Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

My friends and I played the hell out of Galaxian and Space Invaders in our local pizza shop in 1979. It was like a mini arcade, plus really good NY pizza. Also the local bowling alley had an arcade in it. I remember Donkey Kong, Crazy Climber, Galaga, etc were there in the early eighties.

13 minutes ago, poconojo said:

My friends and I played the hell out of Galaxian and Space Invaders in our local pizza shop in 1979. It was like a mini arcade, plus really good NY pizza. Also the local bowling alley had an arcade in it. I remember Donkey Kong, Crazy Climber, Galaga, etc were there in the early eighties.

My local bowling alley had Asteroids , space invaders , cosmic avenger and cosmic alien, defender .........and arcades were so awesome in the late 70’s -early 80’s !!! Joust , space duel , galaga, tempest, Phoenix , robotron , moon patrol, time pilot , scramble  and the list goes on and on......Those were the days !!! It was all about the HIGH SCORE. Soon after , arcades we’re full of giant racing games mostly with no variety .....blahh ! Lol 

9 minutes ago, Cranker said:

My local bowling alley had Asteroids , space invaders , cosmic avenger and cosmic alien, defender .........and arcades were so awesome in the late 70’s -early 80’s !!! Joust , space duel , galaga, tempest, Phoenix , robotron , moon patrol, time pilot , scramble  and the list goes on and on......Those were the days !!! It was all about the HIGH SCORE. Soon after , arcades we’re full of giant racing games mostly with no variety .....blahh ! Lol 

The convenience store across the street from our high school. I remember mainly Robotron 2084, Frogger and Tutankhaman at lunch time. That one kid who would always spit chewing tobacco on the floor between levels when he would play. There was also a good arcade at the mall with about 20 games, which was pretty good for a town of a few thousand. 

8 minutes ago, Swami said:

The convenience store across the street from our high school. I remember mainly Robotron 2084, Frogger and Tutankhaman at lunch time. That one kid who would always spit chewing tobacco on the floor between levels when he would play. There was also a good arcade at the mall with about 20 games, which was pretty good for a town of a few thousand. 

What great memories ! The local

Bowling alley , pizza joint , corner store , arcade etc ....fun times !! 

My parents would take us out to a local arcade a few times a month.  Everyone had their favorite games... Dad on Galaxian, mom on Pac-Man, me on everything.  We'd each get a roll of quarters from the booth and man, that sound and sensation of cracking a new roll of quarters... Great stuff. 

9 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

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.

One of the largest healthcare conferences, HIMSS, announced yesterday that they are cancelling their conference that was scheduled to run next week due to coronavirus.  I believe Trump was even scheduled to speak at it.

https://www.himssconference.org/updates/himss-update-coronavirus

 

Quote

March 05, 2020

 

ORLANDO, Fla., March 5, 2020 – Today, following recent reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HIMSS announced it is clearly necessary to cancel the 2020 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition.

“We recognize all the hard work that so many have put into preparing for their presentations and panels that accompany every HIMSS conference,” said Hal Wolf, president and CEO of HIMSS. “Based on evaluation of evolving circumstances and coordination with an external advisory panel of medical professionals to support evidence-based decision making, it is clear that it would be an unacceptable risk to bring so many thousands of people together in Orlando next week.”

The advisory panel recognized that industry understanding of the potential reach of the virus has changed significantly in the last 24 hours, which has made it impossible to accurately assess risk. Additionally, there are concerns about disproportionate risk to the healthcare system given the unique medical profile of Global Conference attendees and the consequences of potentially displacing healthcare workers during a critical time, as well as stressing the local health systems were there to be an adverse event.

This will be the first time in 58 years the event has been cancelled, but it is now clear that cancellation is unavoidable in order to meet HIMSS’ obligation to protect the health and safety of the global HIMSS community, employees and local residents, as well as for the healthcare providers tasked with keeping our U.S. and global communities healthy.

Up to this point they were hoping they could manage it but rumor has it several of the big showfloor exhibitors pulled out.

I hope this thing gets under control so E3 doesn't share the same fate.

15 minutes ago, BiffMan said:

My parents would take us out to a local arcade a few times a month.  Everyone had their favorite games... Dad on Galaxian, mom on Pac-Man, me on everything.  We'd each get a roll of quarters from the booth and man, that sound and sensation of cracking a new roll of quarters... Great stuff. 

Nothing better than strolling into an Arcade with you brother or buddies and playing till you were spent out haha. My brothers love of pinball as a child grew to his profession. He eventually had an arcade and machine route in the 80’s, 90’s and he finally closed his Amusement Center in 2002. Glad to see some pay per hour arcades are making a comeback. Best times indeed!

Tommy, you've mentioned in several interviews about the latest Just Dance for Wii outselling the other platforms.  Although we don't have the newest one, my kids love playing Just Dance on the Wii and continue to do so almost weekly.  We like it because they are getting some exercise in the process.  Will the Amico have a Just Dance-type game?

