Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

3 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

That is basically saying I recommend a restaurant to you and then YOU are upset over the silly sign in the window they have to advertise their food - and then blame me. Sorry but I don't think Tommy is PERSONALLY responsible for thumbnail decisions choices. I love OEB Pete's channel and his Amico Minutes are a great way to catch up on things here on Atari Age, even if I DON'T like his thumbnails. You might want to check how you are sounding here - you are NOT bolstering you case by attaching Tommy and now me over 1) something trivial and, much more importantly 2) something WE DO NOT CONTROL.

And you’re cherry picking a point to tear me down...manipulating viewers via an official video is what set me off, that’s been clear since my first post.

 

I’m not the only one that feels this way, I felt compelled to say something.

 

edit - I’m done, I’m not going to change any minds, no one here wants to hear anything contrary, I won’t be replying to any more, have a good ride everyone.

Edited February 13 by themewsh

23 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

Tommy,

 

Is there an update for the Running Man game?

The guys are finishing up Breakout first.

People really seemed to like Breakout.  I should probably show a video of where that game is at.

 

Wouldn't That Be Something?™

 

 

 

28 minutes ago, themewsh said:

And you’re cherry picking a point to tear me down...manipulating viewers via an official video is what set me off, that’s been clear since my first post.

 

I’m not the only one that feels this way, I felt compelled to say something.

Having THAT opinion is fine, notice I only quoted the part of the one message I had an particular issue with. You are the one moving the goal posts now. My point stands of attacking people because of a random Youtubers choice of thumbnail choice again makes it sound like you are thinking up things to complain about

22 hours ago, Silverbot said:

Guys, I think we should stop all this speculation right now about games with lag and other such possible issues and wait until the games are finished. Tommy has been good enough to show us these games in different stages of development, for which I am extremely grateful, he doesn’t have to do this at all. This business about FF looking like a flash game shouldn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what a game looks like as long as it’s fun to play and you enjoy it. So let’s draw a line under this and look forward to the launch of the Amico, whenever it will be. 👍😀

 

 

Just now, Tommy Tallarico said:

The guys are finishing up Breakout first.

People really seemed to like Breakout.  I should probably show a video of where that game is at.

 

Wouldn't That Be Something?™

 

 

 

I understand.  Are you considering on bringing the Breakout demo to the app?  And yes it would be something.

22 hours ago, Starpaddler said:

Agreed, but I do have a comment I’d like to squeeze in.

 

Does anyone honestly believe that IE would go through controller and console design, obtaining of licenses, coordinate production, distribution and retail partners, develop the firmware, set up multiple offices in several countries around the world, work to obtain required safety certifications, construct the electronic store front, foster partnerships with developers, work to develop the first 50ish games and a myriad of other required activity all to fail on a bad play experience due to controller latency?  It’s simply absurd.  

 

It would be like Toyota selling a car that had an unfixable steering wobble.  Toyota would simply not do this and would instead redesign before release because they know that all the design and production expense would be for not, because word would get out and the car would simply not sell, let alone sink the company’s good will. 
 

 

So wait... what you're saying is that people should use common sense and logic?

You ask too much.

 

 

 

21 hours ago, wolfy62 said:

I am so happy to hear that Evercade is teaming up with Intellivision Entertainment for some cartridges. 

Evercade has done an excellent job of picking games from a wide variety of retro companies and systems that most people looked past or never had a chance to play back in the old days.

Some are more obscure than others, but I do find each cart has at least a couple games I enjoy.

Certain games are not my style of game and many people will have the same experience. 

It's great to have the option of picking and choosing,and playing the games you do enjoy.

Being that the Intellivision is my personal favorite system ever,this is absolutely perfect for me!

Kudos to both Evercade and Intellivision Entertainment for making this exciting partnership happen!👍😀

Thanks!  Would be interested in hearing what everyone in here would like to see on Evercade!

Please keep in mind the following...

No licenses (i.e. stuff we don't own) and it can't use the keypad too much (i.e. Utopia = no).  But for small things like the AUTO FIRE in Astrosmash can easily be mapped to another button.

 

Let's hear it folks!

Now is your time to be heard!  What do you want???

p.s.  Imagic would be a separate 3rd collection, so I'm only talking Intellivision owned properties.  And yes... AD&D can be branded as Cloudy Mountain!  Tron Deadly Discs much tougher because of the imagery within the game.

 

 

19 hours ago, Cranker said:

Maybe 4 player Joust ? Coop , VS etc ? 

You know it!!!

 

 

16 hours ago, romeoteknik said:

Tommy, don't see this addressed on the website and nobody asks this from the interviews I've seen, but how does your account system work? Nintendo made a mistake back in the Wii days of tying purchases to the console. If that console bricked, well too bad. Horrible decision. MS and Sony smartly tie it to your online account, so long as you use that account on whatever console (replacement, new version, new next-gen console, etc), your purchases are with you.

