App Developer Panic Announces New $149 'Playdate' Game System Coming in 2020
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MisterSavage
macrumors 603
You don't miss buying attachments like this so you can see the screen in low light?
sosumi99
macrumors 6502
I like this. It's very different, and the people they reached out to develop games for it have good track records. I'm getting the sense that they want to emphasize gameplay, not raw graphics, and this is an unusual modern product designed to tickle the nostalgia part of the brain of many older gamers. I don't think this is going to be a mega-hit like products from big companies, but it will find its fans.
- rob -
macrumors 65816
It really is over the top. He sounds high.
macduke
macrumors G5
They actually built an OS for this thing.
RIP all Panic software.
I still can't stop thinking about how weird this is. If you told me that any company would be selling a handheld with less than half the resolution of my 44mm Apple Watch, a black and white display, and no backlight for $149 in 2020, I would have said you're an idiot. Instead I will say Panic is an idiot. They are going to lose so much money on this. Do they think hipsters will buy this or something? Are hipsters even still a thing?
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To even compare something like this to the original iPhone announcement is nutty, verging on insane. There is nothing technically impressive about this thing. Sure it seems to have an interesting and some might say aesthetically pleasing industrial design, but it's from a team that is completely unproven when it comes to this sort of thing. I feel like Cabel is going through a mid-life crisis or something. What the hell.
I feel like Gruber is expecting Panic to become the next Apple now. Like they will keep making more hardware and eventually release a phone like Apple did starting out small and working their way up. At this point that's pretty far-fetched. We don't even know if this product will be successful, and I have serious doubts it will be. For one, the Nintendo Switch "Mini" console with non-removable controllers is rumored to be launching around $199 either late this year or in 2020. How are they going to compete with that?
The primary demographic for games is almost always going to be kids and teens. They are a driving force behind the industry. It's going to be difficult if not impossible to convince them to go for a black and white low-res, non-backlit portable console for $50 less than a Nintendo Switch Mini or whatever it will be called. It's also going to be difficult to convince many adults to carry this in addition to a smartphone. The few adults I know who do carry a game console carry a Switch and I doubt they're going to carry a Switch and a smartphone and this thing. This seems like more of a novelty than anything.
RIP all Panic software.
I still can't stop thinking about how weird this is. If you told me that any company would be selling a handheld with less than half the resolution of my 44mm Apple Watch, a black and white display, and no backlight for $149 in 2020, I would have said you're an idiot. Instead I will say Panic is an idiot. They are going to lose so much money on this. Do they think hipsters will buy this or something? Are hipsters even still a thing?
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OMG. I hadn't read that yet. I usually agree with many things he says, and he is right more often than not, but damn. I think his judgement is being clouded by having a lot of friends over there. Most exciting product announcement since the iPhone? He might be high. Is it legalized in PA yet?
To even compare something like this to the original iPhone announcement is nutty, verging on insane. There is nothing technically impressive about this thing. Sure it seems to have an interesting and some might say aesthetically pleasing industrial design, but it's from a team that is completely unproven when it comes to this sort of thing. I feel like Cabel is going through a mid-life crisis or something. What the hell.
I feel like Gruber is expecting Panic to become the next Apple now. Like they will keep making more hardware and eventually release a phone like Apple did starting out small and working their way up. At this point that's pretty far-fetched. We don't even know if this product will be successful, and I have serious doubts it will be. For one, the Nintendo Switch "Mini" console with non-removable controllers is rumored to be launching around $199 either late this year or in 2020. How are they going to compete with that?
The primary demographic for games is almost always going to be kids and teens. They are a driving force behind the industry. It's going to be difficult if not impossible to convince them to go for a black and white low-res, non-backlit portable console for $50 less than a Nintendo Switch Mini or whatever it will be called. It's also going to be difficult to convince many adults to carry this in addition to a smartphone. The few adults I know who do carry a game console carry a Switch and I doubt they're going to carry a Switch and a smartphone and this thing. This seems like more of a novelty than anything.
- rob -
macrumors 65816
I think his content has been going downhill since Apple chose YouTube influencers over him for the X. This is essentially a kickstarter toy.
