# History of video games/Platforms/Playdate
## History
### 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Playdate developer Panic originally made applications for macOS and iOS and later began publishing games.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.

## Notable games
### 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

## Gallery
### Console

* The Playdate with the crank stowed for portability.
* The Playdate with the crank deployed for use in games.
* The Playdate logo
* An alternate Playdate logo.

## External Resources

* Playdate website
* Panic website

## References

* ↑ "Panic - Shockingly Good Software". panic.com. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
* 1 2 "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1131307536823406593" (in en). Twitter. https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1131307536823406593.
* ↑ Guichet, Alex. "Playdate - A new handheld gaming system from Panic". The Missing Quests. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
* ↑ Bertoli, Ben (14 April 2022). "The 8-year process behind Playdate’s glorious crank". Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/23013686/playdate-panic-crank-history.
* 1 2 "Panic Blog » Announcing the Playdate™ handheld video game system". Retrieved 14 November 2020.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Playdate's tiny hand-held with a crank is big on charm". Engadget. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* ↑ Guichet, Alex. "Playdate News Roundup: June 2019 - First Gameplay Footage, Processor Specs, and The Talk Show appearance". The Missing Quests. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1293636186779467777". Twitter. Retrieved 8 June 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
* ↑ Campbell, Ian Carlos (30 October 2020). "Playdate, the tiny handheld with a crank, is delayed to early 2021". The Verge. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1331646337046118402". Twitter. Retrieved 8 June 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
* 1 2 "Playdate handheld nears release with price hike, new games, and a video update". SlashGear. 2021-06-04. https://www.slashgear.com/playdate-handheld-nears-release-with-price-hike-new-games-and-a-video-update-04676316/.
* 1 2 Peters, Jay (2021-06-04). "The tiny Playdate handheld gets a price bump but double the games" (in en). The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/4/22466184/panic-playdate-handheld-price-double-season-one-games-update-preorder.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 "✨ Playdate Update — 6/8/2021" (in en). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeWGukDrc1U.
* 1 2 3 Machkovech, Sam (11 April 2022). "Check out the portable, cranky Playdate before our review goes live next week" (in en-us). Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/04/check-out-the-portable-cranky-playdate-before-our-review-goes-live-next-week/.
* ↑ Campbell, Ian Carlos (4 August 2021). "The Playdate’s first season of games won’t hit every handheld at the same time" (in en). The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/4/22609923/playdate-handheld-crank-panic-game-season-one.
* 1 2 Machkovech, Sam (11 November 2021). "Playdate delays to 2022 amid scramble to revise entire handheld console" (in en-us). Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/11/playdate-delays-to-2022-amid-scramble-to-revise-the-entire-handheld-console/.
* ↑ Stein, Scott. "Playdate Feels Like a Delightful, Bizarro Nintendo Game and Watch" (in en). CNET. https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/the-panic-playdate-feels-like-a-delightful-bizarro-nintendo-game-and-watch/.
* ↑ Peters, Jay (18 April 2022). "Panic’s first Playdate handhelds begin shipping Monday" (in en). The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/18/22955640/panic-playdate-handheld-ship-date-launch.
* ↑ "Playdate Release Date: When is the handheld shipping?". GameRevolution. 19 April 2022. https://www.gamerevolution.com/guides/705230-playdate-release-date-when-is-the-handheld-shipping.
* 1 2 3 4 5 "Playdate Portable Gaming Console Cranks Up The Fun In New Gameplay Videos". TEKHARD.COM. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
* ↑ Torrone, Phillip (20 July 2020). "2.7″ SHARP memory display test". Adafruit Industries - Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers!. https://blog.adafruit.com/2020/07/19/2-7-sharp-memory-display-test/.
* ↑ Statt, Nick (12 August 2020). "Check out some wonderful Playdate game demos, including a low-fi Doom". The Verge. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
* ↑ "Memory LCD". Retrieved 1 January 2021.
* ↑ Stein, Scott. "Panic Playdate Review: The Weirdest, Best Fidget Game Console Ever" (in en). CNET. https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/panic-playdate-review-the-weirdest-best-fidget-game-console-ever/.
* 1 2 Lanier, Liz (23 May 2019). "New Handheld Console Playdate Has a Crank and 12 Games". Variety. Retrieved 1 November 2020. {{cite web}}: Missing |author1= (help)
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1374843394518786052". Twitter. Retrieved 8 June 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
* ↑ "Playdate Media Kit". play.date. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
* ↑ "The Playdate Is a Boutique Gaming Handheld With a Crank". Wired. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
* 1 2 "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1293636192022364160". Twitter. Retrieved 8 June 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1131307614422233088/photo/1" (in en). Twitter. https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1131307614422233088/photo/1.
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1234595660705349632" (in en). Twitter. https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1234595660705349632.
* ↑ Peters, Jay (26 April 2022). "Panic isn’t sure if people will like the Playdate’s seasonal model" (in en). The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/26/23041825/panic-playdate-season-one-two-release-model.
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1234595664031408129" (in en). Twitter. https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1234595664031408129.
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1234595662085255170". Twitter. Retrieved 8 June 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1234595664031408129" (in en). Twitter. https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1234595664031408129.
* ↑ "Crankin's Time Travel Adventure". Crankin's Time Travel Adventure. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1385677503151235073". Twitter. Retrieved 8 June 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1293636196917055488". Twitter. Retrieved 8 June 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1293636191082827776". Twitter. Retrieved 8 June 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)