 

How does the account system work for the Amico? Also, considering Atari VCS's launch issues with their own store and security, what measurements have you taken to make the accounts and online store/transactions secure?

Thanks.

It's a fantastic question.  Thanks for asking.  We have a really great account system that is uncomplicated and easy (yet powerful).  I can't really say much more about it at this point but just know that we are aware of the Wii stuff and feel that we have come up with a pretty cool and modern solution to cover all of the complex bases that need to be covered in the "pirating" world we unfortunately live in.

16 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

I dont want to answer for Tommy obviously but IIRC he may have mention that their backend was AWS, I only recall this because my companies whole back end is AWS as well. AWS is outstanding and is cloud based so even if your machine bricks you'll likely be fine.

Yep!  AWS confirmed.  Lots of "exciting" and "interestingly unique" things planned with Amazon. 

 

Whoops.... I've said too much.

 

 

 

Just now, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yep!  AWS confirmed.  Lots of "exciting" and "interestingly unique" things planned with Amazon. 

 

Whoops.... I've said too much.

 

 

 

No, you didn't.  Please tell us more, lol.

8 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Unless the individual responsible for saying this has done scientific testing using the actual Amico hardware and software in person and is able to prove their findings through experimentation that is repeatable by others (and thereby can either be confirmed or found to be false by other people), which I highly doubt, whatever argument they may have is completely invalid.

Yep.  Correct. 

Just a boring negative dude droning on for hours at a time saying ridiculous things and making completely false accusations so that the same 10 unhinged stalkers will pat him on the back and give him the attention he longs for.

 

 

7 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

seeing some random dude on Reddit claim that an unreleased system has 10 frames of lag without doing any actual testing just makes me laugh at them.

Unfortunately these folks don't have that much self awareness.

 

❤️

🤡

4 hours ago, ZippyTheGrunt said:

I did some research on this because I was curious too.  So they downloaded the youtube video in 60 fps and used VLC to go frame-by-frame and analyze the movement with frames.  They basically counted 10 frames in between movement.  According to how you would break this down into readable terms, you would have to do 10/60 = .160 so that's the equivalent of 160ms of lag.  For laymen, that would seem like a ping of 160 in a multiplayer game.  I didn't make this method up, this was logic used by others to review videos of project xcloud and stadia.

 

I'm not disputing the video, BUT there are some factors not being taken into account.

1. Unfinished software and hardware (obvious point, but needs to be said again)
2. UI and other gameplay videos, like Astrosmash, don't seem to show this same lag (only in my limited testing)
3. Forward momentum - characters generally have some forward momentum, so you are not supposed to turn on a dime (vary by software title)

Overall I think the method is flawed because there are too many unknown variables, but I have never created a videogame either.  From the video, it actually looks fine and I agree with others I am not worried.  I hope that helps someone.

 

 

Good points indeed.

Something else no one has added... how about the fact that it takes milliseconds to press down on the disc and to make contact with the board. 

 

Of course folks should also factor in the time it takes for the synapse in your brain while considering and factoring a gap in which impulses pass by the diffusion of a neurotransmitter.  I mean... that right there is going to be different in every human being.



Bottom line... anyone who thinks we're going to release a system where the controllers and games are unplayable should seriously consider having their heads examined at this point.

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Silverbot said:

Remote Life looks like an amazing shooter, not sure if Amico could handle it, but it would be cool if it could 👍😀

 

 

I don't know... kinda looks like a mobile game to me.  It must suck. I hate it.

 

KIDDING!!!!!!!

 

 

4 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

Hey guys. I don't have any idea on the subject, so I googled "consoles with more input lag" and found this: https://danluu.com/input-lag/

 

It looks like 80s computers had much less input lag than modern ones! Interesting...

 

I wonder if there's a full list of consoles sorted by input lag somewhere.

So wait... is this chart stating that our supposed "input lag" is actually a lot better than every iPhone and Galaxy phone ever made?

Interesting.

 

 

3 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Yay, I'm alive. Magnitude 7.1:

 

https://weathernews.jp/s/topics/202102/132308quake/

Wow!  That's crazy!!

I was hoping we were going to get another message from you after the.... "massive earthquake happening!"

Glad to see you're still in one piece and have electricity!

 

 

5 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

So wait... is this chart stating that our supposed "input lag" is actually a lot better than every iPhone and Galaxy phone ever made?

Interesting.

 

 

Wouldn't that be something? 

26 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

I don't know... kinda looks like a mobile game to me.  It must suck. I hate it.

 

KIDDING!!!!!!!

