Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

8 minutes ago, Loafer said:

From a unbias position I'm kind of in your corner as far as you being allowed to share your opinion. It's only when we give some weight to unpopular opinions that we really grow.  But man, please don't think for a second you know what goes on with my head.  My appreciate for what is attempted here is because, and it's been said many times, there's a vision and an effort to bring something different.  IT's not about bringing back the intellivision of old.  So please, don't speak for me and since you are starting to sound like a broken record, please come back in spring when you can judge from facts on gameplay videos, etc.

 

Jeez...

When did I say I spoke for you?  My comment was a reply to Tommy not you.  Anyways, I said majority not all.  It is a fact that majority interested in Amico are long time INTV fans, and to say this isn't the case is ridiculous. 

Point of that comment was, its easy to get the hardcore INTV fanbase on board with the Amico, that takes very little effort, but its another to get a brand new demographic of gamers interested too.

13 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

When did I say I spoke for you?  My comment was a reply to Tommy not you.  Anyways, I said majority not all.  It is a fact that majority interested in Amico are long time INTV fans, and to say this isn't the case is ridiculous. 

Point of that comment was, its easy to get the hardcore INTV fanbase on board with the Amico, that takes very little effort, but its another to get a brand new demographic of gamers interested too.

But we don’t know about the strategy they have to get those people so it’s too early to judge that we know they have 10 million plus for marketing in the USA alone and we know they have celebrity endorsements. We also know they have the women who was in charge of marketing for every Nintendo system from SNES through Wii and DS which were solid. We also know they are planning a mall/shop tour to let people try the system out before you buy it. It’s the marketing and the games that will determine the success of the system so until we have a chance to see what those things are like it’s impossible to judge the system itself the things to focus on now are not so much specific games but the ideas powering the system. Games that will have fun single player modes but who will shine in multiplayer situations a system that provides a arcade type experience at home where you can if you wish track your ability by comparing your scores with people from around the world. If those prospects excite you then be excited if you are someone who needs to see games first great buy with 16 months before launch and marketing not ramping up until 2020 you have a wait before that information is available so just wait until we have some answers to the questions you have.  I for one really enjoy the direction Intellivision is headed in 

8 minutes ago, Alpha82 said:

But we don’t know about the strategy they have to get those people so it’s too early to judge that we know they have 10 million plus for marketing in the USA alone and we know they have celebrity endorsements. We also know they have the women who was in charge of marketing for every Nintendo system from SNES through Wii and DS which were solid. We also know they are planning a mall/shop tour to let people try the system out before you buy it. It’s the marketing and the games that will determine the success of the system so until we have a chance to see what those things are like it’s impossible to judge the system itself the things to focus on now are not so much specific games but the ideas powering the system. Games that will have fun single player modes but who will shine in multiplayer situations a system that provides a arcade type experience at home where you can if you wish track your ability by comparing your scores with people from around the world. If those prospects excite you then be excited if you are someone who needs to see games first great buy with 16 months before launch and marketing not ramping up until 2020 you have a wait before that information is available so just wait until we have some answers to the questions you have.  I for one really enjoy the direction Intellivision is headed in 

Its gonna be tough work that is for sure. It'll be interesting when they roll out their big ad campaign and see how the mainstream reacts.  

I'm honestly a bit puzzled at the people wringing their hands, bemoaning the lack of mature-rated titles as a sure sign that this system will surely fail. Families just use their smartphones! No one but hardcore gamers buy consoles! 

One word: Leapfrog.

If no one buys kid-friendly tech, why does Leapfrog still sell? Becuase not everyone wants to give their 10 & unders a portable with a 3 digit price tag, hoping they won't a) break or lose it, and b) get past the parental filters & find something overly violent and/or sexual they now have to explain. Thing is, once you get past Leapfrog & its preschool edutainment angle, there's no real serious options out there. There IS a niche to be filled here.

Also- who says 'gamers' don't want a family friendly experience? I own God of War & Devil May Cry, I'm not put off by mature content... but you know what I also enjoy? Here's a hint- look at my avatar. Clearly I am an adult who does, in fact, enjoy E-rated, 'childish' games... and if gamers really were bothered by such, Kirby wouldn't be such an icon.

