My worry is that after a few days of playing around with it, it becomes a $200 paperweight. It’s a bit (and by that I mean at least 2x) too expensive for what it is.
Yeah, being a niche product without the economies of scale elsewhere in gaming makes the price really awkward. My hope is that will improve over time if the install base keeps growing.
I use mine just about every day, I’ve been fully obsessed with a game on multiple occasions, and I’m excited every time there are new things in the catalog. Easily worth full game-console price for the joy I’ve gotten out of it. But, that doesn’t really help anybody else, I know.
It really is a lot less of a gimmick than it might seem. The final game of the first season is a shockingly polished gameboy-zelda-style adventure that I’ve played start-to-finish more than once.
I get that. But at the same time I have a bit of an obsession with handheld devices. And there’s enough of a cool indie scene that I think I’d use it quite a bit, and develop for it myself. UFO 50 is my goty and I feel that same sense of discovery and fun I could get out of a device like this
Nice! I havent used lua before but will look at it when my system arrives as I’d rather use that than C haha.
I saw someone started / did a wario ware style game for the playdate but I really want to try my hand at something like that. With the accelerometer, crank, buttons, etc it seems like the perfect device for quick micro games like that!
Unfortunately it’s still ~$100 just to make the thing, so halving the price doesn’t sound likely. It’s definitely a device you have to use intentionally because of the screen, but I still play mine at least few times a week (and daily when I’m pomodoroing!)
Plus you get 3 months of included games! A bit harder to become ewaste so fast when you’re playing something new every week
