Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

38 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Just get the FE out ! 

38 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

That is definitely at the top of our priority list!!

Don't forget us lowly VIPs... 

(I know you won't. Just putting it out there)

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

I really look forward to everyone trying it for themselves.  It's not what you think until you play it.  Games are being made around the disc and screen and buttons in really unique ways.  Animations and gameplay crafted around the controller, etc.  Some really cool and unique things happening.

@Tommy Tallarico - Was there any design iteration on the size of the disc?  
 

It looks smaller than the original and was curious if the disc was purposely sized for optimized control, or if it was more simply a fallout of fitting within the size of the controller ascetically.

34 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

WOW!!!!   I never seen or heard of that one before.  What system is that for?  Multiple systems?  Or just Dreamcast or something??

 

 

XE-1AP is for X68000, MSX, PC-88, PC-98, FM Towns (not sure if it works on the Marty, but I imagine it probably does), MD/Genesis, and PC Engine, but it needs an adaptor for PC Engine. There are a very small number of Genesis/MD/32X games that work with this controller, most notably Genesis/MD After Burner II (actually the Japanese release apparently has an ad for this controller in the box), Musha Aleste, 32X Space Harrier, and After Burner Complete, giving you full analog control in all of them and an adjustable analog throttle in After Burner II and After Burner Complete.

This controller is a pain in the ass to get working, as it comes with a little tiny plastic screwdriver that you have to use to adjust 3 screws in the back to configure the deadzones for the analog sticks, but After Burner II automatically detects the XE-1AP and actually has a special XE-1AP configuration screen that only shows up when this controller is plugged in, which makes it much easier to set up.

2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Hahahha!  That's an awesome story!  And yes... 100% true!

In fact there's even a lot more to the Lamborghini/Ferrari story and how/why Lamborghini went from tractors to cars!

Great mini doc here:

 

 

Moral of the story... never tell an Italian he CAN'T do something.

 

 

 

 

Haha, I knew that story too.  Enzo Ferrari telling Lamborghini to stick to tractors cause he knew nothing about cars. A great Italian success story and a great lesson for sure.  "Hey Tommy stick to music, you can't make a new video game system!" 

About my earlier post regarding the FE.  For those who didn't pre-order a FE, they have to wait until 10/10/21 for the VIP edition and to buy an Amico in store.  I wasn't trying to cause any confusion.  The FE is supposed to release early.  

So after decades of predicting a peak oil, we reach...

...a peak chip. Nice.

18 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

About my earlier post regarding the FE.  For those who didn't pre-order a FE, they have to wait until 10/10/21 for the VIP edition and to buy an Amico in store.  I wasn't trying to cause any confusion.  The FE is supposed to release early.  

Tommy has mentioned that VIPs may release early as well.. Not as early as the FE's. You all deserve to be first out of the gate! Just wanted to  see if we could get some VIP love as well...  I was going to write that all you VIP'ers need to stop rubbing it n our faces.. But It's hard to write it with the fun that it was intended. I'm sure that SOMEONE would take that as a "split" in the community and it would be on a Youtube video or a Podcast. I can imagine "Growing concerns about the possible launch delay... AGAIN!" type headlines.  "Lag still an issue!" "It's still a scam! See!?!?!? more delays!" are possible other headlines.

17 minutes ago, woobman said:

Tommy has mentioned that VIPs may release early as well.. Not as early as the FE's.

I forgot that he talked about the VIPs coming out early.  

2 hours ago, Starpaddler said:

@Tommy Tallarico - Was there any design iteration on the size of the disc?  
 

It looks smaller than the original and was curious if the disc was purposely sized for optimized control, or if it was more simply a fallout of fitting within the size of the controller ascetically.

You are right on your size estimation, the new disc is slightly smaller, maybe 2 or 3 mm all around the edge, (NOTE: this might not be production Amico disc and that is a Flashback controller)

8 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

I forgot that he talked about the VIPs coming out early.  

With all these videos coming out and you being the first to post almost every time, I'm sure we can cut you a little slack... Keep up the awesome work!!!

