Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

4 hours ago, OEB_Pete said:

Awe shucks thanks, Riddle eh, hmmm  a riddle?  About the 9 I assume

Yes ! Riddle with " " because I knew that google translate wouldn't help me on this one ! 😕 lol

@Tommy Tallarico Is Star Raiders on the agenda? 5200/Atari 800 version, not 2600 version. I think the touch screen and disk could be put to good use and a re-imagining could add some interesting twists.

They might want to theme a star raiders type game as star trek. 

They've listed all the atari licenses they have, some of which haven't been started.

A bit of a diversion from the discussion(s) for a premise.. may be more theory than anything and putting a very heavy cart before the horse, but;

The video game industry needs Intellivision.  Needs Amico.

We're excited about Amico for all sorts of reasons.  This little merry band of AtariAge followers are passionate about a company that appears to get us.  We're excited about sharing a console with our significant others, our young children, our aging parents.  We saw a release or a trailer reel or the reveal and we're out of our seats excited, perhaps in part by nostalgia, perhaps more because a company is shaking things up we find stale.. maybe it's all of the above.

But none of that gets at a larger, existential issue at hand.  The bulk of video game development (design, games publishing, hardware manufacture, distribution), as an industry, is on an unsustainable trajectory.  It has become a cost-prohibitive albatross, where the sheer budget needed to make a game of consumer expectation continually nips at creativity, discourages a talent pool from entering game design and programming to work on such massively scoped projects, and ultimately funnels game design and game release to fewer tired retread formulas. 

AAA game publishing, even what would be considered the equivalent of AA game publishing a step or two removed from the premiere tier, is racing toward a point somewhere on the horizon where the cost-benefit of producing a game is unreachable by all but the most financially backed publishers and strongest players in the market.  And they can ill-afford creative license that lands a critical, commercial flop.  Let alone successive failures.  Much like record labels thirty years ago, much like Hollywood over the last twenty, the video game industry is so laser-focused on the blockbuster and besting itself, racing toward more effects, more marketing overlay (film) more producers and studio work (music) are ever increasing costs and squeezing out creativity.  And squeezing out their own price-point as a mass-produced disposable consumer good. 

What are Sony and Microsoft so utterly focused on?  Chasing the future.  Solid State drives to process millions of data processes simultaneously.  State-of-the-art graphical ray-tracing to allow a billion objects in a game to act independently and respond to different directions regarding light sources, shadows and effects.  4k resolution.  Virtual Reality.  Massive servers that will be able to accommodate cloud-computing in thousands of a millisecond.  All so that developers and publishers can pour resources, ever more resources, into games that will blow away anything you saw over the last few years.  Enjoyed the effortless swinging from buildings rendered in beautiful 1080p in Spiderman on your PS4 Pro?  Loved the textural effects of individual blades of grass swaying in 140 discreet wind patterns during gameplay while taking in the landscape of Red Dead Redemption II?  Quaint.  The movers and shakers of the video game industry are making the next big pitches to excite the masses.  You want more.  You want better.  You want your Xbox Series X to give you hyper-realism the likes of which will give you a moment of emotional catharsis.  

That comes at immense cost.  Sony and Microsoft are chasing unreleased AMD processors to do cutting edge work even high-end PCs aren't going to be incorporating for a couple years yet.  Even Nintendo, a notch or two down, knows to stay in the pool of ported major third-party developers, it'll need to pack a walloping amount of processing power and HD graphics at minimum into it's little machine.  And how do you get blown away by ever-increasing games?  Why, you throw more resources at them.   In 1980 every game was a single developer project.  Maybe you had someone working on pixels and game design, and someone else writing code.  But the typical best-seller game was a one-man show.  There's only so much cost baked into a one-man project: the hours put in to creating his/her masterpiece.  And that usually came to 3-6 months of that person's time.  By the mid 90s game development had grown to more typically 15-20 person teams, perhaps with a little help for specialization where larger studios were concerned, and perhaps a six-ten month production cycle, spending several million to produce a game.  Inflating cost.  By 2005 the typical AAA title was made by a 30-50 person studio over the course of the better part of a year, at a production cost of perhaps $20-30 million.  Today, $20 million is an under-the-radar smaller published project.  An AAA title may be a $200 million, $300 million endeavor by a large 350 person studio, taking 2 years to bring to fruition.  

