Playdate is only getting better with age

Welcome back to our gaming show. This week, we're talking about Panic's Playdate. If you miss the gaming news roundup, don't worry, we'll be back soon with more of that.
Playdate came out two years ago, and it's only gotten cuter and more relevant with age. By paring down the graphics and adding a new input method, Panic changed the way we think about how games are played and made. As many of the industry’s most influential studios are trapped in a cycle of mass layoffs and regularly scheduled crunch, it’s a fantastic time to rethink what we’re all actually doing here. Playdate makes this process natural, accessible and entertaining.
Read our full article on Playdate here: www.engadget.com/playdate-rev...
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[@brunojenso261]

I've had mine about a month now, and enjoying it lots. I truly don't care about the backlight situation. I just turn on a light if I need to - but honestly I usually find I have enough light to play. I'm surprised it bothers some others so much. It is what it is - an unlit screen. I think people just aren't used to that concept anymore - even on Kindles. Think of it as like using a real book - you need some light hitting the page.

[@nerdzone]

It does not bother me that much since I manage to find spaces to play it. But as a certified vampire myself, I completely understand the situation and how it bothers other people. Playdate is a niche device. Nerds be livin' in caves (barely any light around). Everyone is used to their screen flashing their face the whole time. It is a tough transition. Playdate is best enjoyed while you wait for someone in the park or while you are in the bus. I feel the short form, replayable, easy to pick games go well with and serve to double down on this concept. And I suppose that a lot of those people just would prefer to play in the bed before they sleep. On the other hand a lot of people don't understand it is a trade-off. Backlighting will totally drain the small battery in the matter of minutes. I doubt a properly backlit Playdate will be able to work for more than an hour. Considering that I would definitely prefer to have the smaller form size and good battery life instead of proper backlighting.

[@Nova-qn7zd]

i just wish the screen was lit

[@shinybug2307]

I was considering buying it before I knew about the screen. Really a shame.

[@Angultra]

Same, put a backlight and we'll talk. Not going back to the non-lit gameboy days lol

[@mattcoxonline]

It's really not that bad. (Unless you want to play in the dark)

[@ilikepiproductions5916]

And the Amico is still not out 😂

[@ic3e]

I love her voice

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

she's super-listenable, her speech pattern is quite enjoyable

[@nerdzone]

Been playing for months now and loving it.

[@PlaydatePlayer]

Great video. It has aged so well and with 1000 games now, it's a great time to jump in. My (very modest) Playdate games review channel is about to post its 50th video! Made possible due to the sheer accessibility of the device and games.

[@narutokunn]

I am so happy this was a hit.

[@Mantorp86]

I know it’s cool and fun and I understand that it’s premium quality but with tax and shipping for me it would cost €250 which is like $280 which is too much for me.

[@kpeterrafael]

For me it would cost $360, almost double, which is absolutely nuts... I mean even the regular price of $200 is a lot for it...

[@sporadikstyles]

Shortly after grabbing the TE KO2 a few months ago, it made me want one of these, although I have a Pocket for my mobile gaming fix.

[@Andrewe1]

ive always loved this concept but no backlight is a dealbreaker especially at that price.

[@matheusnico1as]

My friend is coming to Brazil now in May and I will develop a game for it, let's go on this adventure. I'm thinking about to create devlogs on my youtube channel

[@jerryldavis1823]

This has so much original iphone like desire in it

[@VOAN]

This is what the Intellivision Amico should had done.

[@dman7895]

still love to use mine but dunno if it's the "future". a nice niche product though. lack of backlight hurts and the wifi is slow. also cannot do audio out over its usb-c port (i have wired usb c buds, they work on most everything but the analogue pocket and the playdate)

[@brunojenso261]

Pretty sure it wasn't trying to be the future buddy.

[@CrAzYpotpie]

​@@brunojenso261Pretty sure that the reviewer's first words in this video are, "this is the future of videogames, for real!" Maybe you should pay attention and shut your mouth.

[@Noodles1771]

Why is Engadget’s video game uploads so sporadic?