Assuming the games are good, Here's how I see this playing out- Little Billy is having his 8th birthday party. He gets an Amico from his tech-savvy dad who secretly wanted access to the old Inty games of his youth. Billy and friends love the games. They draw in their non-gamer parents to try. Some of said parents keep playing when the kids move on to other toys & cake. After the party, Billy's friends ask their parents for an Amico. They agree, impressed by what they saw at the party. Other kids come over to the friend's houses, and in turn fall for the system & ask their parents for one. A few of them talk about it on the playground & other kids overhear. Word of mouth spreads the system around. It does not come close to the numbers of Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft. No one cares becuase it's turning a profit for the niche system it is. The system establishes as a 'step up' machine for families who want better than Leapfrog, but aren't ready to commit to a full phone/tablet/console for their kids. Once the kids are in their preteen/early teen years & have proven themselves capable of caring for tech & mature enough to navigate adult content with some supervision, the high-end tech comes out, and the amico is pushed to the back of the entertainment center... but gets pulled back out from time to time for parties, grandparent visits, younger cousins, etc. Maybe it lives in the closet after awhile. Maybe one of those younger cousins gleefully takes it home. Either way, it does what it set out to do- make some people happy.

(Speaking of my avatar, I will preorder this thing immediately if you get a new Klonoa on it.)

49 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

When did I say I spoke for you?  My comment was a reply to Tommy not you.  Anyways, I said majority not all.  It is a fact that majority interested in Amico are long time INTV fans, and to say this isn't the case is ridiculous. 

Point of that comment was, its easy to get the hardcore INTV fanbase on board with the Amico, that takes very little effort, but its another to get a brand new demographic of gamers interested too.

I think it will be harder than people think to get the Intv faithful on board.  Remember it isn't a retro console, has kiddie graphics, no cartridge slot for old games, and typically on this board it seems like many are weary of something new even if its a remake of a game they love.

I think the major thing helping IE is that it is still Intv and unlike Atari has not been passed around like the town bicycle.

I do think there is a place for rated M games. Heck I played the crap out of MK2 on Snes. But I don't think the exclusion or inclusion of either is necessary for a great system. This specifically appeals to me because it is aiming for the family friendly atmosphere.

If I want to play my M game and listen to some child curse at me or talk about boobies while murdering me in some gory war game I can still turn in on my Xbox. I however want to see this type of thing be successful so I can share the great gaming of old with my son and not share with him the toxicity that many of the modern systems can bring.

The thing is, Mortal Kombat Amico could be a thing.  Just run with the family angle and have only babalities and friendships.  Using humour the right way, it could work under the "exclusive to Amico" branding.  Think outside the box people

i'm kidding, mostly but seriously it could work with lots of games we consider mature.  Making a popular mainstream VG into an Amico version could be a new Thing.  'It's all about the fun" should be your new slogan Tommy 

How about a fighting game in the style of Smash Bros featuring Intellivision characters, Earthworm Jim, toe Jam, Earl, and whatever other licensed characters available?   Doesn’t have to be super violent, just a fun fighting style game. 

5 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Thanks for the great responses and comments.  For the concern described above... we've only officially announced that the digital download versions of the games will be $9.99 or less... but that doesn't mean we won't have very special physical copies as well.  So the margins are a little bigger yet still completely fair for everyone.  But from a developer side, remember that typically they are taking all of the risk (or are crowd-funded) to create a product with zero marketing support in hopes that they can at least make their money back from all their sweat equity.  What we're doing is saying...  Create your vision on Amico.  We'll pay for it 100% and will give you all the art, audio, testing and programming/optimizing help you need AND we'll market it for you AND you get royalties if the game does reasonably well.  So we are helping really great developers get their dream gig on a simple to use platform which takes minimal resources and time to get perfect (i.e. 6 - 8 person teams working 6 - 9 months)... as opposed to 15 - 20 person teams working 2 years on $2M+ budget/risk.

 

All of the developers are super excited and happy to be working with us and can't believe how great the relationship has been so far and all of the help and resources we've provided. 

We all know what it's like because most of us at the company have been on the "other side" (i.e. developers) for 30 - 40 years.

Thanks again for helping me fight the good fight and I look forward to hopefully playing Amico with you in the future!

I'm really excited to see the Amico, but I am more than a little haunted by the optimistic relationship with developers when it comes to motion control games like bowling or horseshoe or cornhole. Nintendo and Microsoft games were great on the Kinect and Wii, but they offered free support to third party developers and the third party developers still developed tons of broken motion control games. Not being disparaging, but just plan carefully, because these developers often seem to be looking to sell on hype rather than cutting edge commitment. I mean, the third party developers for the Kinect and Wii must have tested these games before releasing them, but just said, "game budget is spent, deadline is here and something new will be along in four years." I'm not sure why Microsoft and Nintendo let such disappointing games on their system either. It's one thing to get third party developers on board, but most of them seem like hardcore gamers that dislike strange ways of programming. I would love to see these games made if most of them are really well made, rather than a clunky approximation.