Tommy Tallarico,

I'd just like to say thanks for taking time to respond to all our thoughts and posts. It's really a pleasant surprise to see a CEO of a company interacting as much as you do.

I know it must be hard when drama or friction comes up on this forum but I would ask that you look to all the positive posts as inspiration to continue to participate with us.

I'm not star-struck or a fan-boy. I don't gush over anyone ***cough cough except John Alvarado cough cough*** but it's nice to have someone of your fame and stature [see what I did there?] come in and have fun with us.

I for one really appreciate your time, talent and humor. It's a rare and unique human being who can be great and humble at the same time.

Thanks

5 hours ago, Cranker said:

So we will definitely be getting new gameplay videos this month ? Any chance of getting an entire level Of moon patrol ? Or another playable demo possibly ? 

Yes.  Gameplay video within the next 2 weeks (and will announce the VIP pre-order at the end of the video). 

Still working on Moon Patrol demo... but so many more important things ahead of it.  Not as easy as just porting a level from Amico to mobile.  All hands on deck for other stuff.  But hoping for the end of March for more Moon Patrol!

5 hours ago, MarioMan88 said:

The use of the word “running” is giving the folks over at what is now referred to as Atari to much credit, the status of this project is laughable. Did you see the demo at the NYC esports gaming event? It was painful the videos I watched 😬 

I should have used the word "ruining" instead!! 

5 hours ago, 1001lives said:

Right now there's no conceivable way they will deliver 15,000 units of anything anytime soon.

 

They posted pictures of their "production line" in some chinese backroom and they had maybe 4 or 5 assembly tables. 

 

From my time working with a company that did a lot of production in Ningbo for the circuit boards on boat engines and aquatic vehicles, let me tell you... Those 4 or 5 tables aren't making more than 50-100 units of anything. 

Exactly.  At the end of last year they said they were going to be shipping at the end of February.  I knew at that point it was impossible just based on the Chinese New Year!  That was before the whole Coronavirus thing.  Even without Corona there was no way they could do 10,000+ units.  Everything is shut down that month!  Now... the race is on!!  Can Amico come out BEFORE the VCS??  Wouldn't that be something.  

5 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

So it seems that the TurboGrafx-16 Mini and PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini have both been indefinitely delayed due to the virus. PC Engine Mini is safe provided you preordered on or before the 5th Japan time, but the turbo controllers might still be delayed. They really should have included those in the box, not the standard PC Engine controller that got phased out extremely quickly in favour of the turbo controllers...

 

I hope this doesn't affect Amico production too much. Everyone in electronics is going to be affected by it, and apparently some more than others, judging by this new development with the TG-16 Mini and CGX Mini. I hope it goes well for you guys, Tommy.

We're getting through it...  No matter what!!!!!!

4 hours ago, Tavi said:

Anyways, long-winded rant aside, any rough idea about when the reveal of the new Amico games will happen? I loved the Astrosmash and Night Stalker trailers (I still want to call them Astroblast and Dark Caverns; my 2600-ness showing though), and eagerly await to see what is coming up next!

About 2 weeks.

4 hours ago, 1001lives said:

Crowdfunding a brand new console platform isn't ever going to work out. In the end if you want to launch a new platform it has to be invested in and grown by people who are experienced in the industry. If they aren't experienced in the video game industry, they at least have to be very experienced in some kind of technology platform. 

 

Even with 8 million dollars, Ouya was a miserable thing and it was because of the people developing it and working on it. All the money in the world wouldn't have done anything for that group with that idea.

NAILED IT!!

btw... Ouya ended up raising $50 MILLION!!!!!!!!!

3 hours ago, poconojo said:

I know I am in 100 percent. I would have paid in full if the option was there. I have been really happy since the announcement of this console. I am sold on this system. In today's world, you don't see this kind of interaction between the owner of a company and his customer base. Customer service is all but non existent anymore.  

Thanks!  That really means a lot to me.  Makes it all worthwhile!

3 hours ago, N0mi said:

You bet that the Bavarian government won't be supporting a project like this with more than half a million US dollars if there is the slightest doubt of reliability.

Closer to a million now actually.  

2 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

all this talk about high scores etc reminds me of a summer night in NJ way back in the real early 80's. Me and a couple friends rounded up the two best Donkey Kong players in the town and we told them what we wanted to do  and that we would give them the quarters to play and free slurpees. Once they agreed our plan was afoot.  The grand plan was based on the high scores only being able to give you three characters, I mean you can only do ASS so many times, it was old.  So we needed the entire high score top ten to send our message.  SO the plan began, we "accidentally" kicked out the plug and let the game reset.  We then let the two best players do their magic, we wanted the hi scores to be hi enough so they werent easily overtaken.  So for the next few hours they basically took turns and did their thing, They only messed up once which caused the only real delay to fix which was like an hour. So after 4 hours or so, Who can tell back then.. it was done.  On the Donkey Kong game at out favorite 7-11 in 8 high score slots read

 

HEY

ALL

YOU

MOT

HER

FUC

KER

S!!

