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Tommy Tallarico

Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

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On 10/21/2019 at 11:33 PM, Tommy Tallarico said:


Looking like December 3rd! 

 

 

 

Could we also see a "portability kit" on December 3rd for tech nerds like us to get bare boards and associated hardware and power supplies, so we can take Amico on the go? The Treamcast is inspiring...

 

image.png.3ceac5d6e8fd53944aba5323d6c6519e.png

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15 hours ago, juancho said:

Will Amico come with ALL the original/legacy games, including third party licensed games? Will we be able to play the legacy games with the wireless controllers? Man I cant wait for this! Also looking forward to the modern version of the games, but for me the legacy games are the dope!

 

 

Not on launch, but we will be bringing them out in game packs once the initial "new" machine has been established.  Hopefully by Christmas of 2020!

 

Packs will consist of 5-10 original games and will breakdown to about .50 cents per game!

 

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5 hours ago, First Spear said:

 

Could we also see a "portability kit" on December 3rd for tech nerds like us to get bare boards and associated hardware and power supplies, so we can take Amico on the go? The Treamcast is inspiring...

 

image.png.3ceac5d6e8fd53944aba5323d6c6519e.png

 

 

Thats pretty cool.  And a nice idea.  Will need to put that on my potential "to do" list.  Wouldnt be ready by this December though.  :)

 

 

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2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

 

Thats pretty cool.  And a nice idea.  Will need to put that on my potential "to do" list.  Wouldnt be ready by this December though.  :)

 

 

I would love the the see new Amico controller have expanded functionality like downloading simple games like pinball or Tetris style games when the family is not around and you want a mindless mobile like experience without the mobile hassle.

 

Or playing a mini version of the new and super awesome looking moon patrol 😀

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8 hours ago, MarioMan88 said:

I would love the the see new Amico controller have expanded functionality like downloading simple games like pinball or Tetris style games when the family is not around and you want a mindless mobile like experience without the mobile hassle.

 

Or playing a mini version of the new and super awesome looking moon patrol 😀


The controllers aren't capable of playing full 2.5D style games on them.  Lots of reasons for this.  Controller memory & controller chip speed being the 2 biggest reasons.

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3 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Oh my.  :)

I do like his suggestion... "BUY AMICO!'

:D
 

 

Shots fired on the VCS but for a comedy news clip program pretty accurate and did a good short summary of the Amico.


Strange to think that this version of the 80’s console wars is more of an Intellivision UN mission into a lawless country (casual gamers stuck with predatory mobile gaming) while Atari's only clear target is it's foot.

Edited by GrudgeQ
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3 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:


The controllers aren't capable of playing full 2.5D style games on them.  Lots of reasons for this.  Controller memory & controller chip speed being the 2 biggest reasons.

Oh well just dreaming 😃 Still super stoked for the return of Intellivision!

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Tommy, will some Imagic games will be available at launch ? If yes and if it's not a secret, can you tell us how many ?

( I am not asking too much you know, because I could have asked which one ! lol But I know it would have been too much to ask ! :)  lol )

 

Really cool the informations about "karma" with the Shark Shark gameplay ! :) It's a genious idea.  Same thing for hot and cold with controllers ! Lots of possibilities !!

For us less than a year it's a long time to wait, but I am sure on your side it's coming a lot faster with all that remains to be done  !

Keep up with the good work !

 

 

Thank you. :)

 

P.S.  2 t-shirts ordered.  Thanks for delivering in Canada.

Edited by LePionnier
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here's a question i don't think has been asked...if everything goes perfect and ahead of schedule..is there a chance the Amico gets released earlier than 10/10/20? :)

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9 hours ago, MarioMan88 said:

Oh well just dreaming 😃 Still super stoked for the return of Intellivision!


Amico II drawing board stuff.  :)

 

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3 hours ago, LePionnier said:

Tommy, will some Imagic games will be available at launch ? If yes and if it's not a secret, can you tell us how many ?

( I am not asking too much you know, because I could have asked which one ! lol But I know it would have been too much to ask ! :)  lol )

 

Really cool the informations about "karma" with the Shark Shark gameplay ! :) It's a genious idea.  Same thing for hot and cold with controllers ! Lots of possibilities !!

For us less than a year it's a long time to wait, but I am sure on your side it's coming a lot faster with all that remains to be done  !

Keep up with the good work !

 

 

Thank you. :)

 

P.S.  2 t-shirts ordered.  Thanks for delivering in Canada.

