As heard on the latest VGHD, Asymmetric is making a game for the Playdate handheld game system
On episode 372 of the pirate internet radio show Video Games Hot Dog (at about 30:55) Jick briefly mentions that the Asym team are making a game that will appear on the newly-announced Playdate game system. This apparently is the collaborative project they've been working on for a long time but couldn't talk about until now. Seemingly, Jim "creator of Frog Fractions" Stormdancer is also on this, given that Jick said it was being made by "all of us." No other details were really revealed.
If you don't know what Playdate is, it's a handheld gaming device by software developer Panic and electronics manufacturer Teenage Engineering. It seems like it's not exactly a console, but more of a retro video game toy that will come bundled with a "season" of 12 games. Also, it has a crank. It's set for release in early 2020 at a price of USD $149.
Not much is known about the included games, but some are being made by Bennett Foddy (QWOP, Getting Over It), Keita Takahashi (Katamari Damacy), and veteran LucasArts/Telltale adventure game writer Chuck Jordan. So it's cool that Asymmetric was invited to join this all-star group of weird video game creators.
Posted May 27, 2019, 10:03 PM UTC · edited
Yeah. I am not sure I want to plonk down $150, for what looks like a very avant garde system. I think I would very much like to try it out, but I also have a feeling that I wouldn't really like it. I don't want to get to far into the video games vs. art debate, but for me at least. The limited time I can spend playing games needs to yield enjoyment and this thing seems way too experimental.
I can also see like game 9 of the 12 game season being something incredible that I very much would drop $150 to play only to find out the damn things are sold out and I would need to sell both my kidneys to afford the copy on eBay.