I actually think it could be a hit, games and game systems are hard to predict. But even at its most wildly successful outcome, it isn’t very interesting.
xdjbx
macrumors newbie
Yes, over the top "premium" gaming device, but mind you this seems to be a collaboration with Teenage-Engineering which they mention helped with the design of the crank but essentially the whole device is based on Teenage-Engineering design language. T-E is known for their playful but no-frills designs for synths and such, like their most popular synth OP-1 which runs at $1,299 to their small pocket operator synths at $89, this device seems to follow that pricing trend for a product that is fairly straightforward with simple design but with the T-E touch and price to follow.
I give Gruber a lot of leeway, but I agree. Not one negative for something with a lot of possible negatives. Black and white screen, a crank control, and $150. Yikes.
You don't miss buying attachments like this so you can see the screen in low light?
I have this exact setup still lying around somewhere.
Agree. It reminds me of the hype around Vesper.
macduke
macrumors G5
That's a good point. He did seem salty about that. Seems like he is moving on to clickbait sensationalism. Either that or a mid-life crisis. Maybe both.
Todd Fisher
macrumors member
Looks like something Teenage Engineering would release. Still, releasing a B&W handheld... just...don't...get...it. Guess I'm expecting too much in a handheld though.
PBG4 Dude
macrumors 601
Thing looks like one of those digital keychain pets all grown up LOL.
I play Diablo 3 and Cuphead (among other games) on my Switch. This thing doesn’t look like it’s getting games of that quality.
confusedpurple
macrumors member
Guess we've got different uses, I avoid it and opt for scp where possible but working in a client focused development industry makes it hard to avoid using on occasion. Generally its 'fine' until you ask it to do too much. It's stupid little things, like showing the progress bar - that should't cause a macbook pro's fans to go mental and the cpu usage hit the roof (not just me, every single time I've ever used this app on any mac ever it has done this).
- rob -
macrumors 65816
Lots of zune hate but I had the brown one and I thought it was pretty cool. That is until it didn't go anywhere and iPod Touch came out.
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He basically threw a tantrum about it. He has a recent post about Bloomberg's ability to write on security issues and that, too is a strange one. Something definitely seems up with him.
YaBe
Cancelled
Damn we were real player back then!You don't miss buying attachments like this so you can see the screen in low light?
Software / hardware...2 different teams
sure the os will need work, but i seriously doubt it will be a complex os as it will only play selected games.The Bloomberg issue is real. They still haven't provided any proof of the Supermicro story (nor has any been found by anyone else). The latest story they ran said something along the lines that end to end encryption is useless because someone might be able to take control of your device by some other means. That is flat out irresponsible reporting. Check out the Twitter response from security experts and researchers towards the person who wrote that story. It's not just Gruber there.
With that said, his weird love of this Playdate thing is odd. If any other company announced the Playdate he would have ripped it to shreds (B&W, no back light, $150 price tag) and finished with the iPhone has the small portable game market covered. In this case, I completely agree.
- rob -
macrumors 65816
That is a completely unrelated issue. If anything, Gruber’s animosity is fueled by that.
The Bloomberg security post isn’t great, it wasn’t written by an expert. But gruner’s Title to that was literally “Bloomberg ***** the bed” and a good portion of his entry was about the title getting edited. And how his insider tip to reading URL slugs.
There’s nothing wrong with criticizing the article or even referring to the supermicro story. It’s the over-the-top tone that is concerning. Security is a problem on Android devices, there’s good discussion there—but instead the article is focused on attacking Bloomberg. Even normal claim chowder posts don’t reach the rhetoric of this piece.
It’s like the guy is rattled. Something is def off with him.
macduke
macrumors G5
Well, I think the Bloomberg thing is because they never retracted or corrected their "Big hack" story. Not one single security researcher in the entire world, nor any of the companies involved, have found any evidence to back up anything they said. Not a single one. Security researchers thrive on that sort of thing, so he at one point basically said he's going to put a disclaimer at the end of every thing he posts relating to Bloomberg and how they shouldn't be talking about security if they are so off base. I tend to agree with that to a certain extent. I mean, they could just retract it and make everything better. Seems pretty lame to be that blatantly wrong as a journalist and not do anything to remedy it.