Aesthetics really hit a lot of Monument Valley notes and would pair well with the systems crank to rotate the world.
After reading the devlog and rest of the site I'm not entirely sure what the gameplay is, but looking forward to seeing more.
As far as I can tell, what this project has going for it is just slick marketing. But for me the marketing video is over-produced, form-over-substance, and I can't stand the voiceover or overall tone. It's saccharine.
I see some Cortex-M7 SBCs on AliExpress for $5. Add the rest of it and it's probably like $20 worth of hardware/enclosure and $5 for assembly labor.
They are selling it for $200. So it's like a 700% markup.
* The screen is crisp and clear and especially playable in bright light
* The crank is nifty and enables a lot of player interactions that you don't see anywhere else
* The device itself is a design delight. It doesn't feel premium, so much as just the right amount of quality and playfullness. It's cute and fun.
* Panic created an IDE that makes developing games for the Playdate super easy and fun. I've built a few (terrible) games and it was a blast
* Panic is throwing a lot of weight behind game development for this. You get a ton of great games for free with the device, plus access to a storefront that's filled with so many other games of all genres
* I think games are being priced sustainably. They aren't expensive, but they also aren't so cheap that the designers need to rely on ads or donations. I don't know if it'll last, but they're certainly heading in a good direction.Most reviews I see do not like the displays because they are not clear due to their not being a back light or even a front light. The screen holds the device back needlessly.
I also like the "new games every Monday for 12 weeks" experience, which is a great way to keep the console feeling fresh. I have been trying to make games for it while waiting for new games to arrive, and that has been a rewarding experience as well.
The build quality is also better than the random junk that you’ll find on eBay, ali express,or Amazon. Plenty of people have cracked cheap screens on their ambernic portables
Wow I just watched it and it's hilariously outdated. I feel like it would be a satirical one in the TV show Silicon Valley or something. Very early 2010s
Personally, I love his style. It's fun.
Which explains the fairly steep price, Teenage Engineering is also famous for being quite expensive.