Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

7 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

13 hours ago, LePionnier said:

it's in French

Not exactly!

French Canadian !

6 hours ago, MantaNZ said:

Most consoles launch with just a handful of games. I mean ten games on launch is more than enough to provide a lot of variety and as a bonus, if there were only ten games on launch I could afford all of them on Amico  Actually, now that I think about it - it may be the only console I'll ever be able to buy every game for as it's released! 

I agree. I will even go further !
I think I can (and will) collect all Amico games if there is only 1 new game per week at a maximum price of $ 10 !!! 😎

(Apart from the ones that I will buy physically)

Tommy, speaking of that, from the 30-40 games available at launch, is it possible to know how many of them you think will be in physical form ?

Thank you.

20 minutes ago, LePionnier said:

7 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

14 hours ago, LePionnier said:

it's in French

Not exactly!

French Canadian !

 

Ugh! You Canadians! 

Who told you that you were allowed to make your bacon round?😡😜

2 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

I mention all this because there is one particular aspect of the Amico that I find a bit worrying: the controller. It looks like a smartphone, but is it really that comfortable to hold? Doesn't it feel weird to press buttons on the touch screen? The d-disc looks good but it's quite different to the rest of controllers out there, are people adapting quickly to it in the tests? I know you already said that everyone who has tried the controllers liked them, but I guess I need to try it myself to be a believer. 👼

So Tommy, what are you waiting for ? Send him Amico with a controller !!  🤣😂

I am next in line !    lol

9 minutes ago, Blarneo said:

Who told you that you were allowed to make your bacon round?😡😜

Not sure to understand ! 🤔

But we do have poutine !! 

43 minutes ago, Blarneo said:

Well that's clearly a total load of crap. 

Just me alone got into a snot-fest about The Walt Disney Company with Tommy & a mod stepped in, and a smaller side jab about Math Fun. I'm still here posting away and I get a free Hockey game too! So There Pablum Fiasco! 😜

I read all of what you two were slinging at each other   There's a big difference between having a fun snot fest about an off-topic issue and one that directly gets at someone ideals or reasons for being on a forum in the first place.  To me, Tommy opened his doors unlike any CEO/celebrity I've known in my years...Breaking his balls a little is not a big deal, because he does the same as well.  That's what makes him and this whole thing a lot more genuine to me.  But like anything else, there are fine lines of which should not be crossed.  Poking jokes is fun when both sides are laughing.   Being from the decade and area he's from, it was a part of life.  From what I've seen so far .... I'm sure he had his trophies from his own "rank-out sessions" as a kid. 

Now... If I find out Tommy is a Patriot's fan...he's done ... it's open season on him from a long suffering Jets fan!!! 

1 hour ago, LePionnier said:

 

I think it can ruin the experience. It's not like a game with open world and have 50 hours to play, and a lot of story content to discover.

So I prefer screenshot, then later small video of the game you are working on. We have to know what the game is like before buying it, but testing it can be a bad idea. (Except for showroom and tv shows !)

If not, choose the demo games carefully, and keep some secrets and surprises about the game for when we will buy them.

 

I totally agree with that !

With Moon Patrol, I will be a buyer day one for this game, but playing it on my cell I really dislike it. I want real buttons ! (also with a big screen ! lol )

I disagree about the demos.  I think it gives a better insight into the direction the designer is going.  I've found in the past that screenshots or videos just don't give me enough compared to a demo.  He's using the old school method which worked.  If you bought any game magazines back in the day, they usually came with a demo CD that you could load and play games on.  I remember playing a level of Magic Carpet and The Deadly Dozen, of which I bought both.  It's a good sales method and I'm glad they're using it.  Plus... It gives us a whole lot of confidence that this whole thing is definitely going to happen... Unlike the Atari VCS "Nessie".  

40 minutes ago, LePionnier said:

Not sure to understand ! 🤔

But we do have poutine !! 

Canadian Bacon is what we uncultured Americans call back bacon which is cut into rounds. Personally a huge fan of it no matter what it is called. Also +1 for poutine.

3 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

I love the appearance of paprium_fiasco (the negative reddit user). The Nintendo discussion was going nowhere (and I am partly to blame), but this guy is pretty entertaining to read, he's like a cool comic book super-villain (Luthor, Darkseid, Dr. Doom) when you are tired of pathetic guys with costumes that are barely a menace to the main hero(es).

