Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

That's a very good story Big Daddy Game Studio.  Thank you for sharing it.

12 hours ago, Silverbot said:

It’s very interesting to see the design and development process, you wouldn’t see this from any other company. Please do some more  👍😀

I agree 100%

22 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Let me know if you'd like to see more behind the scenes videos like this.

I love this stuff. I've "been there, done that" so it's great to see people doing the things.

21 minutes ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

I was never able to take care of a fish tank, but this one, this one I think I can handle. Now just to find a place for it.

 

Seriously, if there was magnetic controls for moving the fish and shark, that'd be awesome!

1 hour ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

I was never able to take care of a fish tank, but this one, this one I think I can handle. Now just to find a place for it.

 

That is so cool 

Yo Tommy didn't you say that there was going to be an article in aarp. We just got it for December and I didn't see it ?

Happy Birthday Intellivision!!  41 years young and still going strong.  Here's to another 41 years!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY INTELLIVISION!

8 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

I was never able to take care of a fish tank, but this one, this one I think I can handle. Now just to find a place for it.

 

Wow... That's pretty sweet! 

And where can we get this little fishtank?

here is the link, I also picked this up as well

https://artovision3d.com/

Playing some Intellivision recently for the first time in 20+ years I came across a couple of thoughts.

- how did they achieve those deep and vibrant sounds in games the bomb drop in he-man or the pepper spray in burger time? No other systems sound like that. Will the Amico be similar?

-what is going on with maze a tron? #drugs

-has anyone here fixed a left controller drifting to the right on an Intellivision II? I ordered a tandy vision as a main system, but should I consider fixing the II?

Thought about the Amico... What console generation is it closest to? 32, 64, 128 bit? If you time traveled with it what system era would it fit in closely to? 

20 hours ago, Pac in Blac said:

Agreed! It's baffling why Nintendo sits on certain IP for decades like they do...but all the more opportunity for a company like Intv to pick up the ball!

Yup, they're certainly a frustrating company to be a fan of, they're almost as bad as Sega giving us loads of Megadrive collections, but no (3D) arcade game collections! Games like SCUD Race and Daytona 2 are crying out for home conversions. Like you say, it does open the door to companies like Intellivision though!

What other Nintendo IP are you baffled by them sitting on, out of interest? I'm guessing Star Fox and F-Zero may be two of them! They're definitely two that I'm interested in seeing making a return in some form.

2 hours ago, martianman2012 said:

Thought about the Amico... What console generation is it closest to? 32, 64, 128 bit? If you time traveled with it what system era would it fit in closely to? 

Technically it'll be the same generation as PS5 and Xbox Series X! In terms of power though, I'm not sure, seems like it fits in somewhere between the Wii and Wii U perhaps in terms of graphics, with the fact it's HD putting it closer to the Wii U. Which is totally fine with me.

15 hours ago, RxScram said:

I'm only tangentially "in the know" from what I overhear in the office (or overheard, when that was still allowed). But, based on that, I would pay much more attention to having fun and unique ideas, rather than worrying about what platform it runs on. Technology/hardware is just the tool to enhance the experience.

Okay, thanks for the advice and encouragement. I'll be sure to put it to good use.

What's the deal with the woodgrain Amico, have I missed out on that version? It definitely seems like the one to go for! I'm not seeing it available for pre-order though...

5 hours ago, martianman2012 said:

Playing some Intellivision recently for the first time in 20+ years I came across a couple of thoughts.

 

- how did they achieve those deep and vibrant sounds in games the bomb drop in he-man or the pepper spray in burger time? No other systems sound like that. Will the Amico be similar?

 

-what is going on with maze a tron? #drugs

 

-has anyone here fixed a left controller drifting to the right on an Intellivision II? I ordered a tandy vision as a main system, but should I consider fixing the II?

I played my Intellivision yesterday for the first time in a long time. The real Intellivision was having issues, so the family ended up playing the Flashback version for awhile. My daughter destroyed me in Snafu... and I feel so ashamed about it. 

As for the controller, I've fixed an Intellivision I controller by replacing the spring in the disc with one I salvaged from a toilet paper holder. Strange solution, but it worked great.

2 hours ago, GD Mof said:

What's the deal with the woodgrain Amico, have I missed out on that version? It definitely seems like the one to go for! I'm not seeing it available for pre-order though...

