Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

32 minutes ago, Tavi said:

To bring the conversation back to Amico (and consoles in general) I am wondering how many people are keeping up on the news and foreseeing an industry-wide console shortage due to China's Corona quarantines and related manufacturing problems/delays? I would imagine there are more then a few people wanting to get in on special editions/pre-orders to assure they get themselves one in case of limited availability.

Resellers on eBay might make a mint this year if there is indeed a console shortage.

Yeah... I agree.  It's going to be scarce.  Which is another great reason to do pre-orders now.  So folks won't need to worry about trying to find one in the stores or Ebay. 

6 minutes ago, 1001lives said:

I feel like this needs to be pinned somewhere, so that the next time someone complains about customer service or says customer service is "non-existent," they can see people get the literal CEO of the company responding to them directly and insuring their refund is done. 

 
Agreed! 

And I'm still waiting to hear who they tried contacting in order to get refunded... which in turn gave them the impression that our customer service is "non-existent". 

2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

I think we're also going to open pre-orders for VIP White and Black ones as well (but at a cheaper price than the VIP Woodgrain).

Lots of folks have been asking about the white & black ones for pre-order.

 

 

May have to get in on the black if you do indeed open preorders on it. Black consoles are my fav to use for everyday play. The FE woody was strictly for my collection. My original plan was to stroll into local game store and pick up the black one on launch, but all theses shortages and supply issues may seriously hamper the chance to score one on launch day. At 46 I’m too old to pull another overnight, stand in line to get it type score 🤣

14 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Yeah... I agree.  It's going to be scarce.  Which is another great reason to do pre-orders now.  So folks won't need to worry about trying to find one in the stores or Ebay. 

 

Maybe it's as simple as that... Just open up to pre-orders on the woodgrain directly from IE with a $25 plastic card and a poster.  No need to make another limited edition offer, that could just be the standard direct order option before launch, then drop the extras after launch. 

A VIP run of 5200 is amusing and all, but Tommy treats all his customers as VIPs anyway, so pre-launch direct order from IE = VIP Edition with some fun extras. 

14 hours ago, Dakak said:

I have requested refund as well through several outlets.  They have already assigned my unit to someone else so I would like the refund as well 

My God!

2 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

I just wastedspent several hours of my life creating this topic: The Homebrew Wars.

 

Tommy's question gave me the idea.

 

It was an amazing online trip.

 

Now I need to rest my eyes a bit. Thanks god for the blue light filters and the dark mode extensions.

ColecoVision has about 230 homebrews

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 Agreed! 

 

And I'm still waiting to hear who they tried contacting in order to get refunded... which in turn gave them the impression that our customer service is "non-existent". 

Just a little bit of history from an “old timer”:

“Ahhgh I didn’t get me RFID card in my merch order” - yeah fulfillment house screwed up, replacements mailed in a few days.
 

“Ahhgh I didn’t get a confirmation of my preorder” - they all went out the next day after the dust settled.

“Ahhgh I cant get a a refund for my Founders order” - refund issued within 24 hours. 

I am sure Intellivision isn’t perfect but worst case you can always get ahold of Tommy here if the company system fails you. Hard to say that about almost *any* other company. Complaining that customer service is “non existent” or giving us hourly updates that your return hasn’t been processed *yet* is pretty ridiculous. You know there is PM on this board if you need to reach a Tommy about an issue not being resolved. If he refuses to resolve it and you still feel you are in the right - then post.

Tommy,

You mentioned about there possibly being a family edition of Amico at Costco.  What about different editions with their own box art?  Like a sports edition, retro arcade edition, puzzle/board game edition, etc.  And each one would have it's own box art depicting that version.  I think that would be pretty cool.  It would also be cool if each edition had it's own built-in games.  Ex: sports edition with 5 sports games, etc.  Anyway I just wanted to suggest this idea.  You probably already have something in mind for the different retail versions.

14 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

Just a little bit of history from an “old timer”:

 

“Ahhgh I didn’t get me RFID card in my merch order” - yeah fulfillment house screwed up, replacements mailed in a few days.
 

“Ahhgh I didn’t get a confirmation of my preorder” - they all went out the next day after the dust settled.

“Ahhgh I cant get a a refund for my Founders order” - refund issued within 24 hours. 

I am sure Intellivision isn’t perfect but worst case you can always get ahold of Tommy here if the company system fails you. Hard to say that about almost *any* other company. Complaining that customer service is “non existent” or giving us hourly updates that your return hasn’t been processed *yet* is pretty ridiculous. You know there is PM on this board if you need to reach a Tommy about an issue not being resolved. If he refuses to resolve it and you still feel you are in the right - then post.

Just an update guys - it's been 2 hours since both parties were fully refunded. I'll be back in an hour to let everyone know they've been fully refunded for 3 hours. And so on.

