We've been waiting with bated breath to find out more details about the M64. Our hands-on session with the new console gave us a lot of facts and allowed us to get into the nitty-gritty of what it could do. But shipping times, what controller it would ship with, and some of the finer details that ModRetro are hoping will put it above the competition and cement it, like the Chromatic, as the final iteration of its predecessor.
We can now confirm that the M64 controller is going to ship with a Pro Controller, and the console and launch games will ship from the ModRetro warehouse at the end of July. M64s will be leaving Southern California and heading to you from all over the world!
I want to talk a little bit about the Pro Controller first, because as we know, the Analogue 3D didn't arrive with a controller, leaving us to pick up the 8BitDo offering from Amazon. ModRetro have designed what they are hailing as the best trident controller ever made, a controller with more pro features than any other controller at the same level but at the price point of a mass-produced controller.
Here are a few bullet points to take away and get excited about the new controller -
- User swappable TMR analog joystick
- Aluminium backplate for durability
- It weighs just 30 grams more than an Xbox Pro Controller
- The same ergonomics as the original trident shell for maximum nostalgia
- You'll get a wired option that plugs into the N64, a wireless rechargeable pack, and a swap-in AA pack for the AA battery fans.
- The trident has the largest possible eccentric rotating mass motor to give you the most powerful rumble while you're playing your favourite games.
- A brand new standard of Bluetooth modules in both the M64 console and controller. It's called SCI, which stands for shorter interval connections, and it's the best and most responsive connection in terms of low latency available when playing N64 games.
- The Pro Controller will work with your original N64 in wired mode. It will connect to M64, PC, and Android via Bluetooth, and via PC and Android via wired USB connection too.
Back when we spoke to Palmer Luckey on the creation of the Chromatic, he told us that he was losing money on the handheld but wanted to give something back to the community that would last an eternity. I think ModRetro might be experiencing the same thing with the M64 controller, but you can be sure that it'll be an absolute powerhouse.
We've got some more features about the M64 console too, and it's all looking incredibly impressive. Not only will it be the cheapest option on the market even when the early bird pricing ends (considering what you get in the box too), it also has a super fast 5-second boot to game time. It will come with a noiseless thermal design (fanless) and support wireless updates straight out of the box. No messing around putting an SD card into your computer!
The M64 FPGA core will be open-sourced at launch, with the console boasting a 16nm process node AMD Ultrascale+ FPGA. Another exciting feature for Chromatic owners is the Chromatic video passthrough and Chromatic Transfer Pak functions - Pokémon Stadium isn't going to know what's hit it! And if that isn't enough for you to get excited about, ModRetro are also releasing an AV adapter that will allow you to hook the M64 up to your CRT if you feel like switching things up a little. They've got an answer for every gaming solution no matter how you play.
And then there's the games. I've already clocked that the M64 is coming with launch games - the Chromatic came with Tetris, one of the original Game Boy launch games, so I'm wondering whether the M64 might ship with ModRetro's version of Pilotwings or even Super Mario 64. Now that would be something!
Like with the Chromatic, ModRetro have finished off their press release talking about their mission to offer new and remastered physical games for the foreseeable future. They're actively funding new M64 games which we'll be hearing about soon - getting new games for the console I grew up with is going to feel like all of my Christmasses have come early.
With the ModRetro M64 shipping at the end of July, we don't have long to wait to experience the fully finished product. We'll be keeping you updated with everything M64-related both in the meantime and when it arrives, so keep checking back here for more information as and when we get it!
