Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

1 hour ago, Intellivision Master said:

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.  

USPS is horrid right now.. we ship packages daily for work... lots of them... since Covid-19 hit, what used to take 2 to 4 days is now 1 to 3 weeks!!

Tracking has become null and void in many cases, never shows a pick-up scan but we know USPS has it... the package magically arrives up to 3 weeks later...

TJ

3 hours ago, AtariSociety said:

USPS is horrid right now.. we ship packages daily for work... lots of them... since Covid-19 hit, what used to take 2 to 4 days is now 1 to 3 weeks!!

Tracking has become null and void in many cases, never shows a pick-up scan but we know USPS has it... the package magically arrives up to 3 weeks later...

TJ

You got that right.  I bought things from the IE shop before and they arrived by USPS without issue.  November 2019 I got some stuff from the IE shop and everything was fine.  Of course COVID wasn't around then.  That's what really is causing so many delays.  😥

10 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

You got that right.  I bought things from the IE shop before and they arrived by USPS without issue.  Even last November I got some stuff from the IE shop and everything was fine.  Of course COVID wasn't around then.  That's what is really causing so many delays.  😥

Yeh, things were so bad we decided to stop shipping USPS for online orders for now and resorted to UPS Ground as a minimum.  At least goods arrive in a week or less, just more costly.

USPS is a major crap shoot... mostly crap unfortunately for right now.

TJ

Have you guys heard of this rumor that SNK is making a new console? I guess their Japan twitter tweeted something about it.

Between them and Intellvision I'm hoping we are creating a new market for simple, affordable, pick-up-and-play consoles.

19 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??

No apology for the exposed genitals in the game?  Seriously?  Wow.  I am underwhelmed by this apology.

No, I'm not exaggerating.  Imagine parents seeing that on their TV.  There are several articles about this that I won't link here.

Tommy,

After the Amico and Vectrex are out, maybe you can revive Commodore. The brand had been revived (I didn't back it at the time) and it went belly up again after the CEO died. Just a thought. It was known as Commodore USA.

1 hour ago, AtariSociety said:

Yeh, things were so bad we decided to stop shipping USPS for online orders for now and resorted to UPS Ground as a minimum.  At least goods arrive in a week or less, just more costly.

USPS is a major crap shoot... mostly crap unfortunately for right now.

TJ

They don't call it snail mail for nothing.  Lol.  Maybe IE should consider UPS or FedEx.  

15 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

They don't call it snail mail for nothing.  Lol.  Maybe IE should consider UPS or FedEx.  

Unfortunately the cost is about double.... and small lite weight packages can go cheaper by USPS, so if customer has the time, still an option for USPS but prompt delivery with real tracking, not so much.

The small lite packages is where USPS has it beat... but once a certain weight and size come into the picture, UPS or Fed/X better options.

But yes having it as an option is nice.

TJ

1 hour ago, Lathe26 said:

 

No apology for the exposed genitals in the game?  Seriously?  Wow.  I am underwhelmed by this apology.

 

No, I'm not exaggerating.  Imagine parents seeing that on their TV.  There are several articles about this that I won't link here.

Quite disturbing, lol, but not out of line with the ESRB rating. It already got an M rating for nudity, among other things.

2 hours ago, Pac in Blac said:

Have you guys heard of this rumor that SNK is making a new console? I guess their Japan twitter tweeted something about it.

 

Between them and Intellvision I'm hoping we are creating a new market for simple, affordable, pick-up-and-play consoles.

Yes I heard about it.  I also heard the console might be in the shape of the Metal Slug tank which is cool.  It would be nice to have more plug & play consoles.  How about a Vectrex plug & play?  One day I hope to see the Sega Saturn/Dreamcast mini plug & play.  And the N64 mini would be nice as well.  

It would most likely be a long shot, but this is a GREAT 10 player game that would fit right in on the Amico.

