Playdate

Submission 4,358

About

Playdate is a handheld gaming console announced by Panic, the studio behind indie games Firewatch and the upcoming Untitled Goose Game. Unlike traditional gaming consoles, the Panic will be purchased with a "season pass" of games, where each week a new title created by an indie game developer will be downloaded to the hardware. Also, it featured a "crank" controller which a player spins, depending on the game, instead of a traditional joystick.

History

On May 22nd, Panic Studios announced the Playdate in a thread on Twitter.^[1] In the thread, they stated they wanted to branch into hardware and were able to do so with the help of the company Teenage Engineering. They also explained the game delivery system, wherein every week a new game would be available to play on the device. Explaining the "crank" controller, they stated some games will heavily feature the crank, and others not at all.

The as-yet unannounced games include titles from QWOP and Getting Over It director Bennett Foddy, Shaun Inman, and Zach Gage. The only announced game, Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure, will be the first game on the system and is designed by Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi.

There is also a website^[2] containing much of the same information about Playdate, which the company says will ship in early 2020.

Online Presence

The announcement was covered by several news outlets, including Verge,^[3] Engadget,^[4] and Boing Boing.^[5] The announcement was met with enthusiasm from Twitter users who were excited about the console's premise. User and art director @Rob_Sheridan stated "I'm in" with regards to the console (shown below, left). Glitch CEO Anil Dash stated the enthusiasm came from support "of a broader, 20-year story of a community who still believe in the creative power of tech with a soul" (shown below, right).