Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

3 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

When might we see a more casual game in the same vein as Wii Sports?

I'm thinking probably in March.  Some amazing things coming up.

1 minute ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Now you're just trying to start a Twitter war/backlash.  

 

Hahhahaa.



Seriously though... it's going to be super interesting for us to see what the male to female ratio will be for Amico.  A win for us would be a 50/50 split.  NO home video game console has ever done that.  Not even the Wii.  Mobile does it (more female actually)... but not in the home.

 

I guess the main point I was trying to make is that sometimes I think people just respond to what they are use to. I know its anecdotal but for me. I was an Atari guy through and through. Only came by and Intellivision randomly about 10 years ago.

If you would have asked me before that time I would have been like, "Why would I want to play on that ugly thing with those horrendous controllers." Never used them before. They looked like complete crap in comparison to pretty much anything else. However, I got some games with the system. I really wanted to play cloudy mountain and came here and the Intv regulars were super great and told me how I was approaching the controller wrong. After that I had a blast playing Cloudy! Do I prefer them more now? Not much more  , but now that I've used them I can appreciate them and wouldn't mind growing my collection some. I still don't have the other AD&D game.

7 minutes ago, Tavi said:

Perhaps I am showing my age a bit here, but I do remember when Halo came out. It was insanely popular, and everyone wanted to play it. Microsoft certainly did not say 'Oh, you are feeling excluded Playstation owners. Don't worry, we will port it over for you'. They sat on it as a console exclusive for a decade plus. If you wanted to play it, you had to buy their console for it.

Same as Sonic and Mario; absolutely exclusive to their respective companies. If you wanted to play a Mario game, you better have some Nintendo hardware. Ditto for Sonic and Sega.

Granted recently the big boys have been dabbling in cross platform games; but when you have a multi-billion dollar a year empire and a large and dedicated consumer base backing your products you can then afford to experiment a bit.

The funny thing is, this cross-platform trend is being spearheaded by Microsoft, who get called out a lot for not having many exclusives during the 8th gen.

17 minutes ago, Battlefish said:

The funny thing is, this cross-platform trend is being spearheaded by Microsoft, who get called out a lot for not having many exclusives during the 8th gen.

Well Mr Softy isn’t a game company at its core. I remember reading back in ‘99 there was rumblings at Redmond of an upcoming console. Doubted it then but had great time playing Halo for 8 straight months with my buddies. 
 

I question their promotion of this new found love for cross platform non-exclusive play, but maybe it will work out for them. My thinking is they just want you playing it on any MS platform.

I prefer Intellivisions direction...if you wanna play this cool game you will have to buy an Amico! 

2 minutes ago, MarioMan88 said:

I question their promotion of this new found love for cross platform non-exclusive play, but maybe it will work out for them. My thinking is they just want you playing it on any MS platform.

Makes sense. Besides, hardware was always the biggest strength the Xbox division had.

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

OK... someone just sent me this and I gotta talk about this.  I'm going to try and be as respectful as possible here and I hope others will do the same.

 

Watch the section of the video below and I think you can start to understand why folks like Pat & Ian are so against what we're doing and why some of the haters exist.

Watch how hard they try to make their point that the world doesn't need a casual system because the other 3 systems already do that.  Look at the fire and passion in their eyes and facial expressions as they try to convince anyone listening that EVERYONE can EASILY use the menu screens and controllers of the top 3 systems. 

Watching this shows you why some folks are just not getting it.  These guys have become so hardcore in their thinking that they actually think that everyone in the world will find a PS, XBOX or Switch controller super easy and that 8 buttons is absolutely NO PROBLEM. 

I'm not going to make fun of them here, but it is super interesting to me how completely ignorant they are to folks who aren't like them.  It's literally mind-boggling.

And that's okay that they feel that way.  The more they take this path... the more people will start to understand their distaste for what we're doing.  But honestly... I've never heard such naive statements.
 

Totally okay to think that way yourself... but to tell folks that the rest of the world doesn't find the modern era stuff confusing at all... is just... well.... incorrect.

Yes... there are TONS of casual games on the PS, XBOX & Switch... and yes... the majority of the people who play video games have zero interest in playing them on those machines.

 

It all comes back to this statistic...

 

200 million hardcore gamers...  3 BILLION people playing hyper casual or casual or edutainment on mobile.

Astonishing that the data doesn't sink in for some folks.  But at least it gives a good insight as to why they don't believe anything like Amico could ever be popular.

Interesting stuff.  Would love to hear others thoughts after checking out the section of the video below.

 

p.s.  Also super interesting to me that Atari is now claiming their system is for the "casual" players.  Hilarious considering it is exactly the opposite and more hardcore than the Switch, PS & XBOX.

