Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

Last nights episode (Ep. 8 of Amico After Dark was the craziest one yet.  It was really funny.  If anyone on here missed it, go watch it.  You won't be disappointed. 

I commissioned the ever talented @CurlyQ to do a celebratory graphic for the /r/Amico subreddit. It was so good I just wanted to share it here also for those who don't Reddit. Thanks @CurlyQ for your awesome work!

On 5/5/2021 at 11:09 AM, Silverbot said:

Tommy, I see you have one of the guys from The Bitmap Brothers doing a game on the Amico, is there any chance of them doing Xenon 3 exclusively for the Amico? 😀👍

I'm not familiar with that game.  I'll ask them about it.

22 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

Just thought this was interesting: despite some wanting to instigate some sort of 'lag gate' out of the ME IGN article (ridiculous for a game & console that hasn't even shipped yet), the actual article author - who had hands on time with the console (not just someone making sh*t up) - responded on twitter. No lag on the disc input, he did find some screen lag on his dev unit. Note none of us felt at the Frisco event so it was either resolved or was a bug in the specific console firmware release he was using. I have said it before and I will say it again, if Intellivision is stupid enough to *ship* the system with laggy controls they deserve criticism. Trying to project something out of a *beta* system onto the shipping console, just shows you know nothing about the development of software or technology.

 

 

 

It's kinda funny that those obsessed stalker hater folks try to twist information and lie in hopes of turning people off to a video game console they've never played and clearly state is not for them. Such strange behavior. So no matter how many people play Amico and say there is no noticeable lag... the "conspiracy theory" is that everyone (include the IGN Middle East writer) is just lying.
 

Kinda interesting that those same group of folks were just recently saying how they contacted all the big sites like IGN and were told that they weren't interested in covering Amico. These guys lie and misinform on an hourly basis at this point. They attack anyone who is even remotely excited about the possibility of Amico becoming a success or who likes the idea of it in any way shape or form.

Online toxic culture is sad these days. But that's okay, the same 10 people screaming at each other mean ZERO to our success or failure. So let them have their odd personality fun. The fact that they wake up every single day and spend hours and hours of their free time thinking about Amico, it's fans, me, any Youtuber who likes it, etc. just goes to show how interesting and important we've become in their daily lives.

We win!

 

And just to be 100% clear. I'm NOT saying that people who don't like Amico or me are "haters" or obsessed stalkers. We fully acknowledge and understand that the system isn't for everyone and my personality rubs people the wrong way. I'm merely talking about the strange bunch of folks who literally spends hours every day stalking people who like Amico and making fun of them because they are interested in a new video game console.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

Last nights episode (Ep. 8 of Amico After Dark was the craziest one yet.  It was really funny.  If anyone on here missed it, go watch it.  You won't be disappointed. 

Yeah!  That was a crazy one!  I was just sent a few sections of it... SAGGY UNLEASHED!!   Hahhaha!  Hilarious!  She was great.

1 hour ago, GrudgeQ said:

I commissioned the ever talented @CurlyQ to do a celebratory graphic for the /r/Amico subreddit. It was so good I just wanted to share it here also for those who don't Reddit. Thanks @CurlyQ for your awesome work!

 

 

 

Great pic!!!

Looking forward to add some more zeros to that!!
 

2 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

I commissioned the ever talented @CurlyQ to do a celebratory graphic for the /r/Amico subreddit. It was so good I just wanted to share it here also for those who don't Reddit. Thanks @CurlyQ for your awesome work!

 

 

 

I've been resisting Reddit...  I just don't want to go down the R-Hole...  As I know there is a subreddit for everything... Dang it.. I guess I have to now.. The power of Animated Gifs Compels me.

18 hours ago, CurlyQ said:

I puzzled over this for quite a while, and now worked it out, perhaps.
Unofficial announcement that the Amico and controllers are not dishwasher safe. 
Batteries not included. Just add water!

On 5/4/2021 at 4:12 PM, jaybird3rd said:

That's a commonly-held belief, but I've never been convinced Activision ever owned the Imagic library outright.  We've had several discussions here about it, including this one from many years ago.

I can confirm 100% that Activision does not own any of the Imagic library.

I am one of the biggest fans of the Amico with 2 FE pre-ordered BUT I am very confused with the whole IGN controller issue and explanation with old firmware being the explanation. I understand and have read some possible reasons for this but it really makes no sense to send this to IGN without the most updated firmware. This needs to go into production in a couple of months to make the launch date. I’m not a tech guy so I might be totally off on this but something doesn’t seems quite right. I know we are all super fans on this board but am I the only one ? How did this happen to not send the most updated hardware and firmware for an early look /review ?

On 5/5/2021 at 8:48 AM, woobman said:

@Tommy Tallarico I have a fun few questions for you. Both are about the same. Just a different angle:

 

1)Regardless of sales figures and publishers. Are there any games that you personally want to, or trying to get the rights to, bring out on the Amico that you have not mentioned yet? 

Jungle Hunt & Spy Hunter would be epic!  Spy Hunter with the screen to switch weapons would be pretty cool!

On 5/5/2021 at 8:48 AM, woobman said:

 

2)Along those same lines - Are there games that you want,  that are already in development that you have not told us about? 

Yes.

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

I can confirm 100% that Activision does not own any of the Imagic library.

