Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

48 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

Tommy,

 

After the Amico releases and people buy it, will there be a way to reach tech support if something goes wrong?  Hopefully a phone number or live chat are available.  I know Nintendo has a number for customers who have questions or tech issues.  I'm sure you have something in place to help with this once the console is on the market.

They have their customer service office in Utah cause we saw Britni (sorry if the spelling is wrong)in the August 5th video so I’m sure that they will have the number for customer service or support listed 

1 minute ago, Alpha82 said:

They have their customer service office in Utah cause we saw Britni (sorry if the spelling is wrong)in the August 5th video so I’m sure that they will have the number for customer service or support listed 

Right.  I'm just wondering if they'll be a tech support department.  If not then I guess customer service will have to do.  

Tommy,

When you make an account on Amico, can that account be used online?  There's the My Nintendo and you can sign into the Nintendo website using your account from the Switch.  How about My Amico?  

8 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

Right.  I'm just wondering if they'll be a tech support department.  If not then I guess customer service will have to do.  

How about a "customer experience" department.

Just DM their official Twitter. That's how I get help from Delta when my flight plans get messed up🤪

2 hours ago, mr_me said:

How about a "customer experience" department.

That works too.  Customer service & tech support are two different things.  But maybe Tommy will combine both into one.  

13 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

Right.  I'm just wondering if they'll be a tech support department.  If not then I guess customer service will have to do.  

My thinking was that with the focus on a simple interface and a quality seal they will hopefully be very limited in tech support calls though I do recognize they will happen so my thought was you call costumer service and they would send you up the line to tech support if needed.  I don’t know if that’s how it would work but it was the assumption I made in my response 

23 hours ago, tripletopper said:

Hey Tommy.

 

Got 100% down on an Amico at GameStop.

 

Between the release date being pushed back and GameStop's rollercoaster ride of a stock price, what happens if GameStop goes out if business before Amico comes out?  Am I out $250 plus tax?

Thank you for your support!  Glad to have you aboard.

That would be a question for GameStop.  I don't know what their policies are.  I would imagine that all pre-order money sits in an escrow account or something?  But again, I have no idea what their policies are. 

I don't believe you needed to put any money down on a GameStop pre-order.  A few people have told me that.  Maybe different stores do things differently?  Again... not really my field of expertise so I don't feel comfortable guessing.

I would suggest contacting GameStop and asking them.

Thanks!  And once again... I appreciate your support.

24 minutes ago, Alpha82 said:

My thinking was that with the focus on a simple interface and a quality seal they will hopefully be very limited in tech support calls though I do recognize they will happen so my thought was you call costumer service and they would send you up the line to tech support if needed.  I don’t know if that’s how it would work but it was the assumption I made in my response 

Yes.  That was my thinking as well.  When you call the main number and they say "let me transfer you to our tech support".  Or you have to use the keypad and press 1 for customer service & press 2 for tech support.  But yeah, hopefully there won't be many calls to Intellivision regarding tech issues.  

22 hours ago, Battlefish said:

Interesting Twitter thread, where Cathy Vice ("Indie Gamer Chick") discusses how the Wii (and subsequently, Nintendo Switch) had this "cool factor" that the Wii U just couldn't replicate:

 

What are your thoughts, Tommy? I'm curious as to whether such a "cool factor" has influenced Amico's development.

 

You're asking the wrong person.  I think everything we do is freakin' cool.  So I'm biased as hell!

Hahahahhaa!

Seriously though... I see a lot of "WOW!" factor when people see and play our games for the first time.  As silly as it sounds, but even something as simple as showing dice on the screen of a controller and then throwing them onto the main TV screen is a pretty neat concept that has barely been done before and people really enjoy.  I think that for the casual and family audiences that are our focus... our value + SAFE for kids + game prices + everyone can pick up and play no matter what your skill level... is VERY cool to them.

