The 8-year process behind Playdate’s glorious crank

polygon.com:

Since the introduction of portable gaming, each new handheld has been designed to stand out from the crowd — which has often meant more power, but also unique features that some might consider gimmicks. The Microvision introduced swappable cartridges. The Game & Watch kept track of time. The Game Gear featured color visuals and drained six AA batteries in a matter of hours. And while impressive new features haven’t always resulted in outstanding sales, the world of handheld gaming has continued to leap forward with selling points like touch panels, microphones, and stereoscopic 3D effects. Prior to a few years ago, little did players know one of the strangest was yet to come.

Today Nintendo almost single-handedly controls the dedicated gaming handheld market, while phones and tablets fill the void for the average consumer. Enter Playdate. Panic’s adorable yellow gaming device, originally announced in early 2019, has its feet planted firmly in both the past and the future. Though it has the appearance of a boxy Game Boy Pocket, the quirky handheld is designed to receive digital games weekly via Wi-Fi. With a retro aesthetic and modern innards, Playdate represents an artistic twist on both old and new.

And yet, the aspect that seems to have piqued the interest of most fans and developers is the small crank protruding from Playdate’s right side. With a silver arm and yellow handle, Playdate’s crank looks like a tiny hand waving hello to apprehensive players. Playdate represents a wide array of novel ideas, but none as bizarre and enticing as the crank. Thus we have committed ourselves to understanding the crank. Becoming one with it. Who thought it up? How has it been tested? How are developers using it in their games? All