10

Between the brilliant Nintendo Switch and

whatever smartphone is currently in your

pocket, you’d be forgiven for thinking

there’s no need for another handheld

gaming machine. That is, until you meet

the Playdate.

Announced last year but finally available to

pre-order around the time you’re reading

this, it’s a teeny handheld system with

a black and white display, a D-pad, a few

buttons, a built-in mono speaker and,

most importantly, a flip-out crank handle

on the side that can be used as a controller.

And now there’s an accessory: the Stereo

Dock (pictured), a charger and speaker with

Bluetooth... and a big yellow pen.

The Playdate is made by Panic – publisher

of indie gems like Firewatch and Untitled

Goose Game – in collaboration with

Teenage Engineering. Just as interesting

as its quirky design is Panic’s plan for

distributing software to the console: you

don’t buy physical games or download

them from a store; instead, two new titles

will be drip-fed to the system each week

for a few months, so every release is

a fresh surprise.

As hot as... mustard and/or custard

$179 (including 24 games, Stereo Dock

price tba) / play.date

THE CRANKS

ARE COMING

Playdate

HOT

SIX

Zelda fans might still be busy dissecting

every single frame and pixel of the new

Breath of the Wild sequel trailer from

E3 (see p19)... but with anything up to 18

months to wait until that game is actually

released, Nintendo has offered something

to stop us going spare in the meantime:

a dedicated handheld to mark the series’

35th anniversary.

While it won’t be released until November,

this special Game & Watch is crammed

with enough Link-related goodness to

keep anyone occupied for months, with

the original The Legend of Zelda from

1986, 1987’s Zelda 2: The Adventure of

Link, and the Game Boy version of Link’s

Awakening all pre-installed. Plus there’s

a special version of Vermin, essentially

Whack-a-Mole for the Game & Watch,

with Link as the walloper.

Ninty’s also squeezed in a Zelda-themed

clock and timer that are both playable – so

even when you’ve finished the games you

still have something to do. Maybe there’s

no need to rush that new Switch title...

As hot as... Hyrule’s fireproof lizards

£45 / store.nintendo.co.uk

NEW ZELDA

WORLD IN

YOUR ARMS

Nintendo Game & Watch:

The Legend of Zelda

HOT

SIX

Phantom hour-pass

The original Game & Watch

would eat through batteries

like a hungry piranha plant, but

this version is rechargeable

via the USB-C port. You

should get up to eight

hours out of it.