Yeah. They do have an SDK coming out soon looks like so I would be shocked if someone DIDN'T put a GB emulator on the thing.
There is also lots and lots of cheap emulator devices these days with more buttons and color screens like the Retroid Pocket 2 and Anbernic RG350 that also cost a fraction of the price.
The included games seem really creative and interesting, but you're right that it'll be a fun novelty for most people, then get less interesting after a few hours or so.
I think the people who will get a lot out of it are people who get involved in the homebrew community - I spent hundreds of hours on ZZT as a kid, despite the limited ascii graphics. It's not trivial to make your own gameboy game then load it onto an actual gameboy. It seems like they've put a lot of effort into the SDK, game maker, and ease of sideloading new games.
You want the Analog Pocket: https://www.analogue.co/pocket, but its preorders instantly sold out, and its first shipment has been delayed until end of year.
Or one of the cheaper Chinese devices like the Retroid Pocket or RG531p
As far as I know, everything they make sells out instantly, you'd think they could start doing bigger production runs. I realize scarcity can drive up demand, but everything in their store being out of stock is little much.
Large continuous runs is a completely different kind of production and if they're doing batch runs large enough to have continuous stock they need a lot more initial investment and take on more risk if they flub their market predictions.
You're missing the point a bit. The focus for this device is on the community: a set of easy to use dev tools, extremely limited input and output in order to keep games focused, a distribution method, and a community built around that all with the same hard- and software, focusing on game dev and each week's new release. I'm pretty excited for it. Yeah it'll be a novelty that will wear off in a few months or maybe a couple years if they're lucky. That's exactly what I'm signing up for.
The ‘subscription’ model fit games could create an interest in competitive community if there were a local/regional/global scoreboard for each new game as they are released.
Important to keep it whimsical though. The competitive gaming scene is… intense.
Humor me, why would this be interesting in any way shape or form? I can see this only being interested to people with fetishes for old LCD-based semi-disposable toys.
It's a big bet. Even in the modern era of low-cost pipelines from concept to fabrication, novel console devices are incredibly expensive and risky to bootstrap into life.
180 dollars (plus shipping) is more than it'd cost for a modified gameboy plus a flashcart, and is near the price of an Analogue. The Analogue can play any gameboy (and advance) game every made, and is also a musical instrument.
Not really. I've got like 5 or 6 ways I can play Game Boy games now, I don't need another device for it. There's no other way I can play these games, so it's a new experience for me.
My pocket operators disagree - Love them to death, but I just know I'll break them some time soon (and I know I can get a case, but the device itself is NOT build that strongly).
My op-z (buttons fell off or stopped working), ob-4 (buttons fell off or stopped working), pocket operators (battery doors snapped, buttons stopped responding, lcds leaked) all join you in the disagreement. As far as I can tell the only thing they've made that is robust is the op-1 (yet..., I still love TE).
It looks amazing, but... why? I can't see myself spending more than 10 bucks on something like this. There are plenty of "vintage styled" games on Steam, getting a Raspberry Pi and putting it into a nice cover would be probably cheaper.
First, it's coming from Panic. They have enough fans that they can probably sell out the first run just on their reputation.
Secondly, the industrial design looks great or at least novel. For $180 you get a neat looking toy and are supporting the development of new stuff. $180 feels like a sustainable price.
It is a lot of money, but for many people on HN $180 is an easy impulse buy.
They published Firewatch, too! In addition to being being highly respected (someone else in this thread used the word "legendary") Mac software developers.
I'm a huge teenage engineering fanboy but whatever you do, don't break their stuff, once it's broken, it's broken. Curious if the same is true for playdate, if it's like the rest of the TE gear, If you mess up the crank, expect to buy a whole new unit.
Playdate seems to me like a masterclass in marketing. The device is nothing extraordinary (imo), but it's presented and marketed in a way that makes it interesting.
I think the hardware is notably whimsical (crank, very nice 1-bit display combined with ‘fast’ processor). I agree that there’s a lot hanging on marketing/hype, but part of it is just how people like Panic overall.
This is it: the peak Hacker News comment. A gizmo with a handcrank and a black and white screen is nothing out of the ordinary in 2021. I bet you could even make it yourself in a weekend if you just use a Raspberry Pi and an e-ink screen!