 

 

I did some more checking and it looks like they may be in the same jurisdictional muck as the ColecoVision games, where anyone bold enough to use it without permission (Cardillo) can claim it is theirs. It also reminds me of those TutorVision games, except they are being locked away by a Museum that says you need rights from a company that does not think they own them (WorldBook).

5 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

I'm not familiar with that game.  I'll ask them about it.

 

 

Its one of their top games! It was on the amiga. Liars dice is also a major departure from their normal style and genre. Other games from the bitmap bros include: Gods, speedball 1 & 2, magic pockets. They were known for low volume but high quality products.

3 hours ago, Swami said:

I did some more checking and it looks like they may be in the same jurisdictional muck as the ColecoVision games, where anyone bold enough to use it without permission (Cardillo) can claim it is theirs. It also reminds me of those TutorVision games, except they are being locked away by a Museum that says you need rights from a company that does not think they own them (WorldBook).

That's true with the trademarks but not copyrights.  So someone could legally hijack a name or title like Coleco; but they'd have to get permission to use copyright protected works such as graphics, music, sound effects, software code.

1 hour ago, mr_me said:

That's true with the trademarks but not copyrights.  So someone could legally hijack a name or title like Coleco; but they'd have to get permission to use copyright protected works such as graphics, music, sound effects, software code.

I'm not saying it's completely legal, but possible, especially if the copyright owner is unaware of their ownership.

9 hours ago, Cranker said:

but it really makes no sense to send this to IGN without the most updated firmware.

Well, on one side, it is true that you normally dont use the absolute latest firmware for pre-launch demos since you want to be sure it is a stable (even if all features and functions are not yet working) and you dont risk getting any surprises or bug crashes. But it is mind boggling how the rep could show this poorly working controller to IGN if that is already fixed since long time. And why wouldn’t he quickly fix it (by updating the firmware) and show them it is actually not at all like this so they could have amended (or never even written) this in the article, that is more puzzling to me..

17 hours ago, Cranker said:

I am one of the biggest fans of the Amico with 2 FE pre-ordered BUT I am very confused with the whole IGN controller issue and explanation with old firmware being the explanation. I understand and have read some possible reasons for this but it really makes no sense to send this to IGN without the most updated firmware. This needs to go into production in a couple of months to make the launch date. I’m not a tech guy so I might be totally off on this but something doesn’t seems quite right. I know we are all super fans on this board but am I the only one ? How did this happen to not send the most updated hardware and firmware for an early look /review ?

Nothing was "sent" to IGN.  They stopped by Sumeet's office. 

Firmware is updated every few days.  Hardware firmware, controller firmware, etc.  And then of course new game builds come in about once a week.  Who knows what combination Sumeet had or was using.  The games worked fine and as the author of the article mentioned the games he played during gameplay had no issues or lag.  Nothing is going to be perfect every day.  Until we launch there will ALWAYS be stability issues.  This is nothing out of the ordinary at all.  Anyone who has ever worked on software or hardware will say the same thing.  You fix 5 things and 2 other things break or slow down, etc.  Especially when you are constantly adding things. 

Tons of people in the public played Shark! Shark! and didn't report that controller screen issue.

A menu screen in a certain build with certain hardware firmware and a certain controller firmware slowed down one of the controller menu screens.

Is this really a big deal folks?

This is exactly why we're going to start slowing down showing videos to the public.  

2 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

 

I am really looking forward to see how they implement the comedy moves into the Harlem Globetrotters game. With the wide variety of inputs/controls on the Amico controller I think it is going to be the perfect platform for 'wacky games' (which I love). Earthworm Jim is also a perfect fit in this category. Here are some more I would like to see:

• Backyard Baseball like game - kid players, crazy power ups, funny backyard play field hazards (i.e. ball stealing dogs). Basically the silly version of MLB. As just as a side note, the entire Humongous Entertainment lineup seems to be in walking dead mode, I would love to see some new titles and/or re-imagined old ones.
• Clayfighter esque fighting game - all of the attacks are ridiculous and cartoony
• Miniature Golf - the regular already wacky game turned up to 11 ala the Holey Moley TV show

8 hours ago, theswede said:

But it is mind boggling how the rep could show this poorly working controller to IGN if that is already fixed since long time. And why wouldn’t he quickly fix it (by updating the firmware) and show them it is actually not at all like this so they could have amended (or never even written) this in the article, that is more puzzling to me..

It's wasn't a "poorly working controller".  As the IGN author stated... it worked perfectly fine when he was playing the games.

Quickly update firmware?  To which version on the hardware?  To which version of the controllers?  To which version of the game?
 

He clearly stated in the article that it was fixed.  To quote the article... "Further improvements have already been made in current firmware builds..."

No wonder Sony, Microsoft & Nintendo never do the kind of "work in progress" things we have been doing for 3 years. 

Wow, that was one of the shortest lived conspiracy theories I've ever seen... Good job, @Tommy Tallarico !

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

This is exactly why we're going to start slowing down showing videos to the public

This really annoys me that because some people get the wrong end of the stick or are just trying to say anything bad about the Amico the rest of us have suffer the consequences of there actions. Please Tommy don’t let these people ruin it for the rest of us who come here many times a day hoping a small piece of news or video of games for this great machine. 😔

Our Founder's Edition patches came in this week. Pretty cool!

Who here will be getting one of these??

2 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Our Founder's Edition patches came in this week. Pretty cool!

Who here will be getting one of these??

Looking great Tommy.  I have my FE pre-ordered.  So, I'll be getting the patch.