Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

20 minutes ago, atarifan88 said:

I hate to do any Apple bashing, but what does this have to do with the app not coming out on Google Play?  Is there something going on over there too or does it have to be released concurrently with the Apple app?  Thanks for keeping us in the loop Tommy!

I'm trying not to anger folks who have Apple's.  So trying to wait and release them together.  Don't want to keep doing multiple e-mail blasts, etc.

But if Apple doesn't come through by the end of the week... I'll release Google.

On 12/3/2019 at 5:17 PM, squirrelgotdead said:

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

Kinda funny huh! 

Just an idea for now... might be a little too morbid for family gaming... but we'll focus test it towards the end of the project. 

 

On 12/3/2019 at 6:02 PM, MantaNZ said:

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

So frustrating to have our internal team and the developer work so hard to put it together to have it "rejected" by Apple because they said it wasn't a full game or long enough for a demo.  The app is marketing... not a game demo.  This is the "spirited debate" we're having with them. 

On 12/3/2019 at 7:45 PM, 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!

Count on it!

And what if I were to tell you that for one of the 10 mountains... we're recreating the original slope!  

 

I thought about posting that I installed the Amico AR ap and Moon Patrol was awesome, but not even I could be so cruel. 😄

On 12/3/2019 at 8:37 PM, 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.

I don't know anything about that... but I can tell you that the folks over there (and I'm dealing with the CEO and main programmers/artists) are super cool and super passionate about Amico.  The game they are working on is kicking major ass.  They are doing Missile Command for us and it's coming out really great.  I'm sorry that folks had a negative experience on Kickstarter.  They were the original developers of Carmageddon so it makes sense that they did a Kickstarter.  Kickstarter is a tricky thing for folks sometimes.  Lots of good people have all the right intentions... but the final execution doesn't always satisfy. 

In my experience they have been working really heard and giving us amazing results and really going the extra mile to make the game the best it can possibly be.  We really love playing it.  Especially with 8 players at once! 

Just wanted to give my personal perspective on what I know about them.

On 12/3/2019 at 11:21 PM, Alpha82 said:

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 

I believe our lead senior tech software engineer (John... who folks saw in the video) responded to that person on YouTube.  Short answer... very easy to operate a good deal of games with only one hand.  Especially the motion controlled ones.

On 12/3/2019 at 11:24 PM, Lathe26 said:

 

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)

Damn!!  You're hardcore!!

Then again... we already knew that!



 

On 12/4/2019 at 3:56 AM, ASalvaro said:

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

I know right!!  

It used to be a 24 hour process... but now it's a week.  We knew that going in, but it's Apple who is giving us issues.  We'll work through it.  No worries.

41 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Issues with Apple (don't get me started)... Trying to get it ironed out today.  Been going back and forth with them all week.  So annoying.  Don't want to get into details right now... but we are on the case and doing everything in our power to get them to understand what it is and what "category" it fits into.  This is the issue sometimes when doing cool stuff that no one has done before. 

 

The good news is that because of the slight delay... I'm going to be releasing something else super cool that we weren't originally planning on showing!

News will be coming at the end of today or early tomorrow.  Exciting stuff that a lot of people here are going to love.

 

 

As a former iPhone app developer... Apple is known to hold up app releases for weeks sometimes.  Sometimes there are "reasons" and other times not.  Best you can do is go back and forth until things are worked out.  I could name all the hassles I've seen but that would be off-topic of the Amico.

It doesn't help that you live in fear of angering Apple, resulting in your company getting kicked out.  Honestly, the arbitrary rulings combined with fear is like being in an semi-abusive relationship.

On 12/4/2019 at 5:04 AM, LePionnier said:

 

Tommy must not be very happy right now ! :(

 

 

There are always barriers.  No sense in getting unhappy or upset.  Just need to find the solution and bash through all the barriers!  Or find a way over, under or around them. 

Nothing will stop us from achieving our goal and dream for Amico.

Bumpy roads for sure... but like Rocky Balboa... it's all about getting up off the mat each time you're knocked down.

*starts humming Rocky theme in my head*

On 12/4/2019 at 6:24 AM, 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".  

