this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2025
264 points (98.9% liked)

Games

41945 readers
657 users here now

Welcome to the largest gaming community on Lemmy! Discussion for all kinds of games. Video games, tabletop games, card games etc.

Rules

1. Submissions have to be related to games

Video games, tabletop, or otherwise. Posts not related to games will be deleted.

This community is focused on games, of all kinds. Any news item or discussion should be related to gaming in some way.

2. No bigotry or harassment, be civil

No bigotry, hardline stance. Try not to get too heated when entering into a discussion or debate.

We are here to talk and discuss about one of our passions, not fight or be exposed to hate. Posts or responses that are hateful will be deleted to keep the atmosphere good. If repeatedly violated, not only will the comment be deleted but a ban will be handed out as well. We judge each case individually.

3. No excessive self-promotion

Try to keep it to 10% self-promotion / 90% other stuff in your post history.

This is to prevent people from posting for the sole purpose of promoting their own website or social media account.

4. Stay on-topic; no memes, funny videos, giveaways, reposts, or low-effort posts

This community is mostly for discussion and news. Remember to search for the thing you're submitting before posting to see if it's already been posted.

We want to keep the quality of posts high. Therefore, memes, funny videos, low-effort posts and reposts are not allowed. We prohibit giveaways because we cannot be sure that the person holding the giveaway will actually do what they promise.

5. Mark Spoilers and NSFW

Make sure to mark your stuff or it may be removed.

No one wants to be spoiled. Therefore, always mark spoilers. Similarly mark NSFW, in case anyone is browsing in a public space or at work.

6. No linking to piracy

Don't share it here, there are other places to find it. Discussion of piracy is fine.

We don't want us moderators or the admins of lemmy.world to get in trouble for linking to piracy. Therefore, any link to piracy will be removed. Discussion of it is of course allowed.

Authorized Regular Threads

Related communities

PM a mod to add your own

Video games

Generic

Help and suggestions

By platform

By type

By games

Language specific

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Dremor@lemmy.world
JonsJava@lemmy.world
fxomt@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Dremor@jlai.lu
modfxomt@lemmy.world
264
CrankBoy - the original Game Boy game emulator for the Playdate console (my article) (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by PerfectDark@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world
28 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I recently had the good fortune to interview the two developers of CrankBoy - an emulator for the Playdate console which allows users to play original Game Boy games on there (and yes, you can use that crank to play them!)

I've always found the Playdate to be a super interesting console, it doesn't compete on any level with the typical handhelds...it doesn't even have a backlight. But it makes up for that in how utterly fresh and unique it is. Creativity is the focus for it, and the games devs themselves all seem to have true passion for their creations.

After seeing some social media posts about CrankBoy get shared about, I reached out to the devs, asking if they'd let me interview them to write up a feature article on their project, and they were so kind to say yes. If you've got any interest in emulation, dev work, or the crazy cute yellow handheld, then you might enjoy this one I wrote.

Here is the link to the article, please let me know what you think!

top 28 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Linearity@infosec.pub 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Great read, I really enjoyed the story!

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

Thank you!!!

I'm really glad you found it interesting :)

[–] Contentedness@lemmy.nz 27 points 1 week ago (3 children)

For anyone else whose never heard of a playdate console before it appears the crank on the side is "used for gameplay in select titles" rather than, as I hoped, a way to power the device like those old timey radios.

Still looks great, good article and more power too them! (Tho not via crank)

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Ahhh that’s annoying. The crank looks like it makes the whole unit much more awkward to hold, especially for larger hands. The fact that it’s just a control gimmick which doesn’t really add anything to classic Game Boy games makes it a hard pass for me.

[–] Sirence@feddit.org 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The crank is the sole reason this thing exists. If you want an emulation handheld to play Gameboy games without a crank there are countless options out there.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago (2 children)

It’s a tough sell then. I did a search in the article for the word crank and got a lot of matches but it was too long for me to read. I would have preferred some short video clips to demonstrate exactly how it works.

[–] Sirence@feddit.org 11 points 1 week ago

This article isn't about the playdate, it's an article about an emulation software someone wrote that runs on the playdates hardware, so you won't get a detailed explanation about the playdate as a general device there.