 

 

Not sure which ones will be available on launch.  Hoping for Microsurgeon and Demon Attack. 

 

 

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11 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:


Amico II drawing board stuff.  :)

 

Glad to head your sticking to the normal sequential pattern of releases, unlike Mr Softy 😂

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12 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

 

Not sure which ones will be available on launch.  Hoping for Microsurgeon and Demon Attack.  

 

 

Thank you ! It's more than I asked ! :)

 

I am really happy with the price point you said in podcast for physical media.

How will you choose those will have physical support ?

 

What can you tell us about the games store for Amico ?

Will it be like a catalog, with box art ? Will we have small trailers to let us know what the game looks like for gameplay ? etc.

 

Finally, I am a real believer. Is there a way to invest in Amico and helping you to produce enough machine for launch day and marketing ?

 

Thank you and have a nice weekend.

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It's interesting how Stadia offers exactly the opposite to the Amico. Since the platform is about to come out, its failure or success can be an inverse indicator to the possibilities of the Amico.

 

And then, there's this survey that just came out:

 

European gamers wary of digital-only games consoles: Just 11% of players claim they would likely buy a games machine that doesn't include a disc-drive

 

In many European countries, video game players (including mobile gamers) are not ready for a console without physical media. In Spain, in particular, only 6% would buy a system like this. It's interesting that Spain and Italy are the countries where physical media is more healthy for video games... we don't know about Latin America, but I guess the numbers would be similar.

 

Of course, digital games will continue to grow, but this is another reason why the Amico needs physical media.

Edited by IntelliMission
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20 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

 

Not sure which ones will be available on launch.  Hoping for Microsurgeon and Demon Attack. 

 

 

Never had an Intellivision so never had Microsurgeon.  Checked out a YouTube video and while I am impressed with the original concept, the gameplay looks a bit slow and clunky.  I can totally see how an update on a modern console has great potential though.  As for Demon Attack, that's one of my top 20 Atari2600 games so I'm very excited to see gameplay for both of these.

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2 hours ago, insertclevernamehere said:

Never had an Intellivision so never had Microsurgeon.  Checked out a YouTube video and while I am impressed with the original concept, the gameplay looks a bit slow and clunky.  I can totally see how an update on a modern console has great potential though.  As for Demon Attack, that's one of my top 20 Atari2600 games so I'm very excited to see gameplay for both of these.

I liked Microsurgeon better on the 99/4A, but that may simply be because it's the version I played first.

 

If there is an updated version of Microsurgeon, I hope they also borrow some ideas from a late-80s Activision game called "Laser Surgeon: The Microscopic Mission."  It takes the basic premise of Microsurgeon and adds a first-person perspective; it's like an interactive version of Fantastic Voyage.

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3 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

It's interesting how Stadia offers exactly the opposite to the Amico. Since the platform is about to come out, its failure or success can be an inverse indicator to the possibilities of the Amico.

I could be or it could just be an indicator of people not ready to let go of dedicated consoles like PS and Xbox.

 

Was looking at the FAQ. On it says the Amico will be around $200. Did the price change from $179, or just leaving wiggle room in case something like, tariffs, manufacturing things, etc crop up?

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On 10/24/2019 at 7:22 PM, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

 

Not sure which ones will be available on launch.  Hoping for Microsurgeon and Demon Attack. 

 

 

Can't WAIT to see Microsurgeon on Amico!! 

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5 hours ago, insertclevernamehere said:

Never had an Intellivision so never had Microsurgeon.  Checked out a YouTube video and while I am impressed with the original concept, the gameplay looks a bit slow and clunky.  I can totally see how an update on a modern console has great potential though.  As for Demon Attack, that's one of my top 20 Atari2600 games so I'm very excited to see gameplay for both of these.

Looks on a You Tube video do not give this game any credit.  It was definitely a top 5 for most Inty owners.  It was just something so different than what anyone had seen before and challenging at the higher (critical) level.  

 

I agree, based on what has been shown to us thius far about the capacity of the Amico graphics possibilities, Microsurgeon will look fantastic!

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7 hours ago, insertclevernamehere said:

Never had an Intellivision so never had Microsurgeon.  Checked out a YouTube video and while I am impressed with the original concept, the gameplay looks a bit slow and clunky.  I can totally see how an update on a modern console has great potential though.  As for Demon Attack, that's one of my top 20 Atari2600 games so I'm very excited to see gameplay for both of these.


