CARLSBAD – It may not seem like the most logical transition, but after a lucrative career in virtual reality followed by another in lethal autonomous weapons systems, Palmer Luckey saw his future by looking to the past.
Carlsbad-based ModRetro, the company he launched last year, is creating a tribute to the Nintendo Game Boy, the handheld game that millions of people played in the 1990s but has been out of production since 2003.
Others have attempted to recreate the popular console, but usually with poor results after using inferior components, he wrote on the company’s website. His version, the Chromatic, will use better technology and be an actual upgrade from the original, he said.
Founder
ModRetro
“It is, put simply, my ultimate tribute to the beautiful form, technical excellence, and cultural impact of the Nintendo Game Boy,” he wrote. “Hundreds of irrational decisions made during the development of the Chromatic mean it will be remembered not as one of many Game Boy clones, but as an uncompromisingly authentic celebration of everything that made the console special.”
Luckey has teamed with former colleague Torin Herndon, CEO of ModRetro, to lead the company from its Carlsbad headquarters.
From Defense Industry to Games
Recalling the company’s heritage, Herndon, 30, said Luckey “was this young kid” who launched a Kickstarter about 11 years ago to create a virtual reality headset.
Now known as Reality Lab, Luckey’s company Oculus VR created the headset Oculus Rift, which has been credited with reviving the virtual reality industry as the first headset that provided a realistic experience.
As a college student at the time, Herndon said he was excited by the Kickstarter and decided he wanted to work with Luckey after graduation.
CEO
ModRetro
In March 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus VR, Inc. for $2 billion, which included $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock.
Luckey went to work for Facebook, and Herndon followed.
“And then Palmer was actually fired from Facebook in 2017 for a reason we don’t really need to get into,” Herndon said. “At that time I just quit Facebook because I loved working with him so much and I thought he was a generational entrepreneur.”
Herndon became a freelance designer, but then joined Luckey in 2017 to work in the defense company he founded, Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa. The Wall Street Journal reported the company was valued at $8.48 billion as of last November.
“I think it’s not an exaggeration to say it’s one of the most important companies in the history of defense,” Herndon said.
Herndon left the company and moved to Carlsbad, where he worked on side projects Luckey wanted to do outside of Anduril. One was ModRetro.
“When I started working on that side project, I really quickly realized that there was going to be so much more interest for it outside of just me and Palmer,” he said.
Game On
The company didn’t have to do any real fundraising to launch because of Luckey’s financial situation and already is taking orders for its products, which include consoles, cartridges for vintage and original games, and headphones, Herndon said.
ModRetro also has signed an agreement with GameStop to carry a Chromatic console in a color exclusive to the store.
In partnership with the Carlsbad-based electronics manufacturer Seacomp, ModRetro has created an assembly line in Mexico to build its products. Chromatic consoles bundled with the game Tetris sell for $199 and are expected to be available by the holidays.
“We created a display from scratch, which is unbelievably uncommon for a new consumer electronics company to do,” Herndon said about what went into the product.
Gamers will be able to see the difference in detail, he said.
“Our device is the only one in the world that can accurately recreate those sub-pixel level drawings that were done by game artists way back in the day,” he said.
Besides the look, Herndon said the company also is bringing back the joy of playing vintage games.
“My obsession growing up was Pokemon on Game Boy Color like so many other people at the mid-90s era, and I’ve always had this deep nostalgia for that time, and I always felt that something is missing with today’s casual gaming landscape,” he said.
“And I think that to me the big part of that is that we used to have to bring our own imagination to the table in gaming because the hardware itself was so lean,” he said. “It was just a special time in gaming, in my opinion, that just doesn’t exist in modern games. And I think it still has value.”
ModRetro
FOUNDED: 2023
CEO: Torin Herndon
HEADQUARTERS: Carlsbad
BUSINESS: Game manufacturer
EMPLOYEES: 10
WEBSITE: https://modretro.com/
CONTACT: https://modretro.com/pages/contact
NOTABLE: ModRetro Founder Palmer Luckey also founded Oculus VR, acquired by Facebook for $2 billion, as well as defense industry company Anduril Industries, valued at nearly $8.5 billion.
