Remember the handcrank-boasting Playdate console with retro design sensibilities and a monochome LCD display? It’s almost here.
Like many systems over the past three or four years, the Playdate console was postponed due to supply chain issues/COVID/Brexit/Ever Given etc. But now, the consoles are heading into the wild, their first stop being with reviewers and early adopters. Game critic Janet Garcia tweeted a cool comparison video:
https://twitter.com/Gameonysus/status/1513577321256550401
There is also much to be said for the portability of the Playdate console.
https://twitter.com/Gameonysus/status/1513570208681627649
Squeezed into the literally pocket-sized Playdate is a 180MHz Cortex M7 CPU, 16MB of RAM, 32KB L1 Cache, and 4GB of Flash. It has a USB-C port, 802.11bgn 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 400×240 monochrome display. Audio is through a built-in mono speaker or TRRS headphone jack/mic-in port, and games are controlled using a D-Pad, A and B buttons, and the infamous 3-axis accelerometer crank.
The Playdate console also has a 14 day standby battery with 8 hours of active play.
@PocketTactics snapped the Playdate alongside other handheld consoles.
https://twitter.com/PocketTactics/status/1513578825392795649
Meanwhile, @KahliefAdams took some very nice snaps of the Playdate ahead of a review next week.
https://twitter.com/KahliefAdams/status/1513567227965976579
Sadly we were unable to get hold of a Playdate for review. But if you have one ordered, we hope you enjoy it!
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