18 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

Just a little bit of history from an “old timer”:

 

“Ahhgh I didn’t get me RFID card in my merch order” - yeah fulfillment house screwed up, replacements mailed in a few days.
 

“Ahhgh I didn’t get a confirmation of my preorder” - they all went out the next day after the dust settled.

“Ahhgh I cant get a a refund for my Founders order” - refund issued within 24 hours. 

I am sure Intellivision isn’t perfect but worst case you can always get ahold of Tommy here if the company system fails you. Hard to say that about almost *any* other company. Complaining that customer service is “non existent” or giving us hourly updates that your return hasn’t been processed *yet* is pretty ridiculous. You know there is PM on this board if you need to reach a Tommy about an issue not being resolved. If he refuses to resolve it and you still feel you are in the right - then post.

Just found something out about the issue the person had (who mentioned our customer service is non-existent).

He incorrectly entered his e-mail address into our system when he contacted us!  So when we immediately replied (within 24 hours of his request) we never heard back.

Simple mistake on his part. 

I would say under the circumstances... maybe a little unfair to say our customer service is "non-existent".

 

2 minutes ago, Atari_Master said:

Tommy,

 

You mentioned about there possibly being a family edition of Amico at Costco.  What about different editions with their own box art?  Like a sports edition, retro arcade edition, puzzle/board game edition, etc.  And each one would have it's own box art depicting that version.  I think that would be pretty cool.  It would also be cool if each edition had it's own built-in games.  Ex: sports edition with 5 sports games, etc.  Anyway I just wanted to suggest this idea.  You probably already have something in mind for the different retail versions.

To be 100% clear... I just used the family Costco thing as an example. 

Yes.  We will eventually be doing different versions/packs.  Not this Christmas... but maybe by Christmas 2021...

Sports, Family, Retro, Kids, etc.

2 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Just found something out about the issue the person had (who mentioned our customer service is non-existent).

 

He incorrectly entered his e-mail address into our system when he contacted us!  So when we immediately replied (within 24 hours of his request) we never heard back.

 

Simple mistake on his part. 

 

I would say under the circumstances... maybe a little unfair to say our customer service is "non-existent".
 

Tommy,

You really should train your guys to be psychic. I'm disappointed in you, man.

Tommy

Can you tell John Alvarado that I think he's amazing and I would love to one day meet him?

It's not a man-crush or nothing **cough cough** I just love when you film in the office and talk to him 🙂

1 minute ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

To be 100% clear... I just used the family Costco thing as an example. 

 

Yes.  We will eventually be doing different versions/packs.  Not this Christmas... but maybe by Christmas 2021...

 

Sports, Family, Retro, Kids, etc.

 

 

Yeah, That's my bad.  I figured the Costco thing was just an example.  It's all good. 😊 

21 minutes ago, Swami said:

ColecoVision has about 230 homebrews

Ouch! I didn't check Wikipedia and forgot about a few systems that were not big in Europe... ⚽

Fortunately, the mods just gave me access to edit the message and add them. I will start with that one.

By the way, the PS1 has received 5 games in 20 years... depressing.

15 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Just found something out about the issue the person had (who mentioned our customer service is non-existent).

 

He incorrectly entered his e-mail address into our system when he contacted us!  So when we immediately replied (within 24 hours of his request) we never heard back.

 

Simple mistake on his part. 

 

I would say under the circumstances... maybe a little unfair to say our customer service is "non-existent".

 

OMG the number of times this has happened with the company I work for. Also, the folks who googled "email *our company name*" and sent an all-caps email to whatever result came up is in the thousands. 

10 minutes ago, RxScram said:

Tommy,

 

You really should train your guys to be psychic. I'm disappointed in you, man.

Just a note as I am a Director of Customer Service for a company.. been in the Customer Service biz since 1980s... and in this day and age with Social Media being an outlet for customers posting issues they have with such and such devices... myself and my partner in crime for our company's customer service peruse the internet all day long, mostly Social Media sites, to find posts that may be regarding our product.  If we do, before the customer even reaches out to us for support, let them know how to reach us so we can get them back to 100%. 

This blows their and many folks minds... that we reached out to them before they even did to us.  Shows we care.  Shows we are one step beyond what many offer in customer service.  

It is as close as one can get to being a psychic in customer service field and works well for us.  One reason why our company gets so many kudos for our customer service.

TJ

Tommy,

I know this probably won't happen.  But after the Amico has been out for a while and been successful.  Will we see an Amico handheld for those that like to play games on the go?

It's just something to ponder.  I know Amico is about family and being together.  I'm all for that.  Just wanted to know if a handheld version would come out at some point.

If not that's fine.  I completely understand.

