Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

10 minutes ago, mr_me said:

They already straightened out the Burgertime license.

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/288558-intellivision-amico-tommy-tallarico-introduction-qa/?do=findComment&comment=4299190

 

All the titles from the october 2018 press release should be licences that they have.  At the time it would have been too early for a production schedule.  It could still be a couple of years before some of them are realised.

Okay, but he confirmed release of one of them on launch in the video, but I am not sure which. It sounds like Burger Time, but could be Super Burger Time or both.

How is the play testing being handled for the Amico games?

I've started getting some serious motion sickness from repeat viewings of the Night Stalker footage. The camera is panning and zooming very fast.. Hope that's something being considered too.

Are most of the games being setup to be seamless in allowing players to join or drop out without having to restart the entire game?

Will player 1 have certain moderator power? 

Like exclusive access to the home button and a way of disabling/allowing additional players from getting on the system? Very helpful with kids or large gatherings. 
 

48 minutes ago, Swami said:

Tommy,

In the 4 hour video, you say the Amico will be releasing Burger Time, but the picture in the background is Super Burger Time. Can you confirm which of these it will be? Thanks.

As I recall Tommy said that was due to a misunderstanding but they corrected it and got Burgertime instead of Super Burgertime 

9 minutes ago, Alpha82 said:

As I recall Tommy said that was due to a misunderstanding but they corrected it and got Burgertime instead of Super Burgertime 

As, I understood it, they got both. They went ahead with Super Burger Time and then later also got the Original Burger Time. Personally, I would like to see both.

Where is Tommy in this video, some kind of cockpit or tank?

8 minutes ago, Swami said:

As, I understood it, they got both. They went ahead with Super Burger Time and then later also got the Original Burger Time. Personally, I would like to see both.

 

They are reimagining their own multiplayer Burgertime game.  Why would you want super burgertime music or graphics.

4 minutes ago, mr_me said:

They are reimagining their own multiplayer Burgertime game.  Why would you want super burgertime music or graphics.

Well, that is where the confusion comes in. It will likely be a re-imagining, but will it have the added features of Super Burger Time, will it be Peter Pepper or Peter Pepper Jr., will it be based on Burger Time or Super Burger Time?

Woohoo! The other half (who is NOT a gamer) is letting me pre-order the Founders Edition console. Even she was impressed by Night Stalker and said it looked fun. 
 

Who else is getting one? 
 

Im soooooooo excited. I’ve also pre-ordered the Evercade and the PC Engine Core Grafx Mini (she doesn’t know about those - SSSHHHHHH). 2020 is gonna be a great year to game!!!

44 minutes ago, MantaNZ said:

Woohoo! The other half (who is NOT a gamer) is letting me pre-order the Founders Edition console. Even she was impressed by Night Stalker and said it looked fun. 
 

Who else is getting one? 
 

Im soooooooo excited. I’ve also pre-ordered the Evercade and the PC Engine Core Grafx Mini (she doesn’t know about those - SSSHHHHHH). 2020 is gonna be a great year to game!!!

Ive had a pre order for the TG-16, never had one as a kid. Just learned of the Evercade.

8 hours ago, Swami said:

• 3:35:58 BurgerTime for sure on launch
• 3:36:06 Moon Patrol for sure on launch
• 3:36:08 R-Type potentially on launch

Tommy said on a late 100+ page that they haven't started R-Type yet. So unless it's a rush job (which I will go violently ill on) I doubt it's a launch title.

On 1/18/2020 at 9:59 AM, Tommy Tallarico said:

We haven't started it yet so no worries.  Won't be on launch.

 

What did you think of R-Type Dimensions?   I loved it. 

 

Here it is. Page 210.

Responding to me... 

Did someone know this board game ? Zombie Kidz Evolution. A Co-op game.

Here is a one minute video explanation.

It's fun, not complicated, attractive to childrens. Each game is only 15 minutes. ( 2 minutes to learn the rules )

In the envelopes (when you reach new levels) a character can get a new power (one at a time), or a new rule integrated, etc.

I think that on Amico it would be a wonderful winning combination. A dice, turn-based battle with small animations, co-op, strategy, evolutionary rule, etc.

Players have to talk to each others and give advise for what is best to do before moving his character.

The powers of each student hero on their own screen,etc.

Also, unlike the original game, it would be easier to start a new game at the first level. (No stickers to remove, etc.)

But obviously one of the pleasures is to evolve the game by playing a few games to see what will be added.

The site :

https://www.scorpionmasque.com/en/zombie-kidz-evolution

One day it could be a great addition for Amico.

11 hours ago, LePionnier said:

Tommy, I really like the way you think.

So it could be cool to know why Astrosmash and not Skiing.

Everything is always well calculated. So I am really curious.

Thank you. (My son is happy no matter what video is shown)

Astrosmash is further along at the moment and in my opinion has more of a WOW factor at this moment.

