If you were waiting for the last months of 2020 to arrive to get a Panic Playdate , we have bad news. The company has announced that it will be delayed a bit longer and if you want to get one, you will have to be a little more patient. The first shipments of this particular device will not be made until early 2021.
Playdate, Panic’s console
If this 2020 has taught us something, it is that it is better not to make many plans or, in the case of doing them, always leave the door open to any possible last minute changes. Because with the current situation generated by COVID-19, it is easy for what was planned a priori to change and change and change.
One of the last affected has been Playdate, the particular video game console designed by Panic and of which you may have already seen something. Although if not, we will quickly tell you what this proposal is about, which stands out mainly for its colorful and compact design.
As you can see in the images, this new portable console that Panic presented back in 2019 offers a very striking design and even something extravagant due to that crank that it incorporates. Of course, it is not only the only thing, along with that yellow tone it also stands out that it is very compact. Although the really novel thing is that it does not bet on the latest at the hardware level. What’s more, they even decided to incorporate a monochrome screen.
With all this set, what is achieved is a very particular proposal where the games will come from the hand of a download service and by seasons. That is, by buying the consoles you will access the games of season 1 for free and receive a new title for weeks for twelve weeks. From there, of those initial twelve games, other new seasons will begin that are supposed to be paid, although it is not known how much.
Regarding the games, they are also expected to have that differential point with respect to what we are used to seeing. For them, Panic will have the work of great creators, who will experiment with the possibilities of the device to offer titles that will have all kinds of duration. There will be very short and others that will be the opposite. Although the common point of most is that they will play with that experimental touch like that of the console itself.
No Playdate until 2021
Well, leaving aside the design of the console itself, its games and some other details, the important thing for those who already knew it and wanted to get one is that its launch is delayed .
The first shipments of a total of 20,000 units to be produced will not be carried out until early 2021 . An amount with which Panic believes it will be able to cover the initial demand and later manufacture new batches for future orders.
The reason for this delay is what we all know, COVID-19 and the changes it has caused. The company itself moved its staff home to work remotely and the Malaysian factory where it was being manufactured also had to close temporarily. Therefore, it is not a validation problem, because the FCC had already approved the design.
So, for now we will have to have a little more patience and wait until 2021 to see if the 149 dollars that they ask for the Playdate then compensate or not with what is received and offered. Although just for the fact of having such an attractive product at the design level it will compensate many.