 

He even has an origin story: He was "born" in a weird accident (he created his Reddit account out of his frustration after the Genesis game Paprium, a Kickstarter that went wrong). The fact that he spends so much free time on things he hate makes him a lovable character and, while some of his predictions have been proved to be plain lies due to the lack of information on the subject, a few of his negative ideas are still possible/worth debating and, thanks to him, Tommy has written one of the most interesting replies in this topic (the long one in the previous page)... Just like Superman vs. Luthor, in the end it's a very entertaining fight to watch/read compared to the regular villains/haters (people who accuse a CEO of spamming his company on its own official Q&A topic).

 

Now Tommy, in spite of my user name (and that I just compared you with a superhero and your critics with villains), these are just parodies and auto-parodies. I'm pretty sure I will buy your console to play with my family, but I don't even have an HD television in my own house so I will probably give the console to my mum as a gift so we all can play in her house. I like the project and the idea of contributing with ideas or speaking about it in other forums to help people know about it, but I'm not obsessed with it nor will spend more than $400 on the machine and its games. My days of true fanboyism (blindly accepting everything a company/music band/artist releases) are long gone, the Amico (and its unexpectedly entertainment promotion and discussion among lovers and haters) is a funny experiment for me in a time where modern consoles don't interest me anymore.

 

I mention all this because there is one particular aspect of the Amico that I find a bit worrying: the controller. It looks like a smartphone, but is it really that comfortable to hold? Doesn't it feel weird to press buttons on the touch screen? The d-disc looks good but it's quite different to the rest of controllers out there, are people adapting quickly to it in the tests? I know you already said that everyone who has tried the controllers liked them, but I guess I need to try it myself to be a believer. 👼

Hahahha!

Ah!  Okay... I didn't understand the Paprium Sega reference until you just brought it up.  Yeah... I'm guessing it must be that SegaSnatcher guy (had to look up the name as he would also send me PM's here).  As anyone in here knows... he was a disrespectful dude who seemed like his only goal was to piss as many people off here as possible (which it now seems he's trying to do in every one of his Reddit posts.. as @GrudgeQ is painfully aware of!)      Somebody on Reddit call him "SegaSnatcher" and see how he reacts.  I dare you. 

In regards to blind fanboy-ism... Yeah... I have mentioned this to folks on YouTube comments a few times as well defending the conversations and folks in here.  In their last uniformed lazy video the curly haired one literally started reading positive messages on our YouTube videos and was making fun of anyone who thought Amico was a good idea.  And he has constantly attacked the folks in here as blindly defending anything I say or do or anything negative regarding the machine and has specifically linked to this thread so his own "blind followers" (irony anyone?) would post negative stuff.  I bet the mods were busy that week!    Again... total uninformed crap for anyone willing to read a few pages!  Blarneo, Mr. Beefy that Space Channel 5 dude (forget his username off the top of my head) have different viewpoints about stuff... but can still interact respectfully and share views, thoughts/opinions, etc.  Everyone isn't going to agree with my approach on everything.  It's impossible.  But having a respectful place to discuss things with relatively same aged folks who have a passion for the Intellivision brand in general is not blind fanboy-ism as certain YouTubers (and now their commenters) say.

In regards to the controller.  I totally understand the worry.  We spent a TON of time on ergonomics... probably over 100 3D print-outs and tweaks before we got it just right.  Every little curve, etc.  I talk about some of the stuff in the last MEET AMICO video.  It's funny because a few of the folks in the office complain like crazy saying that the Switch controls while playing Mario Kart are the worst ever and make it difficult to play the game.  They have bigger hands and need to control the Kart with a super tiny half controller about 4 inches long.  Personally for me (I have smaller hands) I don't mind that... but I do hate the square-ish plastic controller port that comes with the system.  Lets face it... everyone who really spends time with a Switch has probably purchased the "normal" type controller.  I mention this for a few reasons (no... not to crap on Nintendo)...  my point is that every system is going to have controller issues in regards to pleasing everyone.  Another example would be that most non-gamers will NOT play PS or XBOX just because of the complexity of the controllers!  So every home console has this issue.

We find that casual and non-gamers feel a LOT more comfortable with our controllers and when placed on a table with PS, XBOX & Switch.... every time a small kid, parent, senior, non-gamer will pick ours.  If no other reason... because it looks simple and has a screen.  So although (for example) our directional disc is "different" from the others... it's also the one that non-gamers and casuals and little kids gravitate to the most.  So in that regards... we've won (and I designed it with them in mind).  Will hardcores hate our controller without playing it... probably.  But so what.  Everyone (including myself) hated the Wii controller before they had a chance to play it but it didn't stop Nintendo from selling over 102 million consoles and generating $50 Billion in gross revenue.     Like the other systems... it will be impossible to make everyone happy.  But I think once they play it and see how the screen (and other things we haven't announced) are used... they will quickly adapt.  Just like they did with a mouse & keyboard as controls or dual analog sticks (which I still personally dislike).

