A lot of people here seem to be surprised that people would spend $200 on a niche gaming console when you could instead get an emulation machine or "real" handheld.<p>To add a bit of perspective, from someone who sells classic video games for a living: this console's main point isn't to be affordable or play high-end games. Its target market probably already owns an OLED Switch, a Vita, PSP, every DS model and 2 or 3 Game Boys (one of which is modded with an IPS display).<p>It's designed to be interesting. That's it. Doesn't need to have a killer app or broad library.<p>Any utility it offers comes from the fact that it's something to add a bit of spice and fun to an already broad games collection, and possibly the clout that comes from showing other people that you own one.<p>From that perspective, I think these guys have absolutely hit it out of the park. Not surprised by the success of this at all.
For those mentioning the price, it's worth noting that you receive games for free on the device. That's part of the package<p>From their homepage:<p>> Here's the truly unique bit. Playdate isn't just an empty system. Once you set up your Playdate, you'll start to receive two brand new games... every week. For 12 weeks.
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>That's 24 free games, in lots of genres. Some are short. Some are long. Will you love them all? Probably not. Will you have a great time trying them? Absolutely.<p>Still expensive, but also only just. Especially given the hardware crank part which I definitely would want to be high quality seeing how much it's going to be used.<p>The only question I have though is what type of games will people be making for this before the novelty wears off? It's going to need games which are made from "crank first" perspectives if this device is to actually last.<p>So! To kick off a conversation here if it's not too late. What games would you make if you were developing for this device?<p>I'd probably make a couple<p>1. A skateboard game where the crank is the balance<p>2. A game where you control a tank/space ship gunner position and the crank is used for both reloading and targeting.<p>I can't think of any game right now where there would be a story where the crank mechanic is central to it. Curious if anyone else has ideas here.
This reminds me of the Pokitto, created by my friend Jonne. It's a programmable pocket game console, too.<p><a href="https://www.pokitto.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.pokitto.com</a><p>With a clever and efficient BOM, he was able to get a color display and the price down to about 50 bucks. He's working on a networked version now.
For anyone asking "why", Panic has written a blogpost about it and talked about it on their podcast: <a href="https://panic.com/blog/the-story-of-playdate/" rel="nofollow">https://panic.com/blog/the-story-of-playdate/</a><p>It wasn't always their goal to enter the console market, it started as an idea for a very special anniversary project and evolved into the playdate. It might be a pricy, boutique, indie gaming handheld for us but from what I've read more of a "fun" project and life experience for panic.
This is typically lovely and well-designed Teenage Engineering hardware. I'm sure the buttons will feel great.<p>I'm wary of buying it though, it might end up sitting on a shelf looking pretty like my Pocket Operator.
Initial thoughts:<p>1. From the video on the site, device looks simple & portable.<p>2. The crank on the side makes you think it can play only 2D games.<p>3. $199 (device+cover) feels little expensive.<p>4. Display seems black white<p>5. Wonder why this was not done as an accessory device for smartphones instead of a separate device
while the device is novel and I wish the devs the best, I just cant wrap my head around who would actually want to use this device?<p>The Gimmick seems like it would wear off rather fast for anyone interested in gaming, the Seasonal model of games released seems to put all the risk on the consumer to hope they make more. the games dont actually look all the interesting, and as a fun toy for non-gamers it seems to expensive.<p>to me it looks like a product a lot of teenage engineering fans and hipsters will want to buy but after a week sits on a shelf unused.
I've been keeping an eye to this little novelty console for a while now, and the additional stereo dock could be a really nifty desk fidget.<p>While I won't be an early adopter of this console, I hope they it's not going to be a necessary limited edition so I'll have an easy time getting the combo at a later date.
Way overpriced compared to other alternatives like the Odroid Go Advance which costs less than 1/3, runs Linux, can emulate plenty of other gaming platforms, and by having a gpio connector exposed to the outside and thoroughly documented hardware seems a really interesting hacking platform. Also, it employs both a RockChip RK3326 and a ESP32 module.<p><a href="https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid-go-advance-black-edition-clear-white/" rel="nofollow">https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid-go-advance-black-edit...</a><p><a href="https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid_go_advance/start" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid_go_advance/start</a>
I haven’t heard of this device and thought It felt like something from teenage engineering… awesome that they’re involved.<p>A full blown sdk for a device like this seems like a blast. Side projects/hobby coding can get boring/stale sometimes but this seems like a blast
I love the device and the SDK.<p>But as a game dev, what I utterly dislike is the business model.<p>I don't understand it and I feel I won't have any control.<p>I think they botched it.
> Most games will use Playdate’s Lua API<p>Oh my sweet summer child. Reminds me of the Android documentation that said something along "Most apps shouldn't use the NDK".
How many people are going to develop for a niche hobby platform with such closed-source restrictions (including anti-reverse-engineering): <a href="https://play.date/dev/sdk-license" rel="nofollow">https://play.date/dev/sdk-license</a>
Does anyone care about this after the Analogue Pocket and the Steam Deck have
launched (I get my Steam Deck next week).<p>I get they're different devices, but I feel the Playdate had a bunch of hype, and then took way too long to ship, and has lost that initial interest.