Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

17 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

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.

 

 

I completly agree with you.

I still believe that I am in a dream. This project is so close to my heart and I love how it is supervised.

Thank you for everything.

 

 

 

Am at a conference all week so had to skim through the last several pages.. lots of reveals, lots of exciting news!  But wanted to ask if anyone caught the [confirmation?] about the special edition console model? 

 

Apparently pink isn't just Steven Tyler's favorite color.. Intellivision has a special edition to reveal in four months.

 

Exciting.  I think it goes a long way to saying "our system is for everyone."  Before having two daughters, and when they were not yet walking or during pregnancy, I did everything I could to be as gender neutral, embracing every color I could, buying some fun boys' shirts, because Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us (Babies WeR Us?) seemed to endorse only pink outfits are fit for the girls' section. 

 

But my three year old loves pink.  She gravitates to pink things, it's so culturally associated in everything that little girls instinctively associate with it as something for them, or something they're akin to.  Not every little girl, my anecdote doesn't hold true for all - but we all look around, we see how much children's animation and toys, clothing, marketing is "pink".  And now it's embraced as empowering and positive.  Mostly, not on 4Chan mind you, but, in other mediums.

And Intellivision is the only console out there offering a color scheme little girls might want to have as their own. 

 

Brava Intellivision. 

18 minutes ago, LePionnier said:

 I don't expect 30 levels or more!

Well then you're going to be in for a delightful surprise. 

 

 

 

18 minutes ago, LePionnier said:

 

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 ?

Correct.

 

5 minutes ago, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

Am at a conference all week so had to skim through the last several pages.. lots of reveals, lots of exciting news!  But wanted to ask if anyone caught the [confirmation?] about the special edition console model? 

 

Apparently pink isn't just Steven Tyler's favorite color.. Intellivision has a special edition to reveal in four months.

 

Exciting.  I think it goes a long way to saying "our system is for everyone."  Before having two daughters, and when they were not yet walking or during pregnancy, I did everything I could to be as gender neutral, embracing every color I could, buying some fun boys' shirts, because Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us (Babies WeR Us?) seemed to endorse only pink outfits are fit for the girls' section. 

 

But my three year old loves pink.  She gravitates to pink things, it's so culturally associated in everything that little girls instinctively associate with it as something for them, or something they're akin to.  Not every little girl, my anecdote doesn't hold true for all - but we all look around, we see how much children's animation and toys, clothing, marketing is "pink".  And now it's embraced as empowering and positive.  Mostly, not on 4Chan mind you, but, in other mediums.

And Intellivision is the only console out there offering a color scheme little girls might want to have as their own. 

 

Brava Intellivision. 

Thanks!  I really appreciate the recognition about this.

Y'know it's funny... when we did the Galaxy Purple we thought that the main target was going to be female... but oddly enough... it is the MEN that are most drawn to it!  Females are preferring the Vintage Woodgrain or Glacier White over the Galaxy Purple!  We also have a steampunk looking one that is copper and rose goldish that looks awesome and women love.  But yeah... we're really excited about the pink one!  And imagine if we get some of the licenses we are talking about!  I have mock-ups of a Spider-Man, R2-D2 and Frozen one as well.  EPIC!!!

 

 

20 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

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.

Probably sounds like a kiss *ss statement but this just rang in my head as a game development “best practice” that everyone should be doing.

The thing is though that 99% of companies couldn’t practice it since they have *maybe* a few teams available to them and they are probably already working on something so they just try to pick a *team lead* who is interested in the project and assign a team. No wonder so many games seem like uninspired half efforts (Fallout 76 anyone?).

 

When Tommy first explained how he was flipping the game development model (pay devs to make games) I could see how that gave you 100% store wide quality and content control (something you only get in first party dev normally). But matching teams to interest gives IE a much greater chance of developing great games. Also IE’s software house has 50+ teams and he can add or drop teams based on how they are doing, talents & interests. Who has that many teams & flexibility? Sony, EA? Don’t think so. Just so many freaking layers to this thing.

1 hour ago, IMBerzerk said:

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. 

For amico 2.5D means 3D with a fixed camera perspective and mostly 2D action.  For example, in amico night stalker running and shooting is limited to the x-y plane, just like intellivision night stalker.  In other games there could be limited movement in the z direction.

