Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

I for one... prefer you to leave.  And although you think you are being civil to others... you've been completely disrespectful to me and my career (just a music guy... what does he know?)  You sound like every other bully on the playground growing up and all of the other short-sighted biased folks who told me every successful idea I had for the past 30 years was a bad one.  So if you want to go start your own thread discussing the Amico on this board and what you feel our challenges will be (and how the guy running it is crazy if he thinks he's going to sell millions of machines)... then please... be my guest!!  No one is stopping you.

But please leave this thread which I created to be a positive place where people can ask me questions about the system and have positive dialogues.  POSITIVE.  Not ass-kissing... positive and inquisitive.  Your way of confronting and interacting with people doesn't fit here in my thread.  Read the heading... Q&A.  It's not a thread where I'm interested in disproving your opinion on why you think I don't know what I'm doing and how I'm doing everything wrong and I'm just a music guy.   Your negativity and arguing everyone's points has completely ruined the spirit of why I created this thread.

What started out as a cool thing has quickly turned into an opinion war fueled by your stubborness and inability to see any other scenario except your own.  If you're interested in doing that.  Fine.  Go do it in another thread... not mine.   I have time to answer maybe 2 or 3 questions a day here.  Instead, its you and your buddy (yeah... we noticed) trying to argue points with as many people as you can.  So instead of finding questions... I find you and your biased confrontational responses and everyone responding to them.  But hey... it's the internet... I get it.  It's not the first time some anonymous "know it all" hiding behind a screen has tried to ruin a good thing.... and it won't be the last.

But just thought that you would like to be made aware that the person who started this thread doesn't appreciate how you interact and would prefer it if you left as you are ruining the spirit of this thread.  Please feel free to start your own if you'd like.

Thanks.


 

Hey, Tommy. In the top right of the screen is a dropdown with your user name. In there is an option for Ignored Users.

Sometimes you need to add users to your ignore list in order to make a thread's experience tolerable, especially since you started the thread and it seems like a never ending loop of "...I will make you see that my opinion is the most important!" The number of posts and rebuttals in this thread in the last 24 hours made it hard for legitimate news, questions, and answers to be picked up from the chaff. 

3 minutes ago, Tarzilla said:

Hey, Tommy. In the top right of the screen is a dropdown with your user name. In there is an option for Ignored Users.

Sometimes you need to add users to your ignore list in order to make a thread's experience tolerable, especially since you started the thread and it seems like a never ending loop of "...I will make you see that my opinion is the most important!" The number of posts and rebuttals in this thread in the last 24 hours made it hard for legitimate news, questions, and answers to be picked up from the chaff. 

 

Make sure to name the list "Doubters".  

4 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

The Switch was the best move Nintendo could make after the Wii U.   Honestly Switch is what Nintendo probably wanted the Wii U to be, but the tech just wasn't available at the time. 

After seeing that Link's Awakening remake I think I might have to buy a Switch finally.  I'm just waiting to see if Nintendo releases updated hardware this year.  I hear they are doing both a more portable version and a slightly upgraded standard Switch.

I think you are right about the WiiU. However, I do think its an underrated system. I just think it wasn't mainstream enough with online play for that group to buy in, and the more casual gamers stuck with their Wii.

I am more excited with popping in my original Links Awakening. It has been a long time but I think I thought it was on par but slightly not as good as link to the past.

Speaking of old games with Amico news I'm getting the urge to play Earthworm Jim 1&2. Is the new EWJ going to be a platformer or more a party game?

What I'm very curious about is how Cell Phones might interact with the Amico.  Could be a nice feature if done well.  Probably might not be great for every game to use a Cell Phone, but I'm sure plenty of games will be fine.

2 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

I think you are right about the WiiU. However, I do think its an underrated system. I just think it wasn't mainstream enough with online play for that group to buy in, and the more casual gamers stuck with their Wii.

 

I am more excited with popping in my original Links Awakening. It has been a long time but I think I thought it was on par but slightly not as good as link to the past.

