Playdate, the Pocket-Sized Game Console With a Crank, Begins Shipping (oregonlive.com) 28
Playdate, the hotly anticipated video game system from Portland tech company Panic, began shipping Monday after a succession of manufacturing setbacks delayed the gadget by more than two years. OregonLive reports: Playdate is a throwback to the handheld video games of the 1980s. Designers eschewed the latest graphics technology in favor of a simple, black-and-white screen and an old-fashioned directional button pad. In a note of whimsey, the $179 Playdate also has a crank on the side. The crank provides various functions across the 24 games that come with purchase. (Games will be released online, two at a time, over the next 12 weeks.)
Panic is a software company, not an electronics manufacturer, and its first foray into computer hardware encountered a string of problems -- exacerbated by the pandemic and the resulting global shortage in computer chips. Most recently, Panic announced last November that many of its first 5,000 Playdates had faulty batteries. The company responded by sending them all back to its manufacturing contractor in Malaysia for replacement with new batteries from a different supplier.
Playdate fielded 20,000 orders in just 20 minutes when the first gadgets went on sale last July. And despite the delays, initial reviews Monday were very enthusiastic [...]. All the reviews noted, though, that Panic is a long way from untangling its production snarls. Only the first orders are going out now -- thousands more Playdates are coming sometime later, though Panic hasn't said just when. There's also good news for DIYers: iFixit's teardown says the gaming system is relatively easy to fix if you ever need to replace its battery or buttons.
Panic is a software company, not an electronics manufacturer, and its first foray into computer hardware encountered a string of problems -- exacerbated by the pandemic and the resulting global shortage in computer chips. Most recently, Panic announced last November that many of its first 5,000 Playdates had faulty batteries. The company responded by sending them all back to its manufacturing contractor in Malaysia for replacement with new batteries from a different supplier.
Playdate fielded 20,000 orders in just 20 minutes when the first gadgets went on sale last July. And despite the delays, initial reviews Monday were very enthusiastic [...]. All the reviews noted, though, that Panic is a long way from untangling its production snarls. Only the first orders are going out now -- thousands more Playdates are coming sometime later, though Panic hasn't said just when. There's also good news for DIYers: iFixit's teardown says the gaming system is relatively easy to fix if you ever need to replace its battery or buttons.
Re: (Score:2)
You're welcome. Take my crank.
Why can't anybody get these devices manufactured for less than a jillion dollars? Maybe instead of umpty-million competing devices, the various projects could collaborate on a platform. Maybe not all things to all people, but at least more things to more people.
Re: (Score:2)
Mental illness is real. There are many options out there today for help. You should seek one of them.
Re: (Score:2)
spam vomiting troll wonders why we started putting CAPTCHA's on websites, brilliant
Sideloading win (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: Sideloading win (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Why yes... yes it can. (Score:1)
Edit, it has 4GB hard drive, not 2. But can it play DOOM with the crank working the gatling gun?
This has been out for a while... here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The lack of a backlight or frontlight has been cited by reviewers as a major problem, in that often when/where they wanted to play the thing, the lighting wasn't adequate.
Re: (Score:1)
You would more that quadruple the power requirements with a backlight, yeah?
Physics works both ways. News for nerds, and clues you in.
Re: (Score:2)
So this handheld gaming device is only for people who spend every waking moment outside, go to bed when the sun sets, and wake up with the sun rises? That's a pretty niche market.
This is not an e-ink reader where the thing essentially completely shuts off between screen updates. This is a game console where the CPU, even if it is a low-power microcontroller, has to run and update the screen constantly. The power cost of adding an LED front-light would be relatively minimal, and like most e-ink readers, coul
Re: (Score:2)
The crank doesn't charge the battery! (Score:3, Informative)
Make me one where it does, otherwise no sale.
Re: (Score:2)
That was my first thought as well! :D
Re: The crank doesn't charge the battery! (Score:2)
Does it have a phone function? (Score:5, Funny)
$180 is a bit too much (Score:3)
Maybe that is who they are going for with this and not normal people.
Of all the games I saw, the only only one that looked fun was the Samurai puzzle one. None of them look to be using the hardware all that well. We will see what happens in the mean time.
Anything bad thing about this is the display. Only one color. The original gameboy had four, so it isn't going to be great as an emulator platform.
$19.95 would be too expensive (Score:2)
179 dollars! (Score:2)
Must use the same screen as a TI graphing calculator