Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System • Hacker News Board

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#381

Post by jamesgeck0 » Thu, May 23, 2019, 6:12 PM UTC

hombre_fatal wrote: post #365

frosted-flakes wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A $40 game provides 20-100 hours of high quality gameplay, which I think is a good value.

No, it doesn't. It only might. You or your kids might play it for 10 minutes and never touch it again. How many people on HN have $100s spent on Steam games they haven't even installed once and probably never will? Or games they finally played but didn't like, yet too much time elapsed for a refund?

You could make the same argument about anything. No product is worth the money it costs if you never put it to use.

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#382

Post by 781 » Thu, May 23, 2019, 6:22 PM UTC

sarchertech wrote: post #344

I refuse to believe that anyone came up with a crank based input system organically. Here's what I think happened. They decided that they wanted to make a low power black and white game system for people to use while camping. They decided that a crank charger was the best solution for this and went ahead with development. Further into the process they discovered that they couldn't get the power budget low enough to m…

You're approaching this from the wrong end.

Think about vinyls, cassettes, VHRs, typing machines.

It's all about the cool factor, the "authentic", the "vintage". That's where the crank it's coming from.

The weirdo typing love letters on a mechanical type writer on the park bench. The weirdo cranking this thing on the subway, with his Air Buds on and the expensive sneakers.

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#383

Post by cftorres » Thu, May 23, 2019, 6:56 PM UTC

It has a really high price for just a crank and a good design. I think that I could wait for the day games are launched, perhaps they will be long enough and entertaining. I still dont have much expectations.

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#384

Post by [deleted] » Thu, May 23, 2019, 7:38 PM UTC

bigiain wrote: post #211

dangus wrote: post #198

I'll give this idea one plus - it's a got a playful, fun design. I get the idea of going simple and fun with this. As a device to plunk down $150 on, no way. - If the crank is so fun, they didn't manage to show it. - Hopefully they'll show more games, because the promise of 12 black and white games involving two buttons a crank isn't awe-inspiring. - The 2DS is the same price and is vastly more powerful and capable.…

That's fine. You're not their target market. I think it's a hilarious idea, and will 100% buy one if I can. I have zero interest in buying a 2DS or Switch though. Teenage Engineering seem to have a nice little "lifestyle business" producing electronics that most people just go "But why?" (Also, the crank is demonstrated in the last image is you scroll right down the page. It looks fun!

[deleted]

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#385

Post by mikecaron » Thu, May 23, 2019, 7:38 PM UTC

darzu wrote: post #72

bullfightonmars wrote: post #63

It would be so awesome if this worked with Pico 8 or a similar fantasy console. I will be much more interested if the barrier to entry for making my own games is as close to zero as possible. I want to make my own games for fun, but also to expose my son to the creativity and exploration of programming. A physical console would make this experience so much more real. https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php

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…

I played with arcade.makecode.com at MS Build this year and made a Taco vs. Burgers side scroller on the MeowBit. My kids love it! My daughters and I are coding up something with a duck right now and it's uber fun! Thanks for making that platform!!

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#386

Post by dangus » Thu, May 23, 2019, 7:40 PM UTC

cormacrelf wrote: post #202

dangus wrote: post #198

I'll give this idea one plus - it's a got a playful, fun design. I get the idea of going simple and fun with this. As a device to plunk down $150 on, no way. - If the crank is so fun, they didn't manage to show it. - Hopefully they'll show more games, because the promise of 12 black and white games involving two buttons a crank isn't awe-inspiring. - The 2DS is the same price and is vastly more powerful and capable.…

Don't be quick to dismiss a physical control from Teenage Engineering. Those Swedes are geniuses. Have you seen the OP-1? They are masters of constraints that push creativity along. I have no doubt they can make a crank fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z4hoazra_g

I’ve never heard of them before this post. Their other products are far cheaper and seem to have a more unique place in the marketplace.

This is literally a game boy with a crank, you can get a thousand-game library device with dual color screens for the same price.

Maybe nobody else besides TE is making cool portable synthesizers but this is definitely something that’s been tried before.

Obviously it’s a novelty and not trying to be a million seller, but I’m struggling to see who would buy one based on the price and features considering the alternatives.

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#387

Post by wodenokoto » Thu, May 23, 2019, 7:49 PM UTC

Stephen-E wrote: post #350

sarchertech wrote: post #344

I refuse to believe that anyone came up with a crank based input system organically. Here's what I think happened. They decided that they wanted to make a low power black and white game system for people to use while camping. They decided that a crank charger was the best solution for this and went ahead with development. Further into the process they discovered that they couldn't get the power budget low enough to m…

Look at some of the other products Teenage Engineering has produced. They have a crank control for the OP-1 ( https://teenage.engineering/products/op-1/accessories ) plus other LEGO accessories.

It THOSE guys! I’ve never used the OP-1, but I love watching people on YouTube make music on it. It seems like an amazing piece of hardware.

Check out “red means recording” https://youtu.be/7z4hoazra_g

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#388

Post by mcphage » Thu, May 23, 2019, 7:51 PM UTC

pushpop wrote: post #375

lostmymind66 wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the game play is there and it's fun, it could be successful.

It won’t be. The games industry is littered with hardware that flopped. Most indie games fail to turn a profit and even the likes of Sega and Nintendo have released hardware that has failed to sell. Apple couldn’t even make a successful console and they had tried. Yet this thing is weirder and significantly less appealing to the mainstream so they’re reliant entirely only a super niche crowd to turn a profit. While I…

> It won’t be. The games industry is littered with hardware that flopped.

What do you think Panic means by successful?

From the PlayDate's site:

> Stock will be very limited. Sign up early.

It doesn't sound like they're trying to take over the gaming industry here.

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#389

Post by joezydeco » Thu, May 23, 2019, 8:13 PM UTC

dmix wrote: post #359

Stephen-E wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look at some of the other products Teenage Engineering has produced. They have a crank control for the OP-1 ( https://teenage.engineering/products/op-1/accessories ) plus other LEGO accessories.

So maybe the easier explanation is they hired some good industrial designers, who had happened to previously work on various cranks, and they possibly pitched the idea to the Panic team when asked to design the game device? The point standing that it was an odd choice for a game controller anyway you cut it and most likely wasn't through some UX problem solving process related to games.

But what if the wacky random choice of a crank unleashes some new game mechanic we haven't seen before? Wouldn't it be fun to break away from D-pads once in a while?

Re: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

#390

Post by joezydeco » Thu, May 23, 2019, 8:14 PM UTC

moron4hire wrote: post #347

sarchertech wrote: post #344

I refuse to believe that anyone came up with a crank based input system organically. Here's what I think happened. They decided that they wanted to make a low power black and white game system for people to use while camping. They decided that a crank charger was the best solution for this and went ahead with development. Further into the process they discovered that they couldn't get the power budget low enough to m…

I get the impression that you may not have played a lot of indie jam games. A hand-crank is one of the least weird things I've seen done. Hell, I once made a game where the controller was two people arm wrestling each other. At least a crank is practically usable. As a self-described inveterate hobbyist, I completely understand looking around a workshop full of parts and saying "gee, what could we do with that?" And…

Too bad not a lot of people saw Namco's Panic Park:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaGF4z03UvY

You're literally shoving the other player out of the way.