Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

7 hours ago, Guy said:

Wait, were you offended too? I thought only save2600 and m-crew were offended. For what it's worth, just read my messages in Tommy's upbeat voice.

I was not offended but with it being text and how it was written, then read it sounded like a Oscar going at Big Bird for listening and talking to Snuffleupagus.  With the cookie monsters watching and hoping that salad was a cookie lol

15 hours 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.

Lol! I wish you guys would stop giving Tommy great ideas about how to take more money out of my pocket. 😂

16 hours ago, 1001lives said:

Wait what? What's happening with Polymega? You mean the Chameleon? 

Nothing is happening with Polymega, which is the problem with it. At least one prototype exists, and a small amount of people, including myself, have actually played it so we know at least something actually exists, but beyond that, there is literally nothing. Apparently it was supposed to ship last month but it didn't and the company doesn't actually say anything ever except to announce announcements. It's actually kind of fun to watch from afar on occasion just because the whole thing is a terrible wreck. Cruel, perhaps, but true. I don't wish for them to fail, but, like with NEC's terrible handling of the TurboGrafx-16, they may have destroyed themselves.

A few people have mentioned that, depending on some various stuff, doing another VIP console could make it look like Intellivision Entertainment is short on cash and needs money for whatever reason depending on how it's done/timing. I forgot to consider this when I replied to this previously and I agree with it, so basically append this to what I said earlier. I don't personally care either way, but I'd just be careful with brand image and stuff.

Haters will interpret it as "lol intellivision got no ca$h need ur moneyz to make thing" or some other grammatically incorrect variation on that no matter what, I think, but people who were not able to get the Founders Edition will probably be very happy and the rest of the world will continue to be ignorant because they do not know the thing exists at all yet.

Let's talk about some positive stuff. Apparently E3 is still going to proceed as planned. Someone can insert a Palpatine .gif if they desire.

14 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Hi,

You know I NEVER told you privately to delete comments here!  Why would you say that??!?!?  I would appreciate an apology.  You know that isn't true.  You PM'd here yesterday and I simply replied...

"Hi.  Not sure why that is happening.

 

Please send an email to [email protected]

 

Thanks."

 

Also... just a quick question... True or False... you put the wrong e-mail address in?  Just a simple Yes or No.  We have the correspondence. 

I wasn't throwing you under the bus in any way.  I was trying to get to the bottom of who and how you were contacting us so I could take care of the problem.  You never responded publicly. 

Totally unfair of you to say that I privately requested you to delete your comments.  I NEVER did such a thing.

 

Wow.

 

 

Now, this is getting ugly, isn't it? Who's telling the truth now??? 

12 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

I was wondering the same thing. Since you have an office in Europe, does this mean that if we order the console from the website, it will ship from Europe?

I'm used to preorder stuff at Amazon so I don't pay shipping, but I'm interested in the woodgrain model (even though I really like the GTO red too).

That's the problem with exclusives to (US) retail chains; they're usually not available in Europe.

My guess is that all European orders will be directly fulfilled by their European headquarters located in Nuremberg, Germany. 

45 minutes ago, N0mi said:

Now, this is getting ugly, isn't it? Who's telling the truth now??? 

Really!!! Do you think this is really in question.  I know who I would bet my money on.  
I have no doubt who is that for sure. 
Someone who has been transparent here since his first post in this thread.  
 

TT and IE.  

13 minutes ago, m-crew said:

Really!!! Do you think this is really in question.  I know who I would bet my money on.  
I have no doubt who is that for sure. 
Someone who has been transparent here since his first post in this thread.  
 

TT and IE.  

Sure! So why would somebody claim TT allegedly asked him privately to remove comments? That would be unacceptable. 

2 minutes ago, N0mi said:

Sure! So why would somebody claim TT allegedly asked him privately to remove comments? That would be unacceptable. 

Tommy posted that pm here and no where did it say that. 
please scroll back and take a look. 
 

People have been saying a lot crap here just to stir things up and Tommy has always been honest and upfront. 

 

55 minutes ago, m-crew said:

Tommy posted that pm here and no where did it say that. 
please scroll back and take a look. 
 

People have been saying a lot crap here just to stir things up and Tommy has always been honest and upfront. 

 

The problem is, today anybody can claim anything without prove, to bring somebody into discredit for no reason.

2 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Nothing is happening with Polymega, which is the problem with it. At least one prototype exists, and a small amount of people, including myself, have actually played it so we know at least something actually exists, but beyond that, there is literally nothing. Apparently it was supposed to ship last month but it didn't and the company doesn't actually say anything ever except to announce announcements. It's actually kind of fun to watch from afar on occasion just because the whole thing is a terrible wreck. Cruel, perhaps, but true. I don't wish for them to fail, but, like with NEC's terrible handling of the TurboGrafx-16, they may have destroyed themselves.

