Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

Tommy, thanks for the code, just ordered a color-changing Rebel mug and a men's baseball T shirt.   The Rebel shirt I got a few months ago is really soft and comfortable, plus it confuses people, and I like that.

Also, the ladies tee looks very nice on Miss K, the placement of first and third bases are, uh, perfect.   

Tommy, I was going to ask you if you were feeling better, but I can see that you are doing pretty well!

In other news, the coronavirus is getting closer to Spain: it's now creating chaos in Italy.

2 hours ago, Atari_Master said:

I don't have any videos but what about Zone Ranger on the 5200?  Or Gremlins?  I know Gremlins was also on the 2600 but the 5200 version looks better and the game play was different.  For the 7800, how about Ninja Golf?

Ninja Golf could be really cool. The new mobile game is 'ok'.

For multiplayer you could have a battle/scramble. First person to the ball gets first choice of club this giving them an advantage.

Are Tower Toppler and Scrapyard Dog owned by Atari? They could maybe be turned into fun platformers.

9 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Ninja Golf could be really cool. The new mobile game is 'ok'.

 

For multiplayer you could have a battle/scramble. First person to the ball gets first choice of club this giving them an advantage.

 

Are Tower Toppler and Scrapyard Dog owned by Atari? They could maybe be turned into fun platformers.

Not sure if Tower Toppler & Scrapyard Dog are owned by Atari.

31 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Ninja Golf could be really cool. The new mobile game is 'ok'.

 

For multiplayer you could have a battle/scramble. First person to the ball gets first choice of club this giving them an advantage.

 

Are Tower Toppler and Scrapyard Dog owned by Atari? They could maybe be turned into fun platformers.

I'm sorry. I know that 7800 picking are pretty slim, but Scrapyard Dog sucked. C'mon! 

Do we HAVE to constantly suggest pre-1984 games, no matter what? I'm just sayin'! I mean Vanguard? Really? It's a boring dry run for much more enjoyable Gradius. What's next... Phoenix or Terra Cresta instead of Gaplus (or Galaga 3)or Galaga 88?

51 minutes ago, Blarneo said:

I'm sorry. I know that 7800 picking are pretty slim, but Scrapyard Dog sucked. C'mon! 

 

Do we HAVE to constantly suggest pre-1984 games, no matter what? I'm just sayin'! I mean Vanguard? Really? It's a boring dry run for much more enjoyable Gradius. What's next... Phoenix or Terra Cresta instead of Gaplus (or Galaga 3)or Galaga 88?

Post 1984 and I keep thinking of too many games that break the commandments. Scrapyard did suck! Lol

Isn't much past 1984 but I was thinking of Rare's Cobra Triangle.

25 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Post 1984 and I keep thinking of too many games that break the commandments. Scrapyard did suck! Lol

 

Isn't much past 1984 but I was thinking of Rare's Cobra Triangle.

I'm just thinking it's the nature of this forum I fell into. Video Games apparently died when the Japanese systems got imported here, by some AA denizens🧐.

9 minutes ago, Blarneo said:

I'm just thinking it's the nature of this forum I fell into. Video Games apparently died when the Japanese systems got imported here, by some AA denizens🧐.

Well it is called AtariAge. 🤷‍♂️

1 hour ago, Blarneo said:

I'm sorry. I know that 7800 picking are pretty slim, but Scrapyard Dog sucked. C'mon! 

 

Do we HAVE to constantly suggest pre-1984 games, no matter what? I'm just sayin'! I mean Vanguard? Really? It's a boring dry run for much more enjoyable Gradius. What's next... Phoenix or Terra Cresta instead of Gaplus (or Galaga 3)or Galaga 88?

I'd go with Phoenix, based on gameplay.  But for Amico the name recognition of the title is what's most important.  They don't need a license to make a similar playing game.  Some of those golden age (aka pre 1984) arcade games are still some of the biggest video game titles of all time.

2 hours ago, Blarneo said:

I'm sorry. I know that 7800 picking are pretty slim, but Scrapyard Dog sucked. C'mon! 

 

Do we HAVE to constantly suggest pre-1984 games, no matter what? I'm just sayin'! I mean Vanguard? Really? It's a boring dry run for much more enjoyable Gradius. What's next... Phoenix or Terra Cresta instead of Gaplus (or Galaga 3)or Galaga 88?

I’m not sure what you’re talking about. People have been suggesting all kinds of 3rd and 4th gen titles and even a game cube title. Are you hoping for some PS1/2 titles?

