Can the crank charge the battery?
Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System
301–310 of 424 posts
Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System
#302Earlier 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…
This OP-1 reminds me of the Casio VL-1 [1], made famous (in Germany at least) by the pop band Trio in their NDW (Neue Deutsche Welle) song Da Da Da [2] [3].
I wonder whether that's accidental, or an homage.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_VL-1
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Da_Da
[3] for example about 1:25 into this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNYcviXK4rg
Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System
#303Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
Strange. I've found the opposite to be true. They do a pretty decent job explaining why you need a web server and how to make a basic one. Once it's set up, there are tons of examples and resources to look at.
Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System
#304Panic never stops surprising me. You'd think you had them figured out, they keep jumping onto another shelf. It must be fun to work at Panic. It reminds me of how tech companies were in the 90s. Clear mission, but open horizon.
It is partially designed by https://teenage.engineering of Sweden, they apparently among other things came up with the crank.
TE does big things for IKEA, we have been trying to run circles around, trying to get more IKEA business, but TE is naturally ahead with them being Swedish
Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System
#305It would be cool if the crank was also used to charge the device's battery.
Apparently the issue is torque for such things, the OLPC was originally going to have a crank but the force was too much for the laptop body to take long term.
It was removed because it wasn't going to generate enough power without cranking it constantly. And the ergonomics weren't great for kids.
They did end up making an add-on crank at one point, but I don't think it ever was widely distributed
Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System
#306This looks really cool and would be great for a fishing game. I wonder about the lack of backlighting though? Hopefully the screen is much better in this regard than the original non-backlit GBA, which was difficult to see in low light conditions. It was tricky getting light to hit the screen in just the right way: https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2001/06/13/lame-boy-advan...
If the crank orientation can be changed, it can act as ship's navigator wheel and valve
that... would be so cool.
I'd love to see ship games, or a u-boat game. Heck even operating the crank to elevate and/or turn an anti-aircraft gun or tank turret
Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System
#307This company seems well aware they aren't a match for Nintendo. Based on the comments, Hacker News does not seem very aware. Much like how Teenage Engineering's OP-1 is not competitively priced. This is another example of an insightfully designed, well built product for adults. Older millenials looking for a sentimental package so they can feel like it's their 8th birthday again. They are reunboxing a gameboy color.…
Agreed. I've been thinking about a market for small batch or boutique electronics in various markets for a while. There is boutique furniture, small batch alcohol, all sorts of small runs that would never compete with the big guys but still make money and are fun for people to buy. More people should get into it. The biggest barrier to entry may be that you have to self fund for these smaller attempts.
I feel like with electronics, its so complicated to make it durable and long-lasting while also being very good in function that if it's worth making at all, its worth making well - in a way with mass-market appeal.
That's not to say that spending loads on marketing is a requirement. Stuff like the original few OnePlus phones for example prove that if (at least in some sectors) tech is good and cheap, people will spread the word
Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System
#308Realistically, this thing is going to live and die based on 1) how good these games are
and
2) who gets in on the initial batch
if the right people get their hands on these (i'm thinking influencers, game critics, but the kind of people who are receptive to new ideas and) and the games are worth playing, it could become a must-have item.
If either of these fail, it will fall into relative obscurity, as these products usually do
Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System
#309The crank is really interesting. It's such an off the wall choice for a user interface. It will be cool to see how developers take advantage of it.
I don't see how it is better than a traditional joystick. And I think it might easily got broken.
things that have cranks:
Ships bridges (speed, turning etc)
Large gun emplacements (Anti-aircraft?)
Tank turrets
Submarine periscopes
Cranes (old fashioned ones)
Fishing
I think it will specifically work if it's giving the feeling of moving something big and heavy. It doesn't need to have the resistance, most of the above are pulleyed and geared so they are easy to turn.
Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System
#310I want to be mad that I can’t play Firewatch on my phone but I hope I can never play it on my phone.