Yeah lol I was thinking gameboy for the apocalypse
Crankboy has major fallout vibes
Comment on CrankBoy - the original Game Boy game emulator for the Playdate console (my article)
Contentedness@lemmy.nz 22 hours ago
For anyone else whose never heard of a playdate console before it appears the crank on the side is “used for gameplay in select titles” rather than, as I hoped, a way to power the device like those old timey radios.
Still looks great, good article and more power too them! (Tho not via crank)
Evotech@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 hours ago
I shared your confusion.
Now I’m curious if one can pull that off with simple games if features like high refresh rate and wireless thrown off. Also, price. With that ‘Memory LCD’ of theirs, it costs $100 per unit as per their Twitter.
14 days standby clock, 8 hours active
That’s what PD team claims for 740 mAh battery, it is what cheap mp3 players now have\consume. If there is a space to optimize it further, we’d see even better numbers, but I’m not confident this crank or little solar panel on the surface (whole back panel?) could make it autonomous. Yet, the idea of a handheld that LOVES sunlight is tempting. And, also, the idea of games that are built around slow and infrequent refresh like those minigames on e-books.
chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Ahhh that’s annoying. The crank looks like it makes the whole unit much more awkward to hold, especially for larger hands. The fact that it’s just a control gimmick which doesn’t really add anything to classic Game Boy games makes it a hard pass for me.
Sirence@feddit.org 19 hours ago
The crank is the sole reason this thing exists. If you want an emulation handheld to play Gameboy games without a crank there are countless options out there.
chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
It’s a tough sell then. I did a search in the article for the word crank and got a lot of matches but it was too long for me to read. I would have preferred some short video clips to demonstrate exactly how it works.
PerfectDark@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
What an odd take to have.
I’m a little confused why you’d form a strong opinion on something you willfully refused to read. In fact, even my title for the article kinda gives it away. Or the screenshot.
Just…odd.
Sirence@feddit.org 18 hours ago
This article isn’t about the playdate, it’s an article about an emulation software someone wrote that runs on the playdates hardware, so you won’t get a detailed explanation about the playdate as a general device there.
The playdate is a novelty device that anyone can develop Minigames for which use the crank for their gameplay. It is several years old at this point. It’s also very expensive for what it is so if you’re not a fan of just having little novel devices with not much use there is no reason to buy one. It is indeed a tough sell for most people but they have their own demographic of enthusiasts.
TheSambassador@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
The crank folds down into an extremely satisfying magnetic dock that it can sit in while not using it.
Also… These aren’t classic Gameboy games, they’re modern games made specifically for the device. The unique control mechanism is the niche, and it’s surprisingly fun to use.
Sounds like this isn’t your thing though, there are lots of Gameboy emulator powered handhelds if that’s all you’re looking for. If you want extremely unique gameplay by tons of small indie developers (including Lucas Pope of Papers Please), super easy to make games for (I’ve made 2 just for friends), really easy side loading, and something just fun to show people, it’s a super easy sell.
chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
Oh okay. That sounds a lot better than I thought!
I think to me the crank seems ideal for a fishing game. Has anyone made one of those?
PerfectDark@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
There is a actual dedicated Playdate fishing game, yes:
But in relation to my article, and their work on CrankBoy…you can watch how they added the crank to the fishing part of the original Link’s Awakening fishing section. This kind of thing is why I think Sodium and Stonerl are doing amazing work, because it’s so different!
Link to the crank being used for fishing in Link’s Awakening here!