Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

13 minutes ago, RREDDWARFF said:

I agree with you and I could understand where Sony and Microsoft would have an easier time getting parts, but what surprised me was the "other" little guys. How are they getting their parts then? For the Evercade, mini arcades and even the larger Arcade1up machines?

 

I genuinely don't understand, that's why I wanted to have this conversation; because I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

I can take a swing at answering the 1UP arcade system side, as I was interested in what was inside them myself when they became popular.

Essentially, it is that they are using older low end tech. The CPU is an Allwinner A13 and a 256meg chip for the RAM. It is just emulating a vintage arcade system, so they don't need the latest and greatest tech to power the machine. Also probably why the 1UP machines are so reasonably priced.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Allwinner-A13-SoC.87441.0.html

and
 

3 minutes ago, Tavi said:

I can take a swing at answering the 1UP arcade system side, as I was interested in what was inside them myself when they became popular.

Essentially, it is that they are using older low end tech. The CPU is an Allwinner A13 and a 256meg chip for the RAM. It is just emulating a vintage arcade system, so they don't need the latest and greatest tech to power the machine. Also probably why the 1UP machines are so reasonably priced.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Allwinner-A13-SoC.87441.0.html

and
 

 

I appreciate it.

That could be it. Maybe it just comes down to the other little guys are using less desirable tech.

23 minutes ago, RREDDWARFF said:

No offense taken, the refund option is there and I might consider it in the future.

 

I agree, I too come here for, well you guys. This is by far my favorite room here at Atari Age because of the people, but I do not support the idea that everyone in here must behave like Stepford Wives. As long as it's Amico or Intellivision related, and respectful, questions or concerns are always welcome.

I agree with that. I’m all in and support the Amico 100% with 2 FE on order. I hope we can be supportive and share our concerns as well. My concern is that with all we know, I don’t see how they can make their projected release date. That’s it and it’s only my opinion. I appreciate Tommy’s honesty and time and being so available and open with all of us but being ready to launch in 4 months does not  seem possible. Should I not share my feelings ? It won’t change anything.  I also understand that it’s up to IE to decide when to share this information if there does end up being a delay. Maybe I’m just trying to avoid being disappointed. I have not been this excited for a console release in many , many years !

3 hours ago, Barley Farquahr said:

Please take no offense at my reply here, but as Mr. T. has stated many times, they do offer 100% refunds for anyone who is "tired of waiting", and the line forms to the left for all those in line wanting a Founder's Edition who are on the wait-list, who would be happy to get one from someone who got "tired of waiting".

 

Sorry, I get enough negativity everywhere else in my life, I don't come here for it.

 

If you want to bail, the Exit sign is well marked, the path is well lit, and you even don't lose any of your initial investment, how often can you say that?!?!

 

You just don't have to tell all of us that you're leaving on the way out, o.k.?

 

Just my two cents worth here.

 

I have more then one machine on order, including a Founder's Edition, and I couldn't be happier waiting until they can get me the right product at the right time.

 

B

Funny, I’ve been thinking of doubling down and ordering a second unit.  
 

The greater the desire for something the greater the disappointment when something keeps you from it, but Tommy and company didn’t come all this way to fail at the finish line.  It may get delayed again (it may not), there may be delays on some of the bells and whistles when it does come out (full leaderboards, achievements, fully polished game shop, etc.), but I know at some point it will come out and things will be finalized; on that I have no doubt.
 

I get the deposit held for a year longer than anticipated, but as Barley stated above, that $$ can be back in ones hand in 24 hours; but I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that once it comes out, and you cannot find one, you’d regret requesting your money back.  I’d hate to see someone who supports the console give up, lose out on their pre-order and have to wait just that much longer to find one when it does launch.
 

The Pandemic sucks on many fronts, but take it from someone who was hit hard from it medically, having to wait a bit longer for something you know will come out and that will be great (and being around and well to wait for it) isn’t a terrible problem to have. Believe me, no one wants this to come out more then the folks at IE, NO ONE.

5 minutes ago, Starpaddler said:

Funny, I’ve been thinking of doubling down and ordering a second unit.  
 

The greater the desire for something the greater the disappointment when something keeps you from it, but Tommy and company didn’t come all this way to fail at the finish line.  It may get delayed again (it may not), there may be delays on some of the bells and whistles when it does come out (full leaderboards, achievements, fully polished game shop, etc.), but I know at some point it will come out and things will be finalized; on that I have no doubt.
 

I get the deposit held for a year longer than anticipated, but as Barley stated above, that $$ can be back in ones hand in 24 hours; but I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that once it comes out, and you cannot find one, you’d regret requesting your money back.  I’d hate to see someone who supports the console give up, lose out on their pre-order and have to wait just that much longer to find one when it does launch.
 

