GRcade

OrangeRKN wrote:It might not surprise anyone to hear I am a fan of the 1-bit visuals! I think it's an advantage for a "novelty" console to have a distinct style to it visuals, similar to how the PICO-8 (although it's a "fantasy" console) has specifically chosen limitations and a colour palette meant to make games for it recognisable as PICO-8 games. The playdate, other than being actual hardware, shares a lot of design principles with fantasy consoles and their like, with the idea that limitations inspire creativity and help a console stand out. Being hardware means they can do that with the crank too.

Do you think you'll get one? Seeing the dev screen above made me think of your game, would be so cool if you made it for this.

Just no Mario world style

I love the look of this, the design is strawberry floating top notch, but that price is a real sticking point. I don't think it's too much per se, especially given all the free games, but it's...a lot. Like, a lot a lot.

I love everything about it but the $179 is on the high side for me. Especially considering it won't include the shipping from the US or customs charges.
Which is a shame as I've loved this thing ever since they first revealed it.

If they can ramp up production at some point and get a UK/EU distributor I'm more likely to bite.

Victor Mildew wrote:Do you think you'll get one?

Yeah I am planning to preorder as soon as I can, it is expensive but I want to try developing for it as well as playing the games included so I think that helps justify the cost a little more.

rinks wrote:I was half tempted to get one of these, but seeing that dock with the pen - “Oh, aren’t we just SO WACKY?!” - doesn’t give me much faith in them to deliver.

This is what has put me off the most, ever since their legal threats made to another company called Playdate from a few years ago, written in an insincere, deliberately twee style.

I’ll take a look at it a year from now and see how easy it is to get hold of one in the UK. I would love to get one eventually but yeah, that price means it’s a no from me at this stage.

Teenage Engineering have a good reputation for hardware design. Panic have a good reputation for software, especially developer tools, which inspires confidence in the SDK side of Playdate, and as a game publisher having published Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game, which is a good sign the games available will be well curated - as is the involvement of people like Lucas Pope (Obra Dinn) and Bennett Foddy (QWOP). That helps alleviate any concerns from my aversion to the presentation of the pen in the dock!

Got an email saying pre orders go live on the 29th July.

I'll be pre-ordering if I can! Thanks for the heads up Denster

Not sure myself. Its a lot of money for what it is.

Eurogamer have previewed the unit and a few games. Their verdict is perhaps a tad disappointing, really - particularly around the build quality of the device as, based on previous photos, that's something I'd anticipated as being a stand-out element.

I love the idea of the system and the quirky design but this preview has altered my perspective a bit. Of course, this is only one person's view so maybe we'll see some more positive thoughts from other media outlets.

A few other previews:

Engadget - click

Arstechnica - click

The Verge - click

Nothing surprising there I don't think, not anything worrying me anyway! Although it is making me think the case is a worthwhile addon

I do love the idea that people (well, some clever people!) can make and distribute their own games for the system using the development tools. This is terrific as it means that, even if the device is not a huge commercial success, there is potential for hardcore fans to still make and play games on the device for years to come.

Playdate is something different; probably not something with mass market appeal but cool enough to have an enthusiastic following. In today's increasingly commercially-focused gaming market, it's lovely to see that such ideas can come to fruition.

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts once you're hands-on with the console, Orange - and those of other GRcadians, of course!

Heads up. Pre-orders open up at 6pm (BST) today.

Got my pre-order in. Works out £169 including taxes/duties/shipping.

Yoshimi wrote:Got my pre-order in. Works out £169 including taxes/duties/shipping.

I'm trying to preorder and it's telling me

"This order can’t be shipped to your location. Contact the store for more information.

We don’t offer shipping to England."

But they definitely said they do...? :S Any ideas?

EDIT:

Worked now (it might not have been the case but entering my postcode without a space seemed to fix it)

But then my bank blocked the payment ffs

So now I wait 5 minutes and try again...

Sold out now.

It's sold out in that they've sold through those shipping in 2021 (20k units) but you can place an open preorder for 2022.

I haven't placed another order - I have confirmation of my first even though payment was declined by my bank (I let them know it was me, but they say to try again). So now I don't know what to do - contact playdate support I guess

Yeah, it's updated to say that now. At first it just said sold out. Bit much that they're taking full payment when they're not shipping for at least five months.