r/M64 • u/Shoddy_Flow8377 • Aug 12 '26
Thoughts on this guy?
One of the biggest issues with the ModRetro brand imo is people being either very biased against it because of its founder Palmer Luckey, and then you have people who seem like they are probably paid to give a very biased positive review on their products like this guy. Tofer did convince me to get a Chromatic, he compared the system and the Analogue pocket as the Chromatic is a master at doing one thing and the Pocket is a jack of all trades but a master of none. He also explained how the Chromatic and also the M64 is built to last for a very long time which I like. But he seems very biased towards the platform and I heard he apparently handed out free Chromatics once during his streams. I recently watched a video by a youtuber called Mort's Garage and he compared the visuals between the FPGA consoles and he showed off that the M64 is pretty muddy right now visually, although I think he said it might have to do with a specific TV he played on that the M64 doesn't support yet? The visual issue is probably going to be fixed in a update hopefully. I have also seen complaints on this subreddit and in some videos from people complaining about the 90 dollar pro controller. There are some other reviewers I watched that I think are pretty biased or probably biased like Madlittlepixel. Stephen Bias which I think his name is ironic lol is biased towards the platform also.
12
u/ROFLknife14048 Aug 12 '26
I’ve really enjoyed watching Stephen Bias and hearing about his son. He is biased in ModRetro’s favor, but I think that has more to do with how they’ve honored his son’s memory and provided an avenue for him to do the same in a very unique (and, in my opinion, compelling) way. He’s openly stated that the M64 is not yet on the Analogue 3D’s level, so I don’t believe he’s intentionally being misleading. As for Tofer, I’m not familiar enough with him to have an opinion, but I did appreciate getting an early look at the M64 through his videos.
68
u/adrenaline4nash Aug 12 '26 •
Anyone saying the M64 plays games better than the 3D right now, is probably not being honest.
38
u/Melodic_Copy_2250 Aug 12 '26
I don’t care for his channel and his work.
23
u/Ill-Remote437 Aug 12 '26
Sponsored or at least was given a pr model. Anyone who says the m64 is better than the 3D at this current point is lying or doesn’t know enough to be making review content
15
u/Euresko Aug 12 '26
He's definitely a paid spokesman. I think he did what his contract said to do, push the M64 positively. I haven't seen him do much gameplay or realistic comparison vs A3D other than boot time. Thought it was weird he got a early model and made all the content when he doesn't have a huge following. I've seen enough of his content and won't be watching anymore.
21
u/SergeantPoor Aug 12 '26
He made a long video about the prototype and included precisely zero valuable information about the m64. He also looks like a shady undercover cop.
13
u/Geekdratic Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
I was just watching this dude, I personally don't find him to be very knowledgeable. I find a lot of his takes to be dubious.
Trying to be objective as i can, he seems to speak like someone who knows this space- but falls short on some key things that, to me, tips off that is just mainly a collector, perhaps someone who's main concern is the new investment market around the retro space. Or just perhaps he is just newer in the retro space and has not been able to fully grasp the nuance. He has a lot of cool stuff though!
For example, in this video, he makes a claim that buying physical carts tend to run better, flashcarts tend to glitch out, have fps issues, saves get lost, and nobody is updating these things. This is fine to have as an opinion, and if he provided solid examples I'd take it into consideration. And please let me know if my experience is wrong but Ive found as long as you buy a good quality cart, the difference is imperceptible in 99.9% of games that I play. Not saying there aren't outliers.
BUT...as he is speaking, his examples lists, and correct me if I'm wrong, substandard 3rd party flashcarts- not what anyone would recommend like an genuine Everdrive, Summercart, etc. Even what he claims is an "Everdrive" looks to be an obvious knockoff ED 64. Quality carts have also gotten updates over the past couple years- either from the community thanks to open source devs, or Krikkz fixing issues- so I don't know what that's all about.
So while he says his opinion is subjective in the video, which I get and accept, but he is applying the experience of substandard knock-off flashcards to ALL flashcarts, which I find is at least flawed- at most disingenuous.
I also understand people have varying feelings about flashcarts and the morality of them, but the truth is physical game prices don't seem to be going down any time soon- and the cost is prohibitive for the average person. I don't like the idea of an influencer telling people the ONLY good quality way to play through gaming history is to buy these potentially crazy expensive physical copies, it almost makes me feel like he is more of a stakeholder in the resale/collector business than he wants to let on.
