Palmer Luckey, best known as the co-founder and CEO of defense technology giant Anduril Industries, has deep roots in retro gaming that predate his high-profile ventures. As a teenager around 2009, he founded the original ModRetro online forums—a community for modding consoles, building portables, and merging vintage hardware with modern tech. He’s now revived ModRetro as a full-fledged company, but not for profit or prestige. It’s a passion project rooted in pure nostalgia: Luckey wants to deliver the most authentic, hardware-accurate way to play classic games using today’s technology, without the inaccuracies, latency, or compromises of software emulation.
The company producing the console, ModRetro, started exactly as that teen forum Luckey created for enthusiasts who loved hacking and improving retro systems. It evolved into a real hardware business in 2024 with its debut product, the Chromatic—a premium FPGA-based Game Boy Color handheld that sold out fast, earned glowing reviews, and spawned dozens of licensed and new games. Building on that success (and amid reports of early funding talks targeting a $1 billion valuation), ModRetro is now rolling out its second and most ambitious release: a full-fledged Nintendo 64 revival.
The M64 is built around true hardware replication rather than emulation. It uses a powerful AMD FPGA chip running a heavily modified and improved version of the open-source MiSTer N64 core. This delivers bit-perfect accuracy for every original N64 cartridge, native 4K HDMI output, ultra-low latency, blazing-fast 4–5 second boot times, and an easy-eject mechanism so you never yank the whole console off the table. The system is deliberately more open than competitors: it supports third-party cores and even full MiSTer ecosystem ports, plus thoughtful extras like an always-open cartridge flap option and an internal light bar that beautifully illuminates the game label.
Externally, the M64 looks and feels like a love letter to the original 1996 console—only better. Every unit is fully translucent so you can see the glowing internals at work, available in four striking colors: Jungle Green, Grape Purple, Arctic White, and a brand-new community-requested Red. It ships with a faithful recreation of the iconic three-pronged Trident controller (complete with low-latency wireless support and the exact original layout and feel—no generic modern substitute). The cartridge slot sits proudly on top, the power and reset buttons are perfectly placed, and the whole package doubles as a stunning display piece that screams “retro done right.”
Early-bird pricing is locked at $199; exactly the same as the original N64’s U.S. launch price in 1996, and mass production is already underway for a spring 2026 release. The waitlist is open now at modretro.com, with priority for existing Chromatic owners. If you grew up on Mario 64, GoldenEye, or Ocarina of Time and want to experience them in crisp 4K on real hardware with zero lag, the M64 is shaping up to be a new way to do it.
The company producing the console, ModRetro, started exactly as that teen forum Luckey created for enthusiasts who loved hacking and improving retro systems. It evolved into a real hardware business in 2024 with its debut product, the Chromatic—a premium FPGA-based Game Boy Color handheld that sold out fast, earned glowing reviews, and spawned dozens of licensed and new games. Building on that success (and amid reports of early funding talks targeting a $1 billion valuation), ModRetro is now rolling out its second and most ambitious release: a full-fledged Nintendo 64 revival.
The M64 is built around true hardware replication rather than emulation. It uses a powerful AMD FPGA chip running a heavily modified and improved version of the open-source MiSTer N64 core. This delivers bit-perfect accuracy for every original N64 cartridge, native 4K HDMI output, ultra-low latency, blazing-fast 4–5 second boot times, and an easy-eject mechanism so you never yank the whole console off the table. The system is deliberately more open than competitors: it supports third-party cores and even full MiSTer ecosystem ports, plus thoughtful extras like an always-open cartridge flap option and an internal light bar that beautifully illuminates the game label.
Externally, the M64 looks and feels like a love letter to the original 1996 console—only better. Every unit is fully translucent so you can see the glowing internals at work, available in four striking colors: Jungle Green, Grape Purple, Arctic White, and a brand-new community-requested Red. It ships with a faithful recreation of the iconic three-pronged Trident controller (complete with low-latency wireless support and the exact original layout and feel—no generic modern substitute). The cartridge slot sits proudly on top, the power and reset buttons are perfectly placed, and the whole package doubles as a stunning display piece that screams “retro done right.”
Early-bird pricing is locked at $199; exactly the same as the original N64’s U.S. launch price in 1996, and mass production is already underway for a spring 2026 release. The waitlist is open now at modretro.com, with priority for existing Chromatic owners. If you grew up on Mario 64, GoldenEye, or Ocarina of Time and want to experience them in crisp 4K on real hardware with zero lag, the M64 is shaping up to be a new way to do it.
