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Playdate handheld console release thread
Playdate announced on Twitter that they are beginning shipping today:
Oh! A new Playdate Update video is here!
It recaps the great developer things we've released this year, like Pulp and the Playdate SDK. Please enjoy it. https://youtu.be/BmrtkBmFSn4
There's one extra important bit in the update. Playdates in Group One will begin shipping…
…today.
The embargo on reviews also lifted:
- The Verge: All it’s cranked up to be
- Rock Paper Shotgun: A handheld indie curio that goes hand in hand with the spirit of PC
- Eurogamer: A fascinating puzzle in itself
- Video Games Chronicle: The Playdate is fun but its quirks may wind you up
- ArsTechnica: Playdate earns its $179 price tag with cute design, memorable games
- Engadget: Playdate is a magical indie game machine
- IGN: It's Crankin' Time
- Venture Beat: An alternate-history boutique handheld
- GamesRadar: Tiny, mighty, unfussy fun
- Destructoid: You’ve got a date
- Gizmodo: The Playdate Is Oozing With Charm and Potential
Also, ArsTechnica released reviews of all of the Playdate games. SPOILERS ahead:
So mine finally came in.
Consult the journalists for a full review, but I do have some thoughts of my own to share
My order number was in the range of 2000, but the serial number I received was just under 10K. How many review units did they give away?
The box has a sticker that quite literally says playdate 2020 on it. Way to rub in how long the delays were.
Honestly I wish that Panic were more open about why there were so many delays. Now that I have it in my hands it really doesn’t feel magical or even particularly professionally put together. The case is made of what feels like PLA, which makes it feel more like a “maker” project than something I paid $200 for.
The reviewers who complained about the screen are crazy. Sure it’s not backlit but it’s nowhere nearly as hard to view as any gameboy ever was. Basically, if you can read a book you should have enough light to see the screen clearly.
The crank is legit. It’s very smooth and has a little bit of resistance. And it’s probably where the majority of the hardware budget went into. There is some seriously high quality machining that went into ensure that opening it has a pleasant snap and that it won’t accidentally fold on you.
The first two games I got both used the crank and were surprisingly fun, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise for those who want that experience.
Glad you got yours! Congrats!
Without spoiling anything, were the two games you played more one-and-done type deals, or do you see yourself returning to one/both?
I don’t know if everyone is going to get their games in the same order, but the first two games are practically polar opposites.
The first one is something like a flash game; simple concept and controls, ultra short gameplay loop, and it challenges you to try over and over for mastery in order to beat your high scores. But because it doesn’t really explain it’s mechanics to begin with you are going to want to repeat playing for a while just to figure out how you’re actually meant to be playing it.
The second game is an adventure game. It’s full of puzzles, NPCs to chat with, and flavor text galore. There are a bunch of jokes and some of them are very easy to miss. The game basically always auto saves whenever you quit it so the pick-up-and-play factor is real.
To better answer your question, yes, I will be returning to both of them, but mostly because they seem to be best played in small doses.
Did anyone order one?
I did!
My order is in group 2 though, so I likely won't actually get it for a while. Definitely at least a month out -- probably more.
Are you gonna get this or the steam deck first? It's a race!
I did.
Got an email at the start of the month but no updates as to when to expect it to come in. And I am in group 1.
I did, and I talked my sister into getting one as well. I think mine is group 5, and hers is sometime after that.
Yes! I am in Group 1 and trying not to refresh my email every five minutes.
As an original 512K Mac user, the black and white screen is like seeing an old friend again.
It looks adorable and I kinda want one.
What makes me most skeptical, ironically, is the crank. It seems like it's primarily designed to be a conversation starter, which is ok, but also kinda gimmicky? Like, from what I read, there is nothing to it but the rotation. In terms of raw input, it's not different than a joystick (actually more restricted since an axis is missing). I don't see how it's more comfortable to use, either (although the device seems to be light enough to make holding it with the other hand while cranking a non-issue).
Still, it's adorable. I just hope the actual games (which will make or brake such a niche device) are genuinely good and don't rely on that crank for the sake of it. All I see are quantity-focused short descriptions of the games, they're positive, but is there really much to play once the novelty wore off?
Basically: Is this just something to put on your desk as a decorative item with its functionality being like a bonus to add character? Or is this a genuine game-playing device that uses its limitations to inspire interesting stuff?
From the Verge review, there seem to be some good game designers releasing small, quirky games.
There is only so much you could do with this tiny device, but the cost of game development is probably pretty low so that should encourage experiments.
It seems like novelty is the point?
The costs of making a game for this are as close to zero as you can possibly get because Panic has done the heavy lifting for you. The SDK is surprisingly full featured so anyone who's familliar with making 2D games should be able to pick it up pretty easy even if they're not used to low-level programming (Panic's docs actually encourage you to stick with Lua unless you need bare-metal performance); graphics are simple because they're 1-bit, and music is as complex as you want it to be since the SDK supports pattern-based or streaming PCM audio.
And then there's Pulp, which means you don't even need to know how to program.
Novelty is kind of the point; it's supposed to get developers' creative juices flowing.