I didn't read that comment as "a DIY one is just as good". More like, it's not high spec, it's pretty minimalist and low tech. The execution could still be good and the choice can still be unique.
How it works and what it does and what it's made of are very different things (cite: Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance) and once the novelty of how it works has worn off (yes, kudos, BTW) what is left is a mildly interesting device. The SDK and ecosystem are also mildly interesting, but the cute factor will wear off quickly and it's probably go the way of Neil Young's Pono.
I feel it's pricy novelty product. And even with SDK, I wonder will there be new games in couple years? I don't think they will actually sell enough to justify development time...
I don't understand your comment. I feel like you're mocking the parent but at the same time you make it sound very reasonable. You can indeed make a gizmo with a handcrank with a black and white screen in a weekend.
I think here what will make or break it will be if it manages to reach a critical amount of early adopter to justify making games for the platform, otherwise it's going to end up like the Ouya, hipster version.
Personally I think it's cute and I'm vaguely interested by it, but at the current price point it seems like a tough sale. For literally $20 more you get a Nintendo Switch Lite (admittedly without games).
On the other hand there’s this tendency to put down any kind of criticism as dumb, implying the person “just doesn’t get it”. No, I get it, I’m just not impressed. It’s a low-tech handheld with a gimmick. My gut feeling is that the novelty factor will wear of pretty quickly. This is completely unrelated to the fact that I’m impressed with the apparent production quality and marketing.
> but it's presented and marketed in a way that makes it interesting.
And I’m not even sure about that. At least the info on the link seems very scarce and the featured video was mostly a bunch of people talking and very little gameplay. I guess I’m not the target audience as this didn’t seem exciting to me at all. Couldn’t finish watching the video.
It's having exclusive games made for it by some pretty famous game developers. It has a unique input device. It looks and behaves like a modern gameboy. It will openly let you tinker and dev with it yourself. It's like a dream gameboy.
If you want to comment about how it's too expensive or doesn't play 30 year old gameboy games, don't bother? This is a new device that delivers new experiences and will likely sell out of its first shipment very quickly.
Lucas Pope's section of the update video [0] has me incredibly excited. He's one of my favorite game developers, and seeing him work more with 1-bit 3D games after Obra Dinn has piqued my interest. Also, a blog on dithering I came across after playing Obra Dinn was one of the more interesting tech blogs I've read [1]. Also see Lucas Pope's post on how he did dithering in-game [2].
On the one hand, it's amazing, it's ~$220 for games.
On the other hand, is this games?
It's so tough out there. Lucas Pope obviously works really hard. Just imagine you're an otherwise successful indie game developer, you put out two amazing games, and it still isn't viable to make a third, in 2021.
That doesn't happen with movies. You make two budget positive or critically acclaimed movies, you get to make a third. You don't have to go and make something else.
I don't really understand what you're saying. I'm pretty sure Lucas Pope does whatever he wants at this point. After Papers, Please, Obra Dinn was clearly a creative pursuit that took years, he obsessed over the dithering for eons... This isn't someone out there struggling to make a buck.
The most relevant quote to this discussion is probably:
> "My wife played [an early Papers, Please prototype] and said, 'You can finish this, but afterwards, you gotta get a job,'" Pope says with a laugh. "Which is funny, because now, whatever I show her, she's like..." Pope gestures as if he's throwing his hands in the air and giving up. "'Fuckin'... whatever, dude, I'm sure it'll work out.'"
That would be interesting. Can someone who took a Physics class calculate how much energy you could get by cranking (and maybe how many cranks you'd need) to charge this bad boy up?
1 minute of cranking for 30 minutes of play time seems honestly pretty great. Wish I could do that with an iPhone!
I have been in Miami this last week and went to the Mayweather v Paul fight and leaving there was absolute hell. Phone was at 2%, thousands and thousands of people were all trying to get Ubers at once. It was a disaster. Took two hours to find someone who was headed to Hollywood and then I charged my phone along the way and got another Uber back down to my Airbnb. #salty
Could be a cool idea to have a "dual mode bike" that could let you pedal to charge your phone. Anything like this exist lol?
Dynamo lamps have been around for decades if not longer, but they make biking less fun. Output isn't too great either at 6V/3W that seems to be typical. Though it can be bought for cheap 5€ to 36€...
