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Comment by miguelmurca | Hacker News Reader

Playdate seems to me like a masterclass in marketing. The device is nothing extraordinary (imo), but it's presented and marketed in a way that makes it interesting.

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I think the hardware is notably whimsical (crank, very nice 1-bit display combined with ‘fast’ processor). I agree that there’s a lot hanging on marketing/hype, but part of it is just how people like Panic overall.

All Panic stuff is like that - they have great style.

> but it's presented and marketed in a way that makes it interesting.

And I’m not even sure about that. At least the info on the link seems very scarce and the featured video was mostly a bunch of people talking and very little gameplay. I guess I’m not the target audience as this didn’t seem exciting to me at all. Couldn’t finish watching the video.

It's having exclusive games made for it by some pretty famous game developers. It has a unique input device. It looks and behaves like a modern gameboy. It will openly let you tinker and dev with it yourself. It's like a dream gameboy.

I disagree - the key innovation is that you buy the device, and get all the games included for free.

I think that consumers have grown weary of buying individual games, and would rather just pay a lump sum or subscription.

> The device is nothing extraordinary (imo)

This is it: the peak Hacker News comment. A gizmo with a handcrank and a black and white screen is nothing out of the ordinary in 2021. I bet you could even make it yourself in a weekend if you just use a Raspberry Pi and an e-ink screen!

No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.

I'm confused. Playdate has WiFi and Bluetooth, and the Nomad didn't have any storage.

It's a reference to https://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-i...

Thanks. I also forgot Creative had a Nomad, I was thinking of Sega.

I didn't read that comment as "a DIY one is just as good". More like, it's not high spec, it's pretty minimalist and low tech. The execution could still be good and the choice can still be unique.

How it works and what it does and what it's made of are very different things (cite: Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance) and once the novelty of how it works has worn off (yes, kudos, BTW) what is left is a mildly interesting device. The SDK and ecosystem are also mildly interesting, but the cute factor will wear off quickly and it's probably go the way of Neil Young's Pono.

I feel it's pricy novelty product. And even with SDK, I wonder will there be new games in couple years? I don't think they will actually sell enough to justify development time...

> I bet you could even make it yourself in a weekend

This is it: the peak Hacker News comment.

hell ya, just another weekend project. nothing to be seen here. where's the dropbox post, etc

I don't understand your comment. I feel like you're mocking the parent but at the same time you make it sound very reasonable. You can indeed make a gizmo with a handcrank with a black and white screen in a weekend.

I think here what will make or break it will be if it manages to reach a critical amount of early adopter to justify making games for the platform, otherwise it's going to end up like the Ouya, hipster version.

Personally I think it's cute and I'm vaguely interested by it, but at the current price point it seems like a tough sale. For literally $20 more you get a Nintendo Switch Lite (admittedly without games).

On the other hand there’s this tendency to put down any kind of criticism as dumb, implying the person “just doesn’t get it”. No, I get it, I’m just not impressed. It’s a low-tech handheld with a gimmick. My gut feeling is that the novelty factor will wear of pretty quickly. This is completely unrelated to the fact that I’m impressed with the apparent production quality and marketing.

That's pretty funny, I never thought I'd be accused of peak HN :D

I meant it the way asveikau replied.

Yeah, this is going to go the way of the Ouya, but with even LESS success.

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