I Keep thinking , who will be the first person to post a photo here of them and their families playing a co-op on the Amico. Im sure it will happen shortly after the FE are shipped. For us outside the States odds are against us because of shipping time. Tommy maybe international orders should ship a week earlier...  

Not sure if this was asked already and answered. Has an re-imagined LocknChase been started yet? 

Tommy what can you tell us about toyfair ?

Did you buy some baby yoda toys ?

Do you prepare a big surprise and an Amico game with baby yoda ? Maybe an edutainment game ? 😗

49 minutes ago, mr_me said:

I'd go with Phoenix, based on gameplay.  But for Amico the name recognition of the title is what's most important.  They don't need a license to make a similar playing game.  Some of those golden age (aka pre 1984) arcade games are still some of the biggest video game titles of all time.

No they're not. They are a sea of Space Invaders and Pac Man clones dressed up in different and limited color palettes.

39 minutes ago, Swami said:

I’m not sure what you’re talking about. People have been suggesting all kinds of 3rd and 4th gen titles and even a game cube title. Are you hoping for some PS1/2 titles?

No. But the obscure Commodore Vic20 title that nobody ever heard of is a bit ridiculous for a 2020 console that's only going to have ¼ of it's library remade classic games.

I'm more of a 16bit era fan of games I guess.  

9 minutes ago, Blarneo said:

No they're not. They are a sea of Space Invaders and Pac Man clones dressed up in different and limited color palettes.

Asteroids, Missile Command, Defender, Donkey Kong, Tempest, Pole Position, Joust, Robotron, Punchout, Battlezone, Gravitar, Lunar Lander.  It was a time of really diverse gameplay and control schemes.

Just now, mr_me said:

Asteroids, Missile Command, Defender, Donkey Kong, Tempest, Pole Position, Joust, Robotron, Punchout, Battlezone.  It was a time of really diverse gameplay and control schemes.

And limited variety in levels and of endless repetition to the point of a games crash in 1983. Fine for Arcade quarter munchers. Permanent on the shelf cartridge? Not so much.

Punch out was later. Pole Position had bad controls and was a precursor to much better driving games like Outrun. Asteroids was boring to me, and still is.

Who thinks that these would be fun to have on Amico?

Adventure Island type game with motion controls or a Go Kart racing game.  Better yet, what about a UFO racing game?  It would be top down and as you race along, you and the opponent attack each other with laser fire.   Whoever survives and reaches the finish line wins.  Also, there would be different ship designs and different tracks.  The laser fire options could be: spread shot, giant beam and a homing laser missile.  

13 minutes ago, Blarneo said:

And limited variety in levels and of endless repetition to the point of a games crash in 1983. Fine for Arcade quarter munchers. Permanent on the shelf cartridge? Not so much.

 

Punch out was later. Pole Position had bad controls and was a precursor to much better driving games like Outrun. Asteroids was boring to me, and still is.

I don't disagree with you but that's why games are being remade for Amico.   I only last a few minutes with these games so they're not all that repetitive for me.  Asteroids however is a classic, Punch Out first appeared in 1983.  Pole Position has bad controls?  It's been a long time since I played one.  I like outrun, it reminds me of pole position.

I haven't look at this thread for two or three months, but I see it hasn't changed a bit! LOL

4 hours ago, Blarneo said:

Do we HAVE to constantly suggest pre-1984 games, no matter what? I'm just sayin'! I mean Vanguard? Really? It's a boring dry run for much more enjoyable Gradius. What's next... Phoenix or Terra Cresta instead of Gaplus (or Galaga 3)or Galaga 88?

Even remakes of Gradius or Galaga 88 would have a very limited appeal. Excellent remakes of old arcade games have been made in the past, some earning awards because of their quality, but they just didn't sell.

A simple action game loosely based on Shark, Shark!, a simple multiplayer action strategy game loosely based on Utopia, or a simple multiplayer dungeon crawler loosely based on Cloudy Mountain, sure! But true "remakes" of those games, as in basically the same gameplay only with more bells and whistles, would be commercial failures and would hurt the image of Amico.

Having said this, I believe people can certainly use old games to illustrate specific gameplay elements.

For example, a gameplay element that I imagine could be interesting in the context of Amico is the one of Crush Roller. It was a maze game with the two "fish" that would kill you like the ghosts in Pac-Man, but there were also the cat, the mouse, the bird and the rolling tire that couldn't hurt you but would mess up your fresh paint, forcing you to redo everything.