 

Speaking of old games with Amico news I'm getting the urge to play Earthworm Jim 1&2. Is the new EWJ going to be a platformer or more a party game?

If you have a Sega CD I highly recommend Earthworm Jim CD.  Tommy wrote some fantastic music for that release.
 

6 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

What I'm very curious about is how Cell Phones might interact with the Amico.  Could be a nice feature if done well.  Probably might not be great for every game to use a Cell Phone, but I'm sure plenty of games will be fine.

My guess is that you will prefer the Amico controller over using your cell, but will be a nice thing to have if you don't own 8 of those. Guess I never asked if the phones function basically the same as the controllers?

4 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

My guess is that you will prefer the Amico controller over using your cell, but will be a nice thing to have if you don't own 8 of those. Guess I never asked if the phones function basically the same as the controllers?

I still think having a way to play some of those games on the go would have been a nice feature.  You know kinda like Switch. Maybe that is in their plans.

I'm very curious about the 2D chip they are using in the Amico. They claim its dedicated 2D hardware.

52 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

It's not stubborness just because I won't automatically roll over for you and take your word on things, that isn't how I operate. You can say the Amico is going to do this and that all day long, but until we see this thing is action and hear from unbiased people what they think of this machine and the games then all it you are doing is one big sales pitch.

You just don't get it.  I'm not here to debate you and I don't care about your narcissistic opinions.  You lost that privilege by about your 3rd rude post and "know it all" argumentative interactions with everyone here.  I have ZERO interest in your input or listening to anything you say.  Others yes... you... not a chance.

Leave MY thread or I'll have you removed. Staying at this point is just an act of cyber-bullying which I'm pretty sure is against forum rules.

Leave or be removed.  Up to you.

I have been following this thread for a bit now, and I have to admit that I am very interested in this console.

I am at best a casual INTV collector. I have a 2609 and a handful of games.

I am very much looking forward to seeing this hit the shelves. I particularly like the idea of being able to play games with the family in the livingroom again. My wife and daughters are always up for a chance to hand me my ass...

Thanks Tommy!

I'll get back to lurking now.

So Tommy I know earlier you were testing out a lot of the Moon Patrol what game being worked on currently is drawing the most staff attention?

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

You just don't get it.  I'm not here to debate you and I don't care about your narcissistic opinions.  You lost that privilege by about your 3rd rude post and "know it all" argumentative interactions with everyone here.  I have ZERO interest in your input or listening to anything you say.  Others yes... you... not a chance.

 

Leave MY thread or I'll have you removed. Staying at this point is just an act of cyber-bullying which I'm pretty sure is against forum rules.

 

Leave or be removed.  Up to you.

 

I have no dog in this fight, but I have been reading the thread all along.   I think you should get a PR person to handle day to day interactions with the greater internet at large.  You call some dissenting opinions "cyber-bullying", after posting the following personal attack a few pages back:

On 6/24/2019 at 7:14 PM, Tommy Tallarico said:

No... I think it's incredibly important to you because you have no kids and no friends IRL.

KIDDING!!!   Sorry... someone was going to say it eventually.  

Okay... leaving now.  Gotta get back to work so I can make more cool stuff for you to rag on and tell me how wrong I'm doing it.

 

 

Handling dissenting opinions others have is a valuable skill, and one course of action is to just mentally tune them out and ignore them.  Another course of action is to read it, and try and see their point of view and move on (again without replying if need be).   It doesn't help from a PR standpoint to berate someone for not fully agreeing with your entire vision and having questions about it.  No one is saying the idea sucks or whatever, they are just bringing up doubts they might have about certain aspects.

Be that as it may, moving on.  

I watched the October video and have read this thread, and there really just hasn't been a lot to go on in the way of hard information.   We know it is a console.  and it has 2 controllers.  and comes in colours, and plays games.   The video says it will be 2D only.  I am guessing this was just an oversight, since even modern '2D' games tend to be made in 3D, which allows for rotation and scaling and easy priority.  Of course the view is "flat" so it looks 2D, but behind the scenes it isn't.  Limiting games to 2D only wouldn't be terribly smart in 2019 (or 2020).