10 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

You know if you cursed Tommy to "console failure just like the Intellivision" that would mean he would 'only' move 4 million units and generate sales of just under $1 billion dollars. Oh please bless me with a failure like that!

 

And so focus testing is worse than listening to a random scrub on the Internet? Yeah right. Proof positive - that idiotic statement. Here is focus testing - you show the people a *car* and see if they like it better than a *horse*. THAT is focus testing a new product. Doing what they said is basically asking a bunch of Internet scrubs what they think a game console should look like. You want to know the answer (I will save you all that 'focus testing' money) - well first it has dual analog sticks...

Saying that a console that owned 20% of the video game home console market in the early 80's (when the game industry was incredible and everywhere) was a "failure" is knowing nothing about the game industry.

Both Microsoft & Nintendo have dipped below 20% market share over the past decade... so I guess they are big failures as well? 

It's easy to dismantle negative folks with facts as they typically fuel their arguments with feelings over data.

🙈🙉🙊

10 hours ago, Swami said:

Tommy, I was thinking it would be a great idea to have a video with someone like The Immortal John Hancock being able to play 2 or 3 games with the latest controller and console and check out its operation. When, in the next 9 months would something like this be possible?

Yeah... for sure.  There will be hundreds of those at E3 I'm sure.  But yes... we plan to get it into certain influencer hands to do a one-on-one special presentation with me and the team.  This is exactly what we did last E3 which is why we got a lot of important folks to first start talking about it.  Although our strategy as we get further into 2020 is going to be going for more mainstream outlets with a further family reach.

4 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Astrosmash is further along at the moment and in my opinion has more of a WOW factor at this moment.

 

When you explained the style of graphics the Amico would make, I wasn't quite sure what you meant about 2D looking almost 3D.  The new Night Stalker looks 3D in my eyes.  I thought 3D meant you can see 3 dimensions of the model, which you can in this game.  What's the difference between what you are making and I guess "true" 3D?  Would that be like Zelda, Skyrim, COD... Etc?  But games like The Witcher 3 play in the 3rd person and are 3d.  Many of the phone D&D games look like Night Stalker in the 3rd Person.  I don't see the difference between the style of NS vs any of the "3d" 3rd person titles.

 I have to say, I prefer the look of Night Stalker over many of the games out there now.  But I guess that's just my opinion. 

8 hours ago, Swami said:

Tommy,

In the 4 hour video, you say the Amico will be releasing Burger Time, but the picture in the background is Super Burger Time. Can you confirm which of these it will be? Thanks.

Burgertime.

We used Super Burgertime in the video as that was the only one we had the okay for.  Later we ended up getting the official Burgertime and that is the one we are going to re-imagine.

8 hours ago, ColdCoffee said:

How is the play testing being handled for the Amico games?

I've started getting some serious motion sickness from repeat viewings of the Night Stalker footage. The camera is panning and zooming very fast.. Hope that's something being considered too.

 

Are most of the games being setup to be seamless in allowing players to join or drop out without having to restart the entire game?

 

Will player 1 have certain moderator power? 

Like exclusive access to the home button and a way of disabling/allowing additional players from getting on the system? Very helpful with kids or large gatherings. 
 

When some folks watch Night Stalker as a whole (i.e. the entire screen at once) it may look and feel pretty insane.  But that isn't really the way you watch or experience it when you're playing. 

For example, try watching the video and only focus just on one player.  It's an entirely different watching experience.  Even still it may be a little difficult for some because you have no idea what direction the character is heading next.  But when you are in full control of the character and it's 100% in your hands... it's a huge difference.

When you're playing the game you never even notice the slight camera pans, etc.

Yes... a lot of games have the ability for players to come in and out of the game seamlessly.  Was important for us to do that so that folks aren't just waiting around and watching.

7 hours ago, Swami said:

Where is Tommy in this video, some kind of cockpit or tank?

 

 

That's my home studio.  It's on the 3rd/top floor of my house which is why the ceilings are angled like that.  

14 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yes.  But there will also be a Night Stalker Soundtrack Album that we're working on. 

 

Great ! That also probably means a lot of levels and new ennemies in the game for Night Stalker !

Edit : Also in Night Stalker I really like that our character is not stuck in a corridor (like the original game) and that we can avoid the bullets !

14 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

When some folks watch Night Stalker as a whole (i.e. the entire screen at once) it may look and feel pretty insane.  But that isn't really the way you watch or experience it when you're playing. 

I love that Tommy is showing off some of the “hard core gaming” aspects of the Amico because it sets the bar for what the system can be and do even if most games won’t be nearly as frantic. If he didn’t and instead he showed “Number Safari” or “Lawn Dart Challenge” half the comments would be “so lame, Amico sux!”. Now when it gets closer to summer and he wants to show off backgammon or horseshoes most of those comments won’t occur and those that do can be addressed with just a link to Night Stalker. Pretty smart move on IE’s part.

Yo!,

There's been a lot of questions about which games are coming, what licenses we have, etc.