The Pandemic sucks on many fronts, but take it from someone who was hit hard from it medically, having to wait a bit longer for something you know will come out and that will be great (and being around and well to wait for it) isn’t a terrible problem to have. Believe me, no one wants this to come out more then the folks at IE, NO ONE.

Well said . I think my frustration mostly comes from wanting this console so badly, especially being mostly inside my house for the last year+ 
 

“The greater the desire for something the greater the disappointment” that’s me !

What are your top 5 most anticipated games for Amico? They don’t have to be part of the first wave  of games. 
 

1. Horse Racing my dad and I played this game together a ton and I’m excited to have a chance to play it again, plus my grandma played a few races of Horse Racing on Intellivision with me and she is excited to try the new one.  I kind of hope that the horses are colored like the ones in The Emerald City in Oz because I think having red, purple, and pink horses available would be a lot of fun.

2. Night Stalker I’m a huge horror fan been watching scary movies since I was 5 and am excited for this game for that creepy atmosphere.

3. Snafoo my step brother and I played this game together a lot so I’m very excited to have a chance to play a new version.

4. Burgertime I was never great at this game but I’m looking forward to playing an updated version because it was so fun and the best version I ever got to play was the Intellivision one.

5. Earthworm Jim I’ve never gotten very far in the original games but love the humor of them.

4 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

I agree with you and I could understand where Sony and Microsoft would have an easier time getting parts, but what surprised me was the "other" little guys. How are they getting their parts then? For the Evercade, mini arcades and even the larger Arcade1up machines?

 

I genuinely don't understand, that's why I wanted to have this conversation; because I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

That's a fair point you've brought up. However, unless someone at Blaze has addressed this, we don't know whether they took supply issues into consideration before unveiling the Evercade VS. Perhaps they held onto their design for a while, and waited until the time was right to announce a release date?

4 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

I agree with you and I could understand where Sony and Microsoft would have an easier time getting parts, but what surprised me was the "other" little guys. How are they getting their parts then? For the Evercade, mini arcades and even the larger Arcade1up machines?

 

I genuinely don't understand, that's why I wanted to have this conversation; because I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

They are emulation on old processors and Mobos. The FPGA hardware Analogue Pocket, which is more current tech, has been delayed a year so far and possibly into 2022. I find it surprising we don't hear more about that.

37 minutes ago, Battlefish said:

That's a fair point you've brought up. However, unless someone at Blaze has addressed this, we don't know whether they took supply issues into consideration before unveiling the Evercade VS. Perhaps they held onto their design for a while, and waited until the time was right to announce a release date?

It definitely could be the case. Realistically, there's even a chance that they'll be delayed as well. I was shocked when Blaze opened up Evercade pre-orders a week or two ago they were already promising for this November, but maybe you're right.

5 minutes ago, Swami said:

They are emulation on old processors and Mobos. The FPGA hardware Analogue Pocket has been delayed a year so far and possibly into 2022. I find it surprising we don't hear more about that.

This is true, Evercade is an emulation machine. Perhaps like Tavi was suggesting earlier, with the Arcade1up machines, they might be using older parts that carry less demand.

18 minutes ago, Alpha82 said:

What are your top 5 most anticipated games for Amico? They don’t have to be part of the first wave  of games. 
 

1. Horse Racing my dad and I played this game together a ton and I’m excited to have a chance to play it again, plus my grandma played a few races of Horse Racing on Intellivision with me and she is excited to try the new one.  I kind of hope that the horses are colored like the ones in The Emerald City in Oz because I think having red, purple, and pink horses available would be a lot of fun.

 

2. Night Stalker I’m a huge horror fan been watching scary movies since I was 5 and am excited for this game for that creepy atmosphere.

 

3. Snafoo my step brother and I played this game together a lot so I’m very excited to have a chance to play a new version.

 

4. Burgertime I was never great at this game but I’m looking forward to playing an updated version because it was so fun and the best version I ever got to play was the Intellivision one.

 

5. Earthworm Jim I’ve never gotten very far in the original games but love the humor of them.

Skiing

Bi-planes

Moon Patrol (got to beat my wifes high score 😭)

Cloudy Mountain

B-17 Bomber

and my next 5

Burgertime

Load Runner

Nitro Derby

Utopia

Tron

and my next 5

Bump n’ Jump

Microsurgeon  

Snafoo

Night Stalker 

Corn Hole

and my next 5....

49 minutes ago, RREDDWARFF said:

This is true, Evercade is an emulation machine. Perhaps like Tavi was suggesting earlier, with the Arcade1up machines, they might be using older parts that carry less demand.

Yeah, the iphone 3 had 256mb of RAM.

If you are a fan of the original Intellivision (and Atari 2600) be sure to check out Papa Pete's YouTube channel.

