Suzanne Humphries
Everyone knows that handheld consoles are awesome, and Panic is hoping to continue that awesomeness with its unique console, the Playdate. The console was first announced in May 2019 and will be available for pre-order this July.
The adorable console boasts a fun hand crank along with a black-and-white screen. Its manufacturer, Panic, still hasn’t set a firm date for the pre-order launch but says it will for sure be up sometime in July. The console itself sells for $179.
The company has implemented its own ordering system (in order to avoid yet another stock debacle a la the PlayStation 5), and is encouraging those interested to get their orders in as soon as possible. Panic founder Cabel Sasser said “The sooner you order, the sooner you’ll get one, but we’re not going to close the door on you.”
Panic also announced a super cute dock accessory for the Playdate. This allows you to store the console upright, like an old TV, and it doubles as a Bluetooth speaker and even a pen holder (so, obviously, it’ll make for the perfect desk accessory for your home office).
The pint-sized console is slated to come with 24 games, and Panic has announced 21 of the titles so far. Some of the featured titles include Sasquatchers, Casual Birder, Echoic Memory, Executive Golf, Boogie Loops, Zipper (from the person who made the ultra-frustrating Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy), Lost Your Marbles, Saturday Edition, and Questy Chess.
Of course, if you’re super cool, you can always port over the iconic game Doom to the Playdate, and actually use the crank to “crank” the chain gun for realsies. And if you’re interested in the tiny console, keep your eyes open for the July pre-order date.
via The Verge
