Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

TJ Ferreria (you may better know him as 'Santa' from the influencers video) is starting a YouTube series on the Amico

8 hours ago, squirrelgotdead said:

 

Oh! Tommy! If you guys are licensing Trivial Pursuit, then you HAVE to have to misspell Moors into Moops! 

5 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

PC gets somewhat close to a trackball with a mouse - the spinner though pretty much as no direct replacement with a standard gaming input.

And thus, all of the versions of Tempest aside from the Arcade cabinet & mouse driven Mac clone "Arashi" are unplayable. Analog sticks don't work well on that game.

I play tempest in mame with buttons.  I think it works well once you set the speed.  Looks like Amico is using the touchpad rather than the spinning disc for paddle games e.g. breakout.  We'll see how they do tempest.

3 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

TJ Ferreria (you may better know him as 'Santa' from the influencers video) is starting a YouTube series on the Amico

 

 

Indeed... my duties are now over at the North Pole so I am ready to channel my magic chatting about the Intellivision Amico.  

Bring.... It..... On!!!

😂

AmicoSanta is out!

TJ

On 1/14/2020 at 9:54 PM, LePionnier said:

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

14 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

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

 

 

I was thinking about that while brushing my teeth... (I never stop thinking ! lol )

If you have people working on this project. I have an idea, but your developers have probably already thought of something fun, because you are the best of the best.

One of the Multiplayer modes in frogger would be an elimination mode (Individual or team, but I will dwell on the rules of team mode)

Important, the screen must not move, remaining faithful to the original game.

Frogger Multiplayer, Team Elimination Mode :

If there are 4 players, only 3 spaces will be available for the frogs at the top of the screen.

There is a countdown of 5 seconds before the action begins, which will be very useful for the following rounds.

The points accumulated go to the team. In the 2nd round, there will only be 3 players and 2 spaces left.

The eliminated player can take control of a vehicle. He can accelerate or reverse to the nearest vehicle in the same line.

He will try to hit the frog of the other team. However, when he moves for the first time, the frogs will know in which car the player is !

The eliminate player can also take control of a log that he can roll at the appropriate time to bring down the other team player.

How to choose which log or which car to control ?  (During the 5 second countdown)

There are several possibilities to test. Like the wii, by pointing a small cursor.

When the object is chosen, there is a confirmation on his controller, but he can continue to move his cursor so that other players don't know witch object he chose.

This can also be with a touch on the controller screen. Those are two possibilities.

It would be even more fun with 6 or 8 players !

For the remaining frogs, it would be increasingly difficult to cross and get to the top of the screen! Guaranteed fun !

I'm going to stop here because I could talk many hours about all my ideas ! lol

8 hours ago, LePionnier said:

It seems we are talking about controller today ! So I have a few questions...

 

1) Let's say we are playing hockey, 4 on 4.    8 peoples are playing, we are 4 on each teams.

    Is it possible with a controller to assign buttons to a colored player ? ( I hope I can explain what I mean ... 🙄 )

    I am blue, and on my team I have red player, green player and yellow player.

    If I push the red button, then I will (try) to make a pass to the red player (my son, controller # 2), or if I am pushing the yellow button, I will make a pass to my girlfriend (yellow controller # 4).

   So this way, no need to control where you want the pass to go. Can be a different way to play if you have 2 or 3 hockey games, soccer of football, etc.

   It's just one of some exemple that I have.

 

2) Is it possible to hide a controller in the house, and players are trying to find it by themself with their own controller ?. Each one can have different clues on his/her controller. Can be like a hot and cold thing ?

 

3) This one looks like the first one, but need a respond from the other controller.

I am pushing my red button, red player controller's receives a vibration or a message letting him know he has been choosen.

Can be useful when other players should not know who has been chosen by me.

 

 

Personally ' I can't wait to have the controller in hand. I love the new way the "disc" was made. (Nothing to compare to Intellivision in the 80's).

I am already sold to it. I know that thousands of hours of testing have been done, and I am very confident of the result.

Thank you.

 

 

 

 

1.  We're not sure yet.  We haven't really started a new hockey although it is VERY HIGH on our "to do" list as it is one of my favorite Intellivision games right behind Baseball.

2.  We wouldn't be able to do anything like that with our current system, although there could be a device that plugs into the USB in the back that could.  We've actually spoken about this a few times in the past. 

3.  That could be possible.

 

4 hours ago, AtariSociety said:

 

Indeed... my duties are now over at the North Pole so I am ready to channel my magic chatting about the Intellivision Amico.  

 

Bring.... It..... On!!!