 

 

 

The most interesting thing I heard in that video is that Ian's seven year old niece is a big Sonic the Hedgehog fan.  Is Sonic a thing with little kids today?

Besides that, I think the ambidextrousness of the Amico controller is an underestimated feature.  Ian did recognise it in another video.  And I think it's one of the reasons casual gamers are turned off modern game controllers.

39 minutes ago, ArcadeJunkie said:

Just as a side note, one of the things I am really looking forward to with the Amico is reimagined versions of original inty games.  Wishlist is below, in no particular order:

1) Night stalker (wish already granted)

2) Astrosmash (granted again)

3) Shark Shark

4) Frog Bog

5) Bomb Squad

6) Snafu

7) Buzz Bombers

8 ) Dracula

9) Truckin'

10) Lock n Chase

..... and so on.... and so on....  I'm freakin salivating just thinking about the possibilities!

38 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

8 of them are on our "to do" list.  5 of them are already in production and should be available on launch!

 

And 3 of them you will get FOR FREE as the built-in games on the console!

So, I think that means Buzz Bombers and Bomb Squad are out.  Too bad about Bomb Squad.  I thought maybe someone could do something interesting with that title.  Or maybe a game with terror and bombs is no longer a good idea.

I’m still drooling over the Asteroids remake. Any chance of that being available on launch day?

8 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

I’m still drooling over the Asteroids remake.  Any chance of that being available on launch day?

It will be one of the free games preloaded on the system.  A lot of people got the cartridge free back in 1982 as well.

Just now, mr_me said:

It will be one of the free games preloaded on the system.

Sweet!

When will we get to see skiing?? Will we in feb and maybe shark shark  cant wait til the updated moon patrol demo on the amico club app.

I'm going to start focusing on getting my Intellivision Collection back

Love the merch John Riggs showed on his Channel

Super excited for the Founders Edition I already have my grandma excited to try a few games, I’ve got a buddy that I showed the Night Stalker and Astrosmash video and he is excited to come over and try it out as well these thoughts led me down a very strange thought path.  So back when Won’t You Be My Neighbor was coming out there were a lot of comments saying we need more Fred Rodgers in the world today as I thought of that statement it occurred to me Mr. Rodgers would disagree with this statement, what he would want the millions of people who grew up learning from him to use those lessons on the people around them today imagine how much good that many people could do in the world anyway sorry.

All that is to say I think a lot of people may be underestimating just how important you and I could be for Intellivision’s success.  If those they buy it introduce their friends too it giving them a chance to play it we may get friends and family to buy one after the experience I know this has. Been talked about but based on the people I’ve talked to about the system and how many of them are interested in the system I think it could be a very large part of helping the system be a big success.  
 

are their any plans from Intellivision for a refer a friend program?

2020 is going to be a big year for gaming consoles.  For a quick intro on what's coming out and what the Amico is competing with, here's a good video.

BTW, I've met the Immortal John Hancock several times in person and he's as friendly and genuine in real life as he looks in his videos.
 

53 minutes ago, Lathe26 said:

BTW, I've met the Immortal John Hancock several times in person and he's as friendly and genuine in real life as he looks in his videos.

Yeah, I think he just needs to smile more.

Hey Tommy, Anthony "The Gamer Dad" Villarreal, owner of the blog The Geek Getaway, is accusing your team of deleting any negative comment in your Youtube channel.

One cold argue that it's hardly surprising to go into the official page of a product, calling it "garbage" and expect not to be banned, but even if we accept his accusations as true, his conclusions are odd. He accuses you of "trying to create a false reality" (wrong: you can't ban people from downvote a video and the up/down vote ratio is impressive), of doing "false advertisement" regarding the "family friendly" image when marketing to moms (not sure what this has to do with deleting a comment that calls Astrosmash "garbage"?) and even says that, after some Research®, he is now sure that the Amico will be a "spectacular failure":

He also seems pretty confused about the unique features of the Amico and its chances among the casual/non gamer market:

I especially like the Chinese conspiracy.

You already corrected him on an article about Roblox. Apparently he has tried to schedule an interview with you several times without success.

I know Youtube can sometimes automatically "censor" your comments when you edit your message, add a full stop in the middle of a word (possibly to protect the system from potential code insertion) or include an URL, but I was wondering what was your opinion on this brand new drama. 😑

48 minutes ago, MadZiontist said:

 

 

Yeah, I think he just needs to smile more.

Huh? His entire face is an eternal smile.

1 minute ago, MantaNZ said:

Huh? His entire face is an eternal smile.