 

A few people have mentioned that, depending on some various stuff, doing another VIP console could make it look like Intellivision Entertainment is short on cash and needs money for whatever reason depending on how it's done/timing. I forgot to consider this when I replied to this previously and I agree with it, so basically append this to what I said earlier. I don't personally care either way, but I'd just be careful with brand image and stuff.

 

Haters will interpret it as "lol intellivision got no ca$h need ur moneyz to make thing" or some other grammatically incorrect variation on that no matter what, I think, but people who were not able to get the Founders Edition will probably be very happy and the rest of the world will continue to be ignorant because they do not know the thing exists at all yet.

 

Let's talk about some positive stuff. Apparently E3 is still going to proceed as planned. Someone can insert a Palpatine .gif if they desire.

It's highly unfortunate that yet another Retro games console is falling into the "silence" void.

It gives upcoming brands like Intellivision a hard time since Tommy is having to rise up from the ashes of all the scorched reputations of these companies. I hate that Amico is getting lumped in with stuff like Chameleon, Ouya, and probably now Polymega, etc. because these were all such strange ideas to begin with and are nothing like Amico. It also definitely affects people's perceptions when Tommy asks if people are interested in pre-orders.

Also it's just really sad to hear that the Polymega efforts are not really going anywhere, as well. I always want more hardware to succeed especially when it comes to the retro gaming arena. 

2 hours ago, N0mi said:

Now, this is getting ugly, isn't it? Who's telling the truth now??? 

Well, I asked that guy to produce some logs so we could be more transparent about what went wrong, without revealing personal information about himself, and he never replied.

He should easily be able to post the date of the PayPal escalation claim, the 4 or 5 emails he sent to the correct address, and snippets/copies of the conversation where Tommy told him to delete his comments. But he hasn't done that yet.

39 minutes ago, N0mi said:

The problem is, today anybody can claim anything without prove, to bring somebody into discredit for no reason.

Lets just ignore this kind of drama.

I'm getting a little tired of this kind of stuff and don't have time to constantly dedicate time to proving myself over and over again.  My commitment and history speaks for itself.
 

2 hours ago, N0mi said:

Now, this is getting ugly, isn't it? Who's telling the truth now??? 

Who do you think?

2 hours ago, N0mi said:

My guess is that all European orders will be directly fulfilled by their European headquarters located in Nuremberg, Germany. 

We haven't decided this yet.  Lots of things changing because of the Coronavirus.  It's possible (because of timelines) that units for Europe could ship directly from China.

But something for folks to remember....  ALL of the Founders Edition will be shipping from the U.S.!  Biggest reason... I gotta sign them all!!!

A mobile version of paper.io has over 300,000 monthly active users. How will Amico gather stats to get feedback on what people like?

3 hours ago, m-crew said:

I was not offended but with it being text and how it was written, then read it sounded like a Oscar going at Big Bird for listening and talking to Snuffleupagus.  With the cookie monsters watching and hoping that salad was a cookie lol

 

 

 

You guys are all gonna laugh your ass off in a few months when we reveal something.

Taken in NYC last week.

5 minutes ago, digdugnate said:

A mobile version of paper.io has over 300,000 monthly active users. How will Amico gather stats to get feedback on what people like?

By listening, looking to see what is selling in our store, the amount of folks logging scores on the leaderboards.... and sorcery.

But we're not going to SPY on people like everyone else in the industry does.  Sickens me.

8 hours ago, cmart604 said:

Yikes. Canada Post is not going to like me or you if these all come at once. Lol. 

But I will.

9 hours ago, Michael Garvey said:

Tommy Tallarico,

I have some questions when you have the time:

1) Can anyone ever be too Italian?
2) Can you ever have too much Spiderman memorabilia?
3) Can you really dance on a star AND carry moonbeams home in a jar?
4) Is 42 ALWAYS the answer???
5) Can I get an autograph...cough cough of John Alvarado...cough cough?
6) If a Blackhole and a MASShole were to collide, what would happen?
and finally...
7) If there truly aren't enough hours in the day then what would be the perfect amount of hours in the day?

1.  Yes.  Have you seen Jersey Shore?  Although as we all know... that isn't "real" Italian. 

2.  I'm not sure I understand your question.

3.  Tried once.  Easy.

4.  Hell yes!  At least this guy seems to think so!

I wonder how many people on this planet can say they've recited Vogon Poetry with Douglas Adams?  I'd say I'm probably in an elite club. 

At the end of the interview (this was the raw footage) you can see me pull out my very unvegan leather bound edition for him to sign.  But then the strangest thing happened!  He pull out a few of my soundtrack albums as asked me to sign it for him!  He was a fan of my music and had all my soundtracks.  An amazing moment in my life and so cool that it was caught on film.

