Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

New game announcement.

14 minutes ago, Blarneo said:

There's another one that came to mind just now. An old Atari vector game called Quantum. Sort of like Snafoo, but plays more like a scorpion game where the tail is limited and can destroy enemies through looping maneuvers. Its a trackball game so the touchscreen could come in handy.

 

I only saw one of these in the wild in 1983 or 84. I think it was pretty obscure.

 

I'm sure I probably have it on MAME.  I'll check it out.  Looks interesting.

15 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Made it and I'm still here. But I also probably deal with more crap than the average person.

You're a better man than me then! 

And do tell...  what did you learn?

3 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

You're a better man than me then! 

 

And do tell...  what did you learn?

 

 

I don't need a barbie game to know how to decorate stuff.

New game announcement!

My kid would like this one currently.

6 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

New game announcement.

Already available for the Nintendo Switch:

Or this one... that already has a sequel!

My views on a few items:

- Star Wars: Am I the only one who hasn't even watched any other prequel of sequel after getting terribly bored with the Phantom Menace?

- The Amico reminding children to "help mum": I hope this is not literal... remember, men should also help with housework!

- Disney and sharing benefits with workers: A few years ago, there was a proposal in Switzerland (finally didn't make it into law) to limit the salary of the executives of every single company to twelve times the lowest salary of the same company. I wish this was real across the world.

- Disney or other giants buying Intellivision: This is an interesting topic, what do you guys think? Tommy, what if Google or Apple tried to buy the company instead of Disney? Would you accept?

- The importance of Disney: I'm not a fan of Disney today, but I loved Disney comics as a kid. I even prefer DC over Marvel. But at the same time, it's good to hear somebody defend them for a change. And yes, the Mandalorian looks great, I hope the movies used that approach.

- The Quantum game: I just discovered it. It looks very original but a bit repetitive perhaps, but it's another example of how creativity is more important than graphics to create new video game genres and experiences.

#climbsonthebandwagon

Here's another fun classic that could really do well with new graphics and sounds...and more than 2 ships linked together

Space Duel 

2 player linked

3 player triangle formation

4 player diamond formation

Tommy,

has Snafoo been started yet? I would also hope that some of my other favorite games which also have some of the best music, will have new versions as well as the old tunes available in the games? Thunder Castle, Deep Pockets, Thin Ice, it would be great to see the older songs plus the newer versions in games would be great. Surfin on Thin Ice etc. The Intellivision in Hi Fi CD had some unreleased songs from games that would also be awesome to see the light of day if licenses can be obtained. 

New game announcement!

@Spriggy if you are a master of the Ironing Simulator, feel free to come over and iron all my shirts. We can then work on our darning once the ironing is finished!

6 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

New game announcement!

My kid would like this one currently.

 

EXPERT LEVEL!

(girl in the back is not impressed).

4 hours ago, Spriggy said:

 

 

 

#climbsonthebandwagon

Can't do it... wouldn't be an "exclusive". 

4 hours ago, IMBerzerk said:

Here's another fun classic that could really do well with new graphics and sounds...and more than 2 ships linked together

 

Space Duel 

 

2 player linked

3 player triangle formation

4 player diamond formation

 

Yeah!  I remember that one.  Could be a really cool multiplayer co-op.

 

3 hours ago, Jeffrey Bouchard said:

Tommy,

 

has Snafoo been started yet? I would also hope that some of my other favorite games which also have some of the best music, will have new versions as well as the old tunes available in the games? Thunder Castle, Deep Pockets, Thin Ice, it would be great to see the older songs plus the newer versions in games would be great. Surfin on Thin Ice etc. The Intellivision in Hi Fi CD had some unreleased songs from games that would also be awesome to see the light of day if licenses can be obtained. 

Yes.  Snafoo has been in production for 9 months.  We showed a bit of it in our Gamescom trailer (although the game looks a LOT better now!).  And yes... we are updating and reimagining a lot of the original music.  Although you pretty much named all 3 original titles that had more than a few seconds of music. 

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

New game announcement!

 

@Spriggy if you are a master of the Ironing Simulator, feel free to come over and iron all my shirts. We can then work on our darning once the ironing is finished!

59 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yes.  Snafoo has been in production for 9 months.  We showed a bit of it in our Gamescom trailer (although the game looks a LOT better now!).  And yes... we are updating and reimagining a lot of the original music.  Although you pretty much named all 3 original titles that had more than a few seconds of music. 

 

 

Some of my favourite intellivision music is in the unreleased League of Light by activision.

Games mentioned by others; arcade Quantum is about drawing circles with a trackball.  Space Duel is two player asteroids but I can't deal with the geometric shapes.

49 minutes ago, mr_me said:

Some of my favourite intellivision music is in the unreleased League of Light by activision.

 

Games mentioned by others; arcade Quantum is about drawing circles with a trackball.  Space Duel is two player asteroids but I can't deal with the geometric shapes.

