Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

On 1/13/2020 at 6:26 PM, LePionnier said:

It looks like Sony will not attending E3 2020 !

Is this good news for Amico to get more coverage at E3 this year ?

My first thought will be yes. What do you think ?

 

Yes.  This is FANTASTIC news for us.  More focus on us and our playable consoles!

I was asked for a comment about it yesterday.  Here's the story...

https://www.dualshockers.com/intellivision-amico-e3-2020-plans-no-playstation/

22 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

Better late than never.

 

About time!  I was starting to get a little worried that you missed my post.

21 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

Just an aside but I got a nasty response from from someone on the AtariVCS subreddit who recognized me from here (same user name, not that hard). They were responding to a thread about Atari licensing games to people like Intellivision instead of holding them for the VCS. Just kind of validates my pet theory that these haters are supporting their beloved brand (in this case Atari), they are supporting a 'injured' minor media personality or they are so tied up in being a 'real gamer' that anything else is far beneath them & is worthy of scorn. Just kind of fascinated on the psychology going on here when a big part of a person's psyche is tied up in a person, brand or hobby and it goes beyond liking/loving that thing (kind of natural, I can see a lot of reasons to love the Atari legacy) and turns into hating anything not that.

Probably just jealous that we've shown more new (and awesome!) Atari gameplay then Atari themselves... and we're coming out a year after them. 

Oh wait... 11 months after them...

hold on... 10 months after them...

nope...  9 months after them...

still not out?  Okay... maybe 8 months after them (and counting down).

5 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Probably just jealous that we've shown more new (and awesome!) Atari gameplay then Atari themselves... and we're coming out a year after them. 

Oh wait... 11 months after them...

 

hold on... 10 months after them...

 

nope...  9 months after them...

 

still not out?  Okay... maybe 8 months after them (and counting down).

 

 

 

More like 6.5 mo ths if by slim chance they legit make the march 21st release date lol. They prob won't and will prob be at a motel room during e3 with blow and hookers trying to get people to come try out the newest prototype joystick.  But if they spend that kind of money will they have anything left for marketing and lmao game development.  Lol ?

20 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

Your right on advocating for Atari to hold the licenses, I can see that too. I didn't explain things very well - their reply was to that type of comment and they volunteered that those games would suck on the Amico anyway because of the terrible controller with no joystick. My response was that there weren't just code ports but the games were being redesign to work specifically with the controller. There reply to that was I was an AtariAge cheerleader and the Amico controller was basically a sideways iPod for losers (paraphrasing here but I think that is the essence of the comments). There didn't seem to be much flexibility in their lack of love for the Amico - I think if it was made of solid gold and sold for a buck they would still hate it - just because.

Thinking that a joystick has better controls for Centipede and Missile Command rather than a touch screen is pretty hilarious.  Those games are almost unplayable with a joystick.  Even PONG feels amazing with the touch screen... again WAY better than a joystick or analog stick as the touch screen is much more precise. 

I find it interesting that so many hardcore gamers look at the Amico controllers and think it's a fail just because it's not like what they know and use on a daily basis.  Everyone focuses so hard on the "disc" and can't fathom moving with that.... yet they all grew up with only an 8 positional d-pad as opposed to our 64 position "d-pad".  Haters just hating... but also... just not wanting think outside the box... yet the first to complain when everything is always the same.

Like I always say... let these folks play the games with the controller and understand how much different, unique and spearheading for our design it is. 

A huge percentage will still hate it... but mostly because they are stubborn and won't want to admit that its a cool and unique idea.  

20 hours ago, LePionnier said:

 

 

P.S.  Maybe next time I will show a picture of him wearing it !

Yes!  Please do!

18 hours ago, Serguei2 said:

If I have the chance to play Amico, I maybe take consideration to buy it, if there will have Amico booths in stores or friends of mine will have the console.

 

Even looking screenshots or watching videos don't give how to feel when you play on it.

