Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

thanks guys!

7 hours ago, PikoInteractive said:

Hey Tommy, are you still signing up developers? Never heard back from you after our initial talk. 2.5D is something we want to do in the future. And now we have over 200 video game IPs to pick from.

Yes.  We're still signing developers.  But you're just licensing games aren't you?  You're not making new ones correct?

1 hour ago, ASalvaro said:

thanks guys!

Happy BIRTHDAY!!  🎂

And your comment was the beginning of the 100th page.  Woo-hoo!

7 hours ago, LePionnier said:

For Tommy, the real and only one ! :)

My question has 2 parts. (Or is it 2 questions ...  😕  lol )
The first concerns the strategy adopted to choose the 5 titles that will be included with Amico.
Is it the most interesting, diverse, least expensive, the developer etc.
The second part, how developers will be paid compared to those who have an exclusivity of about 10 days to sell their product?
Because it's easier to know how many game has been sold, but if at launch you are selling 5 millions Amico units,
will you divide the 5 millions between the 5 games chosen?
Unless it's all from the same developer !?  
I hope my request is comprehensive!

Thank you !

 

The internal 5 games are chosen by diversity and fun for as many folks as possible.  Every one is coming out really great and testing really well.

No developer gets royalties on the internal 5 games.  They were all very aware going in and in most cases we signed a multiple deal and gave them a little more on the 2nd game.  Lots of talented developers are just looking for work.  These are all of our properties so they are being hired to complete our task.

46 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Happy BIRTHDAY!!  🎂

 

And your comment was the beginning of the 100th page.  Woo-hoo!

 

 

Thank you Tommy!  Next year I'm going to have to hurry and make sure I set up the Amico by the 12th! Lol

Hey, Tommy the expansion port seems to be missing from the recent Amico revisions. Is that gone for good? I remember an interview you did you said in theory it could upgrade the entire system. 

25 minutes ago, ASalvaro said:

Thank you Tommy!  Next year I'm going to have to hurry and make sure I set up the Amico by the 12th! Lol

 I foresee you seeing it up on 10/10/2020 at least if your anything like me its going to be a too excited to wait thing

I noticed on the new website the specs show an SD card slot. Thought you and the team had piracy concerns with including an SD card slot on the Amico?

New site looks nice. I'm not interested in buying a shirt but I do have to say they are way overpriced at $35 USD plus shipping each. I know that market and how large the markup is even in low quantity. 

2 hours ago, Alpha82 said:

 I foresee you seeing it up on 10/10/2020 at least if your anything like me its going to be a too excited to wait thing

Oh yea on the 10th for sure!

4 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Yes.  We're still signing developers.  But you're just licensing games aren't you?  You're not making new ones correct?

 

 

We are making games actually :). Finished up a Switch one a little a go, and finishing up 2 commissioned projects as we speak.

9 hours ago, Shawn said:

New site looks nice. I'm not interested in buying a shirt but I do have to say they are way overpriced at $35 USD plus shipping each. I know that market and how large the markup is even in low quantity. 

If you signed up for the newsletter, in the first one you got $10 off the shirt.  $25 is reasonable considering the prices they charge today, not to mention the extras that come with the shirt!

Tommy, I have a question regarding the purchase of the legacy (original INTV) games to play on the Amico.  If we can prove we owned the Intellivision Lives and Rocks CD's, would there be a way made where we could download those onto the Amico either at no charge or at a discounted rate?  Just thinking it would be a shame to have to pay full price for these games a second time over.  Again, I am asking about this for the original Intellivision games only, not the re-imagined ones.  Thanks!

FYI Tommy is going to Dubai on the 17-19 to speak at Isomnia Dubai (big gaming conference there)

25 minutes ago, atarifan88 said:

Tommy, I have a question regarding the purchase of the legacy (original INTV) games to play on the Amico.  If we can prove we owned the Intellivision Lives and Rocks CD's, would there be a way made where we could download those onto the Amico either at no charge or at a discounted rate?  Just thinking it would be a shame to have to pay full price for these games a second time over.  Again, I am asking about this for the original Intellivision games only, not the re-imagined ones.  Thanks!