A remake could address that and a lot more.  Would be an insanely fun 4 player game with a ton of options you could build into it.  The original was like a moving spiragraph, but what did you expect with vector graphics.

They're already making a multiplayer Asteroids with co-op modes.  No need for the geometric shapes.

10 hours ago, Blarneo said:

An update of Kid Nikki:Radical Ninja... maybe without the dated 80s/90s "attitude" that was a thing back then. Haha. It look like you're already tackling the Intellivision catalog as it stands now, so I'm happy with that.

9 hours ago, Blarneo said:

There's another one that came to mind just now. An old Atari vector game called Quantum. Sort of like Snafoo, but plays more like a scorpion game where the tail is limited and can destroy enemies through looping maneuvers. Its a trackball game so the touchscreen could come in handy.

 

I only saw one of these in the wild in 1983 or 84. I think it was pretty obscure.

 

I just got to say I am loving the Blarneo deep pulls on games. I vaguely remember Kid Nikki from the box art but Quantum doesn't tickle any brain cells. Like somebody who knows the deep cuts from some of your favorite bands that you have never heard before - cool stuff.

4 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yes.  Snafoo has been in production for 9 months.  We showed a bit of it in our Gamescom trailer (although the game looks a LOT better now!).  And yes... we are updating and reimagining a lot of the original music.  Although you pretty much named all 3 original titles that had more than a few seconds of music. 

 

 

Are there going to be game shows on the Amico? Price is Right, Family Feud, Wheel of Fortune, Card Sharks, Jeopardy, $25000 pyramid, etc. That would be great, but if so...PLEASE add easy timer adjustment and multiple choice or some other options as difficulty options. I've been trying to play these games with my parents lately and the short timer upsets them and having to scan through the alphabet for letters one by one to spell out a wheel of fortune answer in, like, 40 seconds is ridiculous. I assume the Amico will not come with one, let alone 4-6 computer keyboards.

28 minutes ago, Swami said:

Are there going to be game shows on the Amico? Price is Right, Family Feud, Wheel of Fortune, Card Sharks, Jeopardy, $25000 pyramid, etc. That would be great, but if so...PLEASE add easy timer adjustment and multiple choice or some other options as difficulty options. I've been trying to play these games with my parents lately and the short timer upsets them and having to scan through the alphabet for letters one by one to spell out a wheel of fortune answer in, like, 40 seconds is ridiculous. I assume the Amico will not come with one, let alone 4-6 computer keyboards.

Actually with the built in screen on the controllers then yes you could actually have 4 to 6 keyboards on every Amico. Plus they could be customized to just have upper case letters only for Wheel of Fortune so 26 letters wouldn’t be too tiny for less mobile hands.

EDIT: Basically you could get rid of the bottom space bar lines in this picture of the mobile app and make the letters bigger:

38 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

Actually with the built in screen on the controllers then yes you could actually have 4 to 6 keyboards on every Amico. Plus they could be customized to just have upper case letters only for Wheel of Fortune so 26 letters wouldn’t be too tiny for less mobile hands.

 

EDIT: Basically you could get rid of the bottom space bar lines in this picture of the mobile app and make the letters bigger:

75-80 year olds and 4 inch diag virtual keyboard... they hate the virtual keyboard on the 8 inch diag Fire Pad, although they can use it to find tv shows, movies and crossword puzzle answers. So, I’d say maybe WITH an adjustable timer. 

3 minutes ago, Swami said:

80 year olds and 4 inch diag virtual keyboard... they hate the virtual keyboard on the 8 inch diag Fire Pad, although they can use it to find tv shows, movies and crossword puzzle answers. So, I’d say maybe WITH an adjustable timer. 

That is a good point, it is difficult to include good support for limited ability users (no knock - people sometimes start off with difficulties & everyone get older & things just get harder so if you aren't there now, you will be). Still, compared to 'mousing around' for keyboard inputs or even worse trying to use a joystick or d-pad the Amico is going to be wonderful in comparison. How many times I have named my characters 'aaa' just because I don't want to type in something long on those god awful controller based keyboards! The Amico is going to be the king of many a card/board games just from that built in screen and hopefully some thoughtful input design & the karma engine will take care of most of the rest of the issues people may face.

2 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

That is a good point, it is difficult to include good support for limited ability users (no knock - people sometimes start off with difficulties & everyone get older & things just get harder so if you aren't there now, you will be). Still, compared to 'mousing around' for keyboard inputs or even worse trying to use a joystick or d-pad the Amico is going to be wonderful in comparison. How many times I have named my characters 'aaa' just because I don't want to type in something long on those god awful controller based keyboards! The Amico is going to be the king of many a card/board games just from that built in screen and hopefully some thoughtful input design & the karma engine will take care of most of the rest of the issues people may face.

I agree. Just saying they get quite pissed off when they know the answer and the timer runs out when they’re 50% done spelling it or figuring out what to push or where to point.