But yeah... everyone will need to try it out for themselves.  They feel sturdy and slick in your hands.  And you get a "new experience" vibe when you're using them which is a pretty unique and darn cool feeling in the era where hardcore machines (excluding Nintendo) have pretty much just copied their own controllers for the past 20 years.  The other thing you learn about kids is that no matter what the input device is... they will find a way to adapt and play it.  Watch the way kids play with mobile devices or tablets... it's crazy how they hold it.  Even the original Intellivision controller!  We have this conversation all the time... which way did you learn to hold it?  I'm a righty and use my right thumb on the disc and almost hold the controller sideways (side buttons facing down).  Others use their left thumb for the disc.  Same controller... but learned different ways.  Really interesting to see and discuss.

18 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Ah!  Gotcha.  I guess my next question would be... so what?  Who cares if someone doesn't like a video game system as much as someone else?  Who cares if someone doesn't feel that a video game system doesn't cater to them?  Who cares if someone makes fun of a video game console?

I would say that the Switch is a competitor to Amico in that some folks feel that there is no need for Amico to exist because (in their opinion) Nintendo already does what we are trying to do.  Having a discussion and trading information about that shouldn't be seen as negative.  It's going to be our job to ensure that the world knows the stark differences of what we're doing and why and how.  If we don't... then we may fail.  But knowing what I know (and the way we're doing it)... we won't fail. 

 

I see this every day in my personal family - 3 daughters: 1 gamer girl - has a Switch & gaming PC, old XBox & plays her BF's Playstation 4 and current games are Outer Worlds (huge Fallout New Vegas fan, we even had a Fallout black & bent Christmas tree just for her one year) & Pokemon S&S. Other two play casual phone games but won't touch anything with analog sticks. Was a feat just to get one of them to join in on a couch coop Overcooked session because she struggled with the controller. These 'Nintendo makes those sorts of games' people are literally ignoring a huge chunk of the population. Two out of three of my daughters will *never* be Nintendo customers unless they offer something like the Wii again. It not that these people don't exist - they simply aren't served by the console gaming marketplace. Blind fanboyism doesn't change reality, Nintendo does NOT serve 'everyone else'.

1 hour ago, LePionnier said:

I agree. I will even go further !
I think I can (and will) collect all Amico games if there is only 1 new game per week at a maximum price of $ 10 !!! 😎

(Apart from the ones that I will buy physically)

 

Tommy, speaking of that, from the 30-40 games available at launch, is it possible to know how many of them you think will be in physical form ?

Thank you.

Don't have a number just yet.  Probably in the 30% range.

1 hour ago, IMBerzerk said:

I read all of what you two were slinging at each other   There's a big difference between having a fun snot fest about an off-topic issue and one that directly gets at someone ideals or reasons for being on a forum in the first place.  To me, Tommy opened his doors unlike any CEO/celebrity I've known in my years...Breaking his balls a little is not a big deal, because he does the same as well.  That's what makes him and this whole thing a lot more genuine to me.  But like anything else, there are fine lines of which should not be crossed.  Poking jokes is fun when both sides are laughing.   Being from the decade and area he's from, it was a part of life.  From what I've seen so far .... I'm sure he had his trophies from his own "rank-out sessions" as a kid. 

 

Now... If I find out Tommy is a Patriot's fan...he's done ... it's open season on him from a long suffering Jets fan!!! 

 

Yeah.... any Gen X'er Italian from the east coast grew up busting balls.  My mom & dad and brother still do it to this day!  It's funny, because my wife is the polite Canadian and not Italian and she was "SHOCKED" when she first heard the way we all talked to each other!  Now she totally gets it... but at first she was like "WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOUR FAMILY??"   Hahahhahaa!!!  East coast Italian from the 70's/80's vs. polite Canadian from the 90's.  Couldn't get 2 more opposite folks! 

I'm all over the place with my sports teams.  A Yankees fan who grew up in Mass!!  I loved the Miami Dolphins & Dan Marino in the 80's so the Patriots were kinda rivals (as well as the Bills).  After Marino retired I stopped watching football as I completely lost interest.  I do like cheering for Tom Brady but more as a person and athlete as opposed to the team.  I've seen maybe 10 football games over the past 20 years and they were all Superbowls.  Baseball & Formula One are my two sports.  Ferrari is my team in Formula One but I like and respect all of the drivers and don't mind when others win.  In hockey I was always a Bruins fan (anyone in Mass was during the Bobby Orr era) but also loved the Philadelphia Flyers because of Ron Hextall.  Followed a little bit of the Celtics in the 70's/80's during the Larry Bird days... again... living it Mass it was hard to avoid. 