1 hour ago, HoshiChiri said:

I'm honestly a bit puzzled at the people wringing their hands, bemoaning the lack of mature-rated titles as a sure sign that this system will surely fail. Families just use their smartphones! No one but hardcore gamers buy consoles! 

 

One word: Leapfrog.

 

If no one buys kid-friendly tech, why does Leapfrog still sell? Becuase not everyone wants to give their 10 & unders a portable with a 3 digit price tag, hoping they won't a) break or lose it, and b) get past the parental filters & find something overly violent and/or sexual they now have to explain. Thing is, once you get past Leapfrog & its preschool edutainment angle, there's no real serious options out there. There IS a niche to be filled here.

 

Leapfrog has a specific market with Toddlers, but they grow out of that fairly quick and start playing online games soon after. 

You know what the first thing a kid is going to ask about the Amico "Can I play Fortnite and Roblox with my friends online?".   Tommy will look at them, smile and say, "Actually you don't want to play fortnite or roblox with your friends online, what you actually want to do is play Neurosurgeon and B-17 Bomber with your family in the living room. You're going to love it!!!"    

I'm exaggerating obviously, but point I'm making is Tommy assumes young kids and teens want to play video games with their Parents. From my experience they want to be left alone to play their games with their buddies.  Couch gaming is for the most part dead. There is a niche market out there, but is it enough for the Amico, time will only tell.   

 

5 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

In 2019 that same casual market has moved on to mobile devices and seem quite happy with them.  

Mobile casual is a solo experience. There's no successor to the Mario Kart/Party casual experience on mobile. "Family friendly" presumably includes the notion of family. They're more likely to be competing with Clue than Candy Crush. 

2 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

 

You know what the first thing a kid is going to ask about the Amico "Can I play Fortnite and Roblox with my friends online?".   Tommy will look at them, smile and say, "Actually you don't want to play fortnite or roblox with your friends online, what you actually want to do is play Neurosurgeon and B-17 Bomber with your family in the living room. You're going to love it!!!"    

Kid: Can I play Fortnite with my friends online?

Mom: No, mommy has to use the computer to pay bills. Why don't you play Amico with your sister for now, & you can play Fortnite after dinner?

Kid: OK...

(Also, you're assuming kid has previously had access to a device to play Fortnite/Roblox, which ignores my point of 'parents who DONT want to give their kids access to an expensive device w/ full internet' entirely.)

See, you're coming at this from the wrong angle- you assume the kids in question will already be cooking on the grill of hardcore gaming, and will see such a device as the equivalent of Grandma's shovelware Christmas gift- bought with love, but also an incredible lack of knowledge. This is not for that- this is the marinade before you even bring the grill up to heat. This is for kids like my nieces & nephew who struggled with the controls on Mario Kart. This is for the kids of my co-workers who come to me for advice, becuase lil' Billy is old enough to be asking about games, & they want to oblige, but not spend too much money on something they might not like- or worse, accidentally get them something too mature for their age. You know what I often tell those people? Go find a secondhand Wii. Which, by the way, said nieces & nephew enjoy. Especially bowling. This market really does exist. I don't see it often, but I do see it. The main questions are: Will the games be good enough, and will the marketing reach the right people.

1 hour ago, Swami said:

I'm really excited to see the Amico, but I am more than a little haunted by the optimistic relationship with developers when it comes to motion control games like bowling or horseshoe or cornhole. Nintendo and Microsoft games were great on the Kinect and Wii, but they offered free support to third party developers and the third party developers still developed tons of broken motion control games. Not being disparaging, but just plan carefully, because these developers often seem to be looking to sell on hype rather than cutting edge commitment. I mean, the third party developers for the Kinect and Wii must have tested these games before releasing them, but just said, "game budget is spent, deadline is here and something new will be along in four years." I'm not sure why Microsoft and Nintendo let such disappointing games on their system either. It's one thing to get third party developers on board, but most of them seem like hardcore gamers that dislike strange ways of programming. I would love to see these games made if most of them are really well made, rather than a clunky approximation.

