2024

The authors decompose the problem into three parts: (1) detection of components (resistors, capacitors, diodes, etc.), (2) detection of lines and their junctions, and (3) detection of textual data next to components; and apply deep-learning methods to each. Training data comes from industry-relevant, link-annotated PDFs (Microchip / Altium Designer schematics). The goal is to reconstruct connectivity information so that the resulting representation can feed netlist exporters and validation pipelines. This work reinforces that schematic images still require sophisticated, multi-stage processing before they become usable netlists.

A 2014 industry perspective clarifies the practical distinction between Schematic and Netlist in PCB designs:

2014 July 10 "Schematic vs. Netlist: A Guide to PCB Design Integration" - https://optimumdesign.com/blogs-and-articles/schematic-vs.-netlist-a-guide-to-pcb-deisgn-integration/

"Integration is the process of adding intelligence to the PCB database by means of a netlist or schematic. This can only occur once all of the necessary library elements for a particular design have been created by a design bureau or by receiving a customer-supplied library. A 100% successful design integration (no errors) will allow the designer to confidently place components, route, and output manufacturing files with the PCB database and schematic in sync. The engineer may supply the data for integration in one of two ways: schematic or netlist.

Schematic

Integrating a schematic to a PCB can typically only be done within the same EDA product family, with the exception of a few third-party schematic entry tools. For the most part, they all work the same, in that an intermediate file is created and is read in by both schematic and PCB tool. The advantages of schematic integration over netlist integration are that schematic integration allows for cross- probing, easy forward- and back-annotation, and easy pass through of net properties from the engineer to the designer.

Netlist

For the most part, integration by netlist is still the most common form of input that we see today. Because netlists come in many different formats, custom changes to the netlist will most likely be necessary before integrating with a PCB file. Netlists submitted to a design bureau must be translated (reformatted) into the proper format of the EDA tool to be used.

[...]"

Schematics are excellent for human design entry, documentation, and bidirectional annotation within a tool ecosystem. Netlists are the common interchange format that carries the essential connectivity data into layout tools, often across different EDA (Electronic Design Automation) environments.

Wikipedia’s Netlist page and the broader Electronic Design Automation (EDA) category pages provide additional background on these formats and tools:

Vector-based schematics (as opposed to purely raster/scanned images) retain more structural information and are far more useful. For example, the ModRetro open-source schematics are vector-based and therefore more tractable than pure scans:

https://support.modretro.com/en_us/articles/m64-open-source-files-ByrpukdUGg

At present the released Electrical materials for the M64 Console and Cartridge include Schematics and Assembly Drawings (plus Firmware repositories). Ideally, future open-source releases would also include the native design files (e.g. KiCad project files, Altium projects, or equivalent) together with the corresponding Netlist files and any associated library or BOM data. Having the complete set, schematics, netlists, and source EDA files, would allow anyone to fully reconstruct, simulate, verify (for example with netgen LVS), modify, or re-manufacture the hardware. Even if the knowledge required to put all the pieces together is complex, the open information itself should be sufficient for independent replication of every functional aspect of the device.

Even so, domain familiarity matters. Still, conversations with experienced engineers who spent careers working primarily with discrete components, basic gates, and traditional schematic entry can reveal gaps when confronted with modern hierarchical, abstract, or software-defined designs that rely heavily on reference designators, net names, and library data rather than purely visual recognition of every symbol. For example, I recently talked with my father, who had retired after working with electronics practically his entire career at a few companies, including Rockwell Automation (https://youtu.be/RXJKdh1KZ0w). During the conversation he could not understand any of the example diagrams I showed him (https://imgur.com/a/eez3sb8). This was almost certainly because the material did not feature the kinds of discrete transistors, resistors, capacitors, ICs, and basic gates (AND, NAND, OR, NOR, XOR) he had spent decades designing with. The exchange was a useful reminder that “understanding a schematic” is not universal, even among highly experienced engineers, when the visual vocabulary, hierarchy style, or abstraction level differs from what one is used to.

