I love the device and the SDK.
But as a game dev, what I utterly dislike is the business model.
I don't understand it and I feel I won't have any control.
I think they botched it.
Playdate Software Development Kit is now available for free to all
81–90 of 92 posts
Re: Playdate Software Development Kit is now available for free to all
#82This reminds me of the Pokitto, created by my friend Jonne. It's a programmable pocket game console, too. https://www.pokitto.com 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.
Is there a hardware PICO-8?
Re: Playdate Software Development Kit is now available for free to all
#83I love the device and the SDK. But as a game dev, what I utterly dislike is the business model. I don't understand it and I feel I won't have any control. I think they botched it.
>I don't understand it
>I think they botched it.
How can you assert 'B' if 'A' is true?
Re: Playdate Software Development Kit is now available for free to all
#84For those mentioning the price, it's worth noting that you receive games for free on the device. That's part of the package From their homepage: > 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. > >That's 24 free games, in lots of genres. Some are short. Some are long. Will you love them all? Prob…
My personal idea is Advance Wars and all the guns in my universe are crank operated, and if you crank well enough when firing, you get a little bonus to your damage.
Re: Playdate Software Development Kit is now available for free to all
#85while 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? 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 expen…
I'm kind of mad about the seasonal model. It means that only the "first wave" of owners will get to experience the excitement of the new games with other owners. For everyone else, it's old news.
The season begins once you first power up the device. Everybody is on their own release schedule.
Re: Playdate Software Development Kit is now available for free to all
#86For those mentioning the price, it's worth noting that you receive games for free on the device. That's part of the package From their homepage: > 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. > >That's 24 free games, in lots of genres. Some are short. Some are long. Will you love them all? Prob…
I had a couple of ideas. I don't think I'm going to actually build them, so anyone's welcome to the ideas.
- A horror game where a crank-operated flashlight is your only source of light. The crank on the PlayDate is how you recharge the flashlight.
- A stealth game where you play as a safe cracker and use the crank as a mock safe dial.
- A "the floor is lava" style platformer where you swing across monkey bars, using the crank to adjust your momentum. I.e. spin it up to start doing 360's on the bar you're currently on and launch yourself farther, or spin it backwards to slow down for shorter jumps.
Re: Playdate Software Development Kit is now available for free to all
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think a kind of fencing game would be pretty cool, in which you turn the crank forwards to lunge forwards (maybe you only actually "strike" after a full turn, and the rest of it is just moving forwards) and jump backwards when you crank backwards. Would be especially cool if it were from the first person perspective (of course something very basic in terms of style, like vector tanks or something) Really regretting…
Oh that is very very cool. I think something with the kind of quirky rotoscoped animation like they had in the original prince of Persia games would fit so well on this. Now that I think about it. A remake of the original prince of Persia would be such a joyful experience with the mechanic you thought of.
Yeh that rotoscoped style could actually work pretty well, might be a bit difficult to do with the 1-bit screen, but I think its certainly doable.
I think in general the most interesting games will be the ones that don't actually use the crank as a crank if you know what I mean. Like analog sticks are used for movement, they arent used to operate an in game equivalent of an analog stick.
Re: Playdate Software Development Kit is now available for free to all
#88while 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? 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 expen…
> will want to buy but after a week sits on a shelf unused. Just like my nintendo switch!
The Nintendo switch is a much more compelling device that I can actually see a use case for, but yeah not for me mine also sits unused for more than 2 years now.
Re: Playdate Software Development Kit is now available for free to all
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
For a mega-corporation the size of Microsoft or Sony, not at all. For a small business staffed entirely by enthusiasts, absolutely. There always have been, and always will be, successful businesses based in niche novelties.
That doesn't jibe with how profiteers view how capitalism should work.
What are you referring to? It sounds to me more like a socialist version of capitalism.
Re: Playdate Software Development Kit is now available for free to all
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
For a mega-corporation the size of Microsoft or Sony, not at all. For a small business staffed entirely by enthusiasts, absolutely. There always have been, and always will be, successful businesses based in niche novelties.
That doesn't jibe with how profiteers view how capitalism should work.
Honestly not sure what you mean by this. At least outside of the Silicon Valley bubble, there are plenty of profit-minded, capitalistic people who aren't trying to become a trillion dollar megacorp.