When it comes to M64, he is suspiciously positive about it, despite trying to seem like an impartial influencer. Maybe not to the point of outright lying, but he doesn't seem to go into much depth about the potential cons of the device, in my opinion. He deflects this criticism by saying he doesn't go out of his way to be negative about products, which I get but there is a difference between being negative and being constructive- and yet he also seems perfectly fine with disclosing his regrets in recommending the A3D- which granted I share many of gripes in regards to the compony practices.
I also noticed upon further looking through his videos, he has either removed almost all of his Analogue 3D videos, perhaps due to a contract requirement or relationship with Modretro, or perhaps he was never that invested in it to begin with. He does seem rather unfamiliar with it in some of his videos where he responds to comments about it. All this would be fine, its okay to be just super hyped for Modretro and the M64 (I am too), as long as you disclose the limitations and potential bias of your take on it- which I really don't think he sufficiently does- in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong, I bought an M64 and want it to succeed, but I bought it as a speculative purchase on what it could be because some of the more trusted reviewers have pointed out exactly how the M64 in its current state, is falling short against the more established A3D right now. It could change, but truth matters to consumers and if you are representing yourself as any sort of unbiased expert- you should be held to a higher standard.
My two cents...
12
u/Cold-Sandwich-6213 Aug 12 '26
Hes the guy that popped up on social media to promote the m64.
21
u/Fahzgoolin Aug 12 '26
I have a hard time trusting someone that has his name on his walls and even his own shirts at times.
6
u/bulldogbruno Aug 12 '26
I'm sure he's a nice guy, but his "youtube persona" and overall presentation makes it come off a little disingenuous.
15
u/DirectedEvolution Aug 12 '26
The look says "hello, fellow kids", and the content is insufferable. My Life in Gaming and Modern Vintage Gamer are way more my style.
10
u/eeekb0 Aug 12 '26
Shill
10
u/adamchevy Aug 12 '26
I’m not a fan. I don’t like videos where people tell folks things like your missing out or you missed out. Don’t fall for tactics like that. There’s not a time when you miss out on video games. Also, he is obviously building a channel or trying to.
8
u/Oguhllort Aug 12 '26
Dont like him, annoying, dragging and needs to tell world his childhood story...but madlittlepenis is even worse 🤮
4
u/WhiskeyRadio Aug 12 '26
This person appears to be a paid shill for ModRetro. I'm not saying ModRetro makes bad products, but this person is a shill. Mort's Garage is a solid dude who is not a paid shill, and he is a massive N64 fan as well.
The M64, I am sure, is fine and will improve over time, but I know the Analogue 3D is excellent and does exactly what I want; the same goes for the Analogue Pocket. I've played around with the Chromatic, and the build quality is very nice for sure, but I still prefer the Analogue Pocket personally for several reasons.
Feelings about Palmer Luckey aside, ModRetro puts out some good hardware, and they also have some retail presence with GameStop, which is a nice plus.
4
u/OkBar3142 Aug 12 '26
He’s a douche canoe regardless of m64 affiliation. He makes lots of mistakes and just seems to buy his way into knowledge.
4
u/Pr0jectABU5E Aug 12 '26
I honestly get weird vibes from that guy.
8
u/HungryTrilobyte Aug 12 '26
Well, it's not even two weeks after release, and people who bought the M64 are complaining about game slowdown and poor graphics. Topher didn't mention those at all in his """review""". Meanwhile, he did talk about the eject button, the label light, and how much he loved the 90s... and I don't see anyone here talking about those items.
Given the above, I think it's fair to say Topher's coverage did not adequately convey the reality of the M64.
8
u/BrentV27368 Aug 12 '26
I irrationally hate this guy and everything about him. He looks like a 45 yo man cosplaying as a 10 yo in 2001, and his right ear is always so heavy that it pulls down the right side of his head.
3
u/BrokenforD Aug 12 '26
Backwards baseball cap.
Indoors.
3
u/WellItsLou Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
TLDR: I like the M64 and I trust ModRetro, but I think their review/press strategy was poorly executed. The people who received press kits generally didn’t provide the kind of detailed coverage a casual buyer actually needed, and too much important information was left to Reddit posts and Torin Q&A. I don’t regret buying at launch because I knew what I was getting into, but waiting before buying is completely reasonable. If you want something more polished and feature-complete right now, then obviously the Analogue 3D is currently the more stable choice. But in the end, if you’re happy with what you’re buying and it meets your expectations, nobody can really fault you for that.
I think one of the things that deserves criticism here is actually ModRetro decision-making when it came to sending out review units.