I go along with the thinking that all questions and thoughts on Amico are welcome here; as long as it's done in a respectful and coherent way, of course! I'd imagine that, generally, folk who post here are pretty big fans of the Amico and so naturally there is a positive and optimistic bias. Even so, it's not wrong - in my eyes - to present questions and the one around hitting the October launch date would seem to be a valid concern at this point.

We know about the component supply issues and we have seen that console colours are being tweaked in recent weeks. With around four months left to resolve the tech sourcing challenges, make the final casings, put together the consoles, finalise the software, build the physical game editions and ship everything out to retailers... although we all want the console to make that October launch date and are cheering on the Intellivision team, the timeline feels tight even from my "outsider" perspective.

13 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

...

I am trying to be open and honest, not only with everyone in here, but also with my self. I'm excited about Amico, but as of October this year, Intellivision has had 1 year to obtain these missing or hard to get parts. I don't see how another 6 weeks is going to make a difference. I really hope something happens between now and then, just like everyone else, but I'm beginning to think the delay we've been seeing goes much deeper than they just can't get the parts.

...

What else do you think it is besides electronics parts supply?

2 hours ago, mr_me said:

What else do you think it is besides electronics parts supply?

See the previous post by totalamico and you have your answer. The biggest issue might be manufacturing the console since there seem to be big delays in this area and I’m wondering how they can get this done without having all of the components needed to lock down , get in line , reserve a spot or whatever the correct term is with their manufacturer(s). But what do I know ? Everything might work out fine. It just doesn’t seem possible to me. 

This is a homebrew for the 2600.  It was actually an arcade game.  It was also on the Vectrex.  Maybe this game could end up on Amico? Or the Vectrex when Tommy brings back that console.

Honestly if it’s delayed so be it. This console has been my main interest and hobby over the last couple of years and I have been on this board for what seems like years almost 24/7. The only reason that I’m wanting to know ASAP about delays is to prepare myself and not be disappointed. At the same time this board and all the great people and  the Amico have made this whole pandemic a lot easier  to get through and for that I thank Tommy , IE and all of the great people on this board. We must remember it’s the journey that’s often even more important than the destination in the end. 😀

2 hours ago, Cranker said:

See the previous post by totalamico and you have your answer. The biggest issue might be manufacturing the console since there seem to be big delays in this area and I’m wondering how they can get this done without having all of the components needed to lock down , get in line , reserve a spot or whatever the correct term is with their manufacturer(s). But what do I know ? Everything might work out fine. It just doesn’t seem possible to me. 

My understanding is that they have an agreement with their manufacturer for July/August.  There must be provisions in their contract for changing that maybe even penalties depending on the timing.  We've been told their go to manufacturing deadline is in July, and I understand that to mean not to expect an official statement until then, although unofficial comments might suggest what to expect.

11 hours ago, Alpha82 said:

What are your top 5 most anticipated games for Amico?

Tron

Tron

Tron

Tron

Tron

Lol.  But seriously.

My top 5 most anticipated games for Amico would be:

1. Cloudy Mountain

2. Flying Tigers

3. Ice Trek

4. Lode Runner

5. Night Stalker

5 others I would choose:

1. Burger Time

2. Earthworm Jim

3. Finnigan Fox

4. Rigid Force Redux Enhanced

5. Sub Hunt

7 hours ago, mr_me said:

What else do you think it is besides electronics parts supply?

As a logistics guy, I can say (and I've said before) that my concern right now is even if they do source all their components and get manufacturing up and running, shipping these things out is not going to be easy. As we all know, INTV is "the little guy" here, and even the big guys are having problems booking space on container ships to get product out of China. Rates have skyrocketed the past year and cost have more than tripled. Steamship lines have cut back and booking space on one has become extremely expensive. I do not envy whoever is at IE trying to plan all this out.

You should be able to estimate what extra shipping cost per Amico might be, considering how many thousands of Amicos fit in a shipping container.  Maybe three bucks per unit.  If they can get them manufactured they could live with a logistical shipping delay as long as they make the Christmas season.  I would think they should haver shipping containers already booked, because there should be no problem finding someone to use them if they can't.

2 minutes ago, mr_me said:

You should be able to estimate what extra shipping cost per Amico might be, considering how many thousands of Amicos fit in a shipping container.  Maybe three bucks per unit.  If they can get them manufactured they could live with a logistical shipping delay as long as they make the Christmas season.  I would think they should haver shipping containers already booked, because there should be no problem finding someone to use them if they can't.

Good news/bad news.  Good news - Amico’s will be ready for 10/10; bad news, you'll have to pick them up in China, address forthcoming. 
 

Speaking for myself, I’d likely be willing to pay airfreight to get it earlier.  Even if only a few people bit on this potential option, IE would still get to claim console “release”.  Not the best option, but an option none the less.