You can still pre-order the woodgrain ones from Fig.co.

https://www.fig.co/campaigns/amico/pledge?bundle_id=3405

2 hours ago, GD Mof said:

Yup, they're certainly a frustrating company to be a fan of, they're almost as bad as Sega giving us loads of Megadrive collections, but no (3D) arcade game collections! Games like SCUD Race and Daytona 2 are crying out for home conversions. Like you say, it does open the door to companies like Intellivision though!

 

What other Nintendo IP are you baffled by them sitting on, out of interest? I'm guessing Star Fox and F-Zero may be two of them! They're definitely two that I'm interested in seeing making a return in some form.

I am right there with you on SCUD Race/Daytona 2/probably hundreds more Sega games in their catalog collecting dust. It's a shame they don't take advantage of all the incredible stuff they produced in the 90s/00s beyond just the Genesis...the producer of the recent Sega Ages line for Switch recently revealed that Virtua Racing was the best-selling game in that lineup. The public wants it, and you'd think that would be incentive enough for Sega to do more.

For Nintendo, Star Fox and F-zero for SURE! Also Earthbound, Metroid, WarioWare...there are lots they have sidelined in favor of what they probably consider the for-sure sellers, Mario/Zelda/Smash Bros.

I get the business side of it, but there is a huge demand for nostalgic games that companies just aren't properly taking advantage of. Which is why I'm psyched for Amico.

3 hours ago, GD Mof said:

What's the deal with the woodgrain Amico, have I missed out on that version? It definitely seems like the one to go for! I'm not seeing it available for pre-order though...

Unfortunately I think only the founders and the VIP pre-order have the wood grain available.

On 12/2/2020 at 10:04 PM, Intellivision Master said:

Some just want to complain the price is too high for Amico.  I say wait for a sale then.  I don't think it's that bad.  I pre-ordered the FE and that costs more.  But you get a lot of nice perks with the FE.  I remember when the Nintendo Wii released at $250.  I bought it a year later at the same price and paid for it in cash.  I was fine with the $250 and I really enjoyed the Wii.  The Wii U not so much, lol.

IMO, the Wii U is an underrated system.  I've long since moved my Wii saves, Virtual Console games, and WiiWare games to it, and it's great being able to play them in HD.  Plus I even get Virtual Console games that weren't on the original Wii like the Earthbound games.  I also have downloaded Wii Fit U and it's great how I was able to move my Wii Fit progress to it.  My Wii's disc slot is dying, so I'm currently lending my cousins', and I do in fact still use the original Wii.  Mainly to play Gamecube games but also to be able to use Wii homebrew that affects Gamecube games like the memory card dumper or the Action Replay Gamecube as the two actual disks I had for it got very scratched years ago but I still have the Action Replay memory cards which, being third party memory cards, works with the plain software regardless.  I even still use my Gamecube for the Gameboy Player.  So, all in all, I like most things Nintendo does lol.

18 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

They got us 4 or so games as well

Great memories ! 👍

Do you remember what was the four games ?

On 12/1/2020 at 12:29 PM, Intellivision Master said:

Tommy,

 

Do you recall when I told you about doing a group photo once COVID was over?  You might have forgot.  But it would be neat if all of us here in the Q&A could meet up with you & do that.  Then take a field trip to the Intellivision HQ for a tour.  Lastly, we can take a tour of your mansion.  Hopefully this can happen if life ever returns to normal.  And how could I forget, we each get a ride in your Ferrari.  

That would be pretty amazing!

Count me in.

On 12/1/2020 at 1:23 PM, Silverbot said:

Looks like someone going to have to sign a NDA. 👍😀 enjoy!

If they allow us... we'll film it as well and show them experiencing Amico for the first time!

On 12/1/2020 at 3:12 PM, IMBerzerk said:

Cool info on the Tandyvision.  I didn't know that.  I remember reading something of the sort back when the console crash happened, but never knew it was true.

 

I agree with that on the GTE unit.  It's very rare.  You never see them, and when you do, they're usually beat up. I got lucky with mine.  I had bought it on eBay a few years back from a seller that didn't know what it was.  It was listed as an Colecovision clone, and I got it for around $10 as they gave it the usual "not working".  It worked fine and it's in very nice condition.  No box, I almost never buy the boxes because I have no where to display or store them.  All of my units are neatly stacked in a tote, wrapped with plastic and stuff with desiccant.  

 

Maybe this Xmas I'll pull them out and give them all a run.

 

These things are like owning/building old cars... one for show, the other to keep for one-year only parts that you can't get anywhere.

 

 

Would love to see pics of your collection!  And anyone elses as well!