8bitmods.com Reviews 128

Was banned from their discord for defending myself from one of their mods when they took issue with me being disappointed in a recent translation mod being done by AI. This would normally be fine, social media is a toxic cess pit these days and I'm always happy to walk away, however, since their main means of support is now Discord that means anyone who purchases their product is one mod having a bad day away from losing all tech support. And before you think I was shouting slurs at people or something crazy like that, I am too old (as I assume most people still playing the dreamcast are) for that kind of nonsense, I was being assertive and defending my opinion but not insulting or inflammatory. Imagine losing tech support on an expensive tech item (and for that matter the entire MCP line, which I do own) just because you wouldn't let people insult you for having an opinion. Shockingly unprofessional. I bought into the MCP as one of it's first adopters and have supported this company happily all this time, but I guess none of that matters because of a mod on a power trip. Cool.

To be honest though the quality of their products has also gone downhill, the MCP and MCP2 were full on improvements over the technology they have essentially replaced. Meanwhile the VMUpro feels half baked and more aimed at generating hype around unnecessary features no one will use past making a single youtube video about it instead of actually working in the multitude of scenarios that VMUs are actually used for. There are bugs in so many things that just work on a VMU or for that matter their competitor the VM2. A shame because spec-wise the VMUpro runs circles around the VM2 and is way better built but the VMU aspects of the OS almost feel like an afterthought from someone who doesn't really play the dreamcast.

To the lads running 8bitmods: My suggestion is change your trajectory. It's clear from your replies to negative comments on here as well as this event with me and so much of the mentality I saw in the discord server while I was there that you are getting a massive ego. I've seen this happen to a lot of creators in this space and it's a shame. Yes, you made something cool, and yes sometimes your customers are idiots (a lot of the time tbh) but that doesn't mean you don't need to listen to your consumers when they tell you something isn't working. Discord for your customer support is an absolutely brain dead idea, anyone who isn't perpetually online could tell you that. You are smart people, but you need to snap out of this idea that no one can teach you anything. Everyone has a blindside, and even the greatest mind can learn from the biggest fool.

Edit: I never called your customers names or swore at them, also people can't "assert their opinion" on your discord? So we have to keep our heads down and speak only the way you want about everything or we lose the main support platform? Why even have a discord if reasonable discussion isn't allowed? Like I said, shockingly unprofessional, thanks for proving what I was talking about. I politely brought up my concerns/issues with a romhack made with AI in general and one of your mods took offense, argued with me and called me "names" as you put it, and then banned me when I pushed back. You can hide behind your vague rules all you want but I know what happened. I wouldn't be here taking the time to post this detailed review if I was banned with just cause.

Also, no you did not offer all the features promised on the VMUpro, it still doesn't run many VMU games perfectly and there are still plenty of little issues in the OS that can lead to big headaches in practical use. When I'm at the point where I have to use a regular VMU for some games, I'd say there is an issue. This is what I'm talking about with your ego, you don't listen to your customers (who aren't blindly praising you) and assume you know better, and this will only lead to the downfall of your products.

I ordered MemCard PRO2 for PS2 and PS1 (Charcoal Black) on February 12th. They take my money the same day. It is now the 4th of April and i still haven't received my purchase.
On the item page it states that it would ship in february.
Big scam, stay away!

Item was posted incredibly quickly and well packaged. There were issues when it arrived, but the team at 8BitMods went above and beyond in ensuring a smooth returns experience and were incredibly helpful overall. Will definitely shop with them again - highly recommended!

Controller performance and functions are amazing for the price point. I don’t know how they managed to get the order shipped so fast and it got delivered before Christmas. Child was very happy.

The product arrived well shipped, even out-of country and works a treat!

Great product, great company

When I asked about my order status, I got an email detailing everything I needed to know. So, great customer service.
Items came well packaged, they arrived to Lebanon intact.

Unprofessional scammers. My order had a target shipping date of 'end of October' for a MemCard Pro GC (smoke black) that was ordered on October 15 (order #50330). The shop page is still listing this shipping date at the time of writing by the way. They don't update it, but just continue to scam customers for profit (who operates like this?).

