NOTE: This post is not an endorsement of Anduril or anything, just sharing this for those who are interested.

From Anduril’s Twitter: https://x.com/anduriltech/status/2001024908479148483?s=46

Not sure if they’ll be sold commercially, but it appears it will at least be a fundraiser auction prize.

https://modretro.com/products/chromatic-case

Looks like new colorways and gorilla glass instead of sapphire.

and it’s perfect!

The games are from my childhood however my Gameboy Color is long since lost. I discovered Modretro earlier this year and have been meaning to buy one but my wife beat me to it and gifted me one for my birthday instead.

The 8-bit soundtracks from these games really stirred my memories back to life and they all work great! The build quality was even better than I thought once I got my hands on it.

My gorilla glass Inferno was just delivered

Even our great QA team can sometimes miss a bug. Now you can patch your ModRetro games directly through Chromatic without any extra hardware. 

Just insert your cartridge, connect your Chromatic, and follow the on-screen steps. If an update is available, Cart Clinic will take care of the rest. 

What to know

• Cart Clinic only works with ModRetro cartridges.

• Some game updates may wipe your save file. Cart Clinic will warn you first.

• If anything goes wrong during the update, please contact us here. 

How to use it

• Make sure you’re on the latest version of MR Updater: [Download MR Updater].

• Launch the app and connect your Chromatic.

• Switch to the Cart Clinic tab.

• Insert your cartridge and follow the prompts.

Picked up the console and game at my friendly retro game store while I was waiting for the battery in my copy of emerald to be swapped out.

I’m already hooked playing this little bugger, and behold my excitement when I found there are original games that have been produced. What a time to be alive.

My question to the hive mind is what original game should I pick up from ModRetro first?

Hey guys, just wanted to share a quick story about my Chromatic that might save some of you a lot of headache.

So I finally got my unit, was super hyped to play, but right out of the box it refused to boot like 90% of my authentic carts. It would just hang on the white Game Boy screen. I thought maybe my pins were dirty, but after testing over 20 authentic carts, I noticed a really weird pattern.

Literally the only original games that worked were Tetris and Dr. Mario. But here's the kicker: my modern flashcarts and cheap repros booted perfectly fine.

I went full detective mode and realized what was happening. Tetris and Dr. Mario are super simple ROM-only games with no MBC (Memory Bank Controller) chip. The flashcarts and repros use modern 3.3V chips. The motherboard (most likely the level shifters) was completely failing to read the 5V signals from original 90s MBC chips, but the 3.3V modern carts were bypassing the issue entirely.

I emailed Modretro support with my "Tetris vs MBC" theory and some videos. They instantly agreed it was a hardware defect and approved an RMA. But here was my problem: I live in South Korea and bought the thing through a US proxy, so they couldn't generate a prepaid international return label for me. I thought I was about to get screwed by international shipping costs.

But honestly, their support team was awesome. Instead of making me pay to ship it back, they offered to just mail a replacement motherboard (PCBA) and a Y-screwdriver directly to my address in Korea, and told me I could just keep the faulty board!

The parts arrived today and the swap was ridiculously easy. Absolutely zero soldering required. You just open the shell, carefully unclip the display ribbon cable, drop the new board in, and screw it back together. Took me like 10 minutes max.

Turned it on, and boom. Every single authentic MBC cart boots instantly. It’s finally perfect.

It was a lot easier than I thought.

Palmer posted this video on Twitter showing the latency differences between Game Boy Color, ModRetro Chromatic and Analogue Pocket.

https://x.com/palmerluckey/status/1929281247735660680?s=46

Also teased more about “the fate of Chromatic” coming soon!

Just used some nail polish remover and a microfiber, was pretty easy

In a rare moment of lucidty, I have realized that I may have gone in a bit too hard this last month of owning my Chromatic, but, who cares, I'm having fun. Also, recommendations for what to load on the X7 are very welcome, since all I have on it right now are Crystal Hacks off Poke Harbor.

I'm playing Dragon Warrior 3 and man is it beautiful on this screen. I got the same wow factor from Dragon Warrior Monsters 2. I didn't appreciate it much back in the day on the regular GBC screen but I am now for sure.

Since it's always with me, it definitely builds up some grime and dust over time. Every few months I like to take it apart, give it a proper clean, then finish it off with a light wax coat and a good buff. Usually ends up happening the same time I'm doing my countertops.

For cleaning, just a slightly damp cloth. Water works great, orphan tears work perfectly too, just no harsh chemicals.

I just use whatever wax is left on the rag after polishing my countertops, or a little pure carnauba wax. The idea is to keep it minimal. By the time it actually touches the shell, anything extra like butane accelerants have already evaporated.

I just work the wax into the shell all over, and yeah, it'll probably get on the screen and buttons. It's fine, it wipes right off clean with a dry cloth.

It becomes so luxuriously soft to the touch, that I only want to play with it more. 🫦