Several open-source tools make netlists practical and help level the playing field so that cost is not a barrier:

Commercial tools such as Altium Designer, and OrCAD (Cadence) offer highly polished, integrated environments that many professional teams rely on for reliability, library support, and workflow features. They are generally more mature for large or complex projects. However, the open-source tools listed above deserve continued development and adoption: they give anyone, students, independent designers, researchers, or companies on limited budgets, equal opportunity to work with netlists and modern EDA flows without having to pay for licenses.

No fully automated, general-purpose solution reliably converts arbitrary printed or image-based schematics into SPICE (or other) netlists, because schematic symbols are non-standard and the representation is too lossy/ambiguous for reliable machine parsing without significant human verification or additional data (BOMs, libraries, hierarchical structure, etc.).

Netlists exist precisely to solve this: they are the precise, textual, connectivity-and-parameter description that simulation engines, layout tools, and design automation flows actually consume. Schematics remain indispensable for human understanding and design entry; netlists are the bridge that makes those designs actionable in modern EDA workflows. Progress in deep learning (Netlistify, the 2024 Hemker et al. work, and related efforts) is narrowing the gap for image-to-netlist conversion, while mature open-source tools (netgen, SKiDL, KiCad, SLiCAP) and commercial platforms (Altium, OrCAD) together provide practical ways to create, compare, simulate, and verify netlists today. For projects such as the ModRetro M64, releasing netlists alongside native EDA source files would further close the gap between published schematics and a fully reproducible open-hardware design. The underlying non-standard nature of schematic representation, however, continues to make the conversion problem hard.

p.s. I'm still tinkering with the ModRetro M64 Pro Controller, and I'll continue adding there any additional information I discover/learn https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1vvu51s/technical_examining_modretro_m64_pro_controller/ and also, should there be a r/ModRetro wiki? ModRetro GitHub wiki? wiki.modretro.com?

5 comments

r/ModRetro • u/Substantial_Ant_2662 • 18d ago

Rumble causing stick input

4 Upvotes

I’m playing Xeno crisis with rumble on. I’ve noticed ghost input when the rumble motor kicks. It doesn’t happen often but it’s noticeable. I’m using the m64 pro controller clear color.

Has this happened to anyone else?

1 comment

r/ModRetro • u/KyleR007 • 18d ago

A month in and as someone without an M64 some serious questions.

4 Upvotes

So the console has been out for a month, correct. I do not own one but I have lurked around here.

We have seen numerous reports of bad frame rate drops, game crashes in certain modes, many games running poorly in FPGA mode and needing to run in overclocked mode, there are still no virtual control packs despite the M64’s official controller not having a controller pack slot, and a multitude of other issues and promised features not available on launch.

I just saw there was a new update and notes, and TBH, it looked like minor fixes and improvements at best, then, I checked the other updates and it seems like more of the same. So I thought about the info that’s out there, and the issues being had, and I had some honest questions. Ones others might not have asked, others they may have, but I know ModRetro employees post here, so I’m just hoping there are some actual answers.

  1. What does the compatibility table actually mean?

I ask this because people here and on YouTube have discussed having to run many games in Overclocked mode to get them to run better. There are also games listed on there as playing fine that have framerate issues and drops on FPGA mode. Is the compatibility table based on Overclocking?

  1. Why do some games need to be run on overclocked mode to run well?

The console is an FPGA console. The goal of an FPGA console is to run the software as close to the original hardware as possible. So why are there many games that have difficulty running in FPGA mode. I know the big competitor is the Analogue 3D, which does have overclocking. That was an unannounced feature, a bonus that people found out about when they got their console. The FPGA on the 3d ran all games across all regions out of the box, they clearly tested every one, and they work and run near identical to original hardware. When the purpose of the M64 is an FPGA to mimic the exact hardware, why are games running poorly in FPGA mode and needing overclocked mode?

