Play.Date (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

So very in for this!

Hello. We made a brand new handheld gaming system.

https://play.date/

https://daringfireball.net/2019/05/playdate

Everything racing through your mind right now as “but that’s impossible” is, in fact, not impossible. It’s true. Panic is making a handheld game player. It is adorable and exciting and fun and technically impressive. Go read all about it at Panic’s (also adorable, exciting, fun, and technically impressive) Playdate website, which even has a great domain name.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I have absolutely no interest in buying this, but it's a really neat idea. It's almost like an art project with how they're releasing games for it.

 

[DaveF]

I was checking it to see if this was posted yet.

I have conflicting reactions. It’s neat that a small company can go in on a new hardware venture like this and hit a price point that’s affordable to the young and old. There’s a lot of inchoate concern that the days of hardware and two-people-in-a-garage are behind us with the FAANG oligopoly dominating consumer tech and devices locked down and tinker-resistant. This is a demonstration it’s possible still to do something new and creative outside the gatekeepers (and without the consumer having to be non-equity investors via failure-prone Kickstarter campaigns).

But it also has a “twee” or “hipster” feel to me. It feels like a trinket I'd have found in a Hammacher Schlemmer catalog for bored rich travelers to buy. That’s not fair, but it’s p part of my gut reaction.

So, we’ll see. It could be a super fun toy for the gaming enthusiasts. Maybe the games will be short, suitable for the busy person who doesn’t have $360 worth of free time for Zelda on Switch. I look forward to seeing what comes of it. As for me, maybe I’ll play Firewatch on my Switch after Zelda.

Ars has a decent take on it.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...ate-portable-could-succeed-where-ouya-failed/

 

[joyjoy22]

I love how responsive the website is, I can rotate the console.

 

[Ruz-El]

I love the idea, but I know I would rarely play it. I'd be better off getting a switch, which I haven't yet for the same reason.

 

[DaveF]

Discussed in a recent episode of The Talk Show.
https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2019/05/30/ep-252

It makes more sense to me now, knowing that its conception pre-dates the Switch.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Although it looks kind of neat, it seems to be more of a tech demo than anything else. Pass.

Discussed in a recent episode of The Talk Show.
https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2019/05/30/ep-252

It makes more sense to me now, knowing that its conception pre-dates the Switch.

I made it through about 30 minutes of The Talk Show last week before I got so tired of listening to Cabel and the other two guys that I had to skip to another podcast.

 

[DaveF]

I confess to be a regular listener for seven-some years now; even have the t-shirt.

Play-date is obviously meant to a finished product, playable with a dozen games released in short order.

I’m not pre-ordering. But if the word is it has a couple must-play, short length games, I’d consider buying. I’m kinda it’s target audience: middle aged, not enough time to play big games, but still like games and gadgets, and can spare $150 on a lark.