Speaking of charging, does anyone know if usb-c charging is properly implemented? I've bought a number of new devices with usb-c and am disappointed they require the old usb-a to usb-c cable to charge. Has anyone tested with a Macbook charger, or a "smart" usb-c to usb-c cable?
This things been a long time coming. I think the first announced timeline was shipping in early 2020 at $150, and taking orders in 2019. I guess covid messed some of their timeline up, but I'm still excited about it.
I'll definitely be getting one, I think a big aspect of what makes it different is the programmability aspect. They're trying to make developing games for it super accessible, and I think it'll be a lot of fun for programmers who don't have the time to make full-on traditional games, or don't want to make decisions about the framework, language, etc. The constraints are what makes it fun. If the SDK is good, it'll be huge.
I think they are starting on the right foot. Ouya seemed to sell the idea that it might compare with hardcore consoles where it was nothing close. This seems to sell an idea where the hardware and games are one and sell itself as something silly and whimsical.
The design and esthetics of this thing are on point. However, I agree with other comments that the games don't really speak to me, and I've found myself more interested in the pictures of the actual devices than any of the games. Regardless I hope this succeeds. Electronics need more original industrial design!
I feel the opposite -this speaks to me more than any other device I’ve seen, but I was obsessed with calculator games in high school, spending many hours on ticalc.org and IRC.
Me too, this speaks to me so much. The games all look wholesome, in line with the device itself. Judging by what I've seen, the processing power inside will be quite good and would not require optimisations unlike "retro" hardware, which would mean lots of third-party games made with relative ease.
This would be a good device to spend some time with away from social media and work.
I appreciate the ~decent <noscript/> textContent. Telling exactly what purpose(s) JavaScript serves helps make an informed decision on whether to open a graphical web browser or continue with w3m. (In this case, it was obvious I could read on about Playdate just fine.)
I've grown sick of create-react-app default <noscript/> textContent.
> Hello! Javascript is required for purchasing, signing up for the newsletter, viewing videos, and other content on this page. Please enable Javascript.
I think it depends on how much the set of people who browse without JavaScript and the set of people who might connect you with relevant and important people/opportunities intersects. I've heard of people running whole web ad campaigns just to reach one person.
Frankly the only time I ever see someone using a browser without JS is here on HN. Every person I know IRL or on other social media uses a regular browser like Chrome, Firefox, or sometimes Edge.
I don't think even 1% of the global population knows it's possible to browse web pages without a GUI.
Devs who would spend the 30 seconds adding the descriptive noscript text likely also pay attention to things like alt tags and semantic markup as well.
Oh nice, Lua support! Should make porting one of my games (that I already mostly ported to Pico-8) to this little guy. Maybe I'll finally finish the Pico-8 port while I'm at it.
This is the original Flash version from back in the day. I'm also working on a 3D sequel with Twitch support in my limited spare time: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/183428
I don't know why, but I have a good feeling that this device will be fairly successful. Maybe it's just good marketing on their part.
I don't really have a good idea of how to make good use of the crank, except maybe add something that allows you to go back and forward in time (at least undo support). Maybe I'll even alter the mechanics to take advantage of it, like that 5D chess game.
Not sure why this got downvoted. These are great ideas! Any interaction that requires some degree (ahem) of radial precision is exactly the kind of mechanic that would shine with this novel controller.
Despite having little interest in buying one myself, a suite of specially-developed surprise games seems like an interesting idea kinda like the Humble Indie Bundles... plus the upcoming web-based SDK to make your own!
Also cool to see the fantastic poolside.fm in a screenshot although the pen-holder dock feels a little kitsch. It's promising, however, that the design partners are Teenage Engineering - known for their Pocket Operators and the truly amazing OP-1 all in one synth[0] for which I strongly vouch.
I got one of those. Unfortunately the controls felt bad and the novelty of my Pico-8 game on there wore out quickly because of the junk feel of the buttons. This I can see being in to for longer.
Just makes me think of when Gruber said "The story is about Playdate, the most amazing and exciting product announcement, for me, since the original iPhone." I can't help but roll my eyes at this thing.