[@rd_rae]

A crankset and no cycling game yet? OMG! :)

[@tim1724]

There's a unicycling game, A Balanced Brew. It's fun (but hard!)

[@nerdzone]

There is a cycling game as well and it reviewed very well, even getting some awards. It's called Grand Tour Legends.

[@Michael-vm4bb]

I’ve bought one, it shipped but I’m still waiting it’s been 3 week. They say they’re not Amazon fast but at this point I could literally be faster by driving to their facility.. that said I’m still excited. I wish to relive the gameboy era lol

[@briarbrand6353]

better than the rabbit r1

[@jpxdude]

It's an amazing unit. Only got mine recently, and I'm always itching to play it at any given opportunity. The games on them are so creative and fun - I'm inspired to see if I can create something for it!

[@mrbrown38]

Get a neck light, completely solves the need for a backlight!

[@adrianfernandez7458]

I ordered one on amazon today for when my play date gets here this Thursday

[@yeezet4592]

I honesty just play outside

[@mattcoxonline]

@@yeezet4592 What is this "outside" you speak of?

[@user-aRb00d3r]

​@@yeezet4592 when some of us have time for hobbies, the "outside" is pretty dark...

[@MadBrit26]

Great little system

[@PardonSoup84]

What was the city building game

[@manfroze]

MDMA

[@cdlelondon]

I've had mine since the second distribution batch and it is great but the lack of a backlight seriously impacts on the use, I'm not sure I'd really recommend because of it

[@geraldpolymath]

Yes , been waiting for the speaker for two long years. Man, how long does it really take to make a new product?

[@unvergebeneid]

I just wish they'd lower the price at some point

[@tim1724]

Unlikely anytime soon; they'd need massive sales volume to get manufacturing costs much lower.

[@betterthancrabpeople]

I hope thew rumour of a GTA5 port is true. That would be awesome.

[@MrFireboyFTW]

Dang its 200 bucks. I could see a big audience for this if it was 100 or under

[@Cimlite]

Then it wouldn't feel as exclusive, and wouldn't attract hipsters. It's a hipster conundrum.

[@_gamma.]

The parts alone cost >$100 (mostly because of that screen 😅)

[@godot1785]

honestly that thing is really cool and i would love too support thing like these but that joke is an absolute joke and cant be justified

[@SteelSkin667]

@@_gamma. I was about to post that. The screen, case and crank are the biggest culprits. also, no economies of scale on a device that sold less than a million units.

[@cunty]

this is a small batch product from a company that’s never done hardware before. that’s an impossible task.

[@kpeterrafael]

Can't believe the price is still $200 + shipping and taxes.. which for some countries almost doubles the price.. crazy, especially when you think about the components and hardware itself costs a few bucks...

[@mattcoxonline]

I'm pretty sure this is not a cheap thing to produce. And, you do get 24 free games with it.

[@yeezet4592]

This doesn't have economy of scale. Only like 60k have been made, and it's a new company for hardware. These aren't just developed and cranked out (no pun intended) by some Shenzen OEM.

[@MeRenegade]

Been waiting for them to ship to india but importing it now.

[@ReptilianRichardRamirez]

Very good review. The playdate is cool but it's not for hardcore gamers and to expensive to purchase on a whim, not knowing it you'll actually ever use it.

[@hotconductor4749]

Who is it for?

[@shoopypit4884]

​@@hotconductor4749exactly who is it for if not gamers that like to game? Casual gamers absolutely don't buy stuff like this

[@yeezet4592]

​@@hotconductor4749I'm a fan of indie games and like the open nature of the platform. I think that's really it.

[@vertigev]

I would prefer a backlight and a shorter battery

[@Marquueef]

Bummer!

[@zvennn]

So glad you guys gave Playdate some more love after 2 years! The playdate community is awesome and the console keeps impressing me with new original games.

[@yensteel]

For $199, it’s a tough sell. The hardware doesn’t seem advanced, nor is the software. There is some novelty and community ecosystems there, but still, it’s tough to justify. There’s other handheld systems that are much more powerful with the capability run a large mariad of games like the Odin.