1 hour ago, IMBerzerk said:

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. 

Yeah... it was really difficult to try and explain what we were doing without having the ability to show people at the time. 

Night Stalker is mostly 2D but with some 3D effects.  If any of you follow Mike Mika on Twitter... he's been giving info about what he is doing to pull of some of the visuals.  Interesting stuff.

Keep in mind that in our very first Reveal trailer... Mike Mika was listed there at the end as a Hardware Advisor. 

 

3D open worlds are the things we are trying to stay away from at all costs.  Something like Moon Patrol is considered 2.5D.  It is using a bunch of 3D models but only putting them on a 2D plane.

Wait til you see Astrosmash on Monday!  It's an entirely different 2D style than Night Stalker & Moon Patrol.  Amazing painted and parallaxing backgrounds, 2D hand drawn sprites, 3D lighting and FX, etc.

You see a split second of it in our Gamescom Trailer... but when you see what it looks like with all the "dressing"... oh man... it's soooooo cool.  Can't wait for everyone to check it out!

 

 

Hype level keeps elevating higher and higher.  I’ve purchased most of the major console releases throughout Videogame history.  Although I’m a classic gamer, I’m a bit of a graphics whore LOL therefore have always appreciated the powerful console releases (and newer PC).  Although part of my video game taste has changed a bit of late (VR carries some of that blame) and I am sort of getting more retro-minded, I’m still shocked I find myself more excited for Amico than the upcoming PS5 and Xbox Series X.  This may change after E3 (you know, the newest thing that looks fantastic in 4K) but still there’s no doubt there is a spot for such a console. Whether it’s because of the different approach to the project, the contagious enthusiasm of Tommy, the call-back to classics of old or the fact it’s aiming for a different market that we are used to seeing, I just find it alluring and can’t wait for October!  I think really it’s going to be about the games and if the level of polish seen via this two-level Night Stalker demo reflects what we will see in other games, we are in for a treat me thinks.

 

I guess moving forward I’m happy to say I’m a proud founding member of the Ferrari Kool-Aid Club

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Y'know it's funny... when we did the Galaxy Purple we thought that the main target was going to be female... but oddly enough... it is the MEN that are most drawn to it!  Females are preferring the Vintage Woodgrain or Glacier White over the Galaxy Purple!  We also have a steampunk looking one that is copper and rose goldish that looks awesome and women love.  But yeah... we're really excited about the pink one!  And imagine if we get some of the licenses we are talking about!  I have mock-ups of a Spider-Man, R2-D2 and Frozen one as well.  EPIC!!!

I'll start putting money aside if I want to collect them all! lol 😁

Hi Tommy,

 

I live in the U.K. Not sure on your plans for the Amico store. I fully intend to order a founders edition, but have a few questions. 1.) Will the Amico have a universal power supply - I.E. will the USA 115v work in the uk 240v? 2.)Will the 50 dollars work with the UK/EU store.

 

Tony

2 minutes ago, Amico - Tony said:

Hi Tommy,

 

I live in the U.K. Not sure on your plans for the Amico store. I fully intend to order a founders edition, but have a few questions. 1.) Will the Amico have a universal power supply - I.E. will the USA 115v work in the uk 240v? 2.)Will the 50 dollars work with the UK/EU store.

 

Tony

Yes to both!

 

Tommy,

 

will extra controllers be available for preorder as well?

Will there be anyway to get an extra set of limited edition themed controllers? Or will they only come in the black & white colors?

1 hour ago, mr_me said:

For amico 2.5D means 3D with a fixed camera perspective and mostly 2D action.  For example, in amico night stalker running and shooting is limited to the x-y plane, just like intellivision night stalker.  In other games there could be limited movement in the z direction.

Ok, that makes more sense.  I was getting confused about what actually defined 3d as a visual effect.  Using a 3d model and being on a 2d visual plain makes for some really good visuals and I think baseline for high end console gaming.   Looking forward to more great visuals...and of course the product!

 

Thanks for explaining it 

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!  