5.  Sure!

6.  MASShole would yell and swear at the blackhole until it either left or got out of the way.

7.  See my #4 answer!  

Hi Tommy ! If possible can you reconfirm  my statement in my post yesterday about there being local high scores that will be permanently saved with the players initials ? I was sure you had answered yes to this question previously, but I can’t find the post. I know it may seem trivial to many , but it’s a huge thing for me. Thanks and looking forward to seeing new gameplay videos soon ! And huge FE backer here ! (One for me and an extra one for my brother) 

1 minute ago, Cranker said:

Hi Tommy ! If possible can you reconfirm  my statement in my post yesterday about there being local high scores that will be permanently saved with the players initials ? I was sure you had answered yes to this question previously, but I can’t find the post. I know it may seem trivial to many , but it’s a huge thing for me. Thanks and looking forward to seeing new gameplay videos soon ! And huge FE backer here ! (One for me and an extra one for my brother) 

Yep!  On most games this is the case.  We LOVE local high scores too!  Brings the family together more... trying to beat high scores within the household.  So cool!  And something that has been lost in time!  Don't worry... we're bringing it back!

10 hours ago, Guy said:

Wait, were you offended too? I thought only save2600 and m-crew were offended. For what it's worth, just read my messages in Tommy's upbeat voice.

I think it would be way more entertaining to read it in @The Atari Creep's voice!!

11 hours ago, Michael Garvey said:

I hope that camping in Canada with Big Bird and the Grouch is an Amico exclusive edutainment game!

Remember these words in a few months.

14 hours ago, Guy said:

Since those who ordered the FE seem concerned that their "limited" status is threatened... make a super-simple edition for the thousands of customers who missed the presale. 
Now, here's the twist: make it the wooden grain console ofc, plus an exclusive t-shirt (this shirt won't be sold later in the store). That way they have a differentiating element, but the value is not very high.  Although I assure you there will be people who bought the FE and will buy this new "VIP" edition just for having that exclusive t-shirt. It's a win-win.
I think the price should be lower, something like $250. And the down payment for it should be $50. That way you get commitment from ppl, and it doesn't seem like a money grabbing move. And make it open-ended. If you sell 10k, better for you and the people who bought FE. If you sell 5200 or less, well, no one will know (you don't have to reveal your numbers) that they bought a niche item, so FE crowd will keep their *rare* status.

 

Just my 2 cents.
Tommy, I honestly don't think it's wise to consult with customers who've already been served. Especially something as sensitive as hardware manufacturing. And especially when feedback you get is going to be colored by their personal bias (and even selfish interest).

 

Come on! A guy like you? Who has an input into everything that goes on in the company, from screen material to a game logo? You have to make the call, man! You hold all the cards. You have the real demand of thousands of customers. You have the numbers and the excel spreadsheets of what's financially feasible. You have your site analytics. You've been too supportive of the AtariAge guys. Maybe too much. Do your CEO thing, make up your mind and don't listen to these guys, they know less than you do anyway. Just don't fuck with the FE's exclusivity. It's simple.

Yo!,

Yes... we will be moving forward with the VIP editions over the next few weeks (big gameplay trailer coming first though!) and they will be less expensive than the FE's and not as much value (or anything the same). 

To be clear, my mind was already pretty much made up in regards to doing another pre-order... just because... like you said... I know what our internal data is in regards to folks wanting us to do something else.  But because I knew that a lot of folks in here had the FE... I wanted to get a sense of how they felt about it so I could see if there was a way to please as many people as possible.  I know it's something an impossible task... but no harm in trying! 

Because of the concerns raised, I actually changed the scope slightly because I was able to understand a different point of view.  In fact... because of that... I'm not going to number or limit the pre-orders at all... which in the end... probably becomes better for the company overall. 

And yes... the biggest take away for me... was your last 2 sentences.  As you said... "It's simple!".

Thanks for the feedback and discussion.

14 hours ago, Michael Garvey said:

Tommy Tallarico,

Is Tozai working on your Amico Lode Runner game?

If so, will it be similar to their Lode Runner Legacy game that was released last year on Steam and the consoles?

Thanks

Tozai isn't a developer.  They are a publisher.  We are working with them on a number of different projects.  Lode Runner is one of them but has not yet been started.

Haven't had time to see what potential options are out there right now.  Sometimes... just because a game may not be that great on a certain system... doesn't mean we can't make it better and cooler on ours! 

Wouldn't it be funny if an Amico version of virtually the same game was way better than any of the other versions.     I like the idea of that challenge!  (especially considering how much more powerful the other systems are from a technology standpoint.)