Yep.  I agree. 

The majority of folks will want to play it before purchasing.

For me, I don't think I've ever bought a console because I played it first... I'm more of an "early adapter" though.  I bought the PS4, Switch, PS3, Xbox 360 all sight unseen.  I had been following them in the press and knew I wanted them.  But again... I'm an early adapter and I don't assume that most folks are like me.  Especially the audience we're going for... mom's who may be critical when it comes to game consoles.  But we have our ways and ideas to get to them.  One presentation on Ellen, The Tonight Show with Fallon or the Today show will make a HUGE difference in raising awareness. 

18 hours ago, Serguei2 said:

I know non-players who refuse playing video games and they bought a computer, they love playing cards, mostly solitaire. Will Amico have card games too?

Yes.   For sure.

17 hours ago, LePionnier said:

Tommy talking to "DUALSHOCKERS" about E3 ...

https://www.dualshockers.com/intellivision-amico-e3-2020-plans-no-playstation/

 

Damn... you guys are quick!  

14 hours ago, 1001lives said:

Tommy! Looks absolutely fantastic - one note if this is a work in progress, Jim always looked serious/stern when running! He seems to be a little too happy! 

 

Keep up the great work !

It's been 25 years... he's happy to be back.

He was a little less determined by the 2nd game.  We had changed it by then.

But don't worry... he'll have his MOMENTS. 

15 hours ago, Serguei2 said:

Do you think they will stop at Bergeronnes / Les Escoumins, Quebec, Canada?

 

There are small villages. I don't want a road trip of 2 hours just to try Amico.

Don't worry...  I'll pick you up in a Ferrari... it will only be about an hour each way. 

14 hours ago, Serguei2 said:

Keeping meaning toward me, Tommy might lose a potential buyer or many buyers.

I find this to be an odd statement. 

Why would you not buy something for yourself to enjoy because you felt folks are mean to you?

You should make decisions based on what you want... not what others tell you to want or because you felt others are mean to you about something.

I've always tried to answer your questions to the best of my ability.  So it seems odd to me that all that good will goes away for you and that (it seems) like you want to punish me (the company actually) because you felt one or two people not associated with the brand were mean to you.

Just doesn't make sense to me. 

I'm not trying to "save" a sale here.  I'm just find the threat to not purchase an interesting tactic in discussing the console when I've been nothing but tolerant of your questions.

Although I'm not certain what your age is and we've never met in person, so I'm at a disadvantage here when it comes to assessing the situation.

13 hours ago, YerOut said:

OMG! TT....A re-imagined "Beat'em and Eat'em" ?

Everytime I see your name I smile.

10 hours ago, LePionnier said:

 

In this article Amico is mentioned, and following this article I have a question for Tommy if he can answer...

 

https://www.crresearch.com/youthbeat/blog/technology-for-kids-consumer-electronics-show-2020-recap

 

They named frogger while talking about retro reimagined games...

Did they randomly choose a name among the thousands of games from the 80's, or they got a scoop ?

It was a Konami game ... ( I am looking Wikipedia...   Oh ! A woman playing frogger during a Video games live tour !  So Tommy probably like this game ... )

Only rumors for now. Can you tell us something about this Tommy ? 🤩

 

Wow!  Thanks for posting that article!  I hadn't seen that one yet.  She must have come to my panel.  So great to see our message getting out there and once again shows how "normal" people react when hearing about Amico. 

I thought this line was interesting... "Nintendo Switch had best be looking over its shoulder."

Will some folks here consider that bashing on Nintendo now?  Did this female author (who looks to be the Sr. VP of Youthbeat!) get a Ferrari ride?  I guess she doesn't frequent resetera and 4chan much or else she would know to hate it.



Did someone say Frogger?  I can neither confirm nor deny.

4 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

Back to the Amico, some people in Reddit are speculating that the mysterious "fun activity" of one of the 5 games that will come with the console could be cornhole.