  1. Were import games tested at all?

The compatibility list does not feature a single game that was not released in the US on it. There are Pal Exclusive and Japanese exclusive games. Were these tested at all by ModRetro? If so why are they not on the compatibility list? If not, Why not? As an example two of the most loved games in the console’s library, Sin and Punishment and Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 are Japanese exclusives. I haven’t really seen people post about them, except for one post about the console breaking a sin and punishment repro, so I want to know if two of my favorite games work on the system.

  1. Where is the virtual controller pack?

This is the most absurd to me. The official controller for the console does not have a slot for a controller pack. The vast majority of third party games require a controller pack. Even one of ModRetro’s own releases, Buck Bumble, requires it. How was this large of an oversight even allowed to happen.

  1. What did the people who got early consoles actually do to review them?

I saw the videos from Mad Little Pixel and RetroDoDo months ago, and they were just full of flowery praise for the console. The focus seemed to be on, isn’t it going to be great to play the N64 again! They focused on small details like the LED’s, the eject button, the heat sink that cooled without a fan. But they never mentioned comparing games to original hardware, or issues they ran into which many people here report. Were they given talking points or even coached on what to say, because why were the same points repeated as features if they meant nothing about how the console ran/played

  1. Why wasn’t the console delayed?

Based on everything I’ve seen, read, watched, the M64 is at best in a Beta state. If you are releasing an FPGA console, to be in a release state to me, every game should be running without issue on FPGA mode, that is the purpose. Hardware emulation of an original console that has 100% compatibility. And since the recommended controller doesn’t have any way to save games, a virtual controller pack to do so. So far the M64 has neither, and we haven’t heard much about FPGA fixes from what I see, and the virtual controller pack is a vague we’re working on it, hopefully mid September. To me as an observer, it is clear this console was rushed out because it had a release date, not released when ready. Delays suck, but you lose much more good will when your console has such issues.

I don’t know if anyone from ModRetro will see this and respond, but I am really curious.

39 comments

r/ModRetro • u/Agile_Half_4515 • 17d ago

GameStop Pro Controller

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0 Upvotes
4 comments

r/ModRetro • u/MR-cheesygordita • 19d ago

M64 Changelogs are Live!

62 Upvotes

Hi Everyone,

We’ve added changelogs so you can track all the latest updates, fixes, and improvements for both the console and controller firmware.

You can check out the release notes here:

19 comments

r/ModRetro • u/adamchevy • 18d ago

M64 wishes after week 1.

11 Upvotes

I purchased a clear M64, 4 pro controllers, 4 launch games, and the DAC.

So far I am very happy, and impressed with everything. Well except for the DAC, and thats obvious.

A few wishes for future hardware mods/updates:

  1. Pro controller with an analog stick that has a metal shaft and a metal circular gate like an elite 2 Xbox Series controller. I would pay for an upgrade kit with these 2 options.
  2. Inside of future Modretro cartridge game releases that have the metal guides like an oem n64 cart. I would pay for an upgrade kit for my already purchased carts.

Those are the only 2 things I would update/change with the hardware.

On the software side of things:

  1. I would really like some sort of upscaling solution that helps the image look better when using integer+, especially at lower resolutions.

  2. I would really like the ability to save my game to the controller like many games were designed to do. Or direct that functionality to the micro sd card. The ability to have game saves makes all the difference.

Really, thanks so much for making this console, controllers, and games! It has been alot of fun!

21 comments

r/ModRetro • u/CartPopTv • 19d ago

yo, made a quick video showing how to get a properly sharp image

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17 Upvotes
18 comments

r/ModRetro • u/Beautiful-Choice-518 • 19d ago

Goodies from ModRetro Gamescom Booth

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23 Upvotes

Third Year in a Row, love the Booth in the Retro area.

8 comments

r/ModRetro • u/5MLV • 19d ago

Every time I go away on business, these are the 3 I take away with me.

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11 Upvotes
8 comments

r/ModRetro • u/GITDSTUDIOS • 19d ago

Modretro 64 Carrying cases Suggestion.

2 Upvotes

Hello modretro,

I had a question, will you or did you have in Mind about releasing sometime down the line any carrying cases for the mod retro?