8 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Homebrews

 

The 7800 has several great original homebrews. Time Salvo, Bentley Bear’s Crystal Quest, Rikki and Vikki. Also, the completely unique hybrid implementation of maze and video pinball of Baby Pac Man is amazing. 

ColecoVision has only abou 10% original homebrews, but many of these ones it has are great: Jeepers Creepers, Flora and the Ghost Mirror, Sydney Hunter series, Jet Ready, Mr. Turtle, Muncher Mouse, Tank Mission (semi-original). Maybe a few others I’m missing. Also, there are original homebrews shared between the ColecoVision and MSX: Zombie Incident, Children of the Night, Module Man, Multiverse, Cold Blood, Mecha-8 and Mecha-9 (semi-original). 

Also, you should check out the prototype “Arkyology” for the 2600. Religious Bible story setting might be an Amico concern, but the gameplay is addictive for being so simple. 

30 minutes ago, IntelliMission said:

Ouch! I didn't check Wikipedia and forgot about a few systems that were not big in Europe... ⚽

 

Fortunately, the mods just gave me access to edit the message and add them. I will start with that one.

 

By the way, the PS1 has received 5 games in 20 years... depressing.

I think as the effort involved in making a homebrew on par with the average retail release increases, the number of homebrews drops quickly. 

35 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Just found something out about the issue the person had (who mentioned our customer service is non-existent).

 

He incorrectly entered his e-mail address into our system when he contacted us!  So when we immediately replied (within 24 hours of his request) we never heard back.

 

Simple mistake on his part. 

 

I would say under the circumstances... maybe a little unfair to say our customer service is "non-existent".

 

Thanks for the refund.  I have no desire to monopolize or detail this thread so this will be the last I comment on it.  I will now not be deleting my comments as you had privately requested me to do after seeing your responses here.  If the mods decide to do so then that is their wish.  I submitted about 4 different requests for a refund , and I highly doubt I entered the info wrong all five times.  Also - the PayPal case i opened several days ago (with the proper email attached to the transaction ID) went completely ignored until I had to publicly post this issue; and apparently I was not in any exclusive company.  I wish you guys well and will buy an Amico after launch and I wish you all great success with this thing, but I’m not going to be thrown under the bus either and would appreciate if you also owned up to your own mistakes.   I would suggest perhaps making the refund request procedure more clear to others to prevent further misunderstandings.  Cheers!

15 minutes ago, Swami said:

The 7800 has several great original homebrews. Time Salvo, Bentley Bear’s Crystal Quest, Rikki and Vikki. Also, the completely unique hybrid implementation of maze and video pinball of Baby Pac Man is amazing. 

Those are easily my favorite Homebrews for the 7800. 

13 minutes ago, bonehead said:

Thanks for the refund.  I have no desire to monopolize or detail this thread so this will be the last I comment on it.  I will now not be deleting my comments as you had privately requested me to do after seeing your responses here.  If the mods decide to do so then that is their wish.  I submitted about 4 different requests for a refund , and I highly doubt I entered the info wrong all five times.  Also - the PayPal case i opened several days ago (with the proper email attached to the transaction ID) went completely ignored until I had to publicly post this issue; and apparently I was not in any exclusive company.  I wish you guys well and will buy an Amico after launch and I wish you all great success with this thing, but I’m not going to be thrown under the bus either and would appreciate if you also owned up to your own mistakes.   I would suggest perhaps making the refund request procedure more clear to others to prevent further misunderstandings.  Cheers!

My God!

2 minutes ago, poconojo said:

My God!

Was that Beverly, The Goldberg’s mom?

28 minutes ago, bonehead said:

Thanks for the refund.  I have no desire to monopolize or detail this thread so this will be the last I comment on it.  I will now not be deleting my comments as you had privately requested me to do after seeing your responses here.  If the mods decide to do so then that is their wish.  I submitted about 4 different requests for a refund , and I highly doubt I entered the info wrong all five times.  Also - the PayPal case i opened several days ago (with the proper email attached to the transaction ID) went completely ignored until I had to publicly post this issue; and apparently I was not in any exclusive company.  I wish you guys well and will buy an Amico after launch and I wish you all great success with this thing, but I’m not going to be thrown under the bus either and would appreciate if you also owned up to your own mistakes.   I would suggest perhaps making the refund request procedure more clear to others to prevent further misunderstandings.  Cheers!

For declarative purposes, can you post a copy of the case ID from your PayPal? Or any info without revealing yourself? Maybe the date or confirmation email date of the case being opened?

That way no one can dispute any of your claims one way or the other and we can keep it all out in the open. In my frustrations with refunds in the past I have made similar claims like "I opened up a case last week" or "I sent 10 emails" when in reality I maybe opened a case a day or two ago and sent maybe 2 or 3 emails. Just want to keep things transparent.