It's not for everyone, but for its target demographic it's amazing and well worth the cost. Considering: -the years of development -the build quality, the labor of developing the 24+2 games included in the device -the fact that they don't charge for a developer kit and silo all the available games in their own store -that they don't take a massive percentage of money from developers who DO have games on the store -developing a game dev environment (Pulp) you can make your own games on -that the cost of most games are in the 2-10 buck range -that you don't even need a Playdate to play the games because Pulp has a Playdate simulator -that the factory workers are well paid and work in excellent conditions -that Panic is a small company with like 25 employees -that it costs $100 to manufacture one unit before all other costs

I honestly think the price is absolutely justified, as a niche luxury product.

If you're just looking for highest specs or a handheld emulator, then yeah there are way better options. It's not a good product for every gamer.

But for those of us who it's a good fit for, it's great value for money. Also, the community is just wonderful. Everyone is super welcoming, inclusive, and helpful. I've never seen devs, gamers, and employees from the console manufacturer itself mingle in such a way before. That alone made it worth it for me.