It's December now, I've sent them a (first) polite e-mail asking them for an update about my order. After all it should have shipped a long time ago. I was getting a bit worried something went wrong. No hostility from my side, just a customer getting in touch about their product.

Turns out they have an auto-reply system for e-mails in place that tells you to not bother them asking about order updates, they will refuse to answer (this is literally what the e-mail says in corporate speak).

When I replied to the auto-email, calling them out on their bullshit (second mail, not so friendly this time), they refunded my order (without me asking for one) and sent me a response that they 'don't tolerate harassment'.

This company treats their customers like dirt, uses their money as interest free loans, doesn't communicate when it doesn't deliver on time and then pulls out the 'we feel harassed as a small business' card when faced with the slightest hint of critique.

Oh and Discord is not a professional 'support platform', get your shit together and actually reply to e-mails like any other business. Forcing customers to use third party additional software (even if it's web based) is lazy and completely backwards thinking. Not to mention it has its own T&C that people are forced to accept because of this, because using a mailbox is apparently too hard for your 'support'.

I ordered Solid Black, but I received Smoke Black instead.
The difference isn’t that big, so it’s totally fine—I’ll just keep using it.
Thanks anyway!

First of all, the qualities of the items are very good. But shipping fee is very expensive comp

I think 8bitmods is a great company, I've purchased their MemCard Pros for some time and they are without a question, possibly the best retro game memory cards on the market.

Every purchase I've made with them has been smooth so far... until lately with their Dreamcast VMU Pro.

Now I just want to point out that I understand that they are a small business and I'm aware that they're having difficulty with the mass amount of orders with the VMU especially with the packaging and the tariff fees in the states. However I need to criticise their lack of updates on the issue outside the discord (especially X/Twitter) which I see many people are still waiting for their orders from OCTOBER and it's nearly the end of November.

From my understanding that so far only about 3/4 of the October orders have been sent which is fine for a small business but still a problem for the next months batch of orders (which I'm in btw) that I believe that I not be able to get mine possibly after Christmas or after New Year which is a big delay IMO.

That's my main complaint, I'll still purchase from them for sure but now I need to remember that their pre-orders might take much long than the quoted dates which can create a dent on their reputation.

The delivery was quick and well done and the cables work perfectly!

I got in touch via email for support on my MemCard Pro not updating in terms of firmware due to a UX bug in the web interface.

"Customer services" insisted to me via email that all customer support now comes via Discord even though their email signature contradicts this and says that Discord is faster and live. I don't care about fast or live, I care about not having my ID and PII stolen in a platform that suffered a major breach.

Why on Earth would you continue to push customers towards a platform who had user government IDs, billing info and email addresses exposed in a breach earlier this month after I inform you of that?

Total disregard for customers and protecting them from identity theft.

I hate to slate British businesses, especially small ones in a tiny niche like retro game stuff, because I'm passionate about it, but this is frankly inexcusably irresponsible behavior. Discord is not the place to continue to do customer support via after such a large breach.

Even more bizarre when you've already established contact with me through email and that's more than adequate. Sort yourselves out and do the sensible thing instead of continuing to fetishize Discord after a major breach.

Great product, terrible support.

Very helpful support, very quick delivery.

Terrible support and service. Will never order from these guys again. They do not deliver what they promise. I would recommend to skip them and find another good webstore.

Great company creating Mods and accessories for retro gaming. Love the products, game changer for me. Sent out items to me very quickly. Love their products, and looking forward to many more to come. Keep up the great work.

Well, there isn't much to say. It's an honest and trustworthy business. They answered my question quickly and concisely, they shipped my order fast and it arrived faster than expected. Just solid work overall, exactly how a business should be.

The Dreamcast Retrofighter controller and memory card slot has a really good build. Works as needed. To be honest, the OG Dreamcast controller is the reason I don't play it more than I do. The Retrofighter has good weight, reminds me of a Xbox 360 controller and is wireless. It's a win.

Recommend making a removable battery option. I do not care for rechargable batteries - they go dead too fast.

It arrived fast and as described. Great quality! I would definitely be returning.

What a brilliant vendor of upgrades and mods for the vintage gaming consoles we all grew up with. Fast shipping to the UK, too.