I am very much a fan of Apple products and enjoy a lot of the commentary from these apple pundits but it does feel a lot like this in-club that once you are a part of it anything you do will be praised by that group.
I feel strongly that that is the case here. From anyone outside of the bubble I feel like ultimately it’s a quirky toy for rich techies that will probably be used a couple times before the novelty wears off and you go back to playing games on almost anything else.
The styling of this thing is beautiful. That said, is it too much to ask that they come up with their own original name for a device that is patently a solo experience instead of hijacking a term for humans interacting with each other in physical space?
I am always impressed with the design of Teenage Engineering’s products but they have an air “pure consumerism”. I think this is that taken to its extreme. A toy that has a crank, retro screen, design-driven accessories, and the games are there but not promoted.
Compare that to the gameboy which put its games front and center with the selling point of being handheld. Admittedly, I would get the Playdate to put on my desk and admire as plastic art, but no more room.
At some point, the medium does become important. Every computer no matter how small can do everything now, and limiting games to a specific platform is for the most part arbitrary at this point.
So if you add limitations, or extra buttons! you end up with the rare occurrence of something new! A crank is actually a really cool addition just in terms of experimenting with gameplay.
This is something well understood in the electronic music space. The limitations of the equipment can define entire genres of music. The programmer in me is very excited about doing some dev work on a limited platform.
Indeed. I really love the Kind of Bloop[0] album, an 8-bit tribute to Kind of Blue[1] by Miles Davis (often cited as the best-selling jazz record of all time). Example song here[2].
> Teenage Engineering’s products but they have an air “pure consumerism”.
I got bad news for you buddy, video games don't have a functional purpose any greater than beautiful design. You're sort of barking up the wrong tree if you wanna take a dump on something. But I think this was said in good faith, and you should just consider that Teenage Engineering's Pocket Operators have a totally different, literally unpolished aesthetic and also sell very well.
Video games serve as entertainment and for many people an escapist solution. Yes, I own a few Pocket Operators and owned an OP-1 previously. Playdate is an evolution of TE’s design aspirations. The OP-1 included video game like animation and influences in its music engines. Similar to the OP-1, I am concerned that its strict design POV may hinder creativity. Some artists prefer limitations. I would’ve loved an editable sequencer on the OP-1. Was a backlight that hard to include for the Playdate?
Aside from entertainment video games are increasingly used as a sort of virtual socializing. Especially among Gen Z with Minecraft and Roblox. Microsoft has been tailoring the Xbox experience to be way more social-oriented and I think it will pay huge dividends for them.
They are seemingly, or apparently unpolished. Not literally. You can bet that they spent a huge amount of time making sure it looks unpolished but still good.
I think you're having this reaction because of the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia. [Nintendo's marketing for the Game Boy focused on the form and function of the device as much as its games](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-ej_8XBwmI). Believe it or not at some point the Game Boy's looks were considered fashionable!
My initial gut reaction to this product is that I must have it, but I know myself well enough that this would also just sit on a shelf somewhere looking cool but I would never touch it. The games look nice but I'm not a huge fan of it being black and white (just my personal taste). Plus I want to know that there will be a strong community making games, one that won't fizzle out too quick. it's great that Panic is releasing games for them but how long will that last? If they released a color version that ran Pico-8 there would be no question, I'd pre-order it immediately.
That being said, watching the video[1] on the site is making this look really enticing.
Not quite PICO-8 but you can try https://arcade.makecode.com/ (esp. the TypeScript not blocks) - you can run these games on in-expensive (~$30) hardware [0]
> I know myself well enough that this would also just sit on a shelf somewhere looking cool but I would never touch it.
I would normally have the same reaction, except for whole "two new games every week" setup. I actually love these sorts of little timed deliveries, and I think it will keep me engaged.
Also, re: black and white, from what I understand they're using one of those high-contrast memory LCD screens, similar to what's on the Pebble 2. Those look super nice, kind of halfway between e-ink and a standard LCD screen.
It's not clear what you're saying here. What is "pure consumerism"? Are you suggesting that aesthetics is bad? It's a stylish object. People enjoy stylish objects.
> the games are there but not promoted.
that's probably because the developers are still working on the games and aren't ready to fully show them off yet.
Well, it sounds like to me, that TE just did the hardware design, and PANIC is really the one making the decisions for the software/games side.
