Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

41 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

Just to show what an international effort the Amico really is - here are the locations of the announced game developers (feel free to correct, just some quick Googling):

 

Other Ocean - California, USA
Digital Eclipse - California, USA
Concrete Games - France
Choice Provisions - California, USA
Playchemy - California, USA
React Games - France
Stainless Games - UK
WastedStudios - Germany
Bonus Level Entertainment - Germany
NeoBird - Germany
Aesir Interactive - Germany
Thera Bytes - Germany
Way Digital Studios - ?
BBG Entertainment - Germany
PHL Collective - Philadelphia Pennsylvania, USA
Rogue Rocket Games - California, USA
Pixel Pug - Colorado, USA?
Quicksilver Software - California, USA
Tozai Games - Japan
Human Soft Inc - California, USA
Flashman Studios - California, USA
Spaceflower UG - Germany
Exozet Berlin GmbH - Germany
Independent Arts Software - Germany
Pool Legends - ?

No New Zealand developers. *wink wink, hint hint*

4 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

You probably should have gotten the email by now but if you want to see the official press release (contains some nice renders of the logo, controller and console) you can find it here.

 

They also released a 'now and then' of the first official free, pack-in game - skiing. I got to see an early development video but was pretty much sworn to secrecy except to say that I saw it. Now that a few photos has been released, you can see what I was impressed about: clean graphics, saturated color pallet and a surprising challenging game play with several different 'lines' you can take down the course.

Next to the logs: Is that a grave for a fallen skier in the bottom left screenshot? 

Guessing the AR app is a bust for today?

11 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Guessing the AR app is a bust for today?

I know Tommy said several hours back they were just waiting on final verification from Apple and Google but so far it hasn’t added 

4 minutes ago, Alpha82 said:

I know Tommy said several hours back they were just waiting on final verification from Apple and Google but so far it hasn’t added 

This is why we need Amico. Then when Tommy says something will be available it will be available ;D

Oh well, I just picked this up recently so in the meantime I'm going to play some Intellivision games (for the very first time).

47 minutes ago, squirrelgotdead said:

Next to the logs: Is that a grave for a fallen skier in the bottom left screenshot? 

No, that's the place I buried my acting career.

6 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

You probably should have gotten the email by now but if you want to see the official press release (contains some nice renders of the logo, controller and console) you can find it here.

 

They also released a 'now and then' of the first official free, pack-in game - skiing. I got to see an early development video but was pretty much sworn to secrecy except to say that I saw it. Now that a few photos has been released, you can see what I was impressed about: clean graphics, saturated color pallet and a surprising challenging game play with several different 'lines' you can take down the course.

I hope they do more of these then and now comparisons. It's always good to remember the past and look to the future in the same layout!

5 hours ago, MantaNZ said:

No New Zealand developers. *wink wink, hint hint*

Very disappointed to see Stainless Games on that list.  After years of non-responsiveness on their Carmageddon Kickstarter, they finally just sent a literal box of crap (magnets, air fresheners and other assorted junk) to backers who were promised a physical copy of the game and other rewards.  They also never delivered promised ports and other features.  Total joke of a company.

Hey Tommy I saw a couple questions posted in Facebook or YouTube and thought I’d ask them here.  Are you working on or are their plans to work on BBC adaptive controllers for disabled people? One of the guts asking somewhere was one handed and wondered about how he might be able to play also 

15 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

To kick off Intellivisions 40th birthday celebration, we have dug deep into the archives to share with everyone a never-before-seen promo video from 1978! This was filmed a year before the official launch of Intellivision & there are some images and information in the video that are different from what ended up coming out.  Can you pick them all out?  EPIC 1950's sounding voice-over.

 

Someone needs to do a remix song with this!  

 

More exciting news to come throughout the day!

 

 

Well, this doesn't pick out all the differences (I skipped all the unreleased or changes games and software changes), but here's some of the changes:

• Keyboard component (2:30):
  • Keys are different: all white instead of various colors, different sizes (ex: right shift), locations, different meanings.  One key is blank!
  • Keyboard surrounded by gold plate.
  • Tape drive is very different (turned sideways and is raised vertically)
  • Microphone is different (blocky instead of cylindrical)
  • Tape cases are different (clear bottoms so you can see the tape).
  • Tape drive lid wobbles when user inserts a tape.  KC looks strongly like a mock up.
• Intellivision games:
  • Football
    • Font for letters looks very different; thinner and boxy.  The "I" in "TIME" is proportional width, not fixed width.  Might be using GRAM for letters.
    • Font for numbers looks mostly correct but the zero has a weird extra pixel in the lower right... as if a zero was merged with a Q.
    • Tackled quarterback 'explodes' when tackled.
    • One player returning to the huddle is stuck in running mode until the 2nd line-up starts.
    • Horizontal scrolling is buggy.  The green of the field is out of sync with the white of the field (watch left and right sides of screen)
  • Armor Battle
    • Tanks seem flickery when they turn
• Keyboard Component tapes:
  • All text is mocked up: wrong font, font is blue instead of white, wrong sizes, different sizes on same screen.
  • Graphics are mocked up as well (ex: exercise figure at 9:36 looks like arranged paper cut outs)
  • Overall, it looks like it was mocked up with TV electronics, not computer electronics, of the the time (ex: "COMA TALAY VOO" is smoothly revealed in Conversational French instead of 1 letter appearing at a time)

Did the app show up for anyone yet? I’m in New Zealand and not sure if it was released in this region. Looking forward to playing it

2 hours ago, MantaNZ said:

Did the app show up for anyone yet? I’m in New Zealand and not sure if it was released in this region. Looking forward to playing it

No not yet it was held up for verification by Google and Apple something Intellivision can’t control I’m hoping it gets released tomorrow 

13 minutes ago, Alpha82 said:

No not yet it was held up for verification by Google and Apple something Intellivision can’t control I’m hoping it gets released tomorrow 

Poo poo. Had that happen more than once on my own games. So annoying.