 

😂

 

AmicoSanta is out!

 

TJ

Yo TJ!!  Glad to see ya here!!

Welcome to the Intellivision Family!

Thank-you for your continued coverage and excitement for Amico!

Feel free to ask me any questions.  Maybe we could do a video interview on your channel as well.

Let me know if you're interested.

Thanks!
 

3 hours ago, LePionnier said:

 

I was thinking about that while brushing my teeth... (I never stop thinking ! lol )

If you have people working on this project. I have an idea, but your developers have probably already thought of something fun, because you are the best of the best.

One of the Multiplayer modes in frogger would be an elimination mode (Individual or team, but I will dwell on the rules of team mode)

Important, the screen must not move, remaining faithful to the original game.

 

Frogger Multiplayer, Team Elimination Mode :

If there are 4 players, only 3 spaces will be available for the frogs at the top of the screen.

There is a countdown of 5 seconds before the action begins, which will be very useful for the following rounds.

The points accumulated go to the team. In the 2nd round, there will only be 3 players and 2 spaces left.

The eliminated player can take control of a vehicle. He can accelerate or reverse to the nearest vehicle in the same line.

He will try to hit the frog of the other team. However, when he moves for the first time, the frogs will know in which car the player is !

The eliminate player can also take control of a log that he can roll at the appropriate time to bring down the other team player.

 

How to choose which log or which car to control ?  (During the 5 second countdown)

There are several possibilities to test. Like the wii, by pointing a small cursor.

When the object is chosen, there is a confirmation on his controller, but he can continue to move his cursor so that other players don't know witch object he chose.

This can also be with a touch on the controller screen. Those are two possibilities.

 

It would be even more fun with 6 or 8 players !

For the remaining frogs, it would be increasingly difficult to cross and get to the top of the screen! Guaranteed fun !

I'm going to stop here because I could talk many hours about all my ideas ! lol

 

 

 

We already have exactly what you mentioned in our design!

In fact... you will hear me talk about that exact same thing in my CES panel from last week!

10 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

When I was referring to Wii Sports I meant the "motion controls", not the 4 mini game tech demo.

Only 5 total (but complete!) games.

 

 

That's great. I would like to see a lot of motion control sports, but wouldn't want it to all be a mini-game compilation like the Wii.

3 hours ago, Swami said:

That's great. I would like to see a lot of motion control sports, but wouldn't want it to all be a mini-game compilation like the Wii.

Agreed!

 

Hey Tommy, when did you have the idea of creating the Amico? Can you remember the exact moment?

16 hours ago, Swami said:

Just curious. Are there going to be any Amico games where one person would use two controllers or a controller and a smart phone at the same time? Not for anything complex, but just games where it actually makes it more natural.  I suppose you’d be limited to four players rather than eight as a max for such games, but 4 is still a lot. 

14 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yes!  

I can think of 2 we have in development right now.  So many surprises to come.

 

 

 

Is one of them armour battle?  I could imagine different control modes for this game.  Also would like to see a gun turret that rotates independently.

7 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

Hey Tommy, when did you have the idea of creating the Amico? Can you remember the exact moment?

1980. 

I thought to myself... wouldn't it be amazing if I could be the president of Intellivision!  (not even joking).

I have drawings I did of the Intellivision logo back in 1981.  It's pretty crazy.

In regards to the actual Amico itself...

I was very good friends with Keith Robinson and he approached me about 5 years ago asking if I would be interested in helping with Intellivision, being some kind of partner, etc.  I said YES immediately and told him I actually have a vision about what a new video game console would be (bringing families back together, simple/affordable games, etc.).  My idea mainly sparked from the fact that I can no longer play games with my mom & dad.  Me & my dad would play all the time... but now we couldn't.  I can't wait for the day we can play together again!  Keith loved the idea and we started talking about how I could be a part of the company.  I was always touring with Video Games Live at the time so we never really connected and solidified the idea.  We'd get together 2 or 3 times a year or see each other at conventions and start up the conversation again.  Then, when Keith suddenly passed away I felt it was my mission to see this thing through if the other shareholders would allow me to.  I reached out (I knew almost all of them already) and we actually spoke about it more in depth at Keith's life celebration (I hate the word funeral and the gathering wasn't like that at all). 

By the end of that year we had a plan in place and within months we started Intellivision Entertainment and moved all of the Intellivision Productions assets into the new company.  The main reason being that in order for a company to be investable, it needs to be set-up a certain way so that certain assets are covered and protected within certain LLC's.  (Patents, trademarks, original games, new games, hardware, etc.).