That being said, Teenage Engineering is one of those brands that has massively disappointed me over time. When the OP-1 came out it was a truly innovative, beautiful, and robust synthesizer... Despite that, everything they make now just seems over-hyped, over-priced, and homogeneous.
I mean their most recent "innovations" are, no-joke: a $600 portable AM/FM + BT radio, whose only real feature is a massive buffer so you can rewind or fast forward in real-time, and a robot that dances to music.
They're great at predictable, minimal design, there is no doubt there, but that's about it.
I don't get why everyone here is comparing this to gameboy emulators.
There's a million ways to emulate gameboy at this point. There are emulators that run on pretty much every single platform. You can get a $40 handheld on Amazon that can do it.
To me the selling point of this system is that you can play _new_ games that are in a cool retro 1-bit art style.
Agree - like they should want people developing to it before it's released. This effectively gives them a rather odd lock-out period from the larger community.
I don't think that's a good enough reason. They could make it a 'use at your own risk' type situation and/or let people band together in a group and talk out and try to work through any issues they have without their involvement.
You need to let people start getting ready for this any way you can, especially as this is a potentially niche product that's not going to have any major developers working on it.
Best I can do right now is work on game logic elsewhere and try to be ready to do a port when they finally go public with it, hopefully before its official release.
If you want to write a 1 bit retro game at this point, hardware is not what's holding you back. There are thousands of hobbyist 6502 kits you can buy, not to mention retro computers that people keep in like-new condition and put on eBay. (There are lots of people still writing new C64 and Apple II games.) Or you could use an Arduino and LCD. Or, you can just only use one color in a <canvas> tag.
I think what people want is a platform where a captive audience has to play your game, because there aren't any good games for the platform. If you target modern computers, you're competing with games like League of Legends or Overwatch, which have large teams behind them. If you target this shitbox, your competition is some game where you spin a crank so you aren't late to an e-date. Your chance of "winning" is high.
It remains to be seen whether some exclusive game is so good that it sells the console. I only buy Nintendo products so I can play their exclusive games. I would much prefer to run them on my PC, but they demand an extra $500 tax. Good business model! Maybe it can be yours too.
I agree with your point about Nintendo, I always thought they should release their own Steam clone that requires a $100 per year subscription before you can even buy the games. That would replace the hardware revenue and free them from the burden of making hardware. I'm guessing the reason they don't is that they're a Japanese company primarily focused on a Japanese audience who don't necessarily own gaming PCs.
But regarding the Playdate, I think your take is too uncharitable. Here's a better way to frame it: Steam is great, but it's hard for indie developers to get noticed. What if we could split off a group of customers (who want retro indie games) into their own curated mini-Steam? Developers will surely come and make games, spurred by the confidence that they can get their stuff noticed. And then more customers will come, enticed by the curated ecosystem that makes it easy to get high-quality retro indie games.
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[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 258 ms ] threadI could see myself buying this if it could emulate NES or GameBoy games though.
There is also lots and lots of cheap emulator devices these days with more buttons and color screens like the Retroid Pocket 2 and Anbernic RG350 that also cost a fraction of the price.
Price is a bit much for me personally.
I think the people who will get a lot out of it are people who get involved in the homebrew community - I spent hundreds of hours on ZZT as a kid, despite the limited ascii graphics. It's not trivial to make your own gameboy game then load it onto an actual gameboy. It seems like they've put a lot of effort into the SDK, game maker, and ease of sideloading new games.
Or one of the cheaper Chinese devices like the Retroid Pocket or RG531p
Important to keep it whimsical though. The competitive gaming scene is… intense.
https://blog.adafruit.com/2020/07/08/gamekid-a-game-boy-emul...
as well as an article from a couple years ago about the device: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/05/why-the-quirky-playda...
I suspect the market is there to enable modest success, for the same reason cassette labels flourished.
If this was around 80$ I would be all over it.
The Playdate cost includes 20 games by (relatively) well known indie game developers.
First, it's coming from Panic. They have enough fans that they can probably sell out the first run just on their reputation.
Secondly, the industrial design looks great or at least novel. For $180 you get a neat looking toy and are supporting the development of new stuff. $180 feels like a sustainable price.