There hasn't been a peep about what kind of hardware this system will contain though.  Maybe this is still up in the air, but I would think the hardware has to be nailed down pretty soon or else games won't be ready in time for ship, even this far out. 

Reading the thread, I got interested in some of the games mentioned so I did a little "youtube research" as it were.   I chose four games:  Horse Racing, Skiing, Microsurgeon, and Horseshoes.  What I found surprised me some actually.

note: The following is simply what I found, and is not an endorsement or comparison or anything.  I was simply curious about the modern landscape for these particular game genres.  Knowledge is power.  No links will be given of course, since I am just going over what I found.

For Skiing, there's several free to play 3D skiing games that look absolutely amazing.  One particular game, "Snow" is free to play, but charges extra for extra game modes.  Not ideal, but the base game is free.

As for Horse Racing, this field seems pretty crowded.  Some of these games look absolutely amazing, with high quality 3D modeling.  (examples are Pharlap, and Rival Stars Horse Racing.  The latter is a mobile game).

My friend bought 'Surgery Simulator' on steam for around $5 a few years ago, and it seemed to be a pretty hilarious.  In one game, you have to perform an operation in the back of a moving ambulance, complete with it shifting around as it makes evasive maneuvers.  You can even drop things out the back of the ambulance (like the patient's brain!) and it will go rolling off down the road.  While not exactly a "Microsurgeon" clone, I think it was a pretty fun take on a surgery game.

And finally, horseshoes.  I only found an arcade version that used a trackball, but someone did indeed make it.  I wasn't sure I'd find a videogame version of it.  This is not considered modern though, having come out in 1990 and released by Taito.

Speaking of games, so far the only games I know about for the Amico are ports of existing games.  These are going to be 25% of the games for it, but so far those have been 100% of the announced and talked about titles.  (not that I am complaining, mind you, just pointing that out).

So that's my honest look at things as I see it with the information given at the current time.  When more hard information comes out eventually, my take on it will likewise update.

(btw , you can hit the little + next to reply on each post to do a multiquote reply and reply to more than 1 post at a time.)

Tommy, I am hoping you can expand on the interactive Dreamcast VMU concept.   

I loved the way the DC allowed for plays, in sports games, to be made on your VMU, I am hoping your sports games will allow fun use of the remote screen or allow your friends with cell phones to control other team members or make plays dynamically, talk about crazy couch play!

I am looking forward to see if I will be able to take some experience with me in some form via my cell and a app and play a mini game or something that syncs with your game next time you are sitting in front of it.  The Dreamcast game Evolution used the VMU to download a little maze dungeon to your VMU  to play on the road, that allows you to upgrade your items and gold that later transferred over to to your console when you plugged it in.

Can you imagine a  8 player Tetris game at once?  How about Tetris Tag where one opposing team member is playing and the members of the other team get to choose his/her next pieces or throw junk or blinders on the players field? 

The controllers look great for a Hot Potato type game with the screen and cell phones with a game of timing and speed or questions to answer to throw the potato..

I can go on and on.. but don't want to derail this thread.

(Ha Ha I guess I have way to many game ideas from my time in the game industry.. and just need to express..)

In any case looking forward to whatever you and your devs have designed I am sure it will take full advantage of the console gadgets.

29 minutes ago, kevtris said:

 

I have no dog in this fight, but I have been reading the thread all along.   I think you should get a PR person to handle day to day interactions with the greater internet at large.  You call some dissenting opinions "cyber-bullying", after posting the following personal attack a few pages back:

 

 

 

Handling dissenting opinions others have is a valuable skill, and one course of action is to just mentally tune them out and ignore them.  Another course of action is to read it, and try and see their point of view and move on (again without replying if need be).   It doesn't help from a PR standpoint to berate someone for not fully agreeing with your entire vision and having questions about it.  No one is saying the idea sucks or whatever, they are just bringing up doubts they might have about certain aspects.