I hope people don't take this the wrong way, but I had an Atari 2600 not Intellivision growing up, and Microsurgeon was the one game that I'd see ads for that made me sad about that. 

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21 hours ago, LePionnier said:

Thank you ! It's more than I asked ! :)

 

I am really happy with the price point you said in podcast for physical media.

How will you choose those will have physical support ?

 

What can you tell us about the games store for Amico ?

Will it be like a catalog, with box art ? Will we have small trailers to let us know what the game looks like for gameplay ? etc.

 

Finally, I am a real believer. Is there a way to invest in Amico and helping you to produce enough machine for launch day and marketing ?

 

Thank you and have a nice weekend.

 

Physical media games will be determined by what we think people will want the most.

 

The entire home menu and store is extremely unique, fun and VERY simple.  Never really been anything like it before (as far as I know).  The folks we have shown it to were very impressed with how easy it is and what a different take on boring menu screens that we've taken.

There isn't really a way for a private person to invest at this stage but thank-you for the words of support.  Who knows... maybe we'll take the company public someday.  :)

 



 

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17 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

It's interesting how Stadia offers exactly the opposite to the Amico. Since the platform is about to come out, its failure or success can be an inverse indicator to the possibilities of the Amico.

 

And then, there's this survey that just came out:

 

European gamers wary of digital-only games consoles: Just 11% of players claim they would likely buy a games machine that doesn't include a disc-drive

 

In many European countries, video game players (including mobile gamers) are not ready for a console without physical media. In Spain, in particular, only 6% would buy a system like this. It's interesting that Spain and Italy are the countries where physical media is more healthy for video games... we don't know about Latin America, but I guess the numbers would be similar.

 

Of course, digital games will continue to grow, but this is another reason why the Amico needs physical media.


We have physical as well as digital so we really have the best of both worlds.  Especially at our very low price points.  :)

In my personal opinion I'm not sure the world is ready for Google Stadia and their consumer model is personally a little confusing to me.  The top folks at Stadia (including Phil Harrison, Jade, etc.) are all good friends of mine and they are super smart and creative people.  So if anyone can make it work... it's those folks.

Here are my more specific personal thoughts.  But keep in mind I have NOT played it or experienced it yet so in order to really give a fair assesment... I'm going to wait to experience it before passing any kind of final judgement.

Every game that they have shown is M rated and a hardcore game (Assassin's Creed, Doom, etc.).  So they are clearly 100% going for the hardcore gamer market (which automatically differenciates us from them).  The confusion I have is that I'm not sure that a hardcore gamer is going to want to play a hardcore game on anything but the very highest level of quality (screen, audio, controls, speed, etc.)... such as their PC, XBOX or PS4.  I don't believe they are interested in playing those types of games on a tablet or phone with potential lag and crappy mono audio.  I may be wrong.  But even if they do want to do that...  will they pay $60 - $80 for a game and then pay an additional $10 per month to play it on weaker systems/screens/controls, etc.  Why not just buy the XBOX or PC or PS4 version and be done with it?  Is a $10 per month subscription service worth the ability to play the game at lower quality on small screens?  And don't forget... you also need to pay $130 just to get started.  And if we're really breaking it down... you also need to have a blazing fast internet connection if you want 4K.  So at least another $60 - $130 per month depending where you live on the planet.  Being able to jump into a streamers game on YouTube sounds like it could grab a lot of folks to want it just for that.  That might be the secret sauce that really explodes it.  It may become a huge part of the way folks stream.  But YouTube and Twitch are different beasts when it comes to popularity for that market.

They are betting that people do not want to buy next gen consoles and real hardware anymore.  And that's where I think their biggest mistake is.  Again... maybe this is something that will happen in the future (probably inevitable at some point)... but certainly not the case now.  So maybe this entire thing is to build infrastructure for the future.  I just don't see it happening anytime soon.  There is at least another 8 years of console hardware.

I just don't see the market for Stadia right now that would sustain the level of consumer committment they would need to survive.  It seems like a subset of a subset of a subset of gamers.