It is a lot of money, but for many people on HN $180 is an easy impulse buy.
It's a neat concept for a system, but a bit unfortunate that one can't play Untitled Goose Game on it.
This is it: the peak Hacker News comment. A gizmo with a handcrank and a black and white screen is nothing out of the ordinary in 2021. I bet you could even make it yourself in a weekend if you just use a Raspberry Pi and an e-ink screen!
This is it: the peak Hacker News comment.
I think here what will make or break it will be if it manages to reach a critical amount of early adopter to justify making games for the platform, otherwise it's going to end up like the Ouya, hipster version.
Personally I think it's cute and I'm vaguely interested by it, but at the current price point it seems like a tough sale. For literally $20 more you get a Nintendo Switch Lite (admittedly without games).
I meant it the way asveikau replied.
And I’m not even sure about that. At least the info on the link seems very scarce and the featured video was mostly a bunch of people talking and very little gameplay. I guess I’m not the target audience as this didn’t seem exciting to me at all. Couldn’t finish watching the video.
I think that consumers have grown weary of buying individual games, and would rather just pay a lump sum or subscription.
And, that I expect I will have fun with it.
Fun is where it's at with a Game Console. I like the artistry but that's just a gateway ... to the fun!
[0] https://youtu.be/DeWGukDrc1U?t=455
[1] https://surma.dev/things/ditherpunk/
[2] https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=40832.msg136374...
On the other hand, is this games?
It's so tough out there. Lucas Pope obviously works really hard. Just imagine you're an otherwise successful indie game developer, you put out two amazing games, and it still isn't viable to make a third, in 2021.
That doesn't happen with movies. You make two budget positive or critically acclaimed movies, you get to make a third. You don't have to go and make something else.
I didn’t go through all the parent’s sources, can you tell me where this was stated?
The most relevant quote to this discussion is probably:
> "My wife played [an early Papers, Please prototype] and said, 'You can finish this, but afterwards, you gotta get a job,'" Pope says with a laugh. "Which is funny, because now, whatever I show her, she's like..." Pope gestures as if he's throwing his hands in the air and giving up. "'Fuckin'... whatever, dude, I'm sure it'll work out.'"
yes
[1] https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2007/12/wind-up-your-la.html
I have been in Miami this last week and went to the Mayweather v Paul fight and leaving there was absolute hell. Phone was at 2%, thousands and thousands of people were all trying to get Ubers at once. It was a disaster. Took two hours to find someone who was headed to Hollywood and then I charged my phone along the way and got another Uber back down to my Airbnb. #salty
Could be a cool idea to have a "dual mode bike" that could let you pedal to charge your phone. Anything like this exist lol?
I'll definitely be getting one, I think a big aspect of what makes it different is the programmability aspect. They're trying to make developing games for it super accessible, and I think it'll be a lot of fun for programmers who don't have the time to make full-on traditional games, or don't want to make decisions about the framework, language, etc. The constraints are what makes it fun. If the SDK is good, it'll be huge.
This would be a good device to spend some time with away from social media and work.
I've grown sick of create-react-app default <noscript/> textContent.
> Hello! Javascript is required for purchasing, signing up for the newsletter, viewing videos, and other content on this page. Please enable Javascript.
> Your browser doesn't seem to support video.
And honestly a good chunk of that population will still just complain anyhow / might not be persuaded. They already kinda made their call.
I don't think even 1% of the global population knows it's possible to browse web pages without a GUI.
I’d rather devs focus on accessibility for screen readers etc.
The marketing is flashy, but I have zero interest in this product.
This is the original Flash version from back in the day. I'm also working on a 3D sequel with Twitch support in my limited spare time: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/183428
I don't know why, but I have a good feeling that this device will be fairly successful. Maybe it's just good marketing on their part.
I don't really have a good idea of how to make good use of the crank, except maybe add something that allows you to go back and forward in time (at least undo support). Maybe I'll even alter the mechanics to take advantage of it, like that 5D chess game.
safe cracking, catapult aiming, fire burner air balloon adjustment, etc...
Also cool to see the fantastic poolside.fm in a screenshot although the pen-holder dock feels a little kitsch. It's promising, however, that the design partners are Teenage Engineering - known for their Pocket Operators and the truly amazing OP-1 all in one synth[0] for which I strongly vouch.
