Latest news with #M64
Gizmodo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
The People Behind the Most Accurate Game Boy Recreation Are Making an N64
No other company makes the retro gaming scene more onerous than ModRetro. The company behind the ModRetro Chromatic—fronted by the CEO of military contractor Anduril, Palmer Luckey—is at it again, announcing an enticing recreation of the Nintendo 64 meant to hook up to your TV and play all your old cartridges as if it were 1996 all over again. Drooling over this still unrevealed recreation console also requires you to put aside any inhibitions over Luckey's deep ties to the U.S. military-industrial complex and surveillance state. ModRetro's first big hit, the Chromatic, was an FPGA emulation device capable of playing Game Boy and Game Boy Advance cartridges. FPGA stands for field-programmable gate array, which, in layman's terms, means the programmable chip can copy the chip logic of the original device to play these games as accurately as possible. An FPGA Game Boy is far less complex than a console with 3D graphics like the N64. Luckey promoted ModRetro's M64, which will offer 'the best and most authentic way to play your favorite N64 games.' The Anduril founder said the device will cost as much as the Nintendo 64 did at launch—$200. ModRetro's newest product is M64. The best and most authentic way to play your favorite N64 games, bar none. Prepare your wallet and brace your mind. Launches at the same price as the original Nintendo 64. Inflation isn't nostalgic. — Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) July 24, 2025There's a good reason so many retro enthusiasts are enticed by an FPGA Nintendo 64 recreation. Nintendo designed the N64 architecture in such a way that it's more difficult to replicate through software emulation compared to most other gaming consoles. This results in awkward texture mapping in some games, among other graphical glitches that mar the experience. Luckey, always the capitalist, picked up on that demand after Analogue promoted its $250 Analogue3D, another Nintendo 64 FPGA console. That device promises to upscale games to 4K resolution from the N64's native 480×360. It also introduces a full '3Dos,' which will act as a backend to support in-game screenshots, save states, and more. Analogue delayed its device multiple times, most recently pushing the ship date to August. The company blamed Trump tariffs for the shipping issues, although the device still remains sold out anyway. Luckey doesn't actually have a console to show anyone yet. He wrote on X that what was displayed of the M64 was 'real gameplay on real hardware using our real core.' It's unclear if the device is still in the prototyping phase or if the company had to wait for 'final legal checks' before it could show off its recreation hardware. He cheekily referenced AMD in his post, implying the M64 will be using an FPGA chip from the company. The Analogue 3D, instead, bases its design on an Intel 220K LE Altera Cyclone 10GX FPGA. At least Luckey confirmed in a response to The Shortcut's Matt Swider that the M64 will have several different color options, and it will support the original triple-handed N64 controllers as well as a new 'M64 controller.' Like the Analogue3D, the M64 will support 4K resolution. However, the Anduril and ModRetro founder said, 'Upscale is the wrong word for what we're doing.' As with the ModRetro Chromatic, the bigger issue than how well the hardware recreates your favorite childhood moments is how much you want to support a man who unapologetically makes weapon-mounted drones, missiles, and now AR headsets for the U.S. military. Reports from Business Insider and Reuters indicated Luckey plans to get into digital banking, something that may be related to crypto. Let's just imagine a future where, after washing his hands of Oculus and Meta, Luckey instead started making Game Boys instead of weaponized drones.
CNET
7 days ago
- CNET
This E-Sports-Inspired Gaming Mouse Left Me Wanting More
You'd be forgiven for thinking that every computer mouse is just like every other computer mouse. It clicks things on your screen and lets you move your cursor around. Believe it or not, there are quite a few ways companies can differentiate their mice from each other, especially when it comes to gaming. Gaming mice can range from just a few dollars to well over a hundred dollars, but you don't always get what you pay for. That's why I'm here. You might recognize Cherry as the company that's dominated the mechanical keyboard switch market for decades, but it also makes great mice. The top-tier, e-sports-inspired M64 and M68 mice are very well designed, with the basic gaming features you need, but don't quite live up to their asking price. What I like about the Cherry M64 and M68 CNET / Jason Cockerham The M64 is an ergonomic, right-handed mouse while the M68 is symmetrical. Even though I have small hands, I prefer the feel of the M64 since it just sits a bit better in my grip. With that in mind, I focused mostly on the M64. Both versions come in black and teal, blue and orange and white and teal. Sadly, there's no RGB lighting. The soft-touch plastic on the M64 feels really nice to use. It's cool to the touch and softer than a lot of the hard plastic you see on other mice. I much prefer it over Logitech's mice and many other mice I've used. I appreciate that my hand never got sweaty or felt sticky during long periods of use, even in the warm Texas weather. It doesn't feel cheap either, though I would hope not given the price tag. The buttons are responsive and clicky, even if they aren't the strongest I've used. The two-tone color scheme is subtle, but I like it. It's also impressively lightweight for not having any holes in it, only 53 grams. Personally, I hate those honeycomb-style mice, so I'm very happy Cherry was able to keep it so light without making it look like Swiss cheese. Solid, yet limited performance I enjoyed using the M64 and never experienced any performance issues. It was effortlessly smooth and great for both gaming and daily use. Cherry claims you can get up to 75 hours of continuous use between charges, but your mouse would probably be at settings that would be far too slow to be usable. I never had an issue with battery life though. While using it as my primary mouse for work and play for about a month, I only had to charge it once. The sampling rate tops out at 1,000 Hz on the base M64 I reviewed, but there is a Pro version available for $30 more that goes up to 8,000 Hz if you need that. For me, the performance was spot on. What I don't like about the Cherry M64 and M68 CNET / Jason Cockerham There are absolutely no software controls available for the M64 or M68. It doesn't connect to Cherry's Utility software, which means you have to manually adjust all the settings. Worst of all, the design team went full Apple and put the adjustments on the bottom of the mouse. Not only do you have to interrupt what you're doing to change the settings, but you have to memorize or lookup how to change them every time you do. It's just extremely poor design, especially on a mouse that costs $100. Can't use it while charging If the button and switch on the bottom wasn't bad enough for you, Cherry also followed Apple's footsteps in the placement of the charging port. It's not on the bottom, thankfully, but it is on the side and sticks out in such a way that makes it extremely annoying to use the mouse while charging. Sure, it's technically possible, but you constantly feel the cable pulling at the mouse while in your hand, so much so that it was too distracting for me to use it. CNET / Jason Cockerham Give me Bluetooth It doesn't seem like Cherry intends for this mouse to ever leave your desk, yet it's small and lightweight enough to be a perfect travel companion. However, there's no Bluetooth connectivity or storage for the 2.4GHz dongle. That's likely a minor problem for most, but it's a big annoyance for me. Since I can't use the mouse while plugged in, that means I need to be extra diligent keeping track of the dongle whenever using the mouse away from home so I don't lose it. Should I buy the Cherry M64/68? For me, the M64 and M68 are a tough sell, especially at $100. If it was $50 or $60, it'd be a no-brainer. But considering there are several other mice with similar specs, better features and more robust software support available, it's hard to recommend the M64 and M68. The design is fantastic, but except for those of us who are most hardcore gamers, this mouse doesn't outweigh the cons for me. But hey, if you can find it on sale, go for it.