 

 

4 hours ago, Silverbot said:

Remote Life looks like an amazing shooter, not sure if Amico could handle it, but it would be cool if it could 👍😀

 

 

Too bad Tommy hates it because I was meaning to post back when this was put up that this is kind of what I would like the re-imaged Microsurgeon to be somewhat like. Of course more organic and less mech, but kind of a little slower, wondering puzzler / shooter with random & weird enemies & obstacles to over overcome with maybe a Lovers in Dangerous Spacetime (https://youtu.be/Nhtc6fhw1YY) coop multiplayer aspect to the ship. I like the semi creepy vibe of the environment & enemies

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

p.s.  Imagic would be a separate 3rd collection, so I'm only talking Intellivision owned properties.  And yes... AD&D can be branded as Cloudy Mountain!  Tron Deadly Discs much tougher because of the imagery within the game.

Thank you for this precision. That was one of the question on my mind !

Beauty and the Beast, Demon Attack, Atlantis and Swords and Serpents would be on the top of my list (Imagic).

Talking about Swords and Serpents, could it be possible to have a true ending !? Lol  (Because there is no fight with the dragon on the 4th floor if I remember well !!  lol ).

 

Now about Intellivision games :

My first game would be Lock 'N' Chase ! ( You know how I like the game and the reimagined one ... 😉)  Data East did not produce a game on collection 1 !

So could it be on collection 2 from Data East, or it can be from Intellivision now that you have the rights for Amico ?

 

Skiing

Shark Shark

Horse Racing

Thin Ice

Thunder Castle

 

For other games, I am not sure enough if you have the rights or not !

Thank you !

😀

Edited February 13 by LePionnier

2 hours ago, Juice said:

So I see the Amico is gonna be delayed again, and that's fine. But this is now two times the Amico was supposed to be realeased and I still haven't seen anything to bring in the non-gamer.

 

I guess you're not looking hard enough.  That's fine.  Many people here have given many stories about non-gamers LOVING what we are doing and what we're showing so far. 

Additionally... we don't start building the hype of those folks until we are closer to launching.  That is how advertising and marketing work.

 

 

2 hours ago, Juice said:

There are simple games on other systems and even things like firestick.

And there will always be those types of games.  There are also multiple first person shooters in the market yet no one seems to complain that XBOX shouldn't exist.  I'm not saying you are saying that... I'm just stating that what others do has zero effect on what we're doing.  We do us... folks either like it or buy it... or don't.  Time will tell.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Juice said:

I think there should have been something mind blowing by now to justify the price.

 

No offense, but we already have 100,000 pre-orders and purchase orders (which we had to cut off) that proves that statement to be incorrect.

The mere IDEA and CONCEPT of what we're doing and all the ways we're doing it is "mind-blowing" to many many people.  Maybe not for you... and that's fine.

 

2 hours ago, Juice said:

The advertising hasn't started yet but there needs to be something to advertise.

 

Confusing statement.  I guess my response would be...

 

"No DUH?" 

 

 

2 hours ago, Juice said:

I've never in my life heard of a product that the interest and excitement is coming from one demographic, but is supposed to be from another. It's like if baseball fans were all looking forward to a hockey game, it doesn't make sense.

I'm SO GLAD you brought this up. 
 

It doesn't make sense to you because I believe you aren't seeing the picture clearly.  You are painting people like @OEB_Pete, @RetroAdvisoryBoard, The Retro Bro, Anthium Two Tales, The Generational Gamer, Mike Mullis/NLG, The Atari Creep, etc., etc., etc... (I could go on and on) as people who are NOT our target demographic because they are just old men retro gamers.  But what you are failing to see is that these people ARE ALL PARENTS OF YOUNG KIDS (who by the way ALL love Amico trailers as well).

Now lets take a look at the people who are part of the obsessed stalker trolls.  Notice anything?  The overwhelming majority are single men in their 20's & 30's with no kids.  Which is EXACTLY the demographic that I've said all along (aside from late teens) that are our weakest demo.

I also don't understand what all this obsession is with folks about who our demographic is going to be.  It's either going to be fun or not.  It's either going to be successful or not.

 

And for anyone thinking it's going to be a failure because we don't understand our market...  lets just wait til the end of this year and see how we did.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Juice said:

When Amico comes out are all those YouTube videos from retro gaming older men gonna get replaced by videos from women and children? I'm sorry I don't see that happening,

 

I beg to differ and our partnerships and research paint a different story that what you currently think.

In fact... you'll start to see that happening by the summer.

You're a bit insulting by painting those people as "retro gaming older men".  Why not call them what they also are?   FATHERS WITH YOUNG KIDS.  FAMILY PEOPLE.

I'm assuming that doesn't match the narrative though?