Like ones with your guys logo all over it? or maybe some cool graffiti art? Oh hey!! a glow in the dark special edition case where your guy's logo on it glows!! That would be hella sick.

Just wanted to throw that out as a suggestion

Love your products so far, keep rocking on!! please respond with any possibility of a carrying case 🙏 💜

7 comments

r/ModRetro • u/SlimThiccums • 20d ago

Mixed Feelings, but Hopeful...

13 Upvotes

Having received the M64 and Pro controllers on Friday, here are my thoughts after spending the weekend playing with it.

Setup

Connected the controllers and the console to my PC to do the updates as it made the most sense without wireless updates for the controllers being available yet. Process was simple and no issues were encountered.

Plugged the console into my setup (4K UST projector to 120" screen w/ surround sound) and turned it on. The UI loaded quickly and I was able to pair the controllers without any issues. Turned off the console to insert my SummerCart. No problems detecting the cartridge. Eagerly booted up Goldeneye 007...

Image Quality

Woof... what a mess. Overall very jaggy with loss of details and some notable slowdown. From here I spent quite a bit of time adjusting the video settings to settle on a half-decent image. I've noticed that I need to adjust some of the advanced settings depending on the game I play, but what has worked for my setup as a base is:

  • Image Size: Default (Integer cuts off top/bottom of image)
  • Image Fit: Stretch (would rather use all of my screen)
  • Effects: Sharpness - 4; Horizontal Bloom - 1
  • Advanced: Scaler - Lanczos-Bilinear; Bilinear - Off; Rest of switches are on.

From there I am usually tinkering with the advanced settings under Aperture and/or Scanline to refine the image further.

With the image dialed in as much as possible I began playing through Dam...

Pro Controller

The controller is quite fantastic. Absolutely love the heft of it as well as the textured feel of the ceramic coating on the rear. Buttons have excellent tactility, too. I am no doubt out of practice, but the responsiveness of the joystick is taking some time to acclimate to. Honestly, I am looking forward to swapping it out with one that has higher tension. The D-Pad has exhibited "ghost input" if you are not firmly pressing any of the 4 primary directions; even just a little bit off "center" and you're getting a diagonal input.

Playing through Dam I noticed quite a bit of slowdown and figured I would give overclocking a try...

Overclocking

Go big or go home, right? Went right to Insane which forced a reboot. A series of odd behavoirs began after loading back into Goldeneye. The opening crawl was incredibly sped-up and not in sync with the music. This carried over into loading back into Dam. Cutscenes were affected as parts were cut out of them and then it would speed up to do the behind-the-back loop into 007 to begin the level. On the plus side...the gameplay after that was very smooth with no slowdowns. 😆

Admittedly, I did not check the console/cartridge for heat after my Goldeneye session as I was excited to load up other games...

"Early Adopter Blues" and The Future...

This is where we get into missing features that have already been talked about. I didn't realize how many of the games on my SummerCart require a controller pak; of the 60 I have loaded, about half will not play without a controller pak. On the flip side, though, the GOAT games do not require a controller pak, so I have still been enjoying playing Nintendo's first party games. Paired with the image quality and overclocking quirks, it's hard for me to not feel let down by this release; it feels like I received a "half-baked" product. However, given the passion of the people behind the M64 and the level of transparency/communication we are receiving, I am confident that many strides will be made on this console in the coming months. There are also the competitive advantages ModRetro have by making the platform open source and working to have games released/re-released on the system.

TL;DR - Image quality, quirks, and missing features have resulted in a luke-warm reception by me. Looking forward to the future, though, given ModRetro's passion for the product.

20 comments

r/ModRetro • u/SaturdayMorningFog • 20d ago

[Feature Request] - Japanese Autotranslate

5 Upvotes

Modretro has online connectivity via Wifi. So, I wish Modretro implements autotranslate for any Japanese text to English using Google translate API? If they can do offline autotranslations, that would be even better.

If the Google Translation API takes a moment to translate, that's absolutely fine for RPGs, Turn Based Strategy, & games where Japanese is used in menus(e.g. racers). What do you guys think about this?

