It looks great next to other handhelds too
Portable gaming is constantly evolving. We have mobile devices making a big dent in the market, and Nintendo famously shook the entire industry up with a console and portable hybrid device. Then there’s the Playdate, which is doing something else entirely. Recently we were given access to the highly anticipatedPlaydatehandheld, which is still slated for a release sometime in 2022.
Right now, all we can talk about is what’s in the box, so let’s do that. Here’s what you get:
In terms of what’s boxed it’s pretty much all you need, and the insert is fairly self-explanatory. There’s a power button on the top to wake the unit up for the first time (and from sleep mode), a d-pad, two buttons (B and A), a crank (which is like an extended “button” and is used to control games), and a menu button in the upper-right-hand corner.
The size of the Playdate clocks in at 76 × 74 × 9 mm: it’s relatively small! But given how everything is spaced out, not to mention the crank, my hands don’t feel scrunched when I hold it. The color scheme is stark, and allows it to stand out even among some of the extreme banana-colored handhelds of the ’90s.
As a reminder, the device is $179, andyou can still pre-order itfor a 2023 target late shipment. There’s also a $29 magnetic folding cover you can buy as an add-on.
