Comment by temp_account001 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by temp_account001 | Hacker News Reader

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temp_account001

I'm assuming the worst about a product I've never seen, perhaps, but only because I've used plenty of other products at a similar price point that seem MUCH better: Switch, Vita, various Android phones -- all mature technologies using much better hardware designed with proper adult ergonomics and with huge game libraries. And then for not much more you're into Xbox Series S and Oculus Quest 2 territory. Or for much less, you can get the $60 NES Classic/Sega Genesis Mini/Atari Flashback X with actual proven, authentically historic games for some real nostalgia. Or make your own MAME/Dolphin/etc. cabinet in any form factor you want. I got a Carmen San Diego portable console as an xmas stocking stuffer last year, and THAT thing was awesome, featuring surprisingly retro but functional controls, a beautiful screen, a silly Mac Classic lookalike case, and the full fidelity of the old game. It also cost $20, not $200. Any of those would offer more gameplay and a tremendously better value.

This thing would've been cool at $50, because it's probably built better than the $20 no-name Chinese consoles (https://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product...). But it definitely reminds me of them, especially with its catalog of super generic games that seem like Wii/Mario Party-style mini games... that you have to wait weeks for. At least those no-name Chinese ripoffs come with dozens to hundreds of games to start with.

This whole thing just screams "marketing gimmick" all around, like so many junky Kickstarter gadgets that come and go to much fanfare (Ouya comes to mind). Why the hell does it cost so much? It's like someone put together an Arduino tech demo and slapped a designer case on it and marked it up 10x. shrug

Again, maybe I'm just not the target market. I'm just struggling to understand who is. Someone else explained it: the makers of these things are apparently famous designers in some circles (music synths, boutique apps). Good for them, I guess, but for a regular ol' gamer like me, no thanks... for portable gaming, I'm much more excited about the Steam Deck or even Stadia/GeForce Now/xCloud on Android + a gamepad adapter.

I say this to make a point, not to be rude: I am bored by your enumeration of ways to play games that offer "better value" than the Playdate. You are describing platforms that are already open to me, and games that I have already played.

If the Playdate can deliver to me something novel and genuinely fun and engaging, that's the value. Will it? That remains to be seen, but it's what Panic is selling.

Hey, whatever floats your boat.

I can offer a slightly different reason for getting one (I preordered one): learning. I have published a few mobile apps, and have toyed with the idea of making a game but haven't felt quite "ready" for that yet. The extremely low barrier to entry on the PD ($180 gets the hardware, SDK is free, and the platform is open so you can distribute anyway you want) is the primary reason I am excited about it. the limitations of the platform just feel less daunting.

I have no idea what it would take to play a homemade game on a Switch or Xbox (the two consoles I own). As for Steam, I can probably make that work but at that point I'd just use the Mac App Store or my own site. In this regard the PD just feels more .... welcoming/simpler I suppose. So at least for me, $180 doesn't seem crazy.

I also give Panic a lot of "benefit of the doubt" as I have been using their software for two decades and know that they make quality things and care deeply about the overall experience and customer satisfaction and such; so the investment feels far less risky than if it was some random startup (I had never heard of Teenage Engineering before this product, so they were not a factor in this regard).

I don't think your take is wrong; just that this device doesn't strike your fancy and that is perfectly fine. But maybe my motivations behind buying one can reveal one possible reason for someone to willing choose it over (or in my case, in addition to) the other options.

You've made much of the $179 price in your various posts in this thread. I think the answer to that is that you're on a forum for highly paid professionals who can afford an extra gaming device at this price point. I don't think many people are deciding between a Switch and a Playdate. Probably all of the preorders are people who already own a Switch and/or Xbox. If gaming is your primary hobby and you have a good income, this is not unreasonable-- people with other hobbies (hunting, fishing, traveling, scuba diving, photography, flying, etc) will sometimes spend more than $179 per hour of engaging in said hobby and no one bats an eye.

It's also not a competitor to the NES classic or any of the third party emulator-based devices. I've already played those games back when the NES was around, then played them again on various emulators. I'm ready for something different.

I think the Ouya is a good comparison. The Playdate's story is about recruiting indie developers more effectively than the Ouya did, and organizing game distribution differently (seasonal releases instead of an app store). The fact that the Playdate sold 20k units in 17 minutes tells me that maybe they're right. But on the other hand, the Ouya sold 200k units over its lifetime and still failed so maybe 20k is not that impressive after all?

You also made several other objections: uncomfortable to hold, crank is likely to break, adults are likely to get bored in 10 minutes. None of the reviews out so far have supported any of these objections. The ArsTechnica review is pretty comprehensive[1], but there are a handful of others floating around.

I also think it's telling that you compared "Crankin Time Travel Adventure" (Playdate game) to Prince of Persia: Sands of Time in another of your posts. A much better comparison would be to the indie game Braid. Apologies if I'm reading too much into this, but if you haven't heard of Braid it makes me wonder if you're more of a traditional gamer than an indie gamer that this is targeted at?

[1] https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/07/playdate-preview-you-...

This product wasn’t designed for people like you I suppose. For example, there are lots of people who are excited about this that aren’t excited about the Steam Deck. Gaming is a big market with lots of niche submarkets.

So it seems!

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