🎄 Hello and welcome to a very late edition of the Memory Core weekly roundup!

I've been traveling for the holidays, so this is going out a few days later than usual. To make up for it, I've got a little update to my interview with RetroAchievements founder Scott Breen covering the main thing you told me I should have asked about: Offline achievements.

Plus, ModRetro goes to war, a new SteamOS handheld leaks, and ANBERNIC's biggest and best vertical handheld is now available.

As a heads up, I doubt I'll be able to send regular newsletters over the next two weeks with family commitments, so I made this one a little longer. Maybe I'll send one more before the year is out, but no promises.

Happy holidays! Go play some games!

P.S. If you haven't already, consider signing up to get every new edition in your inbox, free of charge.

Where are offline RetroAchievements?

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of interviewing RetroAchievements founder Scott Breen, but the main feedback I got from readers was unexpectedly "Where are offline RetroAchievements?"

So I got back in touch with Breen to ask just that. He clarified that it has less to do with preventing cheating, and more to do with the complexity of implementing them with existing systems. Here's the short version directly from Scott:

And here's the slightly longer, but hopefully not too technical version:

The current system pulls the list of achievements from RA's servers when a game is loaded into an emulator. The emulator itself then monitors specific locations in memory that indicate an achievement has been made.

It pings RA's servers once an unlock happens, then loads the image for the achievement and delivers your microdose of pride and accomplishment on screen. Even when it doesn't detect an achievement, it still checks in with RA's servers every few minutes, which can be used to detect cheaters.

In other words, nothing is stored locally. It would be possible to download and store achievement data locally, but there are a lot of complicating factors:

• Achievements are often updated/fixed, so local data could be out of date.
• Emulators would need to be updated to reference the local file and cache achievements that fail to ping RA's servers.
• Achievements earned offline would need to be synced, either manually or when a game is next launched.
• The RA UI would need a "pending" state for achievements that haven't been synced.
• It would be very easy for bad actors to modify local data to trigger achievements that haven't been earned.
• Without timestamps, it would be more difficult to catch cheaters.

The last two are particularly sticky, since they could erode the legitimacy of the platform. Not everyone cares about the leaderboard, but those who do are by far the most committed to the platform.

It's also important to remember that RetroAchievements exists as a collaboration between the RA team and countless emulator developers, most of whom work for free. Systems like this take time to develop, whereas the current system is much easier to implement.

That said, offline RetroAchievements may still come at a future date if the stars align. I'll close with another quote from Breen:

ModRetro goes to war

Last week, against everyone's better judgment, ModRetro announced an "Anduril" special edition of its Game Boy-like Chromatic handheld.

This was a recreation of ModRetro founder Palmer Luckey's personal device, made of "the same magnesium aluminum alloy as Anduril’s attack drones" with "the same ultra durable ceramic-polymer formulation that protects Ghost — Anduril’s flagship autonomous air vehicle."

The partnership was framed as charity, with proceeds supporting veteran suicide prevention through gaming called Stack Up. But for many, this was a step too far for ModRetro.

There has always been a tension between the retro gaming revival company ModRetro and Luckey's main venture, Anduril. The company has numerous defence contracts to develop AI-powered weapons and surveillance systems, as well as drones for warfare that have been used in the war in Ukraine (and sold to the Saudis).

To be clear, plenty of other tech companies are in bed with the military. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta all have multi-million dollar contracts with the US and Israeli militaries. It's inescapable for most consumers, but you don't see Google making Search Doodles of missile launch simulations.

The Anduril Chromatic erases the line between Luckey's gaming and warfare ambitions. In a post on X, he wrote that this version is for "fans of Anduril (of which there are many, given our work with US and Ukrainian forces)".

While that might be true, it's also incredibly alienating to everyone else. People who want to play a game of Tetris without being reminded of the death and destruction being inflicted on many parts of the world.

This goes beyond consumers. I've written extensively about how the open-source M64 has the potential to serve as a successor to MiSTer, but that will only be possible if developers are willing to port their cores to the new hardware. That requires more goodwill than funding, since most cores are developed as a hobby by talented developers.

ModRetro also sells new Game Boy (and soon, N64) carts, but it may be increasingly difficult to find developers willing to sign their games over. In April, Time Extension interviewed many devs who worked with ModRetro to get their homebrew Game Boy games published, and most were either ignorant of Luckey's other businesses or willing to separate them for the sake of moving the scene forward.

(Note: Time Extension is no longer covering ModRetro because of the Anduril Chromatic.)

What's more, one of the games ModRetro published, Chantey, had its Indie Vanguard award stripped by the Indie Game Awards nomination committee as a direct result of the Anduril Chromatic announcement.

While the language was hyperbolic ("ModRetro’s vile nature"), it does show that there are consequences for developers who choose to work with the company. Chantey's developer, Goryn Code, released a statement after having a target drawn on their back by IGA's announcement.