We easily have about 100 games on our "to do" list.  These are either licenses we have acquired, ideas that we've started, new and updated ports, etc. But it doesn't mean they will ever see the light of day or that they are even in production right now.  For example... when I did the Atari deal I got 12 of their biggest licenses.  PONG, Asteroids, Missile Command and Breakout were on that list.  All of those we have in production and will probably make it out for launch.  Reason being is that we were able to match up the right developer with the right titles.  I typically engage with super talented developers and let THEM decide what they would like to make.  It's super important that the folks working on our games are super passionate about what they are doing.  I've been on enough crappy games to know that without that passion... it will show in the final product.  And vice versa!  I'll give our list of 100 or so ideas to the developer and tell them to pick their 2 or 3 favorites.  Once they do, I tell them what style or things I've envisioned for those particular titles and they will go away and come back with a 2 or 3 page treatment (sometimes even a playable demo) to see if we greenlight the project.  Sometimes if we're still not sure, but really love the concept... we will pay them for a month or two of work to see what a playable demo looks like.

So, if one of the developers picked Tempset over PONG... we'd have more of a Tempest game and PONG would be sitting in the wings.  And obviously there are certain titles that were MUST HAVES for me... so we kept seeking out folks who had done similar things in the past.

About half of the games that we have in production right now I've never even spoken about.  Mostly because they are original titles or really cool re-imagines or unique ports.  A lot more info will be coming at E3 and beyond.

So keep in mind that there are games we have the licenses for, ideas we have, demos in progress and everything in between... but it doesn't mean that I know when they are coming out.  I'm also thinking that about 20% of the games currently in production will either be canceled or will take a lot more time and money than we think.  Remember... I take the VALUE and TRUST thing really seriously and we're not going to release something just to push it out the door or that everyone who plays it finds it to be "mediocre". 

I know that when the games come out people are going to probably blast us because there will be a game that they personally don't like and they'll say "OMG!! They said they were only going to do quality games but this one SUCKS!  They have no idea what they're doing!"  The reason for that would probably be that the game didn't personally appeal to them.  Maybe it was Math Fun (Blarneo... I'm looking at you!)  Or maybe it was one of the 23 people who DISLIKED the Night Stalker video (not bad considering it has over 16,000 views... I'll take that percentage every day of the week!). 

I'm not prepared at this point to give a definitive list of games that we will or won't have on release... because quite frankly... I don't even know. 

I just don't want these huge lists of games being put out there with folks thinking they are all coming in year one.

There should probably be 2 lists.  One that has all of the "possible" titles (I've confirmed a TON of them in press releases, here, interviews, etc.) and another list that has games that are IN PRODUCTION.  And like I mentioned... even 20% of those games may never make it. 

Hope this helps to clarify some stuff.  I would hate to think I'll be disappointing folks if they don't see their game on the launch list.

Thanks for reading.

13 minutes ago, LePionnier said:

Great ! That also probably means a lot of levels and new ennemies in the game for Night Stalker !

 

Edit : Also in Night Stalker I really like that our character is not stuck in a corridor (like the original game) and that we can avoid the bullets !

 

Yeah... had to do it like that!  Although some levels... you may not be so lucky!  😯

🤖🕷️🕸️🦇

7 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

I love that Tommy is showing off some of the “hard core gaming” aspects of the Amico because it sets the bar for what the system can be and do even if most games won’t be nearly as frantic. If he didn’t and instead he showed “Number Safari” or “Lawn Dart Challenge” half the comments would be “so lame, Amico sux!”. Now when it gets closer to summer and he wants to show off backgammon or horseshoes most of those comments won’t occur and those that do can be addressed with just a link to Night Stalker. Pretty smart move on IE’s part.

EXACTLY!!!!!!!!

Hardcore gamers are the only ones paying attention at this point (because we get all these articles, podcasts and coverage for free due to their interest).

The folks who are our target audience don't even know we exist right now.  Once it's time... we will be blasting out lots of the more casual stuff so they aren't intimidated by the more hardcore stuff like Night Stalker.

But by doing it this way... I'm not alienating gamers with a bunch of hyper-casual simple stuff.

It's a fine balance, but we really are trying to be something for everyone... but in a more simple, affordable, unique and fun way.

 

22 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

36 minutes ago, LePionnier said:

Great ! That also probably means a lot of levels and new ennemies in the game for Night Stalker !

 

Edit : Also in Night Stalker I really like that our character is not stuck in a corridor (like the original game) and that we can avoid the bullets !

 

Yeah... had to do it like that!  Although some levels... you may not be so lucky!  😯

It depends ! For each person "lot of levels" or "some levels" can be so different!

For my part, I was thinking of something like 10 levels. 5 levels would be a little disappointing. I don't expect 30 levels or more!

Anyway, it's a buy for me, and it will be really fun with family and friends.

By the way, in versus mode, can you tell us what will be diffentent ?

Less ennemies because we have to look at each other players ?