 

Be that as it may, moving on.  

 

I watched the October video and have read this thread, and there really just hasn't been a lot to go on in the way of hard information.   We know it is a console.  and it has 2 controllers.  and comes in colours, and plays games.   The video says it will be 2D only.  I am guessing this was just an oversight, since even modern '2D' games tend to be made in 3D, which allows for rotation and scaling and easy priority.  Of course the view is "flat" so it looks 2D, but behind the scenes it isn't.  Limiting games to 2D only wouldn't be terribly smart in 2019 (or 2020).

 

There hasn't been a peep about what kind of hardware this system will contain though.  Maybe this is still up in the air, but I would think the hardware has to be nailed down pretty soon or else games won't be ready in time for ship, even this far out. 

 

Reading the thread, I got interested in some of the games mentioned so I did a little "youtube research" as it were.   I chose four games:  Horse Racing, Skiing, Microsurgeon, and Horseshoes.  What I found surprised me some actually.

 

note: The following is simply what I found, and is not an endorsement or comparison or anything.  I was simply curious about the modern landscape for these particular game genres.  Knowledge is power.  No links will be given of course, since I am just going over what I found.

 

For Skiing, there's several free to play 3D skiing games that look absolutely amazing.  One particular game, "Snow" is free to play, but charges extra for extra game modes.  Not ideal, but the base game is free.

 

As for Horse Racing, this field seems pretty crowded.  Some of these games look absolutely amazing, with high quality 3D modeling.  (examples are Pharlap, and Rival Stars Horse Racing.  The latter is a mobile game).

 

My friend bought 'Surgery Simulator' on steam for around $5 a few years ago, and it seemed to be a pretty hilarious.  In one game, you have to perform an operation in the back of a moving ambulance, complete with it shifting around as it makes evasive maneuvers.  You can even drop things out the back of the ambulance (like the patient's brain!) and it will go rolling off down the road.  While not exactly a "Microsurgeon" clone, I think it was a pretty fun take on a surgery game.

 

And finally, horseshoes.  I only found an arcade version that used a trackball, but someone did indeed make it.  I wasn't sure I'd find a videogame version of it.  This is not considered modern though, having come out in 1990 and released by Taito.

 

Speaking of games, so far the only games I know about for the Amico are ports of existing games.  These are going to be 25% of the games for it, but so far those have been 100% of the announced and talked about titles.  (not that I am complaining, mind you, just pointing that out).

 

So that's my honest look at things as I see it with the information given at the current time.  When more hard information comes out eventually, my take on it will likewise update.

 

(btw , you can hit the little + next to reply on each post to do a multiquote reply and reply to more than 1 post at a time.)

 

I’m going to guess hardware announcements aren’t out yet because they are still waiting for all the information patents they filed and processed before releasing those items 

2 hours ago, kevtris said:

 

Handling dissenting opinions others have is a valuable skill, and one course of action is to just mentally tune them out and ignore them.  Another course of action is to read it, and try and see their point of view and move on (again without replying if need be).   It doesn't help from a PR standpoint to berate someone for not fully agreeing with your entire vision and having questions about it.  No one is saying the idea sucks or whatever, they are just bringing up doubts they might have about certain aspects.

 While I agree @Tommy Tallarico should rise above it, the other poster is sealioning; a soft form of trolling. 

I personally would be disappointed if a PR firm took over.  It's fun to see the  passion behind a product, compared to the soulless Atari SA.  Their CEO refers to itself as "the brand" and have PR giving canned responses.  But, I know Tallarico has to do whatever is best for his company and isn't catering to me specifically.

I, too, am curious about the hardware.  Mostly off--the-shelf PC parts?  Or different enough it'll be more like old school consoles?  My impression is the latter, but I could be mistaken.

Anyway, I find it interesting that you find this interesting, since you know a thing or two about hardware.😉

23 minutes ago, PlaysWithWolves said:

 While I agree @Tommy Tallarico             should rise above it, the other poster is sealioning; a soft form of trolling. 

