Despite principally being known for its Mac and iOS software, the Portland-based developer Panic is making a dedicated handheld device for video games.
This isn't Panic's first activity in the games space. It was the publisher of Campo Santo's Firewatch in 2016, and it will also publish House House's Untitled Goose Game later this year.
However, this new hardware, called Playdate, represents an ambitious step forward into an area that many believed had been destroyed by the rise of smartphone games.
The Playdate's design recalls the original Nintendo Game Boy with its d-pad and buttons set below a black and white screen. However, it also features a hand crank, which the official website shows controlling the protagonist's movement in a game called Crankin's Time Travel Adventure.
Not ever game will make use of the hand crank, Panic said, but the games are another unique aspect of what the Playdate will offer.
Everyone who buys the device will also get "Season One" of its software; 12 games that will appear on the Playdate in weekly intervals. According to Panic, the first season will include games from Keita Takahashi (Katamari Damacy), Zach Gage (SpellTower), and Bennett Foddy (QWOP).

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...aming-handheld