Sorry if this reply posts twice I replied once and it seems to have disappeared anyway the one big difference is that unlike with Nintendo and Microsoft third party games Intellivision will be working with the developers from the start and long before we see the game on the store front it will go through quality control and if the developers have time they will be told the things that need fixing and if out of time Tommy has already said he won’t be afraid to kill a game so the chances of issues like listed above should be drastically reduced 

1 hour ago, HoshiChiri said:

Kid: Can I play Fortnite with my friends online?

Mom: No, mommy has to use the computer to pay bills. Why don't you play Amico with your sister for now, & you can play Fortnite after dinner?

Kid: OK...

 

(Also, you're assuming kid has previously had access to a device to play Fortnite/Roblox, which ignores my point of 'parents who DONT want to give their kids access to an expensive device w/ full internet' entirely.)

 

See, you're coming at this from the wrong angle- you assume the kids in question will already be cooking on the grill of hardcore gaming, and will see such a device as the equivalent of Grandma's shovelware Christmas gift- bought with love, but also an incredible lack of knowledge. This is not for that- this is the marinade before you even bring the grill up to heat. This is for kids like my nieces & nephew who struggled with the controls on Mario Kart. This is for the kids of my co-workers who come to me for advice, becuase lil' Billy is old enough to be asking about games, & they want to oblige, but not spend too much money on something they might not like- or worse, accidentally get them something too mature for their age. You know what I often tell those people? Go find a secondhand Wii. Which, by the way, said nieces & nephew enjoy. Especially bowling. This market really does exist. I don't see it often, but I do see it. The main questions are: Will the games be good enough, and will the marketing reach the right people.

 

That is really what it comes down to.  Will the games deliver.  Even if its aimed for families the games still have to be fun or its worthless.  All I know is games that have been confirmed so far are not exactly super exciting, but again they still have plenty of time to announce more games.

Amico is not a crowdfunded project but has his own capital and investors the society (Intellivision Entertainment) has to answer to in terms of return of their investments. Their market strategy have to produce profit so it based to real/documented facts and conseguent marketing/selling decisions.

What it seems to me, after reading all the posts here, is that people are complaining based of their personal (and respectable of course) vision base on what the live/use/read about the videogames market, narrowing (in some way) the complete view needed to make real business and profits.

I'm a videogamer (my wife too) and a collector, played with many of the consoles the market offered us till now, with my PS4, XBOX ONE X and SWITCH I'm playing offline and online (if needed) having no boundaries about games and game systems. Of course I have my personal game type preferences, like all of us.

What I miss till now is the possibility to play local multiplayer games  (I like the term "couch playing") without split screen, having all the PGs on the same screen. Splatoon 2 on the SWITCH was a missed opportunity for me.

Talking about Amico I can't wait to play with (against ) my wife to Burgetime, Tron Deadly Discs, Frog Bog, Tennis, Armor Battle and so on...

8 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

 When it comes to modern gaming I prefer single player experiences with great gameplay and storytelling.  Red Dead Redemption 2 for example.  

Then the Amico isn't for you, why are you even bothering to comment on this thread 😂

5 minutes ago, adam1977 said:

Then the Amico isn't for you, why are you even bothering to comment on this thread 😂

I enjoy retro gaming too.   So what the only people who should comment are those already sold on the product?  Can I not ask questions and put my concerns out there?  

I would hope Tommy listens to any and all feedback whether positive or negative. A good leader doesn't just surround himself/herself with a bunch of yes man who tells them that everything is great.

1 hour ago, MonsterSky said:

Talking about Amico I can't wait to play with (against ) my wife to Burgetime, Tron Deadly Discs, Frog Bog, Tennis, Armor Battle and so on...

You know you can do that right now and it will be cheaper than Amico.  

INTV controller to USB adapter.

https://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/intellivision_to_usb_adapter/index.php

Raspberry Pi B 3+ kit

https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Premium-Clear-Supply/dp/B07BC7BMHY/ref=sr_1_4?crid=129YYRPER9GGD&keywords=raspberry+pi+3+b%2B&qid=1561449559&s=gateway&sprefix=Raspber%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-4

Enjoy!!!

14 hours ago, ASalvaro said:

exactly! horseshoes is a great example or maybe even something like Bocce ball 

Being 100% Italian... Bocce is in development!! 

14 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Unless I'm mistaken and you can indeed play INTV Amico games on the go.

Yes... like with everything else you've stated... you are once again mistaken.

14 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

Well and I don't think we've heard everything about them yet. It wouldn't require much memory for the legacy stuff. The only hard part is that the old Intv games had an overlay which might make that harder.