 

I personally would be disappointed if a PR firm took over.  It's fun to see the  passion behind a product, compared to the soulless Atari SA.  Their CEO refers to itself as "the brand" and have PR giving canned responses.  But, I know Tallarico has to do whatever is best for his company and isn't catering to me specifically.

 

I, too, am curious about the hardware.  Mostly off--the-shelf PC parts?  Or different enough it'll be more like old school consoles?  My impression is the latter, but I could be mistaken.

 

Anyway, I find it interesting that you find this interesting, since you know a thing or two about hardware.😉

I've never heard of this sealion term until you brought it up with that comic you posted earlier, which I did find hilarious. Regardless. my intention was not to engage in any form of trolling.  I'm just very passionate with my opinions and perhaps it comes off the wrong way on the internet. I'm just geuninely curious about the Amico and want to get a better understanding of it and sometimes that means asking the tough questions and really trying to drill in points I have in hope people would understand where I'm coming from. Obviously people see this as me coming off too aggressively, which is a fair assesstment, perhaps I could have toned it down somewhat. 

Lastly, just wanted to say I really do look forward to learning more about the Amico in the upcoming months and I do hope the Amico finds success regardless of my initial opinions of it. I've always said I respect the fact that this project is 100% self funded. Anyways, that is all you will hear from me on this topic in this thread, I will respect Tommy's wishes to move on and let the thread return to its previous state. I now have my own Amico thread so I'll just stick to that for the forseeable future.  

5 hours ago, Alpha82 said:

So Tommy I know earlier you were testing out a lot of the Moon Patrol what game being worked on currently is drawing the most staff attention?

I can't say because we have not officially announced any of the games we're currently working on for launch.  You will see game footage in the July trailer.  I can tell you more then.

But I will say that out of the hundreds of people who have been playing the games... there really isn't a clear leader because so many different people like so many of the different games!  That is a GREAT sign!!  We are accomplishing our goal and it's a great thing to watch and see the different reactions from different groups, ages, genders, etc.  I would say out of the 22 games that there are 10 "favorites" that different people have. 

 

6 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

I think you are right about the WiiU. However, I do think its an underrated system. I just think it wasn't mainstream enough with online play for that group to buy in, and the more casual gamers stuck with their Wii.

 

Speaking of old games with Amico news I'm getting the urge to play Earthworm Jim 1&2. Is the new EWJ going to be a platformer or more a party game?

The other huge thing about the Wii U is that it was the exact opposite in terms of "couch co-op".  If you wanted a 2nd controller to play with someone... $179!  They pretty much abandoned couch co-op and local multiplayer (which was the heart and essence of why the Wii sold to so many non-gamers).  Nintendo proudly states they don't like to look back and they like to innovate (which is damn commendable)... but they proved my concept and market (that non-gamers will absolutely purchase a home video game console if it's affordable, easy to play and they can play with friends).  The Switch is better in that regards, but it doesn't and won't have the same traction as the Wii received because it's more complex, doesn't appeal to the average non-gamer, controls are complicated for non gamers, more difficult to play and explain games, more expensive and very difficult to navigate the store (i.e. too many choices and zero quality control).  I think it's an AMAZING machine... but in regards to the market we will be capturing... it doesn't hit the mark as well as the Wii did (for the reasons I pointed out).

6 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

My guess is that you will prefer the Amico controller over using your cell, but will be a nice thing to have if you don't own 8 of those. Guess I never asked if the phones function basically the same as the controllers?

Yes... but with a HUGE secret coming next E3. (patent pending) 

6 hours ago, jsmith73 said:

I have been following this thread for a bit now, and I have to admit that I am very interested in this console.

 

I am at best a casual INTV collector. I have a 2609 and a handful of games.

 

I am very much looking forward to seeing this hit the shelves. I particularly like the idea of being able to play games with the family in the livingroom again. My wife and daughters are always up for a chance to hand me my ass...

 

Thanks Tommy!

