r/ModRetro

> "[W]e know a lot of people are never going to pay attention to these things. We know they're not going to get written about in magazine articles. We know the reviewers are not going to talk about these things or even necessarily understand them" - Palmer Luckey, 2026 July 28

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I think this is a challenge for ModRetro community and enthusiasts that understand ModRetro to show how special their products truly are! Challenge accepted! Here's my progress to understand the challenge so far! Other than a college newspaper, I have never had any of my writings published, however, given my effort to identify and share these informations, I think I know what's next! I don't have to be the best to prepare an article, but I can at least see how it is, and identify what the landscape looks like and how it currently functions.

Considering magazines, which existed for over 360 years, are a medium of print (like hardcore and paperback books with much longer histories) that are published periodically, and diversely span across practically every industry and cover nearly every topic, including specialized niches, even such as ModRetro devices, including the ModRetro M64.

Yesterday I examined many existing magazines that are likely or possibly relevant to contain an article or otherwise comfortably cover mentioning or acknowledging ModRetro's M64 (and perhaps also the previously released Chromatic) as well as the M64 Pro Controller, the cartridges and games, etcetera. I tried to find any traces or instances of any coverage yet already, and mostly I did not find practically anything. There were some interesting finds, but not much to qualify what I was looking for. See https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1vr3huu/headphone_warning_modretro_m64_spotted_in_the/p4en6af/

Here is a table listing possibly relevant retro game console magazines along with some informations that should assist with direction on if it is possible and how to potentially contribute, what the process may look like, or where to look for more information to further learn the process (Note: Make sure to read and understand the process as much as you can before attempting to 'get [ModRetro] written about in magazine articles' because quality is more important than quantity):

Sources & Verification

1. 4P: Editorial Manager: Dana Neumann; See https://4p.de/impressum and https://4p.de/4p-redaktion-stellt-sich-vor
2. CD-Action: Editor-in-Chief: Daniel Bartosik, Managing Editor: Łukasz Morawski; See https://cdaction.pl/kontakt/
3. CGMagazine: "We do not accept user submissions for news or reviews, though we welcome tips on developing stories." Editor-in-Chief Brendan Frye explicitly lists bfrye@cgmagonline.com in his public Twitter profile and Muck Rack bio; See https://cgmagonline.com/contact-us/, https://cgmagonline.com/editorial-policy/, https://cgmagonline.com/author/brendanfrye/, https://cgmagonline.com/review-policy/, and https://cgmagonline.com/ethics-policy/
4. Comptiq: A "MediaMix Game Magazine" split into two sections: one with information about games, and one with manga information. It's also known for revealing information on upcoming games and includes a gift in each issue.; See https://web-ace.jp/comptiq/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptiq and https://mediaguide.kadokawa.co.jp/media/p86-thyc-pj/contact/ (I can't read Japanese Kanji to navigate the site, but "This inquiry form is intended exclusively for corporate clients. Please fill in the required information and submit the form.")
5. Dengeki Nintendo: See https://dn.dengeki.com/
6. Edge: Editorial Director: Tony Mott, Deputy Editor: Jon Bailes deputy editor; See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_(magazine)
7. The Escapist: Managing Editor: Paul McNally; See https://escapistmagazine.com/about-us/, https://escapistmagazine.com/editorial-policy/, https://escapistmagazine.com/escapist-staff/, https://escapistmagazine.com/contact-us/, and https://escapistmagazine.com/contact/; Also see https://facebook.com/EscapistMag/ (for tips email address)
8. Famitsu: Also see https://kadokawagamelinkage.jp/contact.html
9. Game Informer: Editor-in-Chief: Matt Miller; See https://gameinformer.com/help and https://gameinformer.com/staff
10. The Games Machine: See https://thegamesmachine.it/chi-siamo/
11. gamesradar+: Accepts pitches from "contributors of all backgrounds and experience"; must bring curiosity, expertise, insight, fresh perspectives
12. HobbyConsolas: See https://hobbyconsolas.com/estaticos/como-trabajamos.html
13. Level: It seems there may be issues with the websites, and I'm not sure if the operations are still active. Previously involved persons include Michal Křivský, Martin Bach, Petr Poláček; and Ondřej Průša; Also nakeddog.cz appears to be inaccessible as well
14. MCV/Develop: Editor: Matt Broughton; See https://mcvuk.com/mcv-develop-magazine/
15. Nintendo Dream: See https://ndw.jp/nindori_form/ or https://ndw.jp/toukou/ To contribute to Nintendo Dream, you must use their official reader submission form rather than pitching professional articles for publication. The site does not accept unsolicited freelance pitches for news or editorial content; instead, it provides a reader submission form for fans to contribute to specific magazine sections.; Also see https://nintendoprint.miraheze.org/wiki/Nintendo_DREAM ; May require contacting Ambit Co., Ltd., or parent publisher Tokuma Shoten
16. Nintendo Force: Editor-in-Chief: Lucas M. Thomas; See https://nintendoforcemagazine.com/force-faq
17. Old School Gamer Magazine: Editor-in-Chief: Jarrod Kailef; See https://oldschoolgamermagazine.com/influencers/
18. Oyungezer: Editors-in-Chief: Serpil Ulutürk, Eser Güven; See https://oyungezer.com.tr/setimedia/kunye and https://oyungezer.com.tr/setimedia/hakkinda
19. PC Gamer: Explicitly accepts pitches from experienced writers via pitches@pcgamer.com with guidelines at https://pcgamer.com/write-for-pc-gamer/ and https://pcgamer.com/writers-pitch-us-features-about-pc-gaming/; Also see https://pcgamer.com/about-pc-gamer/ and https://pcgamer.com/meet-the-team/
20. PC Games: See https://pcgames.de/Team/ and https://pcgames.de/Impressum/
21. Pelit: Editor-in-Chief: Tuukka Grönholm; See https://pelit.fi/contact/, https://fokusmedia.fi/yrityksesta/, https://fokusmedia.fi/lehdet/pelit, and https://fokusmedia.fi/media/pelit
22. Pure Nintendo: Editor-in-Chief: Justin Sharp; See https://purenintendo.com/staff/ and https://purenintendo.com/magazine/faq/
23. RePlay: "About" page states the magazine is for coin-op amusement game business (e.g. arcades), and "prepared publicity and story suggestions are cheerfully accepted for publication review from outside sources"
24. Retro Gamer: Editor: Darran Jones; See https://gamesradar.com/gamesradar-pitching-guidelines-how-to-pitch/.
25. Unpause: Founders state they want to "free up a budget to pay guest writers" in the future. Official contact page states to email redactie@unpause.nl for questions or tips; See https://unpause.nl/colofon/

