Say hello to Playdate, a handheld device where you can play 8-bit games. But don’t be fooled; while this might pay homage to the Game & Watch and the Game Boy, this is not old school. The device has both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and has a USB-C port.
“Panic saw an opportunity for something truly different in the world of video games,” comments the official release. “Something small-scale that could deliver a dose of fun and delight to video game players who have otherwise seen it all. Something that could fit nicely in-between regular gaming sessions. Something unexpected and beautiful, with a secret, surprise set of exclusive games written by amazing developers. Put simply: something that adds a little brightness to your life.”
The Playdate features the usual buttons that you’ll see in a retro handheld device, such as the D-Pad and the A and B buttons, but what makes it unique is the crank that you can also use to control certain games.
Unfortunately, the Playdate does not have a backlight, but you can play it by the reading lamp thanks to its very reflective screen, and the crisp image that it produces.
What we found most interesting about this device is what they call The Season, or a collection of secret games that are released to players over time — currently planned to be one game per week. It gets even better as the company says that once the season is over, the games you downloaded to your device will stay there, allowing users to play them any time.
The Playdate was created together with Swedish consumer electronic company Teenage Engineering who created the crank because they “want to break people off their touch psychosis.”
This is awesome.
(Image Credit: DesignBoom)
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They could have painted her nails yellow.
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