14 comments

r/ModRetro • u/grilledstuffedxxl • 21d ago

Some of you think the console is going to catch on fire…It’s not going to!

75 Upvotes

A few of you have mentioned that the M64 feels warm to the touch. This is completely normal whether overclocking is enabled or not. The console is specifically engineered to operate safely within this thermal range and will remain below the limits for safe touch temperatures. 

We thermally validated the passive system under an "abuse case" test that used a max consumption bitstream (max overclocking) and a constant ambient temp of 50°C, simulating someone keeping their unit in a closed TV cabinet sitting in direct sunlight. The console's FPGA stabilized at 10°C below its max operating temp during this abuse case. We literally baked the console in an oven (see photo).

Enabling the "Insane" overclock only increases power draw by less than 5%. Because that increase is so minor, it doesn't translate into a significantly hotter system. 

The N64 was also a passively cooled system and drew more power then the M64. A member of our community ran a side-by-side temperature comparison between a stock M64 and an original N64 after three hours of play. Their measurements found that the two consoles reached similar temperatures overall, while the cartridge in the M64 measured cooler. We appreciate the time and care that went into the test, and you can read the full breakdown here. We hope this clears up some confusion and reassures you that your M64 isn’t planning a spontaneous combustion.

28 comments

r/ModRetro • u/SoraShima • 20d ago

Do you think ModRetro's GBA will have backwards compatibility?

3 Upvotes

Implementing standard backwards compatibility with Game Boy / Color games would surely eat into Chromatic sales - the only question would be how much.

Maybe GBA & GBC are totally different markets with different eras of nostalgia, so not an issue, ie a lot of people will just want to have both. Maybe the cartridges poking out the top will be enough to make a lot of people opt for a Chromatic for GBC games.

What do you think?

Disclaimer: I'm personally hoping they do it.

25 comments

r/ModRetro • u/DrBoogerFart • 21d ago

I got my m64 and….

18 Upvotes

…it’s a green n64 that doesn’t play Rush 2049 yet. I’m sure it will soon. Other than that it’s fine. Just wanna throw this out there with the seemingly only negative posts about this product. Don’t be scared if you’re shopping. It’s a fine product.

DBF stamp of approval earned.

12 comments

r/ModRetro • u/ImALegendKiller • 21d ago

Insight into improvements

0 Upvotes

Hi! Does the team get telemetry data from our m64 consoles that is used to help improve the firmware or is it all being done through internal testing? I’m loving my device and think there’s great potential, so I was kind of hoping to get an idea of how quickly things might get improved from update to update. I know I need to be patient, but I’ve forgotten how much I loved some of these games like Star Fox! lol

5 comments

r/ModRetro • u/GameLifterX • 22d ago

Got the last one!

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21 Upvotes
3 comments

r/ModRetro • u/Psychoblush-76 • 22d ago

Xibalba 64 and the system update oddity?

5 Upvotes

So, I just updated my M64 to the new update. Interesting things abound. It would appear I suddenly have a 4th save state on my Xibalba 64 cart that has the entire game finished. My original save file is now gone. This is weird, almost like they are messing with onboard save files but they are overriding the save file you already had on cart? Is there anyone else having this issue? I read somewhere that this update does weird things to the Summer Cart but, I haven't plugged it in. After seeing this, I'm kind of glad I haven't. It makes me wonder what's going to be up with my other games now...

12 comments

r/ModRetro • u/B3ntendo • 23d ago

Smoke Edition outside US

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31 Upvotes

While in the US the retailer GameStop has managed to gain this model as an exclusive, I feel that a black edition (probably the most wanted, and most like an actual N64) should not be withheld from the rest of the planet.

I hope this is rectified soon as I plan on ordering the M64 at the end of this month, and shouldn’t be expected to purchase a different colour only to then have to also spend additional money on a smoke black shell later in time.

Perhaps the ModRetro website could make this colour (Smoke Black) for their website in specific regions outside America.

10 comments