Random notes:

• What you should pitch (varies from magazine to magazine):
  • Original reporting
  • Interview-led features
  • Expert coverage of big games, films, and TV shows
  • Unique perspectives on topics of ongoing interest to our audience
  • Material that you own and/or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material
  • Outline the feature story you want to write in 1-2 paragraphs
  • Explain both why this is a good story how you plan to tell it
  • Tell us who you plan to interview for the feature and a target word count
  • Stories about mods, communities, history, and the making of games
  • Interesting ideas around the hottest topics
  • Remember that not everything has to be a 3000 word behind-the-scenes feature
  • Short features and galleries too
  • Briefly tell us about yourself and include links to existing writing samples
• What you should not pitch (varies from magazine to magazine):
  • Video scripts.
  • Q&A interviews.
  • Hot takes that fail to communicate new insight or perspective.
  • A story you have already written.
  • Anything created through the use of generative AI.
  • Material that you do not own nor have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material
  • That you generally want to write about topics
  • That you want to write your opinion editorial
  • Interview subjects you won’t have a chance of getting in touch with
• An editorial tip (or tip-off) is a brief notification from a source or journalist alerting an editor to a potential story, often lacking full details or a confirmed narrative. A pitch is a formal, structured proposal from a writer or public relations professional to an editor, outlining a specific story angle, thesis, and evidence to secure an assignment or publication
• https://www.futurecontenthub.com/groupitem/6181/ This looks like something that could include a ModRetro M64 and Chromatic in the photo gallery (lol the page is inaccessible without the unnecessary 'accidental' subdomain)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism_ethics_and_standards
• https://spj.org/spj-code-of-ethics/
• https://ipso.co.uk/editors-code-of-practice/
• https://ifj.org/who/rules-and-policy/global-charter-of-ethics-for-journalists
• https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/accountable-journalism-codes-of-ethics
• Aww man, flipping through some of these magazines, digital and whatnot, but physical print too, ModRetro deserves to be covered in magazines! Who's gonna put in the effort? Nobody! Who's a nobody? I'm a nobody! lol, I'm not even kidding!
• Time and Pressure!

Feel free to offer any corrections or additions. I'm sure there is at least one mistake or missing information. I already know some of the information I did not have absolute certainty to fill in, so I left it blank for now, and I can confirm the information later as I proceed further.

Now that the schematics for the m64 have been released there is an unused fan header on the motherboard.

I wanted to see if adding a fan would make a noticeable difference so I quickly threw something together.

The fan header is for a pwm fan, but I just used a DC 5v fan I had laying around.

Adding the fan made a major improvement to the system. It went from becoming thermal nuclear (artistic license) and the cartridge getting hot to slightly warm to the touch directly under the fpga and the cartridge staying cool.

The 5v rail is on at all times the system is plugged in, so the fan is always spinning. The next step will be to attach a pwm fan and see if the system's firmware is setup to control it.

Edit: Link to my next post with some updated results: https://www.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/s/09UCBx8Lup

I tried multiple macs and multiple cables, all on chrome. Recovery works. Before I tried recovery the device could not tell me what went wrong. So, what do I do now? Anyone have the same issue?

The box to my M64 was ripped before it came out of the shipping box. The moment I removed the tamper-proof seal the rip at the corner was revealed.

To make matters worse the box to one of the pro controllers was clearly dropped before being shipped out.

I know some of you are thinking who gives a F'k. The thing is I'm the kind of gamer that cares about this stuff. I have a large collection of gaming gear going back to the NES and every system after. All have their boxes including many, many games in their boxes.

This is kind of like buying a new car but having it delivered with dents in the body. New is only new of its undamaged.

As the title says, i was just curious about to see how and when the game crashes, but after playing four Hours, i had no crash, even at the level in which the Zerg overrun the base.

The overclocking seems to help a bit against the slow downs when big armies clash, have yet to test out a higher one hehe

As i never tried it on the original N64 and the newest update gave the Rumble Pak to the M64 Controller, i was pretty surprised that this game supports it :D

Pretty cool to "feel" the Siege Tanks going on their mayhem hehe

Insignia F20 Series tv has problems connecting to the M64 and finally after it connects it show Auto 768p, it's a 720p tv bought at best buy 2 years ago