Panic’s Playdate handheld console announces preorder date

Panic’s Playdate handheld console announces preorder date

The novel yellow gaming device opens orders in July

Panic, the long-time software developer, has announced more details for its upcoming Playdate gaming device. The device will go up for preorder at some point in July, with the company giving about a week’s notice to let fans be ready. The price has seen a bit of a bump, too — now at $179. The console will also now get a bump to 4GB of internal flash memory, as the games of the first season will jump from the initial plan of 12 to 24, with two dropping per week.

It’ll even support a dock, which till transform the device’s aesthetic into a sort of retro monitor. The dock will magnetically attach to the console, allowing it to charge the handheld and amplify its audio into stereo speakers. The devs have even included Poolsuite FM, a music app that plays chilled out, poolside jams.

The news came during the company’s first “Playdate Update” streaming event, which gave the informational update as well as snippets and teases of some of the upcoming games.

The Playdate is an intriguing little device, focusing on simple controls and visuals, and a crank on the side that gives a new twist (pun!) to gaming interactivity.

Source: Playdate