Panic caused quite the panic today when they opened up pre-orders for their energetic 8-bit Playdate indie gaming console. And to say it’s hotly desired is an understatement because the Portland, Oregon software company sold 20,000 consoles in just under 20 minutes.
And it would appear that very few of those units are outside of the U.S. as several would-be owners in Canada, Mexico, and the U.K. reported running into issues with getting a message saying that the device doesn’t ship to their country. Panic is aware of the issue and reports that the international shipping partner’s plug-in dropped under the heavy volume of Players. The company will be thinking up a remedy, and we will reach out to them for an update, so stay tuned!
Playdate is billing itself as an indie gaming lifestyle device that uses a camping flashlight-style handle as an input device that will serve as an exclusive platform populated by 24 indie titles coming out one a week over what Panic is calling “Playdate Season One.” It’s also aiming to be the gaming system for those who are interested in designing their own games as well as there’s going to be an in-browser development tool that will allow Players to create their own games and port them to their Playdate.
