Introducing Playdate, a new handheld gaming system from Panic.
It fits in your pocket. It's got a black and white screen. It includes a season of brand-new games from amazing creators. Oh and… there's a crank???? play.date
Yes. A thread…
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So, we also started publishing video games. It's been fun and rewarding. First, Firewatch from , and later this year, the joyful Untitled Goose Game from .
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"We should build a thing!" became "let's make a game system!" became "oh and it should include a bunch of cool games!" became "we should make the games surprises!" and… well, it just grew. It wasn't long until we had a janky-but-functional prototype.
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But we didn't know beans about mechanical engineering or industrial design. So we cold e-mailed Teenage Engineering (), a company that makes things we really love. Their spirit was infectious. They were on board. They came up with the crank.
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Oh yeah, the crank! No, it doesn't power the device. It's a flip-out rotational controller that puts a fresh spin on fun. Some games use it exclusively, some use it with the d-pad, and some not at all.
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About those games. We reached out to some of our favorite people, like , , , , and many more.
Here's a peek at one: Crankin's Time Travel Adventure, from Keita. It's fun and funny.
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We've worked on this for four years. We've learned so much — well, there was so much we didn't know. It wasn't all smooth sailing, but little by little we created this thing. And today, we're announcing it to the world, and shipping it in early 2020.
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If this seems cool, visit play.date and sign-up for the waiting/mailing list ASAP.
(The earlier you're on the list, the earlier we will e-mail you when it's ready.)
Thank you for reading. We're so excited share this with you. We made Playdate just for fun. 💛
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Innovative design, clever thinking & bringing the fun old-school hand-held concept back. The crank is great but might become a barrier for some gamers, have you thought about talking to #accessibility consultants? cc
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New options for how to control games can be a wonderful boon for accessibility so long as they're just that; options
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Have y'all done any #accessibility and #UX testing for the crank input? It sounds challenging for those with mobility or other physical #Disabilities, especially if it's the exclusive input method for some games.
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Have you tried any Atari paddle style games? I miss that sort of unique input. Bit Trip Beat sort of replicated it with Wii Remote rotation, and it was awesome.
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