I know we’ve got a few Playdate owners here who might like this (assuming you’re like me and had no idea it existed). BIG thanks to @J-Chiptunator who told me about it. You install Mirror, then...
I know we’ve got a few Playdate owners here who might like this (assuming you’re like me and had no idea it existed). BIG thanks to @J-Chiptunator who told me about it.
You install Mirror, then plug in your Playdate via USB cord, and you can play games right on the device but get audio and visual output from your computer. It’s got builds for Windows, Mac, and Linux. I’m using it on Fedora and it’s flawless. My Playdate went from having a 2 inch screen to a 17 inch one!
You can choose to continue playing directly on the hardware, or you can play using the keyboard and a controller for your inputs instead. The only thing I haven’t figured out is how to use the crank if you’re not using your original hardware (not even sure if it’s possible tbh).
It’s honestly a complete game changer for me and my Playdate. My number one complaint about it was the lack of a backlight, and my number two complaint was that things on the screen can be a touch too small for comfort.
This fixes both of those things quite handily. I’m going to play a lot more of my Playdate now that I have this option.
Ok, that's fantastic. When they asked for feedback the tiny screen was my major complaint, and so it's delightful to see that I might be able to play the games without squinting and straining my eyes.
Ok, that's fantastic. When they asked for feedback the tiny screen was my major complaint, and so it's delightful to see that I might be able to play the games without squinting and straining my eyes.
Yeah, it swiftly got rid of my biggest complaint about the device. That's a big reason that my Playdate has spent most of its life sitting in a drawer, but if I'd known about this earlier, I...
Yeah, it swiftly got rid of my biggest complaint about the device. That's a big reason that my Playdate has spent most of its life sitting in a drawer, but if I'd known about this earlier, I likely would have spent a lot more time playing it. It's way more comfortable for both my eyes and my posture. I can now play it for hours completely comfortably.
I've probably played my Playdate more this weekend than I have total (granted, that's also because Match-o-3000 got its claws into me and hasn't let go).
When I first glanced at this I thought maybe this was an emulator where you'd be able to play the games on the computer without needing a Playdate. I would be interested in that. I think some of...
When I first glanced at this I thought maybe this was an emulator where you'd be able to play the games on the computer without needing a Playdate. I would be interested in that. I think some of the games look interesting but I really don't want to buy another little system that I use for a few weeks and then it sits in a closet for years.
So then I realized that of course there is a development environment that should allow that. Maybe that's Playdate Simulator? I admit I haven't looked into this much. But how is this mirror product any different than a simulator, other than it lets you use the Playdate as a controller? I'm not asking about how it works (streaming vs emulation), I'm asking how it would be effectively different from the user experience.
You can also use the Playdate as a controller for Playdate Simulator. The main limitation of Simulator is that it only plays the game file and does not have access to the main Playdate catalogue...
You can also use the Playdate as a controller for Playdate Simulator. The main limitation of Simulator is that it only plays the game file and does not have access to the main Playdate catalogue where games are primarily published. So you can use it for developing your own game and some indie projects like you'll find on itch.io that distribute the game file but the majority of the catalogue won't be available on Simulator.
I know we’ve got a few Playdate owners here who might like this (assuming you’re like me and had no idea it existed). BIG thanks to @J-Chiptunator who told me about it.
You install Mirror, then plug in your Playdate via USB cord, and you can play games right on the device but get audio and visual output from your computer. It’s got builds for Windows, Mac, and Linux. I’m using it on Fedora and it’s flawless. My Playdate went from having a 2 inch screen to a 17 inch one!
You can choose to continue playing directly on the hardware, or you can play using the keyboard and a controller for your inputs instead. The only thing I haven’t figured out is how to use the crank if you’re not using your original hardware (not even sure if it’s possible tbh).
It’s honestly a complete game changer for me and my Playdate. My number one complaint about it was the lack of a backlight, and my number two complaint was that things on the screen can be a touch too small for comfort.
This fixes both of those things quite handily. I’m going to play a lot more of my Playdate now that I have this option.
Ok, that's fantastic. When they asked for feedback the tiny screen was my major complaint, and so it's delightful to see that I might be able to play the games without squinting and straining my eyes.
Yeah, it swiftly got rid of my biggest complaint about the device. That's a big reason that my Playdate has spent most of its life sitting in a drawer, but if I'd known about this earlier, I likely would have spent a lot more time playing it. It's way more comfortable for both my eyes and my posture. I can now play it for hours completely comfortably.
I've probably played my Playdate more this weekend than I have total (granted, that's also because Match-o-3000 got its claws into me and hasn't let go).
When I first glanced at this I thought maybe this was an emulator where you'd be able to play the games on the computer without needing a Playdate. I would be interested in that. I think some of the games look interesting but I really don't want to buy another little system that I use for a few weeks and then it sits in a closet for years.
So then I realized that of course there is a development environment that should allow that. Maybe that's Playdate Simulator? I admit I haven't looked into this much. But how is this mirror product any different than a simulator, other than it lets you use the Playdate as a controller? I'm not asking about how it works (streaming vs emulation), I'm asking how it would be effectively different from the user experience.
You can also use the Playdate as a controller for Playdate Simulator. The main limitation of Simulator is that it only plays the game file and does not have access to the main Playdate catalogue where games are primarily published. So you can use it for developing your own game and some indie projects like you'll find on itch.io that distribute the game file but the majority of the catalogue won't be available on Simulator.