Oh well, at least I got to play Intellivision for the first time today. It was on the PS2 Intellivision Lives, so not ideal control wise, but I was still super impressed. Skiing is so much fun, and Snafu! And now I know exactly where the running man comes from.

Man I wish I’d had one as a kid. The games are actually playable, unlike the Fountain, haha. Okay I enjoyed that immensely at the time, but it’s all I knew. 

31 minutes ago, MantaNZ said:

Poo poo. Had that happen more than once on my own games. So annoying.

 

Oh well, at least I got to play Intellivision for the first time today. It was on the PS2 Intellivision Lives, so not ideal control wise, but I was still super impressed. Skiing is so much fun, and Snafu! And now I know exactly where the running man comes from.

 

Man I wish I’d had one as a kid. The games are actually playable, unlike the Fountain, haha. Okay I enjoyed that immensely at the time, but it’s all I knew. 

My parents already owned Intellivision when I was born it was the first system I gamed on.  My dad loved playing me in boxing because I like the look of the faint button so I rarely actually threw a real punch so of course he always won lol.  We also played a ton of horse racing which I enjoyed a lot. I remember playing a lot of Snafu with my stepbrother as well so many fun games in that system. Yeah I’ve played the Intellivision Lives games they are good but Intellivision controls don’t port over well to a different design. My favorite part of the PS2 Intellivision Lives Game is going to that Jukebox and playing I Want My Intellivision 

1 hour ago, Alpha82 said:

No not yet it was held up for verification by Google and Apple something Intellivision can’t control I’m hoping it gets released tomorrow 

I'm surprised Google verifies anything with all the crap that's on Google Play 

I KNEW IT! When I first got this game in 79/80 every time I played SPACE BATTLE I always see the enemy ship looking like Battlestar Galactica Cylon Raider but now seeing the label help prove it

1 hour ago, ASalvaro said:

I'm surprised Google verifies anything with all the crap that's on Google Play 

Tommy must not be very happy right now ! :(

Thank goodness it's not my technology impared self that just couldn't find the app.

I feel much better now! 😄

10 hours ago, atarifan88 said:

I hope they do more of these then and now comparisons. It's always good to remember the past and look to the future in the same layout!

Any chance of having BOTH versions when you buy a game? Play the original... Then the new.. With a push of the button..Shake of the controller.. Up up down down left right left right BA. (Spin Dial 3 times counter-clockwise). Or the ultimate way -  Say "Hey Amico... Play wood grain mode".  

17 minutes ago, woobman said:

Any chance of having BOTH versions when you buy a game? Play the original... Then the new.. With a push of the button..Shake of the controller.. Up up down down left right left right BA. (Spin Dial 3 times counter-clockwise). Or the ultimate way -  Say "Hey Amico... Play wood grain mode".  

Tommy had mentioned the old games will be sold in bundles so we don't have to purchase them individually.  I think he mentioned the old games would be grouped (i.e. sports bundle, space bundle, etc).

31 minutes ago, atarifan88 said:

Tommy had mentioned the old games will be sold in bundles so we don't have to purchase them individually.  I think he mentioned the old games would be grouped (i.e. sports bundle, space bundle, etc).

Missed that post.. Dang...  Hope he can forgive me.  ha ha. 

1 hour ago, woobman said:

Missed that post.. Dang...  Hope he can forgive me.  ha ha. 

In the GamesCon trailer they showed Asteroids reverting back to the classic look - probably as some sort of Easter Egg mode. I would love to see some single level 'flashbacks' to OG Intellivision games hidden in there too, to give people a taste of the classics.

On 12/3/2019 at 10:44 AM, ColecoJoe said:

That's a cool Battlestar Galactica Space Battle cartridge!!!

Electric Company branded edugames that sucked in my Mother's motherly motherness back in 1982. 🤣

22 hours ago, Mike_2000 said:

Tommy, I know you said that we can't play CoD on the Amiico, but can I play Doom? Obviously it won't be on the Amiico Storefront, but I'm assuming that the OS is based on Linux or Android. How hard would it be to sideload a sourceport and play my all-time favorite FPS?

If you can play it on an old Kodak digital camera, then anything's possible.

https://youtu.be/7gCZZkBATSc

13 hours ago, bojay1997 said:

Very disappointed to see Stainless Games on that list.  After years of non-responsiveness on their Carmageddon Kickstarter, they finally just sent a literal box of crap (magnets, air fresheners and other assorted junk) to backers who were promised a physical copy of the game and other rewards.  They also never delivered promised ports and other features.  Total joke of a company.

They were responsible for Xbox Arcade's Atari classics that sold individually. Centipede, Missile Command & Tempest is what I remember, but there may have been others. The HD (evolved) versions were not all that impressive thematically compared to what could be done. They asked too much money for them as well. Minter's Space Giraffe on XB360 was much more playable & colorful than Stainless' Tempest.

They may be doing the Atari conversions for Amico. 

Yeah, here they are... The Xbox 360 ones.