I still find this console challenging in my brain zone but Iām gonna get one anyway. I will probably regret not having a game on there but I also donāt just have money to throw out there into the ether.
I'm into it. $179 for a Keita Takahashi game is entirely my thing.
I feel like it's the kind of thing that you could pull out in public and have non-game savvy companions shriek in interested glee rather than in mocking hilarity - I can easily see it getting the kind of interest outside of the hardcore that the DS did, and that's pretty exciting.
My hope for this thing is that thereās enough interest that people make tons of their own games, that Panic finds some way to get that stuff out there, and that we wonāt only be exposed to stuff by Prestige Designers officially(not that I don't wanna play that stuff, it just seems like a pretty narrow POV to pull from).
Hardware looks cool as heck though and I'm in for one if I can get a pre-order.
I guess one of my assumptions about this had been that it would be similar to something like Pico-8 in the sense of having very limited capabilities, and therefore being very accessible to develop for. But looking at some of these games, it seems like the only āhardā constraint is the black-and-white screen, and otherwise it isnāt much different from developing for a (perhaps low-spec) PC? Iām curious what the non-Pulp dev process is like.
Ahhh man I dunno why but somehow the design and marketing of this thing fall juuuuuust short of annoyingly twee and make me want one without even caring about any of the games. I just want to hold it and look at it and stuff.
I will take the reverse tack. The Twee-ness of it is deeply off putting. But seeing the games in motion and the weird variety of them has got me locked into want to buy one. That said, I have a big spot in my heart for DMG Gameboy games. A pocket full of little experiences, yeah that will get me.
@thebryanjzx90#33103
Teenage Engineering, dude. They are very good at making cool objects.
@saddleblasters#33082
>Iām curious what the non-Pulp dev process is like
Panic's big software products are Mac apps for devs. They are (in my experience) very good at making software that is nice to use for things that are usually not so nice to use. IIRC they also mentioned Lua specifically so it should be relatively approachable for someone coming from Pico 8 as opposed to something especially restrictive like the arduboy.
Personally was surprised at the variety they had on display there. And I probably should've assumed there would be a ton of classic Mac influences in their software (Cabel is a huge fan of retro Apple), but somehow it didn't totally click for me until I saw the adventure game and the radio app. The 8 hour battery life, already-pretty-enthusiastic developer community, and the prospect of a bunch of small games for everyone to get at the same time is something I really like. I'm a total sucker for 1 bit graphics, too. People seem to be going for either a flipnote style or a Mac classic style and those are both things I *really* like.
I will add, having jumped on the Evercade train this year too, that having a set of odd small games that everyone is playing at once has been a really nice experience. Kind of like the release of a big AAA game bit without the hot takes. Almost wish they were doing 24 games over 24 weeks instead of 12. Let me simmer on these.
The presentation had something about it that was mildly annoying in the back of my head. I thought it was funny that the opener was about a new accessory for a device I still know little about development-wise, but I will be a fool and get that dock. The pen was a bit much.
I think overall the most interesting things to me were the pinball adventure game and Pulp. Especially Pulp. I'd like to be able to get my hands on that sooner than later just to see what all I can do with it. The classic Macintosh feeling that @donrumata mentioned definitely hit me, especially with the look of it on its little dock. I'd love to make/play an evolution of a Macventure-like game on the thing.
@JJSignal#33198 I thought the dock was a little strange too, but I guess when youāre working with Teenage Engineering a stereo dock is in the cards.
Looks like Playdate orders just opened! Iām sitting on the main page trying to figure out if this would be something I could get into. I love the concept of a portable with games delivered straight to the system and the games look cool! I love portable systems so much. I also donāt want to be playing catchup if I donāt get in now since itās a subscription of games. But that priceā¦ sigh.
I got into the Arduboy and that felt worth it in the end but the support wasn't there. This feels kind of similar with a bigger asking price.
Got mine, order number in the 6000s after starting checkout at about 10:03. Heard a little hands on from the Giant Bombcast this week and they described it basically as exactly what I was expecting it would be, a neat thing you can keep on your desk and look at and be entertained for a little while if you get some time to crank it
My order is in the 2000s, I was extremely on top of trying to get one lol. Extremely excited to see what happens with the lil crank and what people homebrew onto it.
Hope a GB emulator is on there ASAP, let me play some of that stuff on that lil screen!!!
I got my order in pretty darn early (#4,208) and I'm pretty stoked to have this adorable square in my pocket. I wanna make some weird little games for this thing!
I ordered one this morning, too. Think Iām somewhere in the 5000ās. I love the concept and Iām excited to see how this experiment plays out.
Really hoping for some 90ās / 00ās Nintendo R&D1 energy, like Warioware and Gameboy camera.
I watched the Wired review, which called the Playdate a deluxe fidget spinner, and for the price tag attached, thatās not quite what Iām looking for.
I think the most exciting aspect of this thing is still the monthly game releases that everyone will receive at the same time. That community aspect is really neat, and something I hope someone else (let's be honest, by "someone else," I just mean Nintendo) will emulate with slightly beefier games.
Definitely want Playdate to succeed and catch on with a lot of people so that if I do decide to grab one a year from now, it'll be a nice ecosystem to jump into.
Iām interested in the Playdate and I think it could be a lot of fun to use but with this āsocialā (FOMO?) aspect to the game releases I canāt help but wonder what itāll feel like for those late to the party. Do the games still stand up when theyāre not this week's shiny new toy? Is that even a problem? Does every portable gaming device have to have capital-G Games anyway?
@āKimimiā#p39032 Itās a weird time for things which slip between the ānew and coolā and āniche/old and interesting'!