The tiny yellow console with a CRANK that will give you a ‘surprise’ new game every week
- Panic has unveiled its $149 console Playdate, which comes with 12 free games
- The games are offered as one ‘season,’ and are delivered one by one weekly
- Has a 2.7-inch LCD screen that displays black and white, and a crank on the side
- It’s designed to be ‘complementary’ to smartphone or regular console gaming
A peculiar new console small enough to fit in your back pocket is shaking up the patterns of portable gaming.
Software company Panic, best known for developing Mac apps and more recently as publisher of the hit indie game Firewatch, has made its foray into hardware with a $149 handheld gaming device dubbed Playdate.
It comes equipped with 12 ‘surprise’ games at no extra cost – but, unlike other consoles with pre-loaded packages, Playdate’s will be delivered one at a time on a weekly basis over a span of 12 weeks.
The small yellow box sports a crank on the side which serves as a rotational controller and its LCD screen only displays in black-and-white.
Panic unveiled the device this week after four years of development, and says it will officially launch in 2020.
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Software company Panic, best known for developing Mac apps and more recently as publisher of the hit indie game Firewatch, has made its foray into hardware with a $149 handheld gaming device dubbed Playdate. It comes with 12 games which will be released on a weekly basis
Today most people use their smartphones to play games; according to a recent study from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), 60 percent of adults now play this way.
But with tactile buttons, a flip-out crank, and new games exclusive to the console, Panic is looking to mix things up.
‘We want to break people of their touch psychosis,’ Panic’s design partners Teenage Engineering said during development, according to the company.
Playdate itself is a tiny console, measuring 74 millimeters by 76mm and only 9mm thick.
It has a 2.7-inch LCD display from Sharp, with a resolution of 400 by 240.
Despite only offering black-and-white, Panic says the screen is ‘premium’ thanks to its ultra-sharp display and lack of grid lines.
There’s no backlight, though, so you’ll have to sit by a light if you want to play in the dark.
Perhaps its most unique offering is the way in which it delivers games. According to Panic, all of the games made for Playdate will be a surprise.
That is, beyond the first title – Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure, from Keita Takahashi – which the firm revealed alongside the device this week.
Purchasing the device will get you a full ‘season’ of games, or 12 games delivered weekly via Wi-Fi.
The yellow box sports a crank on the side which serves as a rotational controller and its LCD screen only displays in black-and-white
‘When the new game light flashes, you’ll never know what you’re about to play,’ Panic says.
Playdate’s first season boasts titles from a slew of other notable indie game designers, including Bennett Foddy, Shaun Inman, and Zach Gage.
Panic is targeting late 2019 to begin taking orders for the new console, and expects to begin shipping in early 2020.
And, while it won’t replace your Xbox or Nintendo Switch, it could be a welcome change from touchscreen gaming.
‘Playdate isn’t trying to compete with the other devices that we already play and love. It’s designed to be complementary,’ the company says.
‘It’s designed to deliver a jolt of fun in-between the times you spend with your phone and your home console; something to fill the moments when you just want a game you can pick-up and play.’
Purchasing the device will get you a full ‘season’ of games, or 12 games delivered weekly via Wi-Fi. ‘When the new game light flashes, you’ll never know what you’re about to play,’ Panic says