 

All anyone needs to do is go on any Google Stadia announcement video and read the user comments.  YIKES!!  Literally 99% of all the comments are super negative.  And that's on their own videos.  That isn't a very good sign.  Even on stupid misinformed negative Amico videos you'll see at least half the comments supporting Amico.  I think Google/YouTube is so huge that people would like to see them fail (i.e. money can't buy everything).  This is why I'm really excited about what we're doing at Intellivision as the underdog.  When we're successful it will be a huge accomplishment as we didn't have all the money/support/infrastructure/billions of users to market to, etc.  A true Rocky Balboa or David vs. Goliath story.  :)

Maybe Google saw everyone playing Fortnite on their mobile and felt that it was the future.  And maybe they are correct.  I just personally think it's way too early.  I could be completely wrong.  These are just my initial thoughts based on what I know.  I'd much rather see it and play it before making any kind of decision.  The other thing to consider is that Google and YouTube don't have a very trusted name and brand these days.  With Google always spying and YouTube messing with the way they are showing (or not showing) things and deleting videos and not paying rights holders, etc.  That is also going to come back and bite them.  They've been consistantly throwing away a lot of brand loyality over the past few years and it's only getting worse.  Brand loyalty and trust is something extremely important to consumers... and especially gamers.  It took Halo to prove to gamers that Microsoft was cool and you should buy their machine.  I don't see anything like that on Stadia at this point.  Maybe it's coming. I know they have announced that they are doing some exclusives.

 

Anyway... that's just my initial take without having experienced it.  I hope they find their niche and they succeed as the folks running it are good people. 

 

Edited by Tommy Tallarico
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13 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

I could be or it could just be an indicator of people not ready to let go of dedicated consoles like PS and Xbox.

 

Was looking at the FAQ. On it says the Amico will be around $200. Did the price change from $179, or just leaving wiggle room in case something like, tariffs, manufacturing things, etc crop up?


EXACTLY!!  There are a lot of things happening in manufacturing right now and I'm trying my hardest to keep as much of it in the U.S. (or at least North America) as I can.   There are a TON of "what if's" for manufacturing right now... and that goes for EVERYONE... not just us.  It's the reason Sony & Microsoft haven't released their prices as well.  Because they still don't know how much it's going to cost them to make.  For us... we have an even more difficult challenge as companies like Sony & Microsoft have a ton of other products they can sell or negotiate with retailers ("Hey retailer!  Take a very small margin on the PS5, but we'll make it up to you with our TV, cameras, etc.").  We must get our profit margins and COG's (Cost of goods) 100% correct.  And if I have to make the choice of keeping it under $200 and potentially not being able to do as much as we want with growing... or going over that price within the first year in order to ensure future growth...  I may be forced to pick the latter. 

Here's the reality... the PS5 & XBOX Scarlett are easily going to be at least $500.  Some are saying $550 and I read one report where PS5 could be $600 initially.  Keep in mind that the currently PS4 & XBOX's came out at $500 7 years ago!  It's only now that we see them at $400.  So $500 - $600 7 years later isn't something that could be out of the question for them.  So even if we are forced to raise our initial pricing beacuse of taxes, tarrifs, certain manufacturing challenges because of what is happening in the market... then we'll still be way less than half of the prices of the others.

Y'know, it's funny... whenever we do our focus testing (mostly with mom's, parents or hardcore gamers) we never tell people what the retail price of the machine is going to be.  We just explain everything and let them play it.  We then ask "what do you think would be a fair price for this and what price would you pay in order to have it for your home?"  We have yet to hear a price under $300.  Some folks may think that is high... but remember that the people in the focus groups are told EVERYTHING about the system and what it can do.  As I've always mentioned... we have a LOT more amazing things we still haven't said publicly.  And 2 of them are absolute game changers that every person we have showed and told have literally had to pick their jaws up off the ground.  There are 3 HUGE WOW FACTOR things we haven't disclosed.  Anyway... it's good to know that if we run into tarrif and manufacturing issues... we have a little wiggle room.

 

Also keep in mind that we are still in the creating process and while we're staying away from "feature creep" (a huge problem that happens when people try to make stuff)... there are amazing things going on every day that would warrant looking at our bottom lines.  For example... I could throw the thing into a cheap ass box and most people wouldn't care.  OR... we could present it in something spectacular that shows the level of quality we always want to take.  As we all know... these influencer "opening/unboxing" videos have now become extremely important in the marketplace and for marketing.  Also need something that will attract customers at retail, look good in certain Sunday circular ads or stacked in a Best Buy or GameStop.  :)   I have the coolest package design right now (again... super unique) and we're in the middle of costing it out.  I could add $2 - $3 to the final price... and although a ton of people here may not care... trust me when I say it MATTERS.... A LOT!!!  (Just watch any episode of Shark Tank).  :)

Anyway... there's my weekend blog post in regards to pricing.  :D

Feel free to discuss and ask questions.

 

Edited by Tommy Tallarico
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