4 ms·

If the game play is there and it's fun, it could be successful.

• pushpop 7y ago
  It won’t be. The games industry is littered with hardware that flopped. Most indie games fail to turn a profit and even the likes of Sega and Nintendo have released hardware that has failed to sell. Apple couldn’t even make a successful console and they had tried. Yet this thing is weirder and significantly less appealing to the mainstream so they’re reliant entirely only a super niche crowd to turn a profit. While I’m sure they will sell some devices and they will likely become a collectors item in the future; I can’t see them selling enough to make this worthwhile nor keep people playing on it long enough to be considered anything more than an expensive yet short-lived novelty item. Hopefully I’m wrong, but as a collector of games consoles - including many of those that failed - I’m not filled with any confidence about the Playdate.
  • mcphage 7y ago
    > It won’t be. The games industry is littered with hardware that flopped. What do you think Panic means by successful? From the PlayDate's site: > Stock will be very limited. Sign up early. It doesn't sound like they're trying to take over the gaming industry here.
    • pushpop 7y ago
      I wasn’t expecting that to be their mission with a device like this. What I mean by “successful” is two things: 1. Have any longevity beyond a novelty. By that I don’t mean hundreds of hours clocked up; I just mean people will use it for more than a couple of hours before putting it in a draw to never be seen again. 2. Make a profit. Obviously including all the time spent in design et al as well. Personally I can see this both being unsuccessful in terms engagement as well as financially unsuccessful.