History of video games/Platforms/Playdate

Background
Playdate developer Panic originally made applications for macOS and iOS and later began publishing games.

Development
The first meetings that would eventually relate to the Playdate date back to 2012. Development on the Playdate started by 2015. Design of the system was originally inspired by the Nintendo Game and Watch. A Playdate prototype featured a crude white 3D printed plastic case made on a Printrbot fused filament fabrication 3D Printer.

Developers Panic and Teenage Engineering met at Moogfest, leading to a system codename of Asheville.

The Playdate was announced on May 16th, 2019.

By August 12th, 2020 there were 250 early units shipped, primarily to developers.

A temporary shut down of a factory in Malaysia caused the first manufacturing run of 20,000 Playdate consoles to be delayed to 2021, with a launch price of $149.

On November 25th, 2020 instructions for a DIY papercraft mock Playdate were released.

On June 4th of 2021 an announcement was made, where the price of the console would be increased to $179 and the number of season one games would be doubled to 24, along with a storage increase to 4 gigabytes from 2.

On June 8th, 2021 the Playdate Stereo dock was unveiled to the public as the first official Playdate accessory.

In July of 2021 early units were sent to journalists.

On August 4th of 2021, a change to the season one schedule was announced.

In late 2021 the CPU used by early development Playdate consoles could no longer be purchased with a lead time of two years due to the chip shortage. Thus on November 11th, 2021 the console was delayed to 2022 so the console could be reworked with a different CPU.

By early April 2022 more complete units were sent to journalists.

Launch
On April 18, 2022 preordered consoles began shipping to customers.

Technology
The technology choices used by the Playdate are unconventional, and trades common features for unique functionality.

Compute
The Playdate uses an ARM based STMicroelectronics 32-bit STM32 F746 processor clocked at 180 megahertz.

The Playdate has 16 megabytes of RAM, among the lowest capacities of notable handhelds for the time.

Initially the Playdate was set to use 2 gigabytes of flash based storage. This capacity was updated to 4 gigabytes before launch.

Hardware
The Playdate has a 2.7" 400 by 240 pixel resolution monochrome Sharp memory LCD for sunlight readability. This display technology precludes color graphics, but allows for a display with a very low power consumption and superior display of monochrome graphics. This display can not be read in the dark as there is no built in backlight or frontlight. The button on the top of the console features a yellow notification LED.

The Playdate has a USB type C port. The USB port of the console can be used both to allow external inputs, and to stream the contents of the screen to an external computer.

Other ports include a headphone jack, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

A crank was chosen as an alternative to the common touchscreen controls. The crank is purely for use as a controller, and does not generate power for the console. The console also features an accelerometer for in game control.

The Playdate featured a model number of PDX-01. Every Playdate console is also a dev kit. The internal PCB color of the Playdate is black.

The system is powered by a Cyber-Power lithium polymer battery, rated at 650mAh and outputting 3.7 volts.

Accessories for the system can be mounted to the back magnetically, and supports charging through this mounting system. A purple flip cover accessory was designed for the system during development.

Playdate hardware was manufactured in Malaysia. This created some contention, as Playdate consoles were not made available for sale to consumers in Malaysia.

Software
The Playdate game launcher UI supports animated game logos at a resolution of 350 pixels by 150 pixels.

Playdate Pulp was designed as a web browser based graphical development environment for the system.

b360
A game made by Panic to aid in system testing during development.

Crankin's Time Travel Adventure
A humorous game made by a team which included Keita Takahashi as a designer.

Playmaker
Creative game made by Dustin Mierau.

RNG Party
2D top down platformer with accelerometer based controls.

DOOM
Unofficial port

Klondike Solitaire
Solitaire card game made using the Rust programming language.

Other Games

 * Zipper
 * Sasquatchers
 * Snak
 * Executive Golf DX

External Resources

 * Playdate website
 * Panic website