Cool Uncle Reviews: Panic! Playdate Unboxing, First Impressions, and what it means in 2023

You kept mentioning that the Playdate has an e-ink display. But I think it is simply a monochrome LCD display. The "Inside Playdate" developer guide simply mentions "Monochrome (1-bit) memory LCD display". I'm not even sure an e-ink display would make sense on a device with a picture changing 30 times per second. E-ink displays often have a fairly high latency when switching their content, but can keep the same content for a minimal power draw. Which makes it ideal for books, where the content does not change for a while and the user does not care about the higher delay when flipping to the next page.

In any case, first time viewer and I liked the angle in your video. Thanks.

Great first impressions video.
I got my playdate in last Friday and loving it so much already. But it saddens me to say I might have to send it back for repair already. Cause the crank seems to be pretty loose on my unit. As well as a the screen being not quite flush to the body on one side.

Came across your video from the Playdate Discord. Enjoyed watching your review and fresh take on the device! I've had mine for about half a year now and even started getting into the development side of things! Have one game out now (though I want to add more to it) and another in the works. This has to be the most charming gaming device I've ever interacted with.

If you haven’t played “The Keyper” yet, grab a copy on me. It’s a beautiful game.

Today, just because you buy a product does not mean you own it. Megacorporations rent it out to you on an “infinite lease.” It is worth understanding that any device you have that must always be connected to the Internet is not truly yours. And it annoys me. If you want a watch for sports -> you must update it and have a phone with you. Do you want to play a single-player game -> first update, then register, sign the user agreement…

I think you're mostly spot on with the Analogue Pocket. I don't think you can justify the price unless you have ludicrous money to burn, and for most people the better option would be either original hardware, or just one of the numerous and cheaper portable emulators available. They're good products, but their business model is clearly based on collector FOMO, as you mentioned.

The point of the Analogue Pocket is:

gadget.

Great content! I love watching growing channels, let me know if you ever want any feedback! Great work!

I also think the analogue pocket is lame. I have real gameboys and I have emulators available on literally any device

Woooooooo! The play date! Gonna be a good 30 minute lunch break.

I'm desperate for more things that you can just OWN. I've even started collecting DVD's and stuff because I'm tired of switching between 7 different streaming platforms. I hope this is a trend towards more of that and not just a one off in the community.

Also phenomenal video as always

This thing looks so cool but I can never convince myself to go for it.

Where can I get the Pouch? Its perfect 😮

The worst thing about Analogue, is their shipping prices. Outside of that, I've had a good time with the Pocket, especially with the Dock, it's a formidable alternative to having to hook up my old consoles and also has a decent amount of arcade games on top of the GB/GBC/GBA out of the box.

The Playdate sort of caught my eye at first, but I think the "fun" of 2020 put it out of my mind. I would like to see it get a bigger foothold, especially being so niche, it just has to be more available. Right now when portable gaming seems to be dominated by endless clones, this could be decent little system.

Really cosy vibes on these videos dawg PLUS perfect timing! i was just thinking about getting a playdate this week but bought a vita instead. but shit, my consumerism is just itching rn

I ordered my Playdate about 4 minutes after it went up for sale. It took almost 2 years to arrive. I love the little thing because I'm a sucker for Teenage Engineering designs! I really. REALLY wish it had some kind of screen lighting.

Also you're bang on about how much Analogue Pocket really prays on the fomo aspect in their sales. Really a shame

I'm happy the Playdate has managed to hang in there and convince more people of its merits. When it first came out, I was convinced that there was no way this business model - that is, funding all game development themselves and then staggering the releases on a season by season basis - could hold water.
Maybe in ten years first gen. Playdates will be the hot new retro console to collect. After all, there only ever were so many original GameBoy carts and original units that we can continue hoarding.

Edit: I always felt that the price was a bit higher than what I personally would want to spend on another handheld, but now I've also found out that they wouldn't ship it to my country anyways. No hard feelings though, I live in a remote place.

But what about that pouch!

Sounds like you have a silly gf 🤭 me too. I had no idea it was called E-Ink

"Watch me crank it, watch me roll" as a philosopher ince said.

You should get an Analogue Pocket tough. 😜

I like the novelty of the Playdate, but having a colorized backlit screen would be more preferable to me and would help justify the price. Thanks for your initial thoughts about the device.

playdate and pocket were really desirable until the handheld emulators from overseas surpassed them. haven't looked back since getting one for myself lol

woohoo! I was mentioned! :D

You are very much to the point with capitalism. I have many ideas for a products, but only the most profitable can be made. I also had the biggest Minecraft server back in a day for my country. We were in PC magazines, we had over 10k players. I've never allowed for players from poorer households to have much more that people with money for our VIP. And guess what. We died. There are people still recognizing me all over the place and i HAVE DREAMS of starting it back again for 10ys now.. but i just can't. I have so much more profitable projects to work on.
I am so sick of that, that I dream of getting rich, just so I can build those kind of products.

I'm sure you put special attention into making your hands "camera ready", and they look so good in this video.

Thanks for cranking this out, can't wait to check the Playdate out myself!

Been following your channel for a while! I put my PS Vita homebrew game, Treasure Chasers, onto the Playdate.. The crank actually improved the controls over using the D-Pad to move around, which surprised me. Anyway, I kinda agree with you about putting a game onto the device and just being happy with it that way. My game costs a few dollars on Catalog, but my game was originally released for free and is still free for people who don't want to pay anything. I didn't want to make a game to make money (I already have a job). I just wanted to make the game for the heck of it.

Dang that’s cute!!! I love the yellow body. I really like Panic, the company behind producing them. They’ve made a lot of fun stuff, like Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game.

Take me on a play date lol