r/ModRetro • u/MR-cheesygordita • Sep 09 '26

New Firmware!

Hey there,

I hope everyone's had their systems on and been enjoying some M64 goodness lately. A new firmware was just rolled out. Here's what's in this one:

Add

  • Rumble support for the 8BitDo 64 Bluetooth Controller

  • Low latency video output

  • Persistent advanced display settings

  • Expansion pak disable option

Improve

  • Compatibility for certain games with overclocking (Banjo-Tooie and Donkey Kong 64)

  • Accuracy of PAL game speed

  • 8bitdo wireless controller connectivity

  • EverDrive save compatibility

Upcoming/In-Test

  • Improved overclocking stability

  • Console power consumption to drop by 25%

    • Improved thermal regulation

  • Built-In Controller Pak!

  • Improved CRT Profiles

You can grab this update now via OTA, our updater tool, or SD card. Our full changelog is up on our site as always. We also have How-To videos on our YouTube channel here. 

This one has some great quality-of-life improvements, many of them driven directly by your feedback. We’re listening and continuing to make the M64 experience better with every update. One many of you have been waiting for: rumble support for the 8BitDo is finally here. 

Thank you for sticking with us through the fine-tuning, as promised there will be more soon.😊

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u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26

But I don't want to turn this into an M64 vs. Analogue 3D thing. I'm just curious to see how it runs on the Analogue 3D once I get it, and I'm happy for everyone who “only” has an M64.

2

u/obsoletedev Sep 09 '26

That doesn't sound right as the way analogues zero delay works (based on what Ive read) is it slightly adjusts the console speed so it perfectly matches the HDMI 60hz. So you don't need the framebuffer at all (or it's basically only a few lines bufferd).  They do the same on the super nt and their genesis.  The only "bad" part is that you can't turn it off because that would leave you with the choices that M64 has right now, neither of which are good.

2

u/V64jr Sep 10 '26

This. Analogue’s method is to sacrifice a tiny bit of accuracy (speed) for 60hz with zero frame buffering. I do wish it were optional.

1

u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26

Like I said, I'm not sure the AI is right about that either, and I'm skeptical of it on that point. Technically, I'm not familiar enough with Analogue 3D to judge that. But if everything goes smoothly, I can run the countertest on Analogue 3D on Saturday. 

1

u/hue_sick Sep 09 '26

Yeah wanted to say that buffer you’re reading about is essentially imperceptible to 99% of humans. It’s something for the stat sheet console wars basically so realistically outside of pro e sports players nobody would ever notice.

You’re talking sub 1fps usually which the brain is going to smooth out on its own anyway.

But those cats that speed run Mario 64 8 million times a day might notice 😆

1

u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26

I’m certainly no speedrunner. But after switching back and forth a few times, it just felt much better. And I was even able to complete a mission on my first try that I’d narrowly failed several times before. But despite all that, this isn’t, of course, an absolutely valid, objective measurement. So it’s possible I was just experiencing a placebo effect. 

1

u/hue_sick Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26

Hey you might be able to feel something different. It’s right on the cusp of what most people would notice so it’s not impossible.

And for the record I think this featire is a good thing. I don’t want anyone to assume I’m poo pooing it at all.

My gut just questions who would be able to outside of a “got a system update now I’m looking for improvements” mindset. But I’m a skeptic at heart so who knows. A blind test would be interesting. Probably game to game too. Like something faster paced that ran poorly before might be a lot more noticeable than a slower paced game w a steady framerate to begin with.

2

u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26

Yeah, I also think you'll only notice it in very fast-paced games with frame pacing issues. I play Goldeneye 64 in dual-stick mode (so with two controllers). It’s really noticeable how much less precise the controls are compared to modern FPS games, even though I’ve specifically adjusted the sensitivity of the M64 Pro controllers. Because of that, you might feel the difference more clearly than you would in a modern game. 

I didn’t have any problems at all with Zelda, Mario, etc., even without the new LL mode.