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Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

play.date

281–290 of 424 posts

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#281

What a fascinating concept. Makes me feel out of touch with consumers these days, I'd have imagined the appeal of this would be very low but since the Panic team has a great track record and volume manufacturing is not cheap I guess they have assessed their demand. I'm curious who is buying this instead of e.g. a GPD XD (full android clamshell with dedicated game controls).

I just had a look at the GPD XD website [1], and my first impression is that the design looks a bit cheap and tacky. I really like the look of this playdate console, and I'm sure it feels great to hold and use.

I also don't want to spend my time wading through thousands (maybe millions) of games. The free ones are usually bad, and the good ones come with a ton of ads or in-app purchases. It's just exhausting. I'm still looking for a nice iOS game similar to "Raptor: Call of the Shadows" - just a vertical scrolling game where you can complete levels, upgrade your ship and weapons, beat bosses, etc. I've tried a few different games, but I still haven't been able to find one where I can just pay $20 and own the full game (with no more nagging, advertising, or pay-to-play features.)

I like the idea that they're just going to send a few games, and release one per week. It sounds nice to not have to make any choices, and just enjoy the full curated experience.

I don't know if I'll get one, but those are the reasons why I would consider it. I've also been thinking about a Nintendo Switch, but to be honest I'm not much of a gamer.

[1] https://www.gpdxd.com

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#282
This. So much this.

There’s much to be said about a handheld gaming device that isn’t constantly distracting you with notifications and alerts. My iPhone constantly teeters between Do Not Disturb and full-on ring volume.

Looking forward to mandatory immersion in the art, story, and gameplay of a dedicated handheld gaming device, a la the original Gameboy.

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#283
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do people consider the switch a mobile platform? I mean it sort of is but... It's really a console. Depends how you define mobile, if mobile === carry in your pocket it's not. If mobile === independent from a TV then yes.

In London, it does not appear to be treated like something mobile – but in Tokyo it certainly is. You will see kids – mainly boys – huddle together around Switch screens or playing using the wireless wherever you go in suburban Tokyo.

> In London, it does not appear to be treated like something mobile

I saw a fair few people on the tube with their switch!

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#285
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you seen https://arcade.makecode.com ? It's a free, open source, web-based editor for making games, and you can download games to a number of hardware boards, or play on your phone or any web browser. The cheapest hardware right now is $25 from Adafruit [0], but more hardware is coming out all the time. Also this audience might be interested to know that soon there'll be Python support in MakeCode. More details…

Another great online game resource: http://labs.phaser.io/ Not affiliated, just also interested in new and emerging easy to use game systems, and this is just the latest in a long line of them I've been playing with ..

tried phaser a year back - it was not very dev friendly - you had to be phaser expert to make sense of it

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#286
post #277
post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was really surprised to hear this. Although I live in Sweden I don’t think I’ve ever heard about TE before. Usually Spotify and Klarna gets the majority of the tech news coverage around here. TE seems like a really interesting company!

Very well known in the music/synth world thanks to their OP-1, which I bought 2 weeks ago: https://teenage.engineering/products/op-1 It looks like a toy, and kind of plays like one, but it's actually a marvellous piece of gear, very capable musically, and providing a fantastic user experience. There's just nothing else like it out there. The company itself is very unique. Just look at what they came up with [1] for O…

You can still buy the OP-1? Last time I checked they were out of stock and you could only grab them on ebay (and you had to pay extra bucks)

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#288
post #3

I personally love weird single-purpose hardware. Unfortunately it tends not to do very well commercially. Anybody remember this guy? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiReader

This is one of my most prized possessions: http://www.fm3buddhamachine.com/v2/

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#290
post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very well known in the music/synth world thanks to their OP-1, which I bought 2 weeks ago: https://teenage.engineering/products/op-1 It looks like a toy, and kind of plays like one, but it's actually a marvellous piece of gear, very capable musically, and providing a fantastic user experience. There's just nothing else like it out there. The company itself is very unique. Just look at what they came up with [1] for O…

You can still buy the OP-1? Last time I checked they were out of stock and you could only grab them on ebay (and you had to pay extra bucks)

They restocked at some point in the last few months but sold out instantly.
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