 

2 hours ago, Juice said:

unless you pay them.

 

So wait... you mean that people PAY other people to promote a product?!?  SHAME ON THEM!!  How dare we attempt to do something as underhanded as that. 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Juice said:

And that will still only be one video vs 50 videos from the usual suspects doing let's plays and reviews. And I don't think I'm a "troll" for saying that.

 

I don't think you're a troll.  I just think your maybe a little naive and a little too much on the "half glass empty" side.  And that's okay. 

 

But I think if you look at "those people" from another light, you'll realize that maybe you have unfairly painted a picture of who these people are to match your "concerned" narrative.

Looking forward to your thoughts and response.

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, LePionnier said:

For other games, I am not sure enough if you have the rights or not !

Just for reference here are the games on the Intellivison Flashback, I think these are most of games Intellivision would hold the rights for. Of course, some other restrictions that Tommy mentioned could apply:

 

SPACE
01 Astrosmash
02 Space Armada
03 Space Battle
04 Space Cadet
05 Space Hawk
06 Space Spartans
07 Star Strike

 

SPORTS
08 Auto Racing
09 World Championship Baseball
10 Slam Dunk: Super Pro Basketball
11 Body Slam: Super Pro Wrestling
12 Bowling
13 Boxing
14 Deep Pockets: Super Pro Pool & Billiards
15 Football, Super Pro
16 Chip Shot: Super Pro Golf
17 Golf
18 Slap Shot: Super Pro Hockey
19 Motocross
20 Soccer
21 Spiker: Super Pro Volleyball
22 Stadium Mud Buggies
23 Super Pro Decathlon (Decathlon)
24 Tennis

 

GAMING & STRATEGY
25 Backgammon
26 Bomb Squad
27 Checkers
28 Chess
29 Horse Racing
30 Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack
31 Las Vegas Roulette
32 Royal Dealer
33 Utopia

 

BATTLE & SORCERY
34 Armor Battle
35 B-17 Bomber
36 Crown of Kings
37 Minotaur
38 Sea Battle
39 Sub Hunt
40 Tower of Doom
41 Takeover

 

ARCADE
42 Brickout
43 Blowout
44 Buzz Bombers
45 Frog Bog
46 Hard Hat
47 Hover Force
48 Night Stalker
49 Pinball
50 Shark! Shark!
51 Sharp Shot
52 Snafu
53 Thin Ice
54 Thunder Castle
55 Triple Action
56 Vectron

 

EDUCATIONAL/OTHER
57 Learning Fun
58 Learning Fun II
59 Math Fun
60 Word Fun

 

 

1 hour ago, themewsh said:

And you’re cherry picking a point to tear me down...manipulating viewers via an official video is what set me off, that’s been clear since my first post.

 

I’m not the only one that feels this way, I felt compelled to say something.

 

edit - I’m done, I’m not going to change any minds, no one here wants to hear anything contrary, I won’t be replying to any more, have a good ride everyone.

I think this guy made a good point about "manipulating viewers . . .".  I don't really care about lag or spelling errors as this is a work in progress.  We know the product is not finished. I care about the allegation of deception. Saying I was doing it to get the haters, is saying the ends justify the means.

2 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

Very much an aside, but one of my many geeky hobbies is synchronized holiday lighting. Not your Walmart string of 110 volt blinkies, but the individually addressable LED kind which are controlled by highly specialized controllers often designed by tiny, one person firms. They are the kind you see features by the pinnacle (or possibly lunatic fringe) of the hobby on the Great Holiday Light Fight. The lights (pixels as they are called), however, are all sourced out of a handful of factories in China. 2020 was a rough year for the hobby. Controller shortages due to manufacturing issues and a ton of quality issues including pixels catching on fire (they are low voltage, 5 or 12 volts, so this sort of stuff had never happened), the resin used to water proof them never setting (improperly mixed) and a much higher failure rate of individual lights. It even sparked the hobby to collectively conduct a crowd sourced investigation into the fire issue, which obviously was the biggest concern. One vendor of the holiday props you mount the pixels into (think flat candy cane and snow flake shaped items with lots of holes for the lights) even sourced a fire retardant material to make their products out of.  I am sure the mega-national corporations can manage to source, QA and ship in limited quantities, but it is pretty clear to the Average Joe buying tech from China the wheels not only came off but are still slowing being bolted back on into 2021. In addition, of course, right now it is Chinese New Years and NOTHING is going on in China for a couple of weeks, forget even a vendor inquiry email being returned.

C'mon... you can't make a post like that and not show video of your light work!! 

Question:  Do you use DMX when programming Christmas lights?  That is of course the industry standard (like MIDI for music!) for most live shows and concerts/tours.

Just curious if folks in the hobby world are using DMX as well.