13 hours ago, Alpha82 said:

They have their customer service office in Utah cause we saw Britni (sorry if the spelling is wrong)in the August 5th video so I’m sure that they will have the number for customer service or support listed 

I've had a few interactions with their customer support team, I think they may operate on the 30 mins or less, or it's free standard?  Email replies within the hour each time.  There may be a standing order from the top though, "RAB gets emails answered IMMEDIATELY, or heads roll.  Don't make me regret not opening the Sheboygan office.", so take it with caution.  Real Tommy quote, though.  

I actually helped devise a couple separate surveys on the speed, efficiencies, language, satisfaction, overall ticket management and issue resolve rate on our Customer Support/Tech Support (overlapping department).  We surveyed about 300 companies with 21 touches per over a couple survey periods as our customer experience research - helped build our own metrics, evaluate our own Support standards and upgrade our Issue Tracking software.   Those... were some dark months... no one should EVER consume that much hold music..  Sure, at first you're like, "Oh that's nice, I'm Shazaming this grainy Kmart tune over the speaker phone.  WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO RESULTS?!?"... then those earworms start to haunt you.  You're humming them on the train home, five of your Pandora stations are now 'Muzak'... you're blurting out to people at Macy's, "You believe they're pumping this through the speakers?" as they politely back away..   Have to say thus far Intellivision's way ahead of the curve in handling customer inquiries from what I've seen.  May be a different story with hundreds of thousands of customers rather than the current lot interested early followers and pre-orderers, but so far, so good.  I don't think they'll really have need of a separate Customer Support and Tech Support department.. the type of tech support will likely be cataloged and accessible for Customer Support to resolve.  And if someone's taking an Amico apart and has questions because the BIOS are no longer recognized for the pack-in games, then, maybe they're outside their warranty?

18 hours ago, CurlyQ said:

Speaking of GameStop be sure to head over to Facebook's Intellivision Amico Society Group Page.

 

A growing community of 'like-minded' Intellivision Amico enthusiasts, headed up by our good friend @AtariSociety (It's a Private Group so you'll need permission to join).

 

 

 

Such a great video!  Good idea. 

I'll be sharing it on our social media so others will know about Amico Society!

16 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

this video has me hoping we get these ww2 planes in Bi-Planes. I think Tommy hinted at a while ago there is a chance.  I had models of both these growing up. 

 

 

Yep!  Count on it!

Although they aren't officially Biplanes.  I didn't care.  They are cool and therefor we want them in the game!  Those are in my top 5 list... but of course... my favorite is the P-40 Warhawk!  Flying Tigers baby!

14 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

Tommy,

 

After the Amico releases and people buy it, will there be a way to reach tech support if something goes wrong?  Hopefully a phone number or live chat are available.  I know Nintendo has a number for customers who have questions or tech issues.  I'm sure you have something in place to help with this once the console is on the market.

Yep!  Absolutely! 

We already have an amazing Customer Experience team headed by Kevin and Britnee.  You can feel free to e-mail them at any time and they will respond immediately.  But yes... once we launch, we will also have a customer call service as well. 

Great question.

Thanks.

13 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

Right.  I'm just wondering if they'll be a tech support department.  If not then I guess customer service will have to do.  

Yes.  Customer Experience will also include technical phone support.

13 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

Tommy,

 

When you make an account on Amico, can that account be used online?  There's the My Nintendo and you can sign into the Nintendo website using your account from the Switch.  How about My Amico?  

Something we would probably implement in the future if we can't do it at launch.

2 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

That works too.  Customer service & tech support are two different things.  But maybe Tommy will combine both into one.  

It's two separate locations and sets of people.  But all fall under our Customer Experience.

Hi Tommy,

I think you should start doing a weekly video segment called “Something for the Weekend “ just showing us something new on the Amico for all of us to discuss over the weekend, and I gets us all through the week knowing something new will be shown at the end of it. 👍😀

On 1/28/2021 at 7:55 AM, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

No, not really.  We are so different than them and have such a different model and goals that nothing on our side needed to be adjusted or changed in any way.