34 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

Canadian Bacon is what we uncultured Americans call back bacon which is cut into rounds. Personally a huge fan of it no matter what it is called. Also +1 for poutine.

Me & my wife are vegan poutine addicts.  Montreal & Quebec City have the best!!  But we make it at home a few times a month also. 

Mushroom gravy and Daiya Cheese. 

4 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

I love the appearance of paprium_fiasco (the negative reddit user). The Nintendo discussion was going nowhere (and I am partly to blame), but this guy is pretty entertaining to read, he's like a cool comic book super-villain (Luthor, Darkseid, Dr. Doom) when you are tired of pathetic guys with costumes that are barely a menace to the main hero(es).

 

He even has an origin story: He was "born" in a weird accident (he created his Reddit account out of his frustration after the Genesis game Paprium, a Kickstarter that went wrong). The fact that he spends so much free time on things he hate makes him a lovable character and, while some of his predictions have been proved to be plain lies due to the lack of information on the subject, a few of his negative ideas are still possible/worth debating and, thanks to him, Tommy has written one of the most interesting replies in this topic (the long one in the previous page)... Just like Superman vs. Luthor, in the end it's a very entertaining fight to watch/read compared to the regular villains/haters (people who accuse a CEO of spamming his company on its own official Q&A topic).

 

Now Tommy, in spite of my user name (and that I just compared you with a superhero and your critics with villains), these are just parodies and auto-parodies. I'm pretty sure I will buy your console to play with my family, but I don't even have an HD television in my own house so I will probably give the console to my mum as a gift so we all can play in her house. I like the project and the idea of contributing with ideas or speaking about it in other forums to help people know about it, but I'm not obsessed with it nor will spend more than $400 on the machine and its games. My days of true fanboyism (blindly accepting everything a company/music band/artist releases) are long gone, the Amico (and its unexpectedly entertainment promotion and discussion among lovers and haters) is a funny experiment for me in a time where modern consoles don't interest me anymore.

 

I mention all this because there is one particular aspect of the Amico that I find a bit worrying: the controller. It looks like a smartphone, but is it really that comfortable to hold? Doesn't it feel weird to press buttons on the touch screen? The d-disc looks good but it's quite different to the rest of controllers out there, are people adapting quickly to it in the tests? I know you already said that everyone who has tried the controllers liked them, but I guess I need to try it myself to be a believer. 👼

One of the things to watch out for is Intellivision is planning a try me tour with the system at different malls/stores before releasing so you will have a chance to try the controllers before you buy 

14 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Nice Amico write-up that states "the Intellivision Amico has real potential to break through at the retail level and be a contender on store shelves."

 

We agree!

 

http://8-bitcentral.com/blog/2020/tmntIntellivision.html

A fun little read looking forward to the marketing push in June going to be a fun summer for sure 

9 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Hi Amico Tony...

 

...Anyway... I had to chuckle and respond to you about it when I saw what he wrote you.  Would LOVE to see his so-called screenshot.  Have him post it on Reddit and tell him to make sure to show his username here so the mods can tell everyone what he "really" got banned for.  

Okay... back to editing this video I'll be putting out on Monday.  No new footage...  just a 2019 compilation video of positive things that influencers, analysts and YouTubers said about the system.  Making it for investors and thought it would be cool to share with everyone else as well.

Thanks again Tommy. I was just going to ignore him as I didn't wan't to feed him the attention he is seeking. But, you're right let's see if he can produce this screenshot! I'll post to you if he ever does!

Cheers 

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yeah.... any Gen X'er Italian from the east coast grew up busting balls.  My mom & dad and brother still do it to this day!  It's funny, because my wife is the polite Canadian and not Italian and she was "SHOCKED" when she first heard the way we all talked to each other!  Now she totally gets it... but at first she was like "WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOUR FAMILY??"   Hahahhahaa!!!  East coast Italian from the 70's/80's vs. polite Canadian from the 90's.  Couldn't get 2 more opposite folks! 

I'm all over the place with my sports teams.  A Yankees fan who grew up in Mass!!  I loved the Miami Dolphins & Dan Marino in the 80's so the Patriots were kinda rivals (as well as the Bills).  After Marino retired I stopped watching football as I completely lost interest.  I do like cheering for Tom Brady but more as a person and athlete as opposed to the team.  I've seen maybe 10 football games over the past 20 years and they were all Superbowls.  Baseball & Formula One are my two sports.  Ferrari is my team in Formula One but I like and respect all of the drivers and don't mind when others win.  In hockey I was always a Bruins fan (anyone in Mass was during the Bobby Orr era) but also loved the Philadelphia Flyers because of Ron Hextall.  Followed a little bit of the Celtics in the 70's/80's during the Larry Bird days... again... living it Mass it was hard to avoid. 

