The gaming world can sometimes feel like it's dominated by just three big names, at least as far as consoles go - Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox. That's largely true, but smaller projects like the Playdate show there's still room for some improvisation.

The quirky little handheld console, with a black and white screen and unique crank mechanism as part of its control scheme, was announced a couple of years ago and initially was meant to ship to users at the tail-end of 2021.

That was delayed due to supply chain problems (a familiar problem for the likes of Sony and Microsoft, too), but the Playdate is now finally shipping out to customers in waves, as has become common for hard-to-get tech like the Steam Deck.

The bright yellow handheld offers something even more unique than Valve's portable gaming PC, with a funny and left-field set of games on offer, and it's proved a hit with people who want something a little more unique from their gaming.

That has a downside, though - if you decide to order a Playdate now, you won't get your hands on the device until 2023, based on the estimations of its own manufacturer.