[@godot1785]

it lacks so many basic and important features and its almost rude too sell that thing for 200 not gonna lie

[@Biru_to]

​@@godot1785 What does it lack?

[@SteelSkin667]

Small scale manufacturing will do that. As I understand, they are making fairly slim margins on selling them.

[@yensteel]

@@SteelSkin667 Goodness gracious my second comment got deleted as well. I'm sorry, I don't know why my comments are deleted. All I said were some basic business terms agreeing with you.

[@godot1785]

@@Biru_to (facepalm)

[@duckmasterflex]

You need proof of body tattoos to buy a playdate

[@dman7895]

haha i have one and am tat free!! i bet the percentage correlation is quite high though.

[@FatherManus]

She has enough for 10 Playdates then.

[@mihirchitnis905]

This thing is not ergonomically designed, plus lack of input buttons will limit the complexity of the games.

[@MeRenegade]

Simple inputs can make comples games. YOu have super complicated decision making systems that require just left/right + a button press.

[@yeezet4592]

You don't need grips for something that weights so little

[@CrAzYpotpie]

​@@yeezet4592No, you only need that if you want it to be comfortable to hold. There is a reason Nintendo improved upon their rectangle Famicom controllers and never went back.

[@yeezet4592]

@@CrAzYpotpie that is much larger

[@CrAzYpotpie]

@@yeezet4592 What is much larger, a NES controller? What's that got to do with anything? The ergonomics of a square/rectangle controller is not comfortable, hence why Nintendo has never went back to those designs and no other consoles have square cornered controllers since. This is poor design for prolonged comfort, why would you even attempt to argue against that? Bizarre.

[@axelprino]

I like the concept of the thing but at its current price it's a hard sell for most people that might be interested in it, it's almost like a toy for developers rather than a game console aimed at players. Also this whole video almost sounds like an ad.

[@malcolmbranch10]

this is a commercial ad. they Just increased their price by 20 bucks n need to justfy it. Make it with cheaper parts n cut that price n half or close to it

[@yeezet4592]

Small company

[@mikemayorov2195]

somehow just about everything in this video is sad, from the subject to delivery..😅

[@Semo-le1wz]

This is the future of video games? ROFL How much did Panic pay you to shove this crap into our throats every week? It is better for them to reduce its price and stop their greedy developers from charging crazy prices for simple replica games in order to make the platform more accessible.

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

monochrome waggle-equipped troll platform is not the future

[@MarkDell]

I love this cute little video!

[@yancarry6748]

2024年还玩这种游戏，眼睛都要看瞎

[@Leo-yh6it]

It's the same price as a Switch, not worth it.

[@jamesowens7148]

Sponsored?

[@Manti88-db1tb]

paid sh!t as always

[@yeezet4592]

No

[@CrAzYpotpie]

It is.

[@yeezet4592]

@@CrAzYpotpie does it say it is?

[@CrAzYpotpie]

@@yeezet4592 Yes.

[@ien2023]

Goes to show theres a nich market for every game genre even for this over priced device for weirdos.

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

i don't pocket-watch but damn. there's so much you can do with two hundred USD

[@polocatfan]

super ovepriced. it was even a little overpriced at its original announced price.

[@mattcoxonline]

It's cheaper than the original Game Boy (if you take inflation into account).

[@hotconductor4749]

This is not journalism. No backlight. High cost. Not enough content. It was and is a great idea but only at a lower price point.

[@zeugundso]

Its all relative. If I compare it to my Netflix subscription (that I finally cancelled last month) the Playdate and the bought games over the last 2 years were way more worth the money. To me it feels like free to play games and cheap retro handhelds for pirated roms skew the perception for devices that try to deliver a great experiences for both players and devs.

[@mattcoxonline]

Since when was 100s of games "not enough content"

[@TsarHare]

drink more freshwater

[@TsarHare]

no ear piercings. safe skin. love

[@tylerspunucious7420]

Well, women don't play video games, but I'm interested to see what this is all about so I'll watch

[@yeezet4592]

OK buddy