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This wacky console accessory will make you nostalgic for the era of portable TVs

The Playdate has unveiled a cute new accessory so that you can play it in a totally different way, and it’s caught our hearts as well as our eyes.

If you’re releasing a brand new video games console to compete with the likes of the PS5 or the Xbox Series X, then you’ve got to have a unique selling point that really captures your audience’s attention. Panic, the manufacturer behind the upcoming Playdate console, has found one: kitsch cuteness.

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Not content just with looking like a Fisher-Price Game Boy, the brand has also announced a new accessory to rival the versatility of the Nintendo Switch, that gives the upcoming console the appearance of a portable television back from the dark days before smartphones took over the world.

The console’s quirky stand, which has just been unveiled, is a multifunctional bit of kit that charges the device, packs in a stereo speaker and acts as a pen holder too. Now that’s what I call multi-tasking.

Of course, the main function is that it lets you take the device out of your hands and prop it up in front of you. That’s not quite the same as the Switch’s hybrid design that allows it to be fully portable as well as working like a classic home hub console, but you will at least be able to hook this device up to your PC or Mac when you want the benefit of a bigger screen.

What will make this console unique is that you’ll get mystery new games every week, downloadable over Wi-Fi, all included in the price of the console. So what is that price exactly? $179 in the United States (which works out to around £125), and it will be available to pre-order from July this year.

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