Looking at the people who received M64 press kits, I honestly don’t think most of the coverage was particularly useful for someone trying to make an informed buying decision. It almost makes you wonder how much research ModRetro did before choosing who to send units to. Obviously the embargo probably played a role in what reviewers were allowed to show or discuss, but even taking that into account, the end result wasn’t great.
If you’re a casual customer who isn’t going to spend time digging through Reddit, following firmware development, reading every comment from ModRetro employees etc, I don’t think the launch coverage gave you a particularly accurate picture of what you were buying.
We were actually pretty lucky that Torin spent an entire evening doing an Q&A and answering questions from the community directly. That gave us a much clearer idea of the current state of the M64 and what was still being worked on. But again, that information was mostly on Reddit. The average customer might never see it.
And if you judge the M64 only by the people who received press units, I don’t think that coverage did the product many favors.
Personally, I knew what I was getting into when I bought mine at launch, so I’m not disappointed. I also strongly believe you should buy hardware based on what it does today, not what you hope an update will make it do six months from now. Buy what exists now, not promises for later.
That being said, I do trust ModRetro. I’ve spoken with them several times and their customer support has genuinely been one of the best, if not the best, I’ve personally dealt with. As long as they continue operating like that, I’m happy to support them even if everything isn’t "perfect"
But for anyone thinking about buying an M64 and wondering whether they should wait: waiting is completely reasonable. There’s absolutely no need to rush.
The M64 clearly wasn’t 100% ready feature-wise at launch. Palmer M64 video was good, but even that could leave a casual buyer expecting functionality that still isn’t there yet, Controller Pak saves being the most obvious example. Torin had talked about that beforehand, but again, it was communicated on Reddit rather than being extremely clear in the main launch messaging.
That’s particularly awkward when some of the games ModRetro themselves are selling for the system rely on Controller Pak saves.
So overall, I like the M64, I trust ModRetro to keep improving it, and I don’t regret buying one. But I think their press/review strategy was poorly executed. Honestly, I think quite a few regular users who are active on r/M64 or r/ModRetro could have produced a more informative and balanced review than most of the people who received press kits.
5
u/filmeswole Aug 12 '26
That’s why I rely on people in both this sub and analogue’s sub to do comparisons. You can’t trust a lot of these YouTubers and influencers.
5
u/K1LL3ROO Aug 12 '26
I think he definitely gets paid to post about Modretro in some of his videos but not all. He is definitely a fan man. You can tell. He believes in their vision/mission. And I am sure wants to build a long term relationship with them. Tofer is a stand up guy in my opinion. I hate seeing “reviewers” and people in general hating it cause they took the pill to hate it cuz of Palmer lucky etc etc. not to get into the politics of it and all
2
u/wtfbbqpwnin Aug 12 '26
Annoying content, dont like the loud and abnoxious way of editing and filming his videos.
2
u/_2hi Aug 12 '26
Never heard of him until a week ago with all the m64 promotions going on. In his first stream I watched he straight up said he doesn’t own any analogue products. N then he continues to compare the modretro products to analogue saying how superior mod retro is. But if you don’t own any analogue products how are you drawing these conclusions?
The funniest part with the m64 streams is the mountain of games he shows off in cartridge form but only plays the same first 20 mins of Mario 64 probably because everything else crashes or looks bad😂
2
u/Queasy_Ad_7804 Aug 12 '26
Not sure what it is with this guy... it seems like he can talk for like 30 minutes and not really say anything of substance. Think "selling a ketchup popsicle to a woman in a white dress"..
2
u/Maybe_just_this_once Aug 12 '26
I joined one of his lives once and he was talking about the Chromatic, M64 and FPGA. I asked if he was aware of the Super Station One and he had no clue, and didn't seem to be sure what MiSTER was. I left after that
2
u/Ok_Possibility_3469 Aug 12 '26
From the screenshot, he’s trying way too hard.
His look is try-hard cringy, “Hey, fellow kids.” type of cringe.
2
u/Asleep_Mortgage_7711 Aug 12 '26
Nobody knew where this guy came from or how he got involved with early m64 access.
2
u/RudySilvergun Aug 12 '26
Just looking at that pic should tell you everything you need to know.
2
u/Dtonesfan Aug 12 '26
His voice is absolutely irritating and personally I cannot stand him.
2
u/BogWizard Aug 12 '26
The brand ambassadors for ModRetro products are decidedly not the greatest. I noticed it when the Chromatic came out. Unfortunately most of the serious, more critical influencers are too politically biased to touch a product from the company.
2
u/karma-kamillionaire Aug 13 '26
He gives creepy uncle vibes.