That would be cool.

1 hour ago, Blarneo said:

And on his farm he heard some quacks! 🤣

We sure did! 

Fortunately for the sanity of this thread, it seems like they've been banished to the VCS thread. 

It does strike me that the vibe in here gets much better (and more humorous) when the passive aggressiveness ceases.

On the other hand... it does get the page & view count up.

😜

1 hour ago, Nolagamer said:

More like 6.5 mo ths if by slim chance they legit make the march 21st release date lol. They prob won't and will prob be at a motel room during e3 with blow and hookers trying to get people to come try out the newest prototype joystick.  But if they spend that kind of money will they have anything left for marketing and lmao game development.  Lol ?

It's a brand new console hitting the market.  Why on Earth would they need game development?

😲

22 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

4 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

Back to the Amico, some people in Reddit are speculating that the mysterious "fun activity" of one of the 5 games that will come with the console could be cornhole.

That would be cool.

Tommy wants one of the 5 games to be something like Wii Sports ( it was more a demo !  ) , but more completed !
So I am taking a guess here. We could have 10 games in this one. Some lawn games, card games, some sports, etc.

We can speculate a lot here. Can a simple game like pong can be in this bundle ? One thing is sure. It will be very fun and entertaining.

Also we will discover all the ways we can play with the controller.

30 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

On the other hand... it does get the page & view count up.

Speaking of that, 20ish hours in on a Tweet of just 3 seconds of a cartoon character just running and you got over 33,000 views, 600 shares and pushing 3000 likes. I know some social media mavens who would be pretty jealous of those types of results.

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Did someone say Frogger?  I can neither confirm nor deny.

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Don't worry...  I'll pick you up in a Ferrari... it will only be about an hour each way. 

 

 

Red Barchetta anyone?! 😁😎

2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

The majority of folks will want to play it before purchasing.

For me, I don't think I've ever bought a console because I played it first... I'm more of an "early adapter" though.  I bought the PS4, Switch, PS3, Xbox 360 all sight unseen.  I had been following them in the press and knew I wanted them.  But again... I'm an early adapter and I don't assume that most folks are like me.  Especially the audience we're going for... mom's who may be critical when it comes to game consoles.  But we have our ways and ideas to get to them.  One presentation on Ellen, The Tonight Show with Fallon or the Today show will make a HUGE difference in raising awareness.

Yep store trials are going to help to convert the city folks but your right social proof is huge and quite frankly will break down hesitation of even if a live demo isn't available. Proof positive is a lot of the pitches on Home Shopping Network - you may have never seen a "Super Veggie Dicer" before, have no idea how the 'patented vortex cutting heads' work, and really don't eat that many vegetables - but you are ordering one 10 minutes later after the on screen demo. Also people see the LEDs on the console & controllers and think "oh a cute gimmick for games". It is also the thing that is going to get Uncle Karl over for a family BBQ to ask "what is that UFO looking thing the kids are playing on?" - he wouldn't even mentally notice anything that looked like a typical console. Much less the all of the games basically begging you to invite more players in with those free cell phone controllers that just need a free app (and an email address). The Amico is basically a self advertising billboard within people's homes. Pretty cunning Mr. Tallarico but we are on to you

2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Don't worry...  I'll pick you up in a Ferrari... it will only be about an hour each way. 

 

 

Ferrari is not enough. I ask for a private jet.

2 minutes ago, Serguei2 said:

Ferrari is not enough. I ask for a private jet.

I would imagine the way Tommy probably drives his Ferrari a jet would be slower

1 hour ago, Serguei2 said:

3 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Don't worry...  I'll pick you up in a Ferrari... it will only be about an hour each way. 

 

 

Ferrari is not enough. I ask for a private jet.

Serguei2, you should tell the true reason why you want a private jet instead of a Ferrari.

In Quebec, roads are terrible ! So you don't want Tommy to break his car !