Some day we'll write a book... or do a Netflix documentary special.  Wouldn't that be something.  

6 hours ago, mr_me said:

Is one of them armour battle?  I could imagine different control modes for this game.  Also would like to see a gun turret that rotates independently.

No.  Not Armor Battle. 

We actually tried the rotating turret (Paul can attest to this) and it was just too difficult for folks to control.  The way we have it working now is pretty awesome and really fun to play.  ESPECIALLY (of course) in versus mode!  

10 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yo TJ!!  Glad to see ya here!!

Welcome to the Intellivision Family!

Thank-you for your continued coverage and excitement for Amico!

Feel free to ask me any questions.  Maybe we could do a video interview on your channel as well.

Let me know if you're interested.

 

Thanks!
 

 

That would be fun Tommy!

Let me see if I can formulate a different kind of interview in my head and will hit you up in PM when the time comes.

😀

TJ

Here is my son !

This week, after discovering Intellivision from the 80s, he started asking his various teachers if they knew Intellivision from 40 years ago! lol

Some of them replied they heard the name, but were too young to have played with it.

He will be a good ambassador for Amico in the coming months !

He also told me there is a Just Dance game at school ! I wonder if one day Amico could not appear in schools !!! ???

Just now, LePionnier said:

Here is my son !

This week, after discovering Intellivision from the 80s, he started asking his various teachers if they knew Intellivision from 40 years ago! lol

 

Some of them replied they heard the name, but were too young to have played with it.

 

He will be a good ambassador for Amico in the coming months !

 

He also told me there is a Just Dance game at school ! I wonder if one day Amico could not appear in schools !!! ???

 

 

 

 

Awesome!!!   Looking pretty sharp!  

Why stop at schools!  Why not hospitals as well.

Many things to announce at some point.

4 minutes ago, AtariSociety said:

That would be fun Tommy!

Let me see if I can formulate a different kind of interview in my head and will hit you up in PM when the time comes.

😀

TJ

Cool!

So... um.... what is it going to take to get you to change you're name to Intellivision Society instead?

Ever been in a Ferrari?

Hahhahaha!!  (inside joke for some of the folks here).

🤣

14 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Awesome!!!   Looking pretty sharp!  

Why stop at schools!  Why not hospitals as well.

 

Many things to announce at some point.

 

 

 

 

Schools.  Hospitals.  Assisted Living homes.  Daycares and Aftercare programs.  Community Centers and Rec Halls.  Libraries.  YMCAs.  Churches, synagogues, and mosques.   

Build a community-focused machine and it's pretty apparent how well it fits in different communal settings.  Edutainment, edutainment Tommy tells us.  That won't go over well with local communities looking to make smart purchase decisions for children, for families, or purse-holders making funding decisions about how to spend Medicaid and Medicare dollars on things that enhance "community integration" and "socialization".  Not at all.

And a Karma engine/game design principle to assist players and level the playing field, making accessibility, inclusiveness and shared experiences paramount?  There are so many angles and narratives to this system and how it could find success. 

If anyone is interested, the official Amico history on the Internet begins in 29th May, 2018 with Dean Takahashi interviewing Tommy on Venture Beat.

54 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Cool!

 

So... um.... what is it going to take to get you to change you're name to Intellivision Society instead?

Ever been in a Ferrari?

Hahhahaha!!  (inside joke for some of the folks here).

🤣

Ah... that would be an interesting thing... well me last name is Ferreira... often people see it quick and think Ferrari.  

Maybe after a few beers I could change my name to IntellivisionSociety.  haha

TJ

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Some day we'll write a book... or do a Netflix documentary special.  Wouldn't that be something.

Sure. I will be first buyer in line.

Also, can be on Disney instead of Netflix ! 😉

Just going to be honest... This is hideous.

https://wccftech.com/crystal-clear-atari-vcs-spotted-at-ces-2020-with-memory-by-kingston/

What were they thinking ? The top ridges do not do any favors for the clear plastic... Usually old translucent consoles were smoky, not totally transparent like this.

"Please do not touch" is that there so the motherboard doesn't rattle around...? 🤡

12 minutes ago, 1001lives said:

Just going to be honest... This is hideous.

 

https://wccftech.com/crystal-clear-atari-vcs-spotted-at-ces-2020-with-memory-by-kingston/

 

What were they thinking ? The top ridges do not do any favors for the clear plastic... Usually old translucent consoles were smoky, not totally transparent like this.

 

"Please do not touch" is that there so the motherboard doesn't rattle around...? 🤡

Maybe they want to proove to the world they have something under the hood ?