The playdate is a novelty device that anyone can develop Minigames for which use the crank for their gameplay. It is several years old at this point. It's also very expensive for what it is so if you're not a fan of just having little novel devices with not much use there is no reason to buy one. It is indeed a tough sell for most people but they have their own demographic of enthusiasts.

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

What an odd take to have.

I'm a little confused why you'd form a strong opinion on something you willfully refused to read. In fact, even my title for the article kinda gives it away. Or the screenshot.

Just...odd.

[–] TheSambassador@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

The crank folds down into an extremely satisfying magnetic dock that it can sit in while not using it.

Also... These aren't classic Gameboy games, they're modern games made specifically for the device. The unique control mechanism is the niche, and it's surprisingly fun to use. You just also CAN emulate Gameboy games on it. There's people who have made e-readers for it too... Though... That's where even i draw the line lol

Sounds like this isn't your thing though, there are lots of Gameboy emulator powered handhelds if that's all you're looking for. If you want extremely unique gameplay by tons of small indie developers (including Lucas Pope of Papers Please), super easy to make games for (I've made 2 just for friends), really easy side loading, and something just fun to show people, it's a super easy sell.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Oh okay. That sounds a lot better than I thought!

I think to me the crank seems ideal for a fishing game. Has anyone made one of those?

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

There is a actual dedicated Playdate fishing game, yes:

But in relation to my article, and their work on CrankBoy...you can watch how they added the crank to the fishing part of the original Link's Awakening fishing section. This kind of thing is why I think Sodium and Stonerl are doing amazing work, because it's so different!

Link to the crank being used for fishing in Link's Awakening here!

[–] altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago

I shared your confusion.

Now I'm curious if one can pull that off with simple games if features like high refresh rate and wireless thrown off. Also, price. With that 'Memory LCD' of theirs, it costs $100 per unit as per their Twitter.

14 days standby clock, 8 hours active

That's what PD team claims for 740 mAh battery, it is what cheap mp3 players now have\consume. If there is a space to optimize it further, we'd see even better numbers, but I'm not confident this crank or little solar panel on the surface (whole back panel?) could make it autonomous. Yet, the idea of a handheld that LOVES sunlight is tempting. And, also, the idea of games that are built around slow and infrequent refresh like those minigames on e-books.

[–] Evotech@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Yeah lol I was thinking gameboy for the apocalypse

Crankboy has major fallout vibes

[–] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 15 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I was always curious about the Playdate because Lucas Pope made a game for it and he's a genius, but I never really could see myself justifying the massive price tag for what it is.

Also I hope you're feeling better! It made me so happy to see a post from you again as I've missed seeing you around. Hope your health is improving ♥️

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I’m with you on the price. I’d probably have one already if it was 150, which is what the GBC would cost today with inflation factored in.

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

It made me so happy to see a post from you again as I’ve missed seeing you around.

Thanks, Coelacanth! It's nice to be back here :)

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The playdate looks cool but it’s wayy too expensive for what it is.

[–] TheSambassador@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

I've gotten easily $200 worth of value out of it, and if mine broke I'd buy another one. Sometimes niche things deserve the extra price. It's more of a problem of the world draining everyone's disposable income for niche things like these.

[–] Cornelius_Wangenheim@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

$229? Fuck me, you're not kidding. That's over half way to owning a Steam deck.

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

More than that if you account for the refurbished/used market

Also in the eu with shipping and taxes a single playdate with no accessories amounts to...

Total $334.97

WTF MORE THAN 3/4 of a BRAND NEW STEAM DECK ?!

AND THEY HAVE A SUBSCRIPTION SYSTEM FOR THEIR GAMES ?!!

[–] tal@lemmy.today 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

My guess is that most people in the market for a Steam Deck aren't choosing between getting either this or a Deck. Like, different markets.

[–] Linearity@infosec.pub 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Article hyperlink links to GitHub

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Damn. That's what I get for staying up all night, isn't it.

Fixed, and thank you so much!

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

What were you Boy doing all night? (:

[–] darreninthenet@piefed.social 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Cranking...

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 2 points 1 week ago

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[–] Strider@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

I had a Playdate for a while. I thought it would fill a gap when playing in sunlight (as a retro collector / curator).

But it just didn't hold up software wise for me. Everything is more or less minigames. It does have system selling minigames - but that wasn't enough for me.

And for that it's too expensive, sadly.

[–] mesamunefire@piefed.social 1 points 1 week ago

This looks awesome!