Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

First Atari VCS review.  Thought some folks here may be interested in checking it out.
 

23 hours ago, Cranker said:

Or this one ?

 

I still play this one every once in awhile!

One of the first arcade games I remember playing at our local arcade called the Dream Machine!

Such great memories!!

Any of you have pics of some of the arcades you grew up in?  I found this one online.

4 months from today the Amico comes out.  Less than 4 months for the FE.  Hopefully no more delays.

22 hours ago, Tavi said:

Do not underestimate the ingenuity of kids.

This is a 100% true story. My sister used to let her son use her tablet for gaming and watching YouTube and the like, and she had age restricted it and password locked her credit card information.

My nephew, knowing my sisters birth date, maiden name and such went in under 'I forgot my password' to reset all her passwords and unlocked everything. He ran up a few hundred dollars in in-game purchases and ordering some toys off Amazon in the half-hour before my sister caught him at it.

I think he was 8 at the time?

It certainly could have been a lot worse (like this 16K!) but it does just show that if a kid wants something bad enough, they can usually figure out how to defeat parental locks.

It was still an expensive lesson for my sister.

We hear a lot of the same type of horror stories in our focus groups.

I think certain folks (mostly the ones without kids) are totally underestimating the power of not having micro-transactions and mature/teen content. 

21 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

Tommy,

What about the Hill Climb racing game series for Amico?  They're mobile games.  I've played them and they are fun.  Best of all if they come to Amico, there will be NO ads.  Yay!

Hahaha!  It's funny you mention that game... I've been playing it for a few weeks.  I love the way his head and neck bob around or his hat comes off.

This type of game is very similar to our Evel Knievel game in terms of fun, challenge and hilarious to watch.

Definitely think games like this will be popular on Amico.

20 hours ago, Mik's Arcade said:

 

 

 

 

Wow.....I didn't expect such a detailed reply, thanks for taking the time.

 

I was born in Woburn MA, and spent most of my life on the North Shore, mainly East Boston and Lynn (Lynn, city of sin!) and even Revere. Moved to Quincy on the South Shore in my 30's and started a family there. I spent the first 45 years of my life in MA and 6 years ago we relocated to Charlotte, NC.

 

I don't own an arcade per se, but I did build my own bartop machine. I bought one of the raspberry PI computers a couple of years ago and I was so successful at getting all these emulators up and running, that I wanted to put it inside a bartop unit so I could play games like Street Fighter 2, Robotron and Smash TV that way they were meant to be played. I didn't want to mentioned it as I was not sure if emulation was frowned on in these parts.  And yes, I have Cool Spot and Earthworm Jim on it, and countless other games you worked on.

 

My nickname, MIK, literally comes from arcade games. I was the best at Williams Defender and Nintendo's Donkey Kong and my name dominated the cabinets all over East Boston. Of course, it's short for Mike.  So yeah, my Mik's Arcade marquee is sort of a spin on "Flynn's Arcade" from the movie Tron.

 

Here is a picture of my arcade. I bought the parts off a site called GameRoomSolutions. My friend helped me create the artwork that were printed up as stickers to slap on the finished machine. I built the whole thing myself, which includes LED lighting for the marquee and all the wiring for the joysticks and button.  They all feed into a USB encoded and I set up the button to work exactly like the 6 button controll for street fighter 2.  It was HARD, but I got it done.  I hope a button doesn't break down anytime soon.  I've got 20 systems up and running, but the coin op arcade games is my true love. I don't emulate anything past Playstation One as it pretty much hits the limited of my Pi machine.  I even have a couple of special games on here like the Streets of Rage Remake from Bomberman games and the infamous Thrill Kill that was cancelled, in addition to tons of games from Japan, Europe and Asia,

 

Again, thanks for the time and having the gaming passion, especially for the Intellivision. It is in fantastic hands. Being a part time bass player, I know just how important music is and can't wait to hear what you do for Amico games. I cannot wait to get the Amico in the living room. I guarantee my entire family will have some very competitive gaming nights on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome cab!  Appreciate the Intellivision love on screen as well!  Hahaha!

Hope to see you around these parts more!  Always feel free to ask any question.

Thanks!

26 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

First Atari VCS review.  Thought some folks here may be interested in checking it out.
 

 

Yeah I saw that. A little disappointing for now.

Maybe he received it too early and the store is not ready yet ! lol

I was surprised to see some led lights on the controller when moving the joystick.

Does anyone knows if it was planned from the beginning, or if they took an Intellivision's Idea !?  lol

20 hours ago, Silverbot said:

When I ordered it I gave a list of games I liked and they put them on, the marquee and control panel graphics I found on the internet. Also added a spinner, side buttons for pinball games and a light bar sensor for shooting games. 👍😀. I also have a virtual pinball table, the graphics on that was my idea and they made it up. 

Awesome!

I'm so bummed my Arcade 1up virtual pinballs (I got both the Marvel & Star Wars) have been delayed.  But if anyone on the planet understands... it's THIS GUY!!

44 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

Or every time you get a word wrong it says OOF.  Lol.

AND you take a shot!

Don't forget the SHOT!

hehe

TJ

17 hours ago, vongruetz said:

It's fine... They knew the game was broken, which is why they didn't let anyone play it before it launched. They thanked the 8 million people who bought it, and then issued an apology saying they knew it was crap and you shouldn't have bought it. But don't worry, hopefully by February it will be playable.