On 12/13/2020 at 12:37 PM, GrudgeQ said:

Just a little reminder - about 20 minutes until the live AMA:

 

 

 

Only about 1/2 way thru this one, but wanted to provide my agreement (for whatever thats worth) on holding back on future big reveals (like a UI video) until a more relevant time that it can be better leveraged for the launch, regardless of how much I want to learn about these types of things now.  
 

For myself, would be willing to give up learning things earlier for the opportunity for the most powerful launch possible.  The developer diary idea would be a good compromise, as details on particular games we all already know are in development wouldn’t be giving away much and would keep the skids adequately greased for the folks currently following the development; that and there are many games that can be covered but only 1 system. 

This all being said, hoping to be inundated with a steady stream of awesome announcements come a month or so before launch 😁

18 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

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

 

This is a perfect example of why Intellivision needs to take the time necessary to have its ducks in a row for launch, especially into retail. A handful of games & apps, weird compatibility problems with the controllers and a broken store on top of that basically means the VCS is a $300 retro styled paperweight that can just play the $5 Atari Collection right now.
 

The Amico is going to be way ahead in games and likely the interface, store and everything else. However as with all new launches things will still go wrong at the beginning. The Founders 2600 units and then the over 10,000 pre orders will be an excellent chance for Intellivision to cut its teeth early on actual production units and real customers to make sure things are smooth for their retail launch. There the customers will likely be a lot less invested and probably a lot less tech savvy than your typical AtariAgers. It wouldn’t be a bad strategy to try to push retail out a bit, maybe even months, past initial shipments just to make sure these teething issues are flattened before general sales.

I wouldn’t even mind Intellivision shipping a very limited “beta” run of units (with NDAs, maybe not final plastics, don’t even get to keep them, etc) ahead of Founders or pre orders just to smooth that ramp too. If Intellivision isn’t 100% confident in April maybe crank up the production line for a hour or two to test that and their injection molding and make 100 grey test Amicos. Put them with devs, staff and select real world beta testers for a month and then maybe do the Founders in May, pre orders in June and retail in July.

First impressions are huge and pretty much a one time shot, especially for a small company.

I expect quality control testing to be part of the manufacturing process.  Embedded software (os/ui/firmware and packin games) has to be 100% tested and ready before manufacturing.  If one or two packin games aren't ready for manufacturing, they should be held off as free downloads rather than risk shipping something broken.  Minor bug fixes can be pushed out anytime.  The online store has to be 100% tested and ready in April, I don't see why it wouldn't.  Atari admitted to implementing last minute os changes without testing.  The problem with the Atari controllers and online store is ridiculous. Amico controllers are bluetooth only so they can't have that problem.

If the Atari VCS eShop was a person, it would be a guy with a heavy Russian accent saying this:

"Yes, you buy, you click. Click the button and money comes here. The button keeps open. Press button again, more money is sent.

The process is simple, you click two times, no product, two times money.

The product perhaps sent in some weeks, you keep pressing button. More button, more money.

No, we don't verify, the only verify is the money and the button. No verify the result, this comes later.

We are sorry you don't have product, please press more button. Yes, you click more. Click more button until product appears and we get more money."

I know some people on here have asked about Among Us for Amico.  It's on the Switch.

3 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

I know some people on here have asked about Fall Guys for Amico.  Well I found out the game is going to Switch.  I think Tommy said it might come to Amico.  I could be wrong on that.

I don't think it's possible for this particular game. Each player needs to have is own perspective, so it's better for online play. We would need to see all the course in one screen on Amico !?

Same thing for those asking for "AMONG US". I was curious about this game yesterday, and I looked someone played.

It's not possible to have a game like this in couch multiplayer, because when one members is killed, the MIC is turned off, he can't be part of the discussion when people are trying to guess who killed the player.

From what I have seen, when the youtuber playing the game was killed, he was listening, he was so tempted to tell that they were wrong and would have easily said who killed him if he was in the same room.

