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Playdate pre-orders begin in July

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Re: Playdate pre-orders begin in July

#181

Post by rOOb85 »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #171
xsmasher wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can buy a handheld that plays all 16-bit games, GBA games, mame, etc. for under $50.

What's interesting about that? Emulating SNES and Genesis games was fun back in 1997 but really are we not tired of that by now? Just how many times can you go through the emulator dance of downloading all the games then playing each for less than 3 minutes before you give up.

> Just how many times can you go through the emulator dance of downloading all the games then playing each for less than 3 minutes before you give up.

What makes this any different?

Re: Playdate pre-orders begin in July

#182

Post by lreeves »

Wheaties466 wrote: post #79

Who is this built for? Serious question. Yeah it looks cool but in a joke sense. It doesn't really look like it is going to do anything well. The accessories look even more like a joke. Obviously im not the target customer, but im trying to figure out who is?

It's for people not really interested in games to buy and then proclaim breathlessly on social media that it's just so amazing and lifechanging, before it goes permanently to a shelf visible in all their Zoom calls to never be played with again.

Re: Playdate pre-orders begin in July

#183

Post by ncr100 »

grawprog wrote: post #148

I've gone through the page a bunch of times now, read through the hn comments here and the arstechnica article linked in the top comment. But I'm still having a hard time appreciating this as art or even something non-gimicky and even slightly scammy. For $179 + shipping you're buying a small underpowered device with a black and white screen, a handcrank analog controller and 24 games. For an extra $29 you can buy a…

It's not a scam.

> For X you get Y.

Scam would be:

> For X you get WILDCARD.

Re: Playdate pre-orders begin in July

#185

Post by ncr100 »

jonny_eh wrote: post #15

If you want to comment about how it's too expensive or doesn't play 30 year old gameboy games, don't bother? This is a new device that delivers new experiences and will likely sell out of its first shipment very quickly.

I want to comment that this will be the first toy I've owned in a LONG TIME that has a crank.

And, that I expect I will have fun with it.

Fun is where it's at with a Game Console. I like the artistry but that's just a gateway ... to the fun!

Re: Playdate pre-orders begin in July

#186

Post by Tiktaalik »

Wheaties466 wrote: post #79

Who is this built for? Serious question. Yeah it looks cool but in a joke sense. It doesn't really look like it is going to do anything well. The accessories look even more like a joke. Obviously im not the target customer, but im trying to figure out who is?

enthusiasts of video games that are looking for a unique experience.

Re: Playdate pre-orders begin in July

#187

Post by Impossible »

yladiz wrote: post #175
grawprog wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems awfully disingenuous. The rest of my post is why i consider it slightly scammy. A lot of buzz with less substance than promised and no actual commitments to the devs they're also advertising too that will inevitably be the ones that support the playdate in the long term.

A scam is by definition something with malicious intent, something dishonest, and I think that's why the other commenter took offense. It might not live up to the hype, and maybe it'll be lackluster, who knows - no one has played with it yet outside of Panic. But I think it's fair and not disingenuous that the other commenter took a lot of offense to using that word, because by all accounts it doesn't seem to be a sc…

It seems like there's a modern definition of scam, especially with gamers, which is hyping or marketing a game too well and not completely delivering on promises (often imagined) due to budget constraints, design or technical challenges and often just inflated expectations. This happens with products that a perfectly fine but aren't what people expect, and products that "work" but are buggy or don't deliver all features immediately.

See all of Peter Molyneux's games post Bullfrog, No Man's Sky at launch, Cyberpunk 2077, Magic Leap. I agree that putting Playdate even in that category because the SDK won't be ready at launch is kind of ridiculous.

Re: Playdate pre-orders begin in July

#188

Post by bitbo »

grawprog wrote: post #148

I've gone through the page a bunch of times now, read through the hn comments here and the arstechnica article linked in the top comment. But I'm still having a hard time appreciating this as art or even something non-gimicky and even slightly scammy. For $179 + shipping you're buying a small underpowered device with a black and white screen, a handcrank analog controller and 24 games. For an extra $29 you can buy a…

If Playdate uses Sharp Memory Displays, that explains part of the price.

These screens are expensive but also very nice.

Re: Playdate pre-orders begin in July

#189

Post by zemo »

an_opabinia wrote: post #52
nsilvestri wrote: post #16

Lucas Pope's section of the update video [0] has me incredibly excited. He's one of my favorite game developers, and seeing him work more with 1-bit 3D games after Obra Dinn has piqued my interest. Also, a blog on dithering I came across after playing Obra Dinn was one of the more interesting tech blogs I've read [1]. Also see Lucas Pope's post on how he did dithering in-game [2]. [0] https://youtu.be/DeWGukDrc1U?t=4…

On the one hand, it's amazing, it's ~$220 for games. On the other hand, is this games? It's so tough out there. Lucas Pope obviously works really hard. Just imagine you're an otherwise successful indie game developer, you put out two amazing games, and it still isn't viable to make a third, in 2021. That doesn't happen with movies. You make two budget positive or critically acclaimed movies, you get to make a third.…

> is this games?

yes

Re: Playdate pre-orders begin in July

#190

Post by zemo »

fumar wrote: post #50

I am always impressed with the design of Teenage Engineering’s products but they have an air “pure consumerism”. I think this is that taken to its extreme. A toy that has a crank, retro screen, design-driven accessories, and the games are there but not promoted. Compare that to the gameboy which put its games front and center with the selling point of being handheld. Admittedly, I would get the Playdate to put on my…

> they have an air “pure consumerism”

It's not clear what you're saying here. What is "pure consumerism"? Are you suggesting that aesthetics is bad? It's a stylish object. People enjoy stylish objects.

> the games are there but not promoted.

that's probably because the developers are still working on the games and aren't ready to fully show them off yet.

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