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Games

Palmer Luckey Unveils ModRetro Chromatic Handheld Console 36

Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus VR and Anduril, has launched the ModRetro Chromatic, a retro gaming handheld that plays original Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges. The device boasts a magnesium alloy case, sapphire crystal screen, and a pixel-perfect IPS display. It comes bundled with a licensed copy of Tetris and supports Link Cable multiplayer. Luckey suggested that the Chromatic is the most authentic way to play Game Boy games, with custom components designed to provide the ultimate gaming experience. The handheld is available for preorder and will ship during the 2024 holiday season.
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Palmer Luckey Unveils ModRetro Chromatic Handheld Console

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  • by DrXym ( 126579 ) on Tuesday June 04, 2024 @09:13AM (#64522149)

    An IPS display doesn't sound authentic. Instead it should be a godawful TFT LCD with no backlight and a reflective perspex cover so you're lucky if you can even see the screen at all.

    • An IPS display doesn't sound authentic. Instead it should be a godawful TFT LCD with no backlight and a reflective perspex cover so you're lucky if you can even see the screen at all.

      Funny... if you're not a retro-gamer. But 'authentic' meant 'same resolution and sub-pixel arrangement'. As in the screen isn't soft, crunchy, or at the wrong aspect ratio.

  • Nintendo to shut them down in?

    • There's been hardware NES clones before. Nintendo probably doesn't care as long as they're not also providing links to illegal ROM downloads or DRM-circumvention solutions.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      On what basis? Emulators existed long before the original Gameboy ROM was dumped (it was part of the CPU and difficult to extract), i.e. there is no need for any copyrighted Nintendo code in any compatible device. The rest of the Gameboy hardware is either off-the-shelf (e.g. the CPU) or well documented and simple to reimplement from scratch.

      The issue with this thing is that there are already a lot of competing handheld gaming devices with a load of emulators, and the Analogue Pocket which is a bit more exp

      • Nintendo can sue anyone at any time. And while most of the time a person can be in the legal right. The cost to actually defend one of these strategic anti-competitive lawsuits is beyond most of us.

        Basically unless you're super rich, you should stay far away from anything related to Nintendo.

      • by kackle ( 910159 )
        If I recall, the cartridges' start-up screen by design "must" show the Nintendo logo, for which they can then sue over trademark infringement.
        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          But that's in the cartridge, not the console. The official ROM in the console checks for the logo, but emulators and clones just omit that authenticity test.

    • The patents have expired that's why he'd say game boy and not a game boy advance competitor. Although the game boy advance stuff is probably got to be getting close even with the kind of shenanigans you can play to keep them active for longer.

      Still it's just silly The game boy is so easy to emulate that nobody even bothered with a system on a chip for it when the patents expired.

      If he messes up and uses any of their trademarks yeah he's up s*** Creek but as long as he doesn't screw that up it's perf
  • Fuck no (Score:4, Informative)

    by stonecypher ( 118140 ) <stonecypher@gmai ... minus physicist> on Tuesday June 04, 2024 @09:41AM (#64522181) Homepage Journal

    There are literally hundreds of emulator boxes.

    I'm not buying an overpriced low quality one from the Trump shitposter. Palmer Luckey can fuck himself.

    • I am sure that I logged hundreds of hours playing Gargoyle's Quest back in the day on my Game Boy. But I have no interest in going back and certainly not on a similar form factor. I guess everyone is nostalgic in different ways....

    • There it is.. The comment I was expecting. Thanks Slashdot. Stay classy. TDS FTW.

      • There it is.. The comment I was expecting. Thanks Slashdot. Stay classy. TDS FTW.

        "Update, June 3rd: Added additional context about Luckeyâ(TM)s political donations and Andurilâ(TM)s work." -- why are you blaming Slashdot? It's in the article!

         

    • Aren't you just adorable.
    • I wasn't going to buy one, but now I will.

  • by Dwedit ( 232252 ) on Tuesday June 04, 2024 @10:27AM (#64522243) Homepage

    Or you could just use a GBA SP?

    GBA SP was the first time Gameboy got everything right. A lit display and internal rechargable battery was a big deal. Also compatible with GB, GBC, and GBA games.

  • The Analogue Pocket is trying to occupy the premium space here but has more features and QC issues.

    The FPGBC is trying to do what Palmer is doing, but it sounds like Palmer is going for a more premium screen and materials.

  • went on to found a defense contractor named Anduril that builds lethal drones

    Not exactly. Anduril builds surveillance drones. They also have an interceptor drone that can ram into other drones flying where they're not supposed to be. They're designed to take out small, unmanned drones flying too slowly for missiles to be effective. Neither one is designed to damage manned targets and would do an inferior job of it if so tasked.

  • To see one of their contractors wasting money on game emulators. "Yeah, yeah, let's give billions more to the juvenile CEO who places as much priority on Nintendo games as he does on weapon systems."

Where there's a will, there's an Inheritance Tax.

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