ModRetro CEO Torin Herndon unveils M64 console design on Black Friday, targets GamesDoneQuick with both Chromatic and M64
Nov 28, 2025 with Torin Herndon
Key Points
- ModRetro unveiled the M64 console design on Black Friday, positioning it as the only way to authentically play N64 games with pixel-accurate video and lagless CRT output.
- CEO Torin Herndon will bring both the Chromatic and M64 to GamesDoneQuick to establish credibility in the speedrunning community rather than pursue a marketing stunt.
- ModRetro is withholding preorders until production readiness, instead building a waitlist at modretro.com/m64 that will receive shipping priority when orders open.
Summary
ModRetro used Black Friday 2025 to publicly unveil the design of its M64 console, a modern take on the Nintendo 64, generating what CEO Torin Herndon describes as a significant traffic spike to the company's site. The timing was deliberate: the audience drawn in by the M64 reveal overlaps closely with existing Chromatic buyers, compressing two marketing moments into one.
The M64's core positioning mirrors the Chromatic playbook. Herndon argues the device will be the only way to experience N64 games as their creators intended, citing authentic translucent colorways, pixel-accurate video output, and a lagless analog video out for CRT displays. The latter addresses a technically difficult problem: upscaling to 4K is straightforward, but faithfully reproducing how games looked on original CRT hardware requires a separate engineering solution, one Herndon says the M64 will deliver.
Performance parity with original hardware is the stated benchmark, not a proprietary standard. ModRetro uses slow-motion cameras to verify frame-by-frame accuracy against original consoles, the same methodology applied to the Chromatic versus Game Boy Color comparison. Herndon confirms the company will bring both the Chromatic and M64 to GamesDoneQuick, the high-profile speedrunning event, treating that appearance as a credibility signal rather than a marketing stunt.
Preorders are not open. Herndon positioned the restraint explicitly, saying ModRetro does not need to take consumer money ahead of production readiness. An email waitlist is live at modretro.com/m64, with waitlist members to receive shipping priority and first notice when preorders open. The M64 is described as being in early production stages.
On growth, Herndon acknowledges performance marketing and paid influencer partnerships are only beginning to be deployed, suggesting the Chromatic has performed largely on organic word-of-mouth and the physical product experience itself. The company's broader thesis positions ModRetro hardware as complementary to, not competitive with, modern gaming platforms, targeting both lapsed casual gamers and consumers who never self-identified as hardcore players.