alt Hacker NewsRE: the joystick. They should have gone with the Playdate's crank instead, CrankGPT style.
Anyway, I think it's all a fun marketing thing. A desk toy for folks with disposable income. I imagine they'll sell out, given the limited release and then they'll be on eBay.
Overfunded startups will slap their stickers on them and give them away in exchange for a sales call.