 

Yup... sounds like the same household as mine... LOL... and my wife said the same thing... once she figured out my father's sarcasm was just our way... it all clicked in her.  Even today.  LOL!  Now she cooks "our food", loves the music and always makes fun of me with that Brooklyn accent.  Love it.

Well... Dolphins... no doubt Marino was top man.  I hated the man, but certainly loved to watch him play. Sucks that he never won the Super Bowl. 

The Mud Bowl and Fake Spike are two moments I still lose sleep over... LOL!  Did you know Marino was high on the Jets draft sheet?  They took Kenny O'Brien over him... that whole draft class of QB's in '83 was fantastic.  Marino, Elway, O'Biren, Kelly and Eason.  All Pro-Bowl and 3 HOF's

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

any Gen X'er Italian from the east coast grew up busting balls.  My mom & dad and brother still do it to this day! 

I'm Irish and a stereotype hothead. So I have to go outside where it's cold and wet to laugh it off.

Then someone asks for directions, so I say "You see that street over there? Well, don't take that one, It'll do you no good!"

2 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

Canadian Bacon is what we uncultured Americans call back bacon which is cut into rounds. Personally a huge fan of it no matter what it is called. Also +1 for poutine.

Thank you G. Way to ruin a perfectly good joke.😪

5 minutes ago, Blarneo said:

Thank you G. Way to ruin a perfectly good joke.😪

Well...  it was only a matter of time before the MP Spam reference was tossed in..

Several items:

- About paprium_fiasco/SegaSnatcher: I haven't read every single reddit message from him, but some months ago he said "the biggest problem with the Amico is its price. If it was sold for $100 it would be an instabuy." I wonder what Tommy and the rest of the forum think about this (I don't think it's possible to lower the price that much?).

- About the Amico competition: A recent research has shown that 40% of {Unnamed Hybrid Console} owners in the USA also own a second, current gen, more powerful home console. It's clear that these are hardcore gamers, and a great portion of the remaining 60% are probably hardcore gamers too. This seems in line with the theory that {Unnamed Japanese Company of the Plumber}'s customer base are mostly hardcore gamers and there could be an opportunity for other systems aimed to casual/non gamers.

- About sports in the USA: I'm sure the Europeans reading this thread will agree, but I don't understand how you guys can prefer baseball over soccer. 👼 We delicate Europeans find American Football and Ice Hockey too violent too. I do however must recognize that your leagues work much better than ours with the draft systems and other business aspects, giving each team opportunities to become one of the big ones. Here we have very powerful teams playing against very weak ones that can even disappear when they don't find investors.

- About poutine: I only discovered this recently in another American forum, but it looks delicious... Is the rest of Canadian cuisine like this?

- About the 8 bit central article: Really cool to see more bloggers/analysts joining to the optimism! However, we must take it with a grain of salt: The guy who wrote that says that he bought an Ouya and he loved it (he even goes on to say that the Atari VCS will be much worse than the Ouya, but that's probably for another, more gastronomical thread).

2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

But yeah... everyone will need to try it out for themselves.  They feel sturdy and slick in your hands.  And you get a "new experience" vibe when you're using them which is a pretty unique

Personally, those you designed look lightyears ahead of the original Mattel controllers & far more comfortable, and I can't wait to feel one up.... Not that way!😡

23 minutes ago, IntelliMission said:

 

- About paprium_fiasco/SegaSnatcher: I haven't read every single reddit message from him, but some months ago he said "the biggest problem with the Amico is its price. If it was sold for $100 it would be an instabuy." I wonder what Tommy and the rest of the forum think about this (I don't think it's possible to lower the price that much?).

 

R/ChoosingBeggars

By the way, I just ran a "segasnatcher" search on this forum. More secret details of the origin of the mysterious villain have been revealed. Apparently, this happened 6 months ago. It all started in page 28. The guy said that "people were assuming that Tommy is an expert in selling consoles because he made video game music back in the 90s" and that, until we all try the machine, Tommy was just doing "a big sales pitch" in this thread. He also kept using the argument that the {Unnamed Hybrid Console} was "already doing that" over and over and over. The deus ex machina happened in page 32 with the mods banning him from the thread.

He has a cool avatar, though.