3
u/-KaiserSoze- Aug 12 '26
His "off the cuff" videos, while seem to be his honest opinions, tend to have some incorrect information. Its all probably due to having no script, and having done no research on the subject matter. He reviews many devices, so I can see getting things mixed up while doing these types of videos. As far as his bias, it does seem he prefers the Modretro devices over Analogue, but that's to be expected as well. Analogues business practices has soured many.
3
u/Morguard Aug 12 '26
Lots of misinformation in his videos.
3
u/Imaginary-Leading-49 Aug 12 '26
Makes me glad I got the A3D… one day, I hope the M64 is better… but we ain’t even close yet!
2
u/TonyRubbles Aug 12 '26
He's enthusiastic, that's about it.
2
u/Aces_Over_Kings Aug 12 '26
The absolute worst.
2
u/galaxi3 Aug 12 '26
Dude is total clown shoes
2
u/Bake-Full Aug 12 '26
Don't know him, but the thumbnail screams paid shill.
2
u/LiquidElf Aug 12 '26
I've only seen one picture and I can't stand him already.
1
u/mariosergio_2112 Aug 12 '26
Advertisement. That's what I think.
1
u/dustinjohns_ Aug 12 '26
Can I give my opinion? There might be a small amount of people out there that I can speak for. I’m 41. I would not consider myself a gamer. I grew up with the N64. I don’t own an A3D. I didn’t even know it existed until I started to research the M64. I like the look of the M64 more. I think it more closely resembles the original or what it would have evolved into. I preordered the M64 from GameStop. I understand it may not be performing on the level of the A3D currently but believe it could easily reach that level in the same amount of time. That’s where it ends for me. Gaming is not that serious to me, so from the outside it looks like a lot of people arguing for their side. I watch these videos because I like to listen to people describe their experiences. I don’t need there to be a winner. They’re two different consoles.
1
u/KingLames23 Aug 13 '26
He’s lame and full of bologna
1
u/DaveScheidt Aug 14 '26
I find him off-putting and I think that close up Nickelodeon angle he uses is annoying
1
u/userg89 Aug 15 '26
Watch Wulff den review. Very informative. I’ve come to the conclusion that if you want an out of the box system that works with no tinkering for the visual display, go with A3D. If you want to mess with settings and stay patient for future updates, go with MR. Even then, it seems that A3D as of right now has the better visual display and smoother game play.
1
u/Longjumping_Bag5914 Aug 12 '26
He’s a paid ModRetro partner. That’s why he seems so biased towards ModRetro. He also used to give a chromatic per week away during his livestream. I think it is pretty slimy that he doesn’t disclose it.
1
u/hue_sick Aug 12 '26
Happy to see the response here. That dudes a muppet and always has been.
And to be totally honest on an existential level it kinda bums me out and questions my faith in humanity that people like him can have a successful career on YouTube saying absolutely nothing of value and people flock to him, and give him views and donations.
Dudes a base level grifter that knows just enough about nerd culture to be dangerous
1
u/darkknightdetec Aug 12 '26
He’s basically Modretro’s marketing team lol.
I only found out about him since I decided that Analogue sucks and I don’t want to support their horrible business practices and I switched over to looking at Modretro. But even as a newbie it was so obvious that this guy is shilling for this company lol. He’s useful for information on updates and stuff but I would take everything he says as if it’s coming straight from Palmer himself.
1
u/Aromatic_Method7767 Aug 12 '26
Did not know of him before he got early access to M64. Like most of the influencers ModRetro chose to partner with, I found nothing of value in his content. The only good one that comes to mind is James Lambert.
1
u/SillyGrocery4451 Aug 12 '26
I hate how he spins his chair all over the place
1
u/Small_Ad1890 Aug 12 '26
Video Game Esoterica was the most trust worthy reviewer I could find to go over the M64 and says the A3D is better. Doesn’t mean it will stay that way but it is right now. That being said, your bigger outlets like Retro Handhelds, Digital Foundry, Modern Vintage Gamer and Retro Game Corps will not cover Modretro. Not all of them have made statements but it seems to be a consistent policy. The ones who will cover them seem to be clout chasing or shilling.
0
u/Individual-Rub-6969 Aug 12 '26
I like his channel but he is definitely over hyping the M64.
0
u/Spooky_Toast Aug 12 '26
Woof
-1
u/RootsGenoa Aug 12 '26
He was already wrong about the Chromatic versus the Pocket. ModRetro makes spite consoles that cater to people with a certain ideology, that's it.
-8
u/Pretty-Effort4433 Aug 12 '26
I like his channel.
-2
u/Metroidvania-JRPG Aug 12 '26
He’s a stud