 

I'll get back to lurking now.

Thanks!  You are like the tens of millions of others who feel the same way about wanting to play games with the family in the living room again. That is the market we are tapping into and focusing on.

Looking forward to hearing stories of your wife & daughters handing you your ass. 

 

6 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Leave MY thread or I'll have you removed. Staying at this point is just an act of cyber-bullying which I'm pretty sure is against forum rules.  Leave or be removed.  Up to you.

Apologies for the recent "static" in this thread.  I'm glad to see that almost everyone has kept the discussion on-topic and civil for over 30 pages now, and I'd like to see that continue.  "SegaSnatcher" won't be participating in the thread in the future.

Thank you for the regular updates, and for your willingness to engage with the community directly and openly.  I'm intrigued by the Intellivision Amico, and I look forward to learning more!

5 hours ago, kevtris said:

 

I have no dog in this fight, but I have been reading the thread all along.   I think you should get a PR person to handle day to day interactions with the greater internet at large.  You call some dissenting opinions "cyber-bullying", after posting the following personal attack a few pages back:

 

 

 

Handling dissenting opinions others have is a valuable skill, and one course of action is to just mentally tune them out and ignore them.  Another course of action is to read it, and try and see their point of view and move on (again without replying if need be).   It doesn't help from a PR standpoint to berate someone for not fully agreeing with your entire vision and having questions about it.  No one is saying the idea sucks or whatever, they are just bringing up doubts they might have about certain aspects.

 

Be that as it may, moving on.  

 

I watched the October video and have read this thread, and there really just hasn't been a lot to go on in the way of hard information.   We know it is a console.  and it has 2 controllers.  and comes in colours, and plays games.   The video says it will be 2D only.  I am guessing this was just an oversight, since even modern '2D' games tend to be made in 3D, which allows for rotation and scaling and easy priority.  Of course the view is "flat" so it looks 2D, but behind the scenes it isn't.  Limiting games to 2D only wouldn't be terribly smart in 2019 (or 2020).

 

There hasn't been a peep about what kind of hardware this system will contain though.  Maybe this is still up in the air, but I would think the hardware has to be nailed down pretty soon or else games won't be ready in time for ship, even this far out. 

 

Reading the thread, I got interested in some of the games mentioned so I did a little "youtube research" as it were.   I chose four games:  Horse Racing, Skiing, Microsurgeon, and Horseshoes.  What I found surprised me some actually.

 

note: The following is simply what I found, and is not an endorsement or comparison or anything.  I was simply curious about the modern landscape for these particular game genres.  Knowledge is power.  No links will be given of course, since I am just going over what I found.

 

For Skiing, there's several free to play 3D skiing games that look absolutely amazing.  One particular game, "Snow" is free to play, but charges extra for extra game modes.  Not ideal, but the base game is free.

 

As for Horse Racing, this field seems pretty crowded.  Some of these games look absolutely amazing, with high quality 3D modeling.  (examples are Pharlap, and Rival Stars Horse Racing.  The latter is a mobile game).

 

My friend bought 'Surgery Simulator' on steam for around $5 a few years ago, and it seemed to be a pretty hilarious.  In one game, you have to perform an operation in the back of a moving ambulance, complete with it shifting around as it makes evasive maneuvers.  You can even drop things out the back of the ambulance (like the patient's brain!) and it will go rolling off down the road.  While not exactly a "Microsurgeon" clone, I think it was a pretty fun take on a surgery game.

 

And finally, horseshoes.  I only found an arcade version that used a trackball, but someone did indeed make it.  I wasn't sure I'd find a videogame version of it.  This is not considered modern though, having come out in 1990 and released by Taito.

 

Speaking of games, so far the only games I know about for the Amico are ports of existing games.  These are going to be 25% of the games for it, but so far those have been 100% of the announced and talked about titles.  (not that I am complaining, mind you, just pointing that out).

 

So that's my honest look at things as I see it with the information given at the current time.  When more hard information comes out eventually, my take on it will likewise update.