 

 

No, not really.  I've mentioned previously that they should have gone full STEAM BOX FOR YOUR TV route.  Make a deal with Gabe/Steam that gives anyone who purchases a Steam game on Atari gets 10% - 20% off or something.  Steam is great... we find a lot of developers there... but it isn't living room friendly.  Yes... there are ways to do it... but not really seen as commercial for average Joe shopper right out of the box.  And yes... a Steam box existed from Steam and quickly went away.  But that doesn't mean it was a bad idea for a living room platform... it just means it wasn't executed the proper way.  The Atari name carries a lot more weight overall than Steam... especially for casuals, non PC players or just the average person.  They have no idea what Steam is.  Only gamers do.  So I would have doubled and tripled down on THOUSANDS OF GREAT GAMES AT AFFORDABLE PRICES IN YOUR LIVING ROOM!  And would have cut a direct deal with Steam... give them MORE of a percentage than their used to while giving the consumer (even the seasoned Steam user) to purchase a console and get a deal on games.  They would also need to eventually figure out a way to get it to $299 with at least one controller.  Currently an uphill battle there I believe. 

I like the shape/style of the AtariVCS and I also think the traditional joystick is pretty cool.  I don't have one, so I can't really judge anything about it.  I've watched a handful of unboxing videos and it seems like there isn't a lot of new or exclusive content out of the box.  I wish them well as I know how difficult it is to get something out there.  Lucky for them they had a full year head start on us and their engineering and boards were completed before COVID hit hard (although clearly they still have supply chain issues which is understandable).  Again... I hope they succeed and I hope we sell more units so we can finally say that after 40 years... Intellivision beat Atari for a change.


🥰

I love these answers. I personally don't see any comparison between the Amico and the VCS. Intellivision has been doing things right since the get go, which is why I pre-ordered an Amico and not an Atari.

The Steam box was pretty cool, but was a dud out of the gates. I had an Alienware Alpha, which was essentially the same thing as the Steam box, but with the Windows operating system. A very slim machine that was very capable at the time, but it had no way to upgrade it over time other than the system memory. I enjoyed it for a while, but ended up selling it a year or so later and buying a full size computer in the future.

I too like the style of the new wireless Atari joystick, but the last thing I need is multiple regular Atari controllers and joystick controllers to find a home for. Flashback to the Wii days, what the frick. I think it's awesome how the Amico stores its controllers with the actual console, like it originally did back in the good old days. What a brilliant concept that's just not feasible with most modern consoles, however they should have considered doing so with the Wii and the remotes.

2 hours ago, Silverbot said:

Hi Tommy,

 

I think you should start doing a weekly video segment called “Something for the Weekend “ just showing us something new on the Amico for all of us to discuss over the weekend, and I gets us all through the week knowing something new will be shown at the end of it. 👍😀

I second this.  Also, I thought Tommy said there was going to be a weekly Amico video or something.  Hopefully that still happens.

16 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Intellivision is so happy and honored to be a part of the Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) fundraising event presented by Disneyland! We are part of the Gamers For CHOC group which includes local companies such as Amazon Games, Riot Games, Square Enix, Humble Bundle, Obsidian Entertainment, inXile entertainment and others.

 

The group’s mission is to rally the gaming community together to raise funds for CHOC as part of a year-long 30th anniversary celebration of its beloved annual 5k CHOC Walk fundraiser (this year transformed into Virtual CHOC Walk, presented by Disneyland Resort).

 

This new fundraising program has one single goal – to raise funds for health care programs, education, and research at CHOC Children’s Hospital of Orange County for kids and their families throughout Southern California (serving more than 250,000 children and families each year). CHOC is committed to improving the health and well-being of children through clinical expertise, advocacy, outreach, education, and research while aspiring to restore the magic of childhood to kids facing serious illness. The hospital is one of a select group of pediatric facilities nationwide to have been ranked for 2020-2021 as a best children’s hospital by U.S. News & World Report.

 

Please click the link below to donate as our "Friends of Intellivision" team!

 

https://www.chocwalk.org/intellivision

Just donated. Kids deserve the best shot in life and having medical problems when you are young is a rough way to start. Please donate if you can, spread the love Amico style.

1 hour ago, Intellivision Master said:

I second this.  Also, I thought Tommy said there was going to be a weekly Amico video or something.  Hopefully that still happens.

It has been happening.  With a lot more on the way!