We're talking about it.  Could be a possibility... or maybe an Easter Egg? 

 

On 12/4/2019 at 7:15 AM, woobman said:

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

Heck... I can't even remember half the stuff I say in this thread.... let alone the rest of ya!

On 12/4/2019 at 8:28 AM, GrudgeQ said:

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.

Nah... it's actually part of the gameplay when you collect a certain power-up!

On 12/4/2019 at 9:36 AM, Blarneo said:

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

Oh... make no mistake... we'll be leaning on that heavily in 2020 as well.  

On 12/4/2019 at 9:59 AM, Blarneo said:

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.

 

Yeah... their stuff on the XBOX was pretty great looking when it came out.  I believe that was around 12 years ago or something?

19 hours ago, MantaNZ said:

I bought a couple of those. I was particularly keen on Tempest as I'm a massive Tempest 2000 (and 4000) fan. I was a little disappointed as it was really just a prettied up version of the arcade game (which I never liked). Not bad, but just not what I was expecting. I did enjoy Missile Command though with that game you can't beat the original with a trackball! Still, I'm interested to see what cool stuff they come up with for Amico. I imagine Tommy et al won't be allowing any shovelware on the console!

Glad you enjoyed their Missile Command!  

 

17 hours ago, MantaNZ said:

EDIT: I just thought - card games will be awesome on Amico! Your hand of cards on your own private wee screen... then you could flick them onto the TV

Oh... you have NO IDEA what cool stuff is coming for card games!!! 

17 hours ago, Serguei2 said:

Those are new for me.

I wish more familiar developers to make games for Amico.

 

Enjoy JP

Zen Studios 

Sega

Circle Entertainment

Ubisoft

Coderchild

Activision

Yacht Club Games

Konami

 

They can come out games without breaking Amico 10 commandments.

 

 

Please make sure to Google some of those developers.  Most of them on that list (and the games they make) are very familiar and very successful to a lot of people.  Check out a company like Concrete and you'll see the biggest and best (and "official") bowling, fishing & golf games EVER for mobile.  50 million+ downloads per title!  They are world class.  Same with Other Ocean, Digital Eclipse and even newcomers like Choice Provisions.  Again... Google most of them and check out their websites.  Very popular and high quality games. 

Companies like Activision, Konami, Sega & UbiSoft are more "publishers" than developers.  And we are working with 2 of them (potentially 3) to bring their IP's to our platform.  But they are not the ones making the games (just like they don't make most of their games now).

Some of the best and most exciting cutting edge games are being made by small Indie developers that no one has ever heard of.  Not big publishers who keep using the same formulas over and over and over and over again. 



 

20 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

They were the original developers of Carmageddon so it makes sense that they did a Kickstarter.

I’m guessing that’s a game we won’t see on Amico 😛

16 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

All those old names were new and unfamiliar to you once. 
 

There are some excellent indie developers on the Amico list. Most of the people who made the classic games for Konami, SEGA, Activision et al have moved on. 
 

Small is often better for the kind of experiences this thing is trying to deliver. 

Nailed it!

5 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

Surely they'll have the option for black bars on the sides, and maybe simulated scan lines, though. Right Tommy?

Correct!

Check out the newest Aladdin/Lion King release on Switch.  Other Ocean/Digital Eclipse did those.  LOTS of different ways to view and play. 

2 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Some of the best and most exciting cutting edge games are being made by small Indie developers that no one has ever heard of.  Not big publishers who keep using the same formulas over and over and over and over again. 



 

You mean we’re not going to get the same old first person shooter over and over and over again? Shame on you, Tommy! Shame!

2 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

Thanks nurmix. So it's safe to say that marketing image was "for illustration purposes only." Glad to hear it's not a situation of "no news is good news." 😎

Hahahha!

btw.... did you read our press release?  Did you like my "no news is good news" reference?  I was literally thinking about you when I was writing that into the release.  Thought to myself... Flojomojo is gonna love this! 

1 minute ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Correct!

Check out the newest Aladdin/Lion King release on Switch.  Other Ocean/Digital Eclipse did those.  LOTS of different ways to view and play. 

 

 

I’m getting that for Christmas on Xbone.