That's the joke 😁

5 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

 

They really miss the point. I have two boys, 2 and 4 year old. When Amico comes out, older one is 5. I think Amico games are way better for him and all family members because of more family friendly games and controller (I think, haven't tried it). Also my wife told me shes interested in playing games as a family, co-op or versus, no matter. Sure PS4 and Xbox One have some games for casual players but not in this quantity or quality Amico will have. Also those systems games rarely has couch co-op games for 3-4 players. What I have seen and heard about Amico, I believe Tommy and his team is going to success. Our family is waiting!

Ps. Question: What about Amicos lifespan, can you imagine selling it 10-15 years from now, or even longer? Graphics and gameplay are basically timeless so there is no real reason to make successor for it?

4 hours ago, sramirez2008 said:

I’m still drooling over the Asteroids remake. Any chance of that being available on launch day?

More than likely, but not confirmed.  Depends on how far we get. 

4 hours ago, mr_me said:

It will be one of the free games preloaded on the system.  A lot of people got the cartridge free back in 1982 as well.

No.  Not Asteroids.  I would have had to pay Atari a royalty on every single hardware unit sold. 

Not a chance!

4 hours ago, Nolagamer said:

When will we get to see skiing?? Will we in feb and maybe shark shark  cant wait til the updated moon patrol demo on the amico club app.

If I had to guess... the order will probably go something like this...

Amico Club Moon Patrol level

Skiing

Shark! Shark!

4 hours ago, NinjaWarrior said:

I'm going to start focusing on getting my Intellivision Collection back

 

Love the merch John Riggs showed on his Channel

Those things and a lot more available here:  https://www.intellivisionamico.com/shop

3 hours ago, Alpha82 said:

Super excited for the Founders Edition I already have my grandma excited to try a few games, I’ve got a buddy that I showed the Night Stalker and Astrosmash video and he is excited to come over and try it out as well these thoughts led me down a very strange thought path.  So back when Won’t You Be My Neighbor was coming out there were a lot of comments saying we need more Fred Rodgers in the world today as I thought of that statement it occurred to me Mr. Rodgers would disagree with this statement, what he would want the millions of people who grew up learning from him to use those lessons on the people around them today imagine how much good that many people could do in the world anyway sorry.

 

All that is to say I think a lot of people may be underestimating just how important you and I could be for Intellivision’s success.  If those they buy it introduce their friends too it giving them a chance to play it we may get friends and family to buy one after the experience I know this has. Been talked about but based on the people I’ve talked to about the system and how many of them are interested in the system I think it could be a very large part of helping the system be a big success.  
 

are their any plans from Intellivision for a refer a friend program?

Agree 100%!!

And YES... one of the HUGE things we have yet to reveal (and I mean HUUUUUUUUUGE!!!!!) has to deal with the exact thing you're talking about.

Word of mouth about Amico is going to be absolutely key to our success. And wait til you see what I've come up with to reward the folks who are doing it.  No one is going to believe how cool it is.

Sorry I can't tell you more... gotta wait til June at E3... but it's definitely an industry "game changer" (pun intended!)

3 hours ago, Lathe26 said:

2020 is going to be a big year for gaming consoles.  For a quick intro on what's coming out and what the Amico is competing with, here's a good video.

 

BTW, I've met the Immortal John Hancock several times in person and he's as friendly and genuine in real life as he looks in his videos.
 

 

He's great.  Always been super cool and nice to me.

I love him.

I also love that he's wearing an Amico t-shirt in this video!!!!!  

22 minutes ago, MinerWilly said:

They really miss the point. I have two boys, 2 and 4 year old. When Amico comes out, older one is 5. I think Amico games are way better for him and all family members because of more family friendly games and controller (I think, haven't tried it). Also my wife told me shes interested in playing games as a family, co-op or versus, no matter. Sure PS4 and Xbox One have some games for casual players but not in this quantity or quality Amico will have. Also those systems games rarely has couch co-op games for 3-4 players. What I have seen and heard about Amico, I believe Tommy and his team is going to success. Our family is waiting!

 

Ps. Question: What about Amicos lifespan, can you imagine selling it 10-15 years from now, or even longer? Graphics and gameplay are basically timeless so there is no real reason to make successor for it?

Hi!  Thanks for joining us here!  Always great to see new posters in the thread.

Yes... you and your family are the exact target market that we are going for.  There are over 65 million households in North America and Europe that have kids between the ages of 2 - 7.  We are looking to focus on those households at first.

Yes... you are absolutely correct.  We believe this as well.  The typical life cycle for a video game system has typically been 7 years.  We have a 10 year cycle planned for our hardware as we're not looking to do photo realism and perfect graphics.  We believe gameplay is the most important thing... therefor, based on that alone... it extends the value and focus of our hardware longer than most home consoles.

Thanks again for coming in and thanks for the excellent question.  Hasn't been asked before.

Love it!