3 ms·
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 rele
by 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 agoI 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.