I've mentioned in a couple of interviews that there will be mobile capabilities for the controllers (on the go) but we are still waiting for patents before I can explain any further.



 

14 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

And like I said many times before that market is currently be taken care of with mobile devices.  Nothing caters more towards casuals than tablets and smartphone gaming.

And like I said (but you refuse to listen because you think you know it all) the research says differently.  But that doesn't fit your narrative so you'll just ignore all the data to further your own opinions and agenda that we don't know what we're doing.  I've also stated in many interviews the problems that people have with mobile.  No curation, sucks as a controller, constant in app purchasing and marketing, but most of all... SOLITARY DEVICE!

No sense in engaging with you anymore at this point as you refuse to listen to any data or statistics that aren't outside your own bubble and experience. 

Looking forward to hearing all about your great experiences of playing Amico at your friends' houses.

12 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yes... like with everything else you've stated... you are once again mistaken.

So wait you can play them on the go?  I wasn't assuming you could, it was more of asking for confirmation statement.  If true then thats cool. 

12 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

has kiddie graphics

Not as much as people are assuming. 

10 hours ago, Swami said:

I'm really excited to see the Amico, but I am more than a little haunted by the optimistic relationship with developers when it comes to motion control games like bowling or horseshoe or cornhole. Nintendo and Microsoft games were great on the Kinect and Wii, but they offered free support to third party developers and the third party developers still developed tons of broken motion control games. Not being disparaging, but just plan carefully, because these developers often seem to be looking to sell on hype rather than cutting edge commitment. I mean, the third party developers for the Kinect and Wii must have tested these games before releasing them, but just said, "game budget is spent, deadline is here and something new will be along in four years." I'm not sure why Microsoft and Nintendo let such disappointing games on their system either. It's one thing to get third party developers on board, but most of them seem like hardcore gamers that dislike strange ways of programming. I would love to see these games made if most of them are really well made, rather than a clunky approximation.

Motion control games are a small percentage of titles for the machine and mostly only in the Recreational Sports category.  No fear... you won't be seeing games like Night Stalker or Moon Patrol with motion controls. 

6 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

You know you can do that right now and it will be cheaper than Amico.  

INTV controller to USB adapter.

https://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/intellivision_to_usb_adapter/index.php

Raspberry Pi B 3+ kit

https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Premium-Clear-Supply/dp/B07BC7BMHY/ref=sr_1_4?crid=129YYRPER9GGD&keywords=raspberry+pi+3+b%2B&qid=1561449559&s=gateway&sprefix=Raspber%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-4

Enjoy!!!

Just to clarify a little missing info here... it's not THAT simple.  To get it really humming, it requires a lot of configuring and tweaking that you're leaving out.  I know this because I've been running 2 Retropie units for 3 years. You definately need some computer skill to get it working at it's best.

It's great fun, and I'm really happy with Retropie but I'm still looking forward to a new Intellivison and all that it will offer. 

I've been a retrogamer since 1998, when MAME was really new to the scene. Because of it,  I've built 3 MAME cabinets, have 2 Retropie units, several real systems both old and new and support most if not all retro-game efforts I come across.  Years ago I ran the website Intellivision Bodega which i posted all kinds on Intv stuff that people were begining to find back when there was little to be found aside from what Keith and Intellivision Productions was offering.  We've come a long way since then, and have a lot of ground to cover ahead.

As for the Amico, what I'm really happy about is that Tommy is not only a voice for this project , but a real presence that you can see has put a lot of effort into making this happen.  That alone has me watching this forum everyday. Before this forum, I was on the Intvprog group on Yahoo and sort of just lurked for years. Then a few years ago, I came across this forum.   I used to come here just to ask for help with setting up and tweaking JzIntv on my Retropie unit, and check out the new homebrew that guys here were making, but not any more.  Now I come by to see all the good info on whats coming out in the future and see how many people are still programming Intv games. Unlike the Atari VCS attempt that looks like a load of bullshit, the Amico appears to be taking the lead and drawing in a large crowd of support to possibly rethink what home gaming should be.  

I realize your opinion is skeptical, and you are entitled to that, but realize you ARE on a forum with people that truly love the Intellivision and are not going to agree with every point of your opinion.  If I went to a Sega forum and pulled the same angles and opinions you are, I'd  be flammed to Hell for sure.  

So, as everyone else has... take a seat on the Tallarico Express and let's see where Tommy takes us.  I for one am on board with camera in hand waiting for the party at the final destination. 

JR