As far as Armor Battle.. yeah, it was an awkward play mechanic controlling the tank direction and turret independently. Because our new Amico version is a mix of Armor Battle and Battle Tanks from Triple Action (in fact we referred to it as “Armor Battle Tanks”), it’s a lot faster paced than the original Armor Battle. So zipping around the screen with multiple players while moving and simultaneously controlling the turret direction to aim and shoot took a lot of the fun out of it.

That said, in the version we had for E3, we left that in as an option, along with a lot of other game play variables that were on a separate menu. I’m not sure if the final version will have all of the options, but I believe at least turret control ON/OFF will remain, with the default being OFF to keep it simple for the majority of people.



•Sent from my Intellivision keypad phone

Will the consoles have serial numbers?  
 

(I’m pretty sure the answer is yes) 

 

 

22 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Great question.

 

Definitely NOT stickers!!!!!!!!!!!!

VERY glad to hear that!

 

 

Just a recap of some interesting Mike Mika tweets about Night Stalker. For me the most interesting bit is that the bats & spider are all procedurally generated and not pre-rendered animations - very cool.

Edited January 26, 2020 by GrudgeQ

2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Thanks!  I really appreciate the recognition about this.

Y'know it's funny... when we did the Galaxy Purple we thought that the main target was going to be female... but oddly enough... it is the MEN that are most drawn to it!  Females are preferring the Vintage Woodgrain or Glacier White over the Galaxy Purple!  We also have a steampunk looking one that is copper and rose goldish that looks awesome and women love.  But yeah... we're really excited about the pink one!  And imagine if we get some of the licenses we are talking about!  I have mock-ups of a Spider-Man, R2-D2 and Frozen one as well.  EPIC!!!

 

 

Are there images yet of the steampunk/copper-rose model? I'm male and actually like the purple one but did wonder if it's a bit too girlish. I love the woodgrain one too though. That copper/rose one sounds interesting.

 

 

1 hour ago, ColdCoffee said:

Will there be anyway to get an extra set of limited edition themed controllers? Or will they only come in the black & white colors?

This is a great question. I'd be interested in hearing the answer to this. I'd imagine those who have a limited color model (purple/woodgrain, etc.) would like to know if later they could buy more controllers. What if they break one or want another controller? Will they only be able to get standard white/black?

 

1 hour ago, Jeffrey Bouchard said:

Tommy,

 

will extra controllers be available for preorder as well?

No.  Not as pre-orders with the Founders Edition.  But later in the spring.

 

1 hour ago, ColdCoffee said:

Will there be anyway to get an extra set of limited edition themed controllers? Or will they only come in the black & white colors?

Definitely Limited Editions as well.  They will cost a little more.

44 minutes ago, nurmix said:

 

As far as Armor Battle.. yeah, it was an awkward play mechanic controlling the tank direction and turret independently. Because our new Amico version is a mix of Armor Battle and Battle Tanks from Triple Action (in fact we referred to it as “Armor Battle Tanks”), it’s a lot faster paced than the original Armor Battle. So zipping around the screen with multiple players while moving and simultaneously controlling the turret direction to aim and shoot took a lot of the fun out of it.

That said, in the version we had for E3, we left that in as an option, along with a lot of other game play variables that were on a separate menu. I’m not sure if the final version will have all of the options, but I believe at least turret control ON/OFF will remain, with the default being OFF to keep it simple for the majority of people.



•Sent from my Intellivision keypad phone

Yeah... easy to keep in the different control options for the final product.

 

 

34 minutes ago, Rev said:

Will the consoles have serial numbers?  
 

(I’m pretty sure the answer is yes) 

 

 

Yep!

I think by law they need to.  But I'm not 100% of that.

 

3 hours ago, LePionnier said:

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 I will wait until then to see if Horse Racing will be on the list ! (It's really hard to have information about this one No problem !   )

 

 

3 hours ago, LePionnier said:

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. 

One question that I have in mind since a long time, and today I will ask it !

We all love the idea of a new game each 10-14 days.

Today, without having to mention which game it is, do you know which game will be the first offered after the launch in the 2 week window! ?

It seems to me that it will be an important moment this first time and I can't wait to see what it will be. Not only the game, but what category it will be !? 😁

 

Great Job Intellivision Entertainment !