[0]: https://teenage.engineering/products/op-1
I'm planning on picking up some of these to try with some junior-high and high school students in the fall -- if Covid is over by then :-)
https://daringfireball.net/2019/05/playdate
I feel strongly that that is the case here. From anyone outside of the bubble I feel like ultimately it’s a quirky toy for rich techies that will probably be used a couple times before the novelty wears off and you go back to playing games on almost anything else.
Compare that to the gameboy which put its games front and center with the selling point of being handheld. Admittedly, I would get the Playdate to put on my desk and admire as plastic art, but no more room.
So if you add limitations, or extra buttons! you end up with the rare occurrence of something new! A crank is actually a really cool addition just in terms of experimenting with gameplay.
[0] https://kindofbloop.com [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kind_of_Blue [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSCObIXDCJc
I got bad news for you buddy, video games don't have a functional purpose any greater than beautiful design. You're sort of barking up the wrong tree if you wanna take a dump on something. But I think this was said in good faith, and you should just consider that Teenage Engineering's Pocket Operators have a totally different, literally unpolished aesthetic and also sell very well.
some games do, some games don't. Different games have different goals.
They are seemingly, or apparently unpolished. Not literally. You can bet that they spent a huge amount of time making sure it looks unpolished but still good.
That being said, watching the video[1] on the site is making this look really enticing.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeWGukDrc1U
[0] https://arcade.makecode.com/hardware/
I would normally have the same reaction, except for whole "two new games every week" setup. I actually love these sorts of little timed deliveries, and I think it will keep me engaged.
Also, re: black and white, from what I understand they're using one of those high-contrast memory LCD screens, similar to what's on the Pebble 2. Those look super nice, kind of halfway between e-ink and a standard LCD screen.
It's not clear what you're saying here. What is "pure consumerism"? Are you suggesting that aesthetics is bad? It's a stylish object. People enjoy stylish objects.
> the games are there but not promoted.
that's probably because the developers are still working on the games and aren't ready to fully show them off yet.
That being said, Teenage Engineering is one of those brands that has massively disappointed me over time. When the OP-1 came out it was a truly innovative, beautiful, and robust synthesizer... Despite that, everything they make now just seems over-hyped, over-priced, and homogeneous.
I mean their most recent "innovations" are, no-joke: a $600 portable AM/FM + BT radio, whose only real feature is a massive buffer so you can rewind or fast forward in real-time, and a robot that dances to music.
They're great at predictable, minimal design, there is no doubt there, but that's about it.
There's a million ways to emulate gameboy at this point. There are emulators that run on pretty much every single platform. You can get a $40 handheld on Amazon that can do it.
To me the selling point of this system is that you can play _new_ games that are in a cool retro 1-bit art style.
That itself is a unique thing
One thing that irks me is that the Dev environment is clearly at least public beta ready. I’d like to see and try it before preordering though.
Basically, they don't have resources yet to open it up and support it enough for people to have good experience with it.
You need to let people start getting ready for this any way you can, especially as this is a potentially niche product that's not going to have any major developers working on it.
Best I can do right now is work on game logic elsewhere and try to be ready to do a port when they finally go public with it, hopefully before its official release.
Maybe they don't? They seem to have plenty of games coming out in time for launch from great developers.
I think what people want is a platform where a captive audience has to play your game, because there aren't any good games for the platform. If you target modern computers, you're competing with games like League of Legends or Overwatch, which have large teams behind them. If you target this shitbox, your competition is some game where you spin a crank so you aren't late to an e-date. Your chance of "winning" is high.
It remains to be seen whether some exclusive game is so good that it sells the console. I only buy Nintendo products so I can play their exclusive games. I would much prefer to run them on my PC, but they demand an extra $500 tax. Good business model! Maybe it can be yours too.
But regarding the Playdate, I think your take is too uncharitable. Here's a better way to frame it: Steam is great, but it's hard for indie developers to get noticed. What if we could split off a group of customers (who want retro indie games) into their own curated mini-Steam? Developers will surely come and make games, spurred by the confidence that they can get their stuff noticed. And then more customers will come, enticed by the curated ecosystem that makes it easy to get high-quality retro indie games.