In the context of a multiplayer game (one player being the paintbrush, against two players being the two fish and four other players being the cat, the mouse, the bird and the rolling tire), I imagine this mechanic could end up being a lot of fun, at least if the game can be balanced correctly (which I guess would not be an easy task). It could lead to cooperation between the enemies of the paintbrush, where people actively communicate with each other to develop a strategy against this paintbrush (no matter if the paintbrush is a player or an AI).

There are several games like that which I believe have mechanics with a much better potential than arcade games. For example, I can think of The Goonies (some kind of platformer/puzzle mix where different people having to cooperate and synchronize their actions), Zorro (a platformer with elements of a point and click adventure game) or something like a multiplayer version of Impossible Mission.

Any talks with Bandai Namco? I've imagined up a Digimon World or Tamagotchi game, where you can load your character onto an Amico controller, and that functions much like the handheld virtual pets.

EDIT: Of course! How could I forget Sonic Adventure and the Chao gardens? The "loading" mechanism would be just like that game.

5 hours ago, Atari_Master said:

Not sure if Tower Toppler & Scrapyard Dog are owned by Atari.

Tower Toppler, for sure, is not owned by Atari:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebulus_(video_game)

I'm fairly certain Scrapyard Dog is, though, if anyone really is interested in a remake. After all, it was an original 7800 and Lynx creation.

2 hours ago, Blarneo said:

And limited variety in levels and of endless repetition to the point of a games crash in 1983. Fine for Arcade quarter munchers. Permanent on the shelf cartridge? Not so much.

 

Punch out was later. Pole Position had bad controls and was a precursor to much better driving games like Outrun. Asteroids was boring to me, and still is.

As someone who lived through it all, the 2nd generation was the well-spring from which everything came and we had a lot of fun with the consoles and arcade games. 3rd, 4th and 5th gen were just mile markers with needle point cartoony graphics on the way to the serious gaming that wouldn't start until 2000 with grand Ps1/2, xbox, wii and PC gaming. The 3rd-5th gen consoles held a lot of interest for gen-xers who grew up with them, but that's about it. There's a reason these millennial consoles outsold the earlier 90's consoles by nearly 2:1.

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/08/a-souped-up-nes-clone-ruined-my-childhood/

9 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

I decided to give everyone here 25% off anything in the store!  Just use the code: ATARIAGE25 when you checkout. 

 

Here is the Shop Link:  https://www.intellivisionamico.com/shop

I just ordered an item!  Thanks.

42 minutes ago, Swami said:

There's a reason these millennial consoles outsold the earlier 90's consoles by nearly 2:1

Cheap(est on the market?) DVD player certainly helped. That's what my PS2 was for the first 6 years after release (and I got it 1 month after US launch), not a video game system.

1 hour ago, Swami said:

As someone who lived through it all, the 2nd generation was the well-spring from which everything came and we had a lot of fun with the consoles and arcade games. 3rd, 4th and 5th gen were just mile markers with needle point cartoony graphics on the way to the serious gaming that wouldn't start until 2000 with grand Ps1/2, xbox, wii and PC gaming.

My view is almost the complete opposite of yours. For me, the best period for video games was from 1985 to 2000 (with my C128, my Amiga 1000 and later IBM PC clones). During that era, there was so much innovation that there was always something completely new to discover.

As for 2000, I see this as the start of the Great Dumbing Down of video games. Qualifying the 2000s as the start of "serious gaming" makes absolutely no sense to me.

48 minutes ago, Papy said:

My view is almost the complete opposite of yours. For me, the best period for video games was from 1985 to 2000 (with my C128, my Amiga 1000 and later IBM PC clones). During that era, there was so much innovation that there was always something completely new to discover.

 

As for 2000, I see this as the start of the Great Dumbing Down of video games. Qualifying the 2000s as the start of "serious gaming" makes absolutely no sense to me.

Well, I was mostly just poking fun at him for being so aggressive to 80s gamers. Mostly ... I'm more of a casual gamer, so I see things differently. I did lose interest in gaming after my 2600 until I started seeing cool looking PC games around 2000, mostly because I owned a PC. I know there are a lot of great 90s games, but it didn't make the 80s games any less fun for many of us. It seems a little corny to me in 2020 to be complaining about how much better 28 year old games were compared to 38 year old games. I remeber playing a lot of Tetris and Blockout  in the summer of 1991.