 

(btw , you can hit the little + next to reply on each post to do a multiquote reply and reply to more than 1 post at a time.)

 

This personal thread was created for ME to answer questions about the console.  Not a PR person.  I thought it would be nice to interact directly with like-minded Intellivision fans like myself to answer questions.  It's NOT a place to debate me... I don't have the time.  And if that's what this becomes... then I'll simply leave.  Yes... take my ball and go home.  Why?  Because I work my ass off 20 hours a day and don't have time to deal with negativity and debate anonymous people on the internet.
 

Again... let me state once again for the record... this is a Q&A thread... not a debate thread.  Folks are totally welcome to create their own threads and debate how crazy I am.  Please... be my guest.  I don't care if people have a different opinion... that is totally fine.  Many people have come here (and left) unconvinced of my vision.  And again... that's fine.  But when they become rude, belligerent and insulting and they get their rocks off by just constantly going against anyone who says anything against their point (right fighting as it's clinically called) then it's time to ask them to leave.
 

I did not cyber-bully him... I'm pretty sure the big capitalized KIDDING!!! right after signaled just that.... I was kidding.

Moving on...

We NEVER said the machine is only going to do 2D and it doesn't say that in the video.  We said we are focusing on 2D and 2.5D.  We always mention 2.5D which I'm sure you're aware is 3D... but on a 2D plane.

Our hardware for the most part is nailed down and has been since last year (all of the most important parts).  Our developers know what it is but there is zero reason to talk about anything more than we already have.  Serves zero purpose for us.  I'm not in a technology battle with Microsoft, Sony, Google or Atari.  Let them all fight each other to try and outdo who has the biggest chip set.  We are about the GAMES and the EXPERIENCE.  THAT is the most important thing for us.  We are nowhere near the power and speed of the others... and we don't care.  The better the chip... the more expensive the games become.  Graphically, our stuff looks and moves better than mobile.  And our art director (very experienced and famous dude in the industry including Disney's Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, etc.) is an absolute genius who works directly with each of our developers to help create different stylized looks for each game. 

Power and chipsets don't matter.  It's the games and experience.  We feel very confident that we have both the games and the "fun experience" factor.

In regards to the 4 games you mentioned (that we may or may not be working on)... you kinda proved my point for me.  You had to go looking all over the internet and YouTube to find comparisons.  Some were on Steam, some were in the arcades years ago, some are on mobile, some had in app purchasing, etc.  Think of Amico as having the BEST of the BEST curated and created simple, easy titles for the entire family for all skill levels all in one place with couch co-op in mind for a very affordable price, never having to worry about violent/mature content for kids and that is super affordable for everyone.  I've never said there aren't games out there like the ones we're doing... but the average grandma isn't on Steam, the average family doesn't want to continue paying to play a game, there are lots of people out there who would prefer simple controls as opposed to the XBOX & PS4 or Switch.

Regarding the last part of your post.  We haven't officially announced any games that we are working on except for the new Earthworm Jim.  Yes, we officially announced a ton of licenses we've secured... but we plan on doing videos and announcements for each and every title we are officially working on over the next 15 months.  If we were to do one game a week starting this fall... we would have enough to do an entire year leading up to launch.  So LOTS of time.  Next month you'll see some in action.

I'm aware of the multi-quote but I prefer to respond directly to people to give it a more personalized touch as opposed to answering 5 people all at once.

Thanks.  Looking forward to you seeing more stuff from us in the future.

 

5 hours ago, imstarryeyed said:

Tommy, I am hoping you can expand on the interactive Dreamcast VMU concept.   

 

I loved the way the DC allowed for plays, in sports games, to be made on your VMU, I am hoping your sports games will allow fun use of the remote screen or allow your friends with cell phones to control other team members or make plays dynamically, talk about crazy couch play!

 

I am looking forward to see if I will be able to take some experience with me in some form via my cell and a app and play a mini game or something that syncs with your game next time you are sitting in front of it.  The Dreamcast game Evolution used the VMU to download a little maze dungeon to your VMU  to play on the road, that allows you to upgrade your items and gold that later transferred over to to your console when you plugged it in.