They're free; you only pay a small handling fee.

11 hours ago, ColdCoffee said:

Hey, Tommy the expansion port seems to be missing from the recent Amico revisions. Is that gone for good? I remember an interview you did you said in theory it could upgrade the entire system. 

USB is still there.  Never had a separate expansion port by itself.  Sorry, if I suaid there was I may have misunderstood the question.  We intend on using the USB ports for expansion.  For example, if someone wanted to create a cartridge unit to play original games on.  Lots of things on the drawing board, but the main focus right now is to finish the machine as is and then get our team on creating some other things.  We have a huge engineering team that will be basically completed with the main hardware over the next few months.  From there...need have lots of potential options to persue.

10 hours ago, MarioMan88 said:

I noticed on the new website the specs show an SD card slot. Thought you and the team had piracy concerns with including an SD card slot on the Amico?

Absolutely we have concerns.  Have been figuring a lot of things out though.

Also... the pics of the machine on the website are not the final one.  We've actually change a few things on the base and it looks even cooler IMO.  Things like the charging ports and airflow and lighting needed to be tweaked a bit.  We'll be replacing all the pics when the Rev 2 Dev Kits are finalized and produced. Will be revealed on our 40th anniversary.  Dec. 3, 2019.   

10 hours ago, Shawn said:

New site looks nice. I'm not interested in buying a shirt but I do have to say they are way overpriced at $35 USD plus shipping each. I know that market and how large the markup is even in low quantity. 

Hi Shawn,

I'm not trying to be confrontational or a smart ass... so please don't read my following comments in that way (always want to preface certain responses like that so folks don't take it the wrong way). 

A few quick things.

I'm very familiar with the t-shirt market as well.  I have sold well over 100,000 t-shirts both on the road and online with my Video Games Live tour for the past 17 years. 

There is a $10 off code per shirt.  Please make sure to sign up to our mailing list or follow us on social media.  Every post and e-mail we made this week announcing the new website and the t-shirts has had the $10 off code.  The code is:  AMICO1010

These are very high quality t-shirts.  Tri-blend (not 50/50 crap that you get made for $4).  If you are familiar with the industry then I'm sure you're aware of Bella Canvas:  (https://www.bellacanvas.com/product/3413/Unisex-Triblend-SS-Tee.html).  These are $11 to manufacture and print.  Then you have packaging, fulfillment the extra RFID cards and corporate taxes.  That brings the cost of each shirt up to around $20 when you add in everything else.  With the discount Intellivision makes $5.  I made the conscious decision to keep the quality as high as possible.  I don't care about "profit" on t-shirts.  What's important is that the customer receives the shirt and feels like they are getting great value.

It's not just a "shirt"... it's an interactive experience.  Using our app (which isn't free for us... but free to the consumer), folks will be able to not only see trailers on the shirt... but also PLAY game demos on there as well!!  This takes artists and programmers to work on this.  People wearing these will be the center of attention if they so choose when they are showing off what the shirt can do.  And every month the same shirt is going to show a different game or demo!  And lets not forget about the collectable RFID card as well.  This card will enable you to easy join our monthly sweepstakes.  This includes giving away on of our LIMITED EDITION Intellivision Amico's every month until launch!

Now that you've heard more about this...  I'm wondering if you still feel that $25 is too much?

I've gone to concerts and seen crappy heavy and rough 50/50 blend shirts for $40 - $50.  We are half of that and the quality is much higher and it's a "smart" shirt. 

Also important to note that we've almost sold out of our first batch of 500 in around 2 days.  So we're doing way over what some folks expected...  
Will be the same when the machine comes out as well.  

Thanks!


 

8 hours ago, PikoInteractive said:

We are making games actually :). Finished up a Switch one a little a go, and finishing up 2 commissioned projects as we speak.

Cool.  Please send us some YouTube trailer or gameplay links.

