4 ms·

Oh, yes, this is Panic's game system. I didn't follow that the project had made so much progress. Damn, it looks insanely cool. A black & white screen is quite

Oh, yes, this is Panic's game system. I didn't follow that the project had made so much progress. Damn, it looks insanely cool. A black & white screen is quite limiting for games, though. Zig looks like a perfect language for such a platform.

otachack 4y ago
Applying limits is a catalyst for creation. Not having to deal with limitless colors, in Panic's Playdate example, frees up to think about gameplay, mechanics, and story instead.
- tgv 4y ago
  Color does appeal to buyers, though. A B/W game system is doomed to a niche position.
  - jakelazaroff 4y ago
    Why is a niche position bad? Panic's goal isn't to dominate the handheld games market.
  - shakna 4y ago
    The PlayDate was intentionally designed to be a niche product, so that doesn't really seem to detract at all from the platform.
  - solar-ice 4y ago
    It's made by a company that publishes niche games, in collaboration with a company that designs niche hardware. Finding an interested niche was the goal.
- Uehreka 4y ago
  Personally, I think it’s an interesting gimmick, but if I’m being honest I wouldn’t say that dealing with color actually limits my ability to think about other things when developing software/games.
sonofhans 4y ago
It is insanely cool, and fun. For sure it would be a different type of fun with a color screen, and not all to the benefit. For one thing, they’re somewhat expensive for little toys: $179. I bet a megacorp making 10 million at a time could do it more cheaply, but Panic seems to be doing it in batches of thousands. A backlit color screen would boost that cost. Then they’d need a bigger battery to provide the same life (~8 hours playtime), which would increase cost and maybe size. Then yes, while the games would be cooler in some ways, they’d also take more time to develop. One nice thing about Playdate gameplay so far is that it feels very pure: just a few controls and an interesting puzzle. They’ve distilled the fun down to as simple an experience as they can.
- cableshaft 4y ago
  That $179 price includes 24 newly made games (by that I mean not just tossing some retro roms on the device) by various developers, including some bigger names. I'm sure those developers are getting a cut of that for compensation for their efforts. Wouldn't be surprised if at least $40-50 of that cost is just going to the developers of those games. Assuming there's 24 developers, that means they're only getting between $1-2 per device sold, that's nothing huge.
  - frosted-flakes 4y ago
    Panic have said that the parts alone cost ~$90 per device. That doesn't include assembly, shipping, writing the OS, developing the SDK, etc. Plus the season games. In all, the price seems very reasonable.
    - cableshaft 4y ago
      I agree, I preordered one. I'm in wave 3, so hopefully I'll get it before the end of the year. I also already have the gameplay to one of my video games ported to Playdate (using Lua). Still need to improve graphics, add sound, figure out how to make menus look nice with only 1 color graphics, etc., and I wasn't going to release it until I tested it on an actual device, not just the simulator.

otachack 4y ago

Applying limits is a catalyst for creation. Not having to deal with limitless colors, in Panic's Playdate example, frees up to think about gameplay, mechanics, and story instead.

tgv 4y ago
Color does appeal to buyers, though. A B/W game system is doomed to a niche position.
- jakelazaroff 4y ago
  Why is a niche position bad? Panic's goal isn't to dominate the handheld games market.
- shakna 4y ago
  The PlayDate was intentionally designed to be a niche product, so that doesn't really seem to detract at all from the platform.
- solar-ice 4y ago
  It's made by a company that publishes niche games, in collaboration with a company that designs niche hardware. Finding an interested niche was the goal.
Uehreka 4y ago
Personally, I think it’s an interesting gimmick, but if I’m being honest I wouldn’t say that dealing with color actually limits my ability to think about other things when developing software/games.

sonofhans 4y ago

It is insanely cool, and fun. For sure it would be a different type of fun with a color screen, and not all to the benefit. For one thing, they’re somewhat expensive for little toys: $179. I bet a megacorp making 10 million at a time could do it more cheaply, but Panic seems to be doing it in batches of thousands. A backlit color screen would boost that cost. Then they’d need a bigger battery to provide the same life (~8 hours playtime), which would increase cost and maybe size. Then yes, while the games would be cooler in some ways, they’d also take more time to develop. One nice thing about Playdate gameplay so far is that it feels very pure: just a few controls and an interesting puzzle. They’ve distilled the fun down to as simple an experience as they can.

cableshaft 4y ago
That $179 price includes 24 newly made games (by that I mean not just tossing some retro roms on the device) by various developers, including some bigger names. I'm sure those developers are getting a cut of that for compensation for their efforts. Wouldn't be surprised if at least $40-50 of that cost is just going to the developers of those games. Assuming there's 24 developers, that means they're only getting between $1-2 per device sold, that's nothing huge.
- frosted-flakes 4y ago
  Panic have said that the parts alone cost ~$90 per device. That doesn't include assembly, shipping, writing the OS, developing the SDK, etc. Plus the season games. In all, the price seems very reasonable.
  - cableshaft 4y ago
    I agree, I preordered one. I'm in wave 3, so hopefully I'll get it before the end of the year. I also already have the gameplay to one of my video games ported to Playdate (using Lua). Still need to improve graphics, add sound, figure out how to make menus look nice with only 1 color graphics, etc., and I wasn't going to release it until I tested it on an actual device, not just the simulator.