 

Can you imagine a  8 player Tetris game at once?  How about Tetris Tag where one opposing team member is playing and the members of the other team get to choose his/her next pieces or throw junk or blinders on the players field? 

The controllers look great for a Hot Potato type game with the screen and cell phones with a game of timing and speed or questions to answer to throw the potato..

 

I can go on and on.. but don't want to derail this thread.

(Ha Ha I guess I have way to many game ideas from my time in the game industry.. and just need to express..)

 

In any case looking forward to whatever you and your devs have designed I am sure it will take full advantage of the console gadgets.

 

 

 

 

Hi!,

Thanks for the shared enthusiasm!  We find ourselves in the same position each and every day.  So many incredible new ideas!  But we can only focus on so many as we need to establish ourselves with our main objective first before going in other directions.  But we definitely have a really fun list of ideas to explore.

Unfortunately I can't mention anything more about what the controllers or mobile devices can do.  The ideas will be stolen and incorporated in a second so we need to protect ourselves as we put together many different patent ideas (which we have been doing on a weekly basis).  Honestly... nothing more boring than a 5 hour patent meeting!  Hahhaha!  They drag me into them kicking and screaming. 

But so important to our future.

 

42 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

The other huge thing about the Wii U is that it was the exact opposite in terms of "couch co-op".  If you wanted a 2nd controller to play with someone... $179!

 

I think the Wii U was ideal for a family with one player being the 'leader'. It worked incredibly well with the Zelda game from Nintendo Land for instance, in which I would protect my nephew and niece with a bow (through the gamepad) while they were slashing monsters by wagging the wiimotes. It was perfect because they were not skilled enough (at the time) to use the gamepad - at least in this game.
Unfortunately it was too specific, since the Wii U was perfect for a certain type of games (asymmetrical gameplay), and not even Nintendo released many games of that kind. But they can't be replicated easily on the Switch, and the excellent Pac-Man Vs. would have worked better on Wii U for example.

5 hours ago, Alpha82 said:

I’m going to guess hardware announcements aren’t out yet because they are still waiting for all the information patents they filed and processed before releasing those items 

And... we don't want hardware chipsets to be the focus of discussion.  It would just open us up to negativity and speculation before anyone had a chance to play a single game.  We'd rather release a bunch of gameplay, get people playing the system... and then announce what we're using.  At that point... people will be so impressed with the games that they won't care how many cores or GHz we have.  My mom certainly didn't when she was bowling on the Wii. 

 

2 hours ago, PlaysWithWolves said:

 While I agree @Tommy Tallarico should rise above it, the other poster is sealioning; a soft form of trolling. 

 

I personally would be disappointed if a PR firm took over.  It's fun to see the  passion behind a product, compared to the soulless Atari SA.  Their CEO refers to itself as "the brand" and have PR giving canned responses.  But, I know Tallarico has to do whatever is best for his company and isn't catering to me specifically.

 

I, too, am curious about the hardware.  Mostly off--the-shelf PC parts?  Or different enough it'll be more like old school consoles?  My impression is the latter, but I could be mistaken.

 

Anyway, I find it interesting that you find this interesting, since you know a thing or two about hardware.😉

Thanks for the sealioning explanation.  I knew what he was doing... but I didn't know it had a name. 

The entire system is built from scratch in house (but includes one famous and experienced contractor outside).  In order to be a true hardware company you must have full hardware and firmware control in-house.  That is where Atari may get themselves in a little trouble in my opinion.  But that is just my opinion with not knowing much of their internal workings.  Maybe they do have full time firmware and hardware engineers?  I just know that last year when the talented and experienced guy they contracted for hardware ended up in the hospital (skydiving accident!)... it delayed their schedule (I believe).  We have teams of experienced people on site who are well paid full time employees with benefits.  And we are currently in the process of hiring 4 more firmware folks.  Something very important to do and have.