Since when did “fidelity” improve gameplay? The answer is never.
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'Playdate' Handheld Game System Now Available for Pre-Order
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I might be mistaken and I certainly do now want to insult anyone, but my impression is that the Apple press in the states is like a family, where everybody supports each other, even when the products are just bad. Apple Journalists with their podcasts always support developers (which are also their friends) and do not support Apple's position and also mention a lot how better 3rd party apps are. I find that not to be true and this Playdate thing is just another example of this family. Who would really consider such a device? Only people with lots of money who are bored of their life and need something new. Of course you will hear about how great this device is, mainly from all podcasters and tech journalists, which as I wrote before belong to this big family (more like a Mafia) and have to support each other. Normal people should just stop believing what the media is feeding us.
I think that beyond "looking cool" and "feeling retro" there is no actual point of a device like this. Back when you couldn't game on the go and color screens were expensive or non-existant, anything that would do the job (the original GamBoy) had huge charm and solved a real problem. Now though there is no need for such a device and as charming as it is, it's nothing more than a very niche product for people who have money to buy stuff they really, really don't need. Limitations are pointless if they are artificially imposed just for the sake of limitation.
As someone who loves games of all kinds, I don't really understanding someone "hating" any game. It's a thing designed for fun and to bring joy into people's lives – something we can only use more of. Candy Crush isn't my cup of tea, but I don't hate it.
Glad they're doing well and rolling out another season of games. I'll definitely consider picking this up or putting it on my wish list.
There are some seriously closed, narrow, unimaginative replies going on here. Wow.
All the negativity is some serious "No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame" energy 
Almost nothing on any of this site or most other tech-focused forums is anything anybody “really, really” needs. As for the comments on limitation…no. The word you’re looking for is “constraint”. They are not the same thing. You have no idea what the PDS was (you understand what that is, right?), what the project budget, scope, intended outcome of anything else was.
After my dad passed, my brother and I took over his business manufacturing scientific toys in China, mostly cheap meters to measure electromagnetic field radiation… which a lot of people use to hunt ghosts and spirits.
What many don’t realize is the first run of a very technical product like this one, particularly from a company that’s brand new to offshore manufacturing, can be fraught with troubles. For anyone who ordered an original Pebble smart watch in those early days, you’ll remember they replaced thousands of them for faulty displays that went to garbled lines within hours or days of meeting their owners. Little glitches in a production run that majors like Apple or Samsung can catch, and small volume makers inherently cannot. When we design a new meter or gadget, the first batch is somewhat “prototype”, you catch stuff nobody else did when they enter the world. I can’t help but think those ordering in the 2021 Play date batch are in this group. Even Apple does early field failure analysis on every new product they launch, if you’ve ever had a dud replaced at the Genius Bar, they’re capturing your faulty iPhone or Mac for EFFA engineers to assess and quietly correct. I tended the bar for 7 years.
Lastly… 20,000 units is a fairly tiny order by Asia manufacturing limits. We’re a $2M/year revenue shop and we’re usually ordering around 50-100k units and we order 2-3 times per year for about 300k units sold… in a good year. Our factory still considers us a “small customer”, so 20,000 would probably be in their “boutique” category.
It’ll be interesting to see how this goes. If they could get their orders to 100,000 units, get their build price down to $70 and get the retail price down to $129, they’re in a hugely better place.
What many don’t realize is the first run of a very technical product like this one, particularly from a company that’s brand new to offshore manufacturing, can be fraught with troubles. For anyone who ordered an original Pebble smart watch in those early days, you’ll remember they replaced thousands of them for faulty displays that went to garbled lines within hours or days of meeting their owners. Little glitches in a production run that majors like Apple or Samsung can catch, and small volume makers inherently cannot. When we design a new meter or gadget, the first batch is somewhat “prototype”, you catch stuff nobody else did when they enter the world. I can’t help but think those ordering in the 2021 Play date batch are in this group. Even Apple does early field failure analysis on every new product they launch, if you’ve ever had a dud replaced at the Genius Bar, they’re capturing your faulty iPhone or Mac for EFFA engineers to assess and quietly correct. I tended the bar for 7 years.
Lastly… 20,000 units is a fairly tiny order by Asia manufacturing limits. We’re a $2M/year revenue shop and we’re usually ordering around 50-100k units and we order 2-3 times per year for about 300k units sold… in a good year. Our factory still considers us a “small customer”, so 20,000 would probably be in their “boutique” category.
It’ll be interesting to see how this goes. If they could get their orders to 100,000 units, get their build price down to $70 and get the retail price down to $129, they’re in a hugely better place.
So by your definition, nostalgia can only come from using/playing with something old from your past? Weird. I’ve definitley had nostalgic feelings from completely new things that simply remind me of the old things I used to have or use.
i disagree , there is a market....but not at 180$ , this should have been a 50$ device. it would be very successful at that price.
So many negative people here. It is a privately held company that is spending its R&D money as it sees fit. Be thankful with have a plethora of entertainment devices. It is far too easy to criticizes ones work than to get off your own ass and make or do something. It is not for me, but I certainly hope it is successful as choice is good.
That is not the point. For almost every object there is another one that does exactly the same thing. It is a gadget and it has games that do not require a lifetime commitment to play. For many it is fun to play a game that has starts and is completed in a few minutes like nearly every arcade game made. It is the nerds who value playing games that never end.
I love that there is experimentation in gaming and games devices, Playdate is wonderful. As has been said above, good and interesting gaming is not necessarily about fidelity, but about interaction and game mechanics, this looks like a great way to encourage new things.
You know what else is a pocket-sized gaming system that most people reading this article already own? An iPhone.
At $179 the games are most certainly not free.
For an extra $5 you can purchase a Switch Lite and have hundreds of classic games available to you. Is it as niche as this? No, obviously not. But if you’re going to game don’t you want to have fun, and options rather than empty promises?
Its because Teenage Engineering actually made hardware for this
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And where does iOS give you physical buttons and a crank?
I’m sure someone has mentioned in all the comments, but this is not for anyone who would blink at dropping $180 on something they think is cool, and/or interesting and fun. The BIG thing that makes it cool is they have all these well regarded indie devs on board with games lined up. Nobody who buys this is debating whether to get this OR a Switch or etc. They already have all the game hardware they want, and maybe they’ll buy this unique novelty too. Looks fun.
It’s cute, but as far as nostalgia goes I still have all my stuff old stuff except the Nintendo clamshell that I gave to a neighbor’s kid. So of course that’s the one I miss the most. The only game that never gets old for me is Tetris.
But who wants to play games on a phone? Gross. Give me buttons or give me death.
It requires wifi to receive the free games they will send you.
It's comes with a usb cable so it requires a power adapter to charge it.