15 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

You are right on your size estimation, the new disc is slightly smaller, maybe 2 or 3 mm all around the edge, (NOTE: this might not be production Amico disc and that is a Flashback controller)

Thanks Grudge.  
 

Its nice to see the scale (disclaimer on uncertainty of final disc design acknowledged).  Looks like the Amico screen may be a smidge larger then the original keypad as well.
 

It will be interesting to see how IE navigates Amico’s use of displayed overlays for the original Intellivision’s games.  I’d hope to see a reusable vinyl (or other material) grid that you can apply on the screen that provides tactile locations for the “button” zones.  If so, will be interesting to see if they leverage that and keep the original 12 “button” design as an option for any new games in work and believe doing this would bring even more versatility to the controllers.  Taking it a step further, IE could also include 4, 6 and 9 “button” grids for the developers (and us) to utilize for their games.

9 minutes ago, Starpaddler said:

Thanks Grudge.  
 

Its nice to see the scale (disclaimer on uncertainty of final disc design acknowledged).  Looks like the Amico screen may be a smidge larger then the original keypad as well.
 

It will be interesting to see how IE navigates Amico’s use of displayed overlays for the original Intellivision’s games.  I’d hope to see a reusable vinyl (or other material) grid that you can apply on the screen that provides tactile locations for the “button” zones.  If so, will be interesting to see if they leverage that and keep the original 12 “button” design as an option for any new games in work and believe doing this would bring even more versatility to the controllers.  Taking it a step further, IE could also include 4, 6 and 9 “button” grids for the developers (and us) to utilize for their games.

Yep I would love to see a 12 bubble screen overlay for the OG games just to give some tactile feel.

Just for fun here is me holding, in roughly the same way, the pre-production Amico controller and a flashback controller. Oh my, how you have grown up little Intellivision controller

11 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

Just for fun here is me holding, in roughly the same way, the pre-production Amico controller and a flashback controller. Oh my, how you have grown up little Intellivision controller

 

Thanks again.  These shots make it appear the screen may actually be very close in size to the original keypad. If grids are employed, they may be able to use thinner walled dividers between the buttons, allowing for individual buttons to be a little larger then the originals, although I’d think the screen would utilize some input dead space between the buttons as well. 
 

Also, loving the blue lanyard. 

2 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

About my earlier post regarding the FE.  For those who didn't pre-order a FE, they have to wait until 10/10/21 for the VIP edition and to buy an Amico in store.  I wasn't trying to cause any confusion.  The FE is supposed to release early.  

No confusion here.  I am holding out to see what Amazon has to offer.  Tommy mentioned they are teaming up to offer something special.  If that doesn't get me to buy early, then I guess it will be an in store purchase for me.

24 minutes ago, Starpaddler said:

Thanks again.  These shots make it appear the screen may actually be very close in size to the original keypad. If grids are employed, they may be able to use thinner walled dividers between the buttons, allowing for individual buttons to be a little larger then the originals, although I’d think the screen would utilize some input dead space between the buttons as well. 
 

Also, loving the blue lanyard. 

I think you are right on the screen size. The FAQ lists it at 3.2 inches, I believe, and the OG Intellivision button 'well' is just a little over 3 inches corner to corner (and the aspect ratios look roughly the same too). So yep, they are pretty darn close probably.

I am also digging the Amico blue color of the lanyard too (I think there will be matching lanyards for the various model colors, however). As the primary Amico color, it isn't a typical 'gamery' color and wouldn't offend a boy, girl or parent - so right at their target market.

8 hours ago, oelli said:

I hope this is no bad sign for the intended Amico release!

 

www.macrumors.com writes:

 

iPad and MacBook Production Reportedly Delayed Due to Global Chip Shortage

Thursday April 8, 2021 2:31 am PDT by Sami Fathi

Apple is facing a global shortage of certain components for some of its MacBook Pro and iPadmodels, causing the Cupertino tech giant and its suppliers to postpone production of the products, according to a new report from Nikkei Asia.

sigh

1 hour ago, GrudgeQ said:

Yep I would love to see a 12 bubble screen overlay for the OG games just to give some tactile feel.