Regardless, any plausible deniability is now gone. New ModRetro products are announced on Luckey's personal Twitter account. ModRetro has Anduril-branded products on its website (granted, they're hidden from the homepage).

What's worse, the whole thing is now wrapped up in a broader culture war, so ModRetro is unlikely to reverse course. The team is clearly passionate about retro games and its engineers are top-notch, but branded partnerships with defense contractors absolutely kills the vibe.

Don't buy this product. If you want to make the world a better place, consider donating directly to a charity or getting involved by volunteering rather than spending $350 on a mall ninja Game Boy.

Handheld highlights

🆕 The ANBERNIC RG 477V is officially up for sale. The 4.7-inch display makes it one of the largest vertical handhelds you can buy, with a Dimensity 8300 SoC to play any and all retro consoles. The $20 pre-order discount ends tomorrow. [ANBERNIC]

🍟 MANGMI briefly announced the chipset behind its upcoming 7-inch Pocket Max handheld on X, but deleted the Tweet shortly afterwards. The Snapdragon 865 was exactly what everyone expected, so it's not clear why it was deleted. There appears to be a single 8+128GB SKU, but pricing will make or break the release. [Reddit]

♨️ A SteamOS version of the Lenovo Legion Go 2 has leaked, complete with a Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, up to 32GB+2TB, and the same massive 8.8-inch OLED display. [X]

👋 Valve is no longer producing the entry-level LCD Steam Deck. That means the cheapest model is now $549, so look for sales if you're considering picking one up. [Valve]

FPGA Focus

💸 The totally-real-and-not-a-scam SuperSega FPGA console is officially dead. Let this serve as a warning for future crowdfunded projects from known fraudsters. [Time Extension]

⬇️ A new Analogue Pocket app called MROM allows you to rip ROMs from your carts to the microSD card without connecting to a PC. It's still in beta, but some carts even allow you to transfer save files. [MROM]

🤔 N64 wizard Kaze Emanuar posted a video analyzing the Analogue 3D, with the ultimate conclusion that the company's marketing materials were filled with outright lies. [YouTube]

💯 Work on the MiSTer FPGA N64 core continues to forge ahead, with a new version hitting 100% accuracy in system benchmark tests. It still needs some testing before hitting Update All, but it's great to see progress being made (thanks in part to funding from ModRetro). [Metal Game Solid]

🟦 Taki Udon showed off production line images of the SuperStation One, and it looks like it's closer than ever to launching. As someone with a transparent blue edition on pre-order, it's a beautiful thing to behold. [Discord]

The Emulator Report

🌴 Eden v0.0.4 dropped, with upgrades across all platforms. This is the first new stable build in three months, and it has specific fixes for Pokémon games, Metroid Prime 4, and others. [GitHub]

🐬 Dolphin release 2512 brings lots of notable upgrades to the stable release, including GameCube RetroAchievements support. This has been available on the dev build for a while, and it's still a little half-baked, but it's great news for cheevo hunters. [Dolphin]

🤷 The unofficial Android port of Cemu released a new experimental build 0.3 last week, but there are no patch notes so your guess is as good as mine as to what's been changed. Anecdotal testing has shown minor improvements, so I guess that's good? [GitHub]

🖥️ The PC emulator GameNative released v0.6.1, with bug fixes galore. There are plenty more exciting features in the pipeline, so keep an eye out in the near future. [GitHub]

👆 On that note, GameHub Lite has an exciting new feature on the way, and it's one that's not found in the full-fat GameHub app. RTS Touch Controls will allow you to use your finger as a touchscreen mouse, so you tap to click anywhere on the screen, drag to make boxes, etc. The team is still ironing out some kinks, but expect it to drop soon. [Discord]

🛰️ Budding emulation frontend NeoStation now supports more standalone emulators, including PPSSPP, Duckstation, Azahar, and Dolphin. They don't yet have save sync support, but it should be coming soon. [NeoStation]

Retro archives

🪙 The Video Game History Foundation has recovered and preserved more than 100 Sega Channel ROMs. The early digital distribution platform had tons of exclusive titles, and the team even managed to preserve prototypes that never saw the light of day. [VGHF] [YouTube]

🛥️ My buddy dash released a very, very in-depth interview with the PortMaster team, covering everything from the project's goals and philosophy to its technical architecture and more. [The Bryant Review]

💖 There's a new Pokémon ROM hack from the maker of Definitive Platinum, and it brings the same vision to HeartGold. It has some new content, but it's filled with QoL changes that make the game more accessible and fun. Check out the trailer for more details. [YouTube]

🎅 A small update to the Mario 64 Amped mod provides a great way to enjoy the holiday season with new themed skins. Make sure you download the latest version (3.21), since there was a bug in the initial release. [X] [Download]