The idea is excellent, but the game would need to be different when playing with people in the same room. But maybe I am wrong. I must have more faith in Humatiny ! lol

You know what?  I goofed, I meant Among Us for Amico.  I don't know why I thought it was Fall Guys.  Lol.  Ignore my earlier post, I went back & fixed it.  

5 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

You know what?  I goofed, I meant Among Us for Amico.  I don't know why I thought it was Fall Guys.  Lol. 

Ha, I was pretty surprised when you mentioned Fall Guys coming to the Switch since Sony bought the devs! Among Us is already out on the Switch, it came out yesterday, and supports local co-op as well as online play, so could work on the Amico...

Who knows, maybe someone could make a game like Among Us that would be a better fit for the Amico, if need be.

8 minutes ago, GD Mof said:

Ha, I was pretty surprised when you mentioned Fall Guys coming to the Switch since Sony bought the devs!

I thought Fall Guys was on Switch.  It looks like the perfect game for Switch.  By me thinking it was on Switch, maybe it will actually happen at some point.  You can tell I don't keep up with all these different games.  Lol.  I never played Fall Guys or Among Us.  I just know they are popular though.  

Somebody mentioned the possibility of Gex coming to the Amico, but I gave up trying to find the post again in order to quote it. Gex would be an interesting one, it'd definitely be cool to see a 90's mascot platformer come to the Amico (other than EWJ of course, though I found the original too hard to get in to! I imagine the new one will be much easier though).

I've got the original on the 3DO and it's okay, and has some nice ideas, it's not as good as stuff like Sonic or Donkey Kong Country though, let alone some of the best 2D Mario games. Personally I'd rather see a new Rayman or even a new Bubsy, but Gex would be better than nothing of course! And with the right developer it could turn out much better than the original.

It was interesting seeing that the Square Enix Collective has been offering to let people make new games based on Gex, Fear Effect or Arachnarox for over 5 years and nothing has come of it yet. The licensing deal sounds very generous as well. I think I know someone who was offered the Fear Effect license, but turned it down. I suspect it was Fear Effect at least, he only hinted at what license it was.

On 12/14/2020 at 2:09 PM, Battlefish said:

Gex might work really well on the Amico, just saying!

GD Mof,

Here's a post about Gex.

Tommy,

Are you in contact with big Youtubers like Pewdiepie and Markiplier by the way? A lot of kids watch these big Youtubers for video game stuff so having them on board would be some of the best exposure the Amico could get. Kids are often the driving force behind games console purchases for families of course. Either that or the parents having nostalgia for the console manufacturer.

22 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

I thought Fall Guys was on Switch.  It looks like the perfect game for Switch.  By me thinking it was on Switch, maybe it will actually happen at some point.  You can tell I don't keep up with all these different games.  Lol.  I never played Fall Guys or Among Us.  I just know they are popular though.  

Maybe, it seems a long shot though! Sony aren't like MS for allowing their games on rival systems, for better or worse. My Xbox One ended up pretty much being a waste of space thanks to MS bringing almost all the exclusives to other systems...

I've played Fall Guys, but prefer watching other people play it to playing it myself! Which is a rarity for me. I haven't played Among Us yet, but I'm tempted to try the Switch version at that price...

4 hours ago, GD Mof said:

Tommy,

 

Are you in contact with big Youtubers like Pewdiepie and Markiplier by the way? A lot of kids watch these big Youtubers for video game stuff so having them on board would be some of the best exposure the Amico could get. Kids are often the driving force behind games console purchases for families of course. Either that or the parents having nostalgia for the console manufacturer.

A while back Tommy said they had contacted a few YouTube influencers and had had good responses from the ones they most wanted. I suspect it might not be those more teen/twenties target people like Pewdiepie or Septic Eye, but more like EvanTubeHD (4.7 million subs, kids talking to kids) or WhatsUpMoms (3.1 million subs, moms talking to moms). I would think Intellivision will advertise more like Mattel than XBox, but that is just my guess.