 

What was that I was saying about TRUST and value??

Crazy times in the industry right now.

12 hours ago, JasperAK said:

I kinda like the idea that your friends can have individual ships and everyone competes for the highest score or combined to go as far as possible. Then again, someone could be the master bug and control how they attack. I love games that can be both cooperative and competitive. Imagine that. Galaga. So many ways to play. Wouldn't That Be Something?(TM)

Love it!!

12 hours ago, Zoyous said:

Star Jacker by Sega [1983] had a unique four-ship configuration. Essentially you begin the game with all of your "lives" (ships) active at once, and you try to keep them all alive to keep your firepower at the maximum. But rather than being arranged in a horizontal formation like in Galaga, they are flying in a vertical formation with a each trailing ship following your moves with a slight delay. So by moving side to side you spread out your shots. It's a pretty cool mechanic that I haven't seen in other games.

I'm not familiar with Star Jacker.  Thanks for the tip... I'll definitely check it out!

10 hours ago, [email protected] said:

What about the Star Wars license... Bring back the old arcade Star Wars games 

Exclusive publisher rights have been taken. 

Maybe someday though!

1 hour ago, LePionnier said:

Tommy, I know most of Amico games will be easy to learn, but will we have booklets with physical games ?

That's something that I am missing these days with video gaming ! Some screen shot, characters illustrations, drawings, etc.

That would be so cool.

A game like Cloudy Mountain should have one for sure. 😀

We stayed away from manuals as it kinda goes against our SIMPLE concept and all the physical games are digital as well.  There is also a cost associated with it and we wanted to keep our physical media under $20 if possible.

But don't worry... there will be some cool things in there.  Can't wait to share what we're doing.  I showed @OEB_Pete and a few of the other guys on Amico All Access (after we finished the show) and they were very excited about what they saw and what we're doing.  They all said it was more than they were expecting.

26 minutes ago, LePionnier said:

I was surprised to see some led lights on the controller when moving the joystick.

Does anyone knows if it was planned from the beginning, or if they took an Intellivision's Idea !?  lol

They've been showing that for awhile. 

It's similar, yet different.  Ours is interactive and has all colors.

16 minutes ago, AtariSociety said:

AND you take a shot!

Don't forget the SHOT!

hehe

TJ

Rainbow takes a "hit".

And I'm not talking about the kind the Shifty Dealer doles out.

Glad to see other gaming platforms address parental controls and user safety, too:

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/12/14/shared-safety-principles/

I'm still waiting for my shirt from the IE shop.  I ordered it on 11/25.  It shipped 11/28.  It's been delayed but says the package is still on the way.  I've spoken to customer service via email.  Hopefully it arrives before Christmas.  The package is coming by USPS. The tracking number doesn't show an arrival date or location. Regular mail is slow & worse with the holidays.  COVID doesn't help either.  It's crazy.  Gotta love it.  Lol.  

23 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

They've been showing that for awhile. 

It's similar, yet different.  Ours is interactive and has all colors.

Ok !

Also (from the first review of VCS) they are not looking at the same demographic !

Just the PDF email all backers received is really complicated ! lol

35 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

We stayed away from manuals as it kinda goes against our SIMPLE concept and all the physical games are digital as well.  There is also a cost associated with it and we wanted to keep our physical media under $20 if possible.

But don't worry... there will be some cool things in there.  Can't wait to share what we're doing.  I showed @OEB_Pete and a few of the other guys on Amico All Access (after we finished the show) and they were very excited about what they saw and what we're doing.  They all said it was more than they were expecting.

 

 

 

 

Great ! And when us simple mortals, can we expect to see this ? lol

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/chris-pine-star-upcoming-dungeons-143936345.html

Dungeons & Dragons movie coming.  It was going to release November 2021.  But got delayed until May 2022.  I know it's not Amico related.  But we are getting Dungeons & Dragons game on Amico, so I figured this ties in well.

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

First Atari VCS review.

 

All those delays and it came out half-baked. The joystick controller still looks pretty sweet. I personally don't have a lot of interest in this system.

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

We stayed away from manuals as it kinda goes against our SIMPLE concept and all the physical games are digital as well.  There is also a cost associated with it and we wanted to keep our physical media under $20 if possible.

But don't worry... there will be some cool things in there.  Can't wait to share what we're doing.  I showed @OEB_Pete and a few of the other guys on Amico All Access (after we finished the show) and they were very excited about what they saw and what we're doing.  They all said it was more than they were expecting.

 

 

 

 

Tommy, that’s a very large carrot your dangling in front of us all! 😂

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

 

Awesome!

I'm so bummed my Arcade 1up virtual pinballs (I got both the Marvel & Star Wars) have been delayed.  But if anyone on the planet understands... it's THIS GUY!!

 

 

Tommy, you should get yourself a table that plays Visual Pinball X (VPX), you can download all the tables you want, I have nearly 200 but there’s loads more. 👍😀

On 12/11/2020 at 1:29 AM, Tommy Tallarico said:

Looking forward to it!

Hi Tommy,

You're all set, I just PM'd you here with all the game info and the secret link.  Let me know if for some reason you didnt get etc.  I havent used the messaging here much