Just for fun here is me holding, in roughly the same way, the pre-production Amico controller and a flashback controller. Oh my, how you have grown up little Intellivision controller

 

It will be interesting to see how the controller screen looks with Utopia.

1 hour ago, Silverbot said:

It will be interesting to see how the controller screen looks with Utopia.

 

 

 

 

 

I ain't no @CurlyQ but here you go:

4 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

I think you are right on the screen size. The FAQ lists it at 3.2 inches, I believe, and the OG Intellivision button 'well' is just a little over 3 inches corner to corner (and the aspect ratios look roughly the same too). So yep, they are pretty darn close probably.

 

I am also digging the Amico blue color of the lanyard too (I think there will be matching lanyards for the various model colors, however). As the primary Amico color, it isn't a typical 'gamery' color and wouldn't offend a boy, girl or parent - so right at their target market.

 

Does anyone know if IE kept the screen pressure sensitivity in their design?  If so and they use grids, would be good to set an input trigger on the original games to require a bit of pressure to avoid erroneous brush type touch inputs. 

48 minutes ago, Starpaddler said:

Does anyone know if IE kept the screen pressure sensitivity in their design?  If so and they use grids, would be good to set an input trigger on the original games to require a bit of pressure to avoid erroneous brush type touch inputs. 

I am 99.9% sure it isn’t a pressure sensitive screen, it is capacitive - the screen cover plate is hard with no flex, also seemed way too fine control for pressure.

54 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

I am 99.9% sure it isn’t a pressure sensitive screen, it is capacitive - the screen cover plate is hard with no flex, also seemed way too fine control for pressure.

I think (could be wrong) pressure sensitivity is based on area of contact, with more finger area touching the screen when pressing harder, and not any sort of mechanical depression force type sensor. 

35 minutes ago, Starpaddler said:

I think (could be wrong) pressure sensitivity is based on area of contact, with more finger area touching the screen when pressing harder, and not any sort of mechanical depression force type sensor. 

As far as I know (not a touch screen expert) pressure sensitive (really resistive) requires some deflection because it is actually brings two elements together to complete a circuit (kind of like a mini membrane keyboard) while capacitive relies on the electrical difference of the human body and detects that difference as your finger is near. In my experience, probably mostly with old and crappy pressure sensitive screens, you can feel the deflection and the touch resolution is poor. Maybe they are using really good pressure sensitive but I am guessing capacitive. Tracks lightly, smoothly and finely.

However maybe @RxScram can weigh in on this one.

9 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

As far as I know (not a touch screen expert) pressure sensitive (really resistive) requires some deflection because it is actually brings two elements together to complete a circuit (kind of like a mini membrane keyboard) while capacitive relies on the electrical difference of the human body and detects that difference as your finger is near. In my experience, probably mostly with old and crappy pressure sensitive screens, you can feel the deflection and the touch resolution is poor. Maybe they are using really good pressure sensitive but I am guessing capacitive. Tracks lightly, smoothly and finely.

 

However maybe @RxScram can weigh in on this one.

It is not a pressure sensitive screen. Capacitive is a much much better technology, plus it allows for the possibility of multitouch and other fancy features. Not that I'm saying anything we are doing uses multitouch, or that we support it, of course. That's not what I'm saying at all.

It might be fun to imagine what you could do with it if we did support something like that, don't you think?

2 hours ago, Starpaddler said:

Does anyone know if IE kept the screen pressure sensitivity in their design?  If so and they use grids, would be good to set an input trigger on the original games to require a bit of pressure to avoid erroneous brush type touch inputs. 

You know, I think we are talking about two different things - I though you were taking just about resistive screens vs capacitive because of the mention of wire grids, instead I think you were mostly talking about pressure sensitivity beyond the technology used to implement it. I just finally got that. Sorry if I confused things.