Make sure to send an e-mail to [email protected] 

My team has put a process in place for folks looking to potentially develop for our system.

Thanks!

1 hour ago, atarifan88 said:

Tommy, I have a question regarding the purchase of the legacy (original INTV) games to play on the Amico.  If we can prove we owned the Intellivision Lives and Rocks CD's, would there be a way made where we could download those onto the Amico either at no charge or at a discounted rate?  Just thinking it would be a shame to have to pay full price for these games a second time over.  Again, I am asking about this for the original Intellivision games only, not the re-imagined ones.  Thanks!

We're not going to be selling them individually... they will all be coming in "packs".  So you'll be able to get 10 original sports titles in the SPORT pack and the price will be around $5 for the entire thing.  So we're only talking around .50 per game.  Our goal isn't to make money on these titles... but more about keeping the legacy alive. 

I'm thinking it would also be a huge logistic nightmare to try and figure out who originally bought something from 40 years ago without a receipt.  Just showing a pic of a cartridge wouldn't mean much.  What if someone stole a bunch of games?  Without a receipt, how would one prove that they were the originally purchaser?  And then they would need to show every game in the pack.  Easy to just pull pics off the internet.  If there's a way to "beat the system"... folks will find it.  Even if they are only saving around 50 cents. 

I'm hoping that the very low price is something that will appeal to the original Intellivision owners.  I feel that .50 is a great value to play those originals with a digital overlay and force feedback, etc. 

Just want to point out (so no one is disappointed on launch) that these are something we are looking to do after launch and after the machine has been established.  We don't want to confuse new consumers or have people think we're some AT Games pile of crap.  I put out a retro style trailer for the PRGE last year (a retro convention) and it's taken me over a year to try and convince folks that we aren't a retro machine.  I could easily see some in the gaming press or podcasters reviewing those experiences and saying how lame the machine is.  We all know the kind of "folks" we're talking about.  

Hope that helps to explain everything a bit more.

Curious to know your thoughts now that you know a little more.

p.s.  Here are 2 colored versions of the NEW logo in .jpg format... you gotta update your avatar! 

1 hour ago, GrudgeQ said:

FYI Tommy is going to Dubai on the 17-19 to speak at Isomnia Dubai (big gaming conference there)

 

 

More importantly... meeting with huge investors.  Will be in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and then over to India! 

If anyone is interested in following my adventures... I typically post a lot on social media.  Mostly Facebook & Twitter... just starting to get into Instragram (not a huge fan).  And going to start doing more YouTube.  Facebook is my personal favorite and are the more personal type posts.  Twitter is typically me answering questions or 'pwning noobs'.      Instagram is typically my best pics and I'll be using YouTube for some really special video experiences.  For example: 
 

Also a GREAT metaphor for entering the video game console market. 

If you can't do this... then you shouldn't be making hardware.  I might just be crazy enough. 

Here are the social media links for anyone interested.

https://www.facebook.com/TommyTallarico2/
 

https://twitter.com/TommyTallarico

https://www.instagram.com/tommytallarico/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7RSEVV68_0hsiXnSYAcMlA


 

1 hour ago, mr_me said:

They're free; you only pay a small handling fee.

They won't be free... but extremely inexpensive.  We're targeting .50 per game when purchased as a pack.  They will only be available in packs (not individually).

58 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Mostly Facebook & Twitter... just starting to get into Instragram (not a huge fan).
 

Tommy is downplaying his Instagram! Sure it has lots of pics of him with famous people & concerts around the world (blah, blah, blah) but you also get to see Tommy in his role as a serious, corporate leader in Amico planning meetings, business negotiations & talking with Intellivision staff:

19 hours ago, ASalvaro said:

since today is my birthday that means next year on this day i will be blowing out the candles on my Intellivision Amico controller and getting maybe a free game!

Jerk! I gotta wait 11 months. 😥

Will your T Shirts eventually come in white?

Black is too hot for Florida, although there's a few sweaty masochists who try to be edge lords about it & wear black anyway.