ScribblemacherMar 21, 2025

I sold off a bunch of older games and am considering what to use the proceeds for. Obviously I'm not going to do something responsible with it. Deciding between:

#GameBoyLight: Always wanted one. I actually use my GBC next to a lamp all the time, so I would actually use this; not just some weird display thing!

#3DS or #3DSXL: The kids have beat up the 2DS to the point of gore, so this would replace it (for me, not them--they can keep the toot-DS as they call it)

#PlayDate: I'm probably the audience for this; the games on it are my kind of thing, no backlight is a selling point, and flipping through the dev docs, this looks like a great platform to work with. I'm hesitant due to the price and the seeming fragility of the hardware though. There's also probably more productive dev-related stuff I could be doing. (I set up the SDK and simulator months ago but haven't really touched it since). It's also cute but pricey.

#gamerecommendations

Show threadNDRMar 21, 2025
@scribblemacher the playdate is robust I wouldn't worry about fragility. The biggest con is the small screen as my eyes are not that good anymore
Show threadScribblemacherMar 21, 2025
@ndr The internet being the internet is awash with "the crank breaks if you look at it funny" and "buttons just fall off" stuff. I'm sure it's not *that* delicate, but in my house, hardware will inevitably get used by a kid, so it's something I consider.
Show threadNDR
@scribblemacher my youngest kid is 15 already so the two playdates we have in the household are handled with some care but because of the small form factor they feel much sturdier than the switch, the steam deck or the Atari Lynx II (that are all hand helds in our household that I could use as comparison)
Mar 21, 2025 at 5:32pmWeb