 

it was glorious and it attracted a crowd to check it for about a week.  The nice Korean family that owned the 7-11 was oblivious to it all, but hey we brought them some extra customers.

 

Anyway.. it is a fun memory...man summers in the 80s as a care free teenager were glorious.

Holy Crap!!  That is an EPIC story!

Looking forward to seeing the screen grab from an Amico game with this!   Hahahaha!

2 hours ago, poconojo said:

My friends and I played the hell out of Galaxian and Space Invaders in our local pizza shop in 1979. It was like a mini arcade, plus really good NY pizza. Also the local bowling alley had an arcade in it. I remember Donkey Kong, Crazy Climber, Galaga, etc were there in the early eighties.

Yep!  First time I played Donkey Kong, Star Castle, Defender & Joust was at my local pizza shop down the street.

The mob owned a lot back then!  Not only a lot of bars and pizza shops... but including mostly all the distribution of arcade machines!  Came from the cigarette, vending and pinball machine era. 

1 hour ago, Cranker said:

My local bowling alley had Asteroids , space invaders , cosmic avenger and cosmic alien, defender .........and arcades were so awesome in the late 70’s -early 80’s !!! Joust , space duel , galaga, tempest, Phoenix , robotron , moon patrol, time pilot , scramble  and the list goes on and on......Those were the days !!! It was all about the HIGH SCORE. Soon after , arcades we’re full of giant racing games mostly with no variety .....blahh ! Lol 

The first time me & my dad ever saw and played Space Invaders and Asteroids was at a batting cage.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  First arcade machines I ever played.  I was 10 years old.  Me & my dad STILL talk about that day!!

1 hour ago, Cranker said:

What great memories ! The local

Bowling alley , pizza joint , corner store , arcade etc ....fun times !! 

Yeah!!  LOVE this conversation!!!!!!!

Everyone... join in!!!!!!!!

22 minutes ago, haplo13 said:

Tommy, you've mentioned in several interviews about the latest Just Dance for Wii outselling the other platforms.  Although we don't have the newest one, my kids love playing Just Dance on the Wii and continue to do so almost weekly.  We like it because they are getting some exercise in the process.  Will the Amico have a Just Dance-type game?

The producer of Dance Dance Revolution (Jason Enos) is my VP of Production!  Jason also produced all the early Metal Gear Solid & Silent Hill games!! 

We don't have a camera situation so it would need to be controller controlled.  But we're looking into it.  Had a GREAT meeting today with a super cool music game.  Excited about the potential of having it be a launch title!

24 minutes ago, Michael Garvey said:

Tommy Tallarico,

 

I'd just like to say thanks for taking time to respond to all our thoughts and posts. It's really a pleasant surprise to see a CEO of a company interacting as much as you do.

 

I know it must be hard when drama or friction comes up on this forum but I would ask that you look to all the positive posts as inspiration to continue to participate with us.

 

I'm not star-struck or a fan-boy. I don't gush over anyone ***cough cough except John Alvarado cough cough*** but it's nice to have someone of your fame and stature [see what I did there?] come in and have fun with us.

 

I for one really appreciate your time, talent and humor. It's a rare and unique human being who can be great and humble at the same time.

 

Thanks

Thanks Michael!!  That really means a lot to hear you say that.

Yeah... good advice.  Sometimes I get caught up too much in the negative stuff... even though it's a very very small minority...  But a lot of you have my back and understand a lot about whats going on and how we operate.  Makes a big difference knowing folks are understanding what we're trying to accomplish.  If it was just me fighting all the negativity all the time... it would drag me down and make it tough to want to interact at all.

So THANKS to everyone!!!!!!!!!

(except for you negative cock-knockers... you still SUCK!)

55 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yeah!!  LOVE this conversation!!!!!!!

 

Everyone... join in!!!!!!!!

We had a place, each saturday morning, everyone paid 5$ and could play 3 hours.

But there were so many people that for some players it was impossible to get enough for their money! lol 😂

Don't remember the year, but Dragon's lair was there.

Before that at diner in school, I remember when I was looking players play Popeye, Defender, Dig Dug and Robotron.

I was not someone who played, but I was always watching.

The first arcade I saw when I was in 6th grade, was Donkey Kong Junior.

I had a mini arcade game at home, it was Galaxian (Later I had Intellivision II). My friend had an arcade Mini Pac-Man game (later he had a colecovision).

Memories ...

39 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

NAILED IT!!

 

btw... Ouya ended up raising $50 MILLION!!!!!!!!!

 

Yeah. They sold over a million consoles in 2-3 years, even with all the crap going on with it. Even now, private funding has revived the Ouya online network so people can use the games they have again. It doesn’t appear to have been the central idea that was bad, just the execution. 

I know it works because I remember folks used private funding to revive the online network for the PS2 to play with each other online after Sony shut it down. I haven’t used it in a couple years. Don’t know if it’s still there.