The common theme is to throw more money, more programmers, game designers, specialist resources into these massively expensive titles.  All to outsell to the same core audience that ages with your content - that consumer has to have more and better next year, or they'll move on to some other franchise.  Every game needs more detail, more freely explored space, more virtual freedom in a richer, deeper, immersive game world.  That's all cost.  Incredible cost.  And no single player is pushing against that trend to show any other way.  Nintendo, Nintendo some will say.  I can hear the loudest Nintendo champions saying THEY are pushing against that trend.  Only, not so much anymore.  Their games are still expensive endeavors.  We expect Breath of the Wild 2 and Xenoblade.  We expect all 48 trillion Pokemon in the next Pokemon: Shampoo and Conditioner series.  We want 700 fighters in the next Smash Bros.  Well, we don't - consumers don't per se, but a vociferous community of YouTube commentators surely do want to project their fever-dreams as though they spoke on behalf of the mass consumer.  

There is no challenger, no serious contender to throw their hat into the ring with the premise of a different model.  Until Intellivision pitched their vision.  

Mobile and indies have filled a niche for smaller, leaner games to prove they have consumer appeal, and have taken a lion's share of the video game market.  But that's been largely written off as a time-wasting trivial market (mobile), and as a passing fad (indies).  Unfortunately, success has crowded that market to the point that it's neither sustainable nor likely that a given publisher/developer will see success in either the mobile or the indie developer market publishing to the larger consoles.  Too much shovelware, too much clutter, the consumer, Johnny Casual, doesn't have a clue what's good on the mobile app marketplace or how to find it.  Apple and Google may give some curation, but that's still simply suggestive picks not tailored to his interests, not easily searched.

The need for a well-curated system is pretty well agreed to.  But we don't much chime in about the need for a system whose business model exacts a cost-effective model of game development.  And that is so desperately needed by the video game industry.  Because the path forward isn't sustainable on Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo's current trajectory.  And the most vulnerable parties aren't Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo, despite our community's constant focus on these industry titans.  The most vulnerable parties are games publishers. 

In 2005, we had Take Two, Bethesda Softworks, Electronic Arts, THQ, Vivendi, Eidos, Warner Bros, Activision, Square-Enix, Sega, Capcom, Konami, Bandai, Ubisoft, Midway, Namco, Sierra, Blizzard, Lucas Arts, Rockstar Games, Atari, Sony Computer Entertainment, Nintendo, and Microsoft Studios... this entire tier of major publishers putting out mostly trusted quality content of high production value.  Now several have been bought out, consolidated, exited gaming altogether.  Activision bought out Sierra Online, then combined with Vivendi and Blizzard.  THQ collapsed, Atari went bankrupt and is a shell of the shell of it's shell that was a former self.  Lucas Arts disappeared, death by mouse as Disney bought them out.  Bandai bought out Namco, Konami just about called it a day and went pachinko or bust.  Midway couldn't survive and disintegrated.  Eidos was bought out by Square Enix.  And beneath these famous giants, the mid-tier of games publishing is even more harrowing and filled with defunct publishers.  We're at a point now that to make a successful video game that can reach a mass audience, you have to be a big studio, and said big studio has to be able to throw eight or nine digit budgets at major game development to produce a game with a good return on success.  

That isn't sustainable.  Especially as we race toward consoles that are to compete with the highest cost, cutting edge gaming elite PCs.  Our smaller market of publishers today will inevitably shrink, not grow.  Our list of new games will inevitably shrink, not grow.  And our diversity in games available will inevitably shrink as those few publishers will not be all that excited to put half a billion dollars toward a gaming concept and see it flop.  Already I see repeated talking points questioning whether $60 for a game is too low a cost, as if anyone is paying $60 for a game and overjoyed at what a steal it is, and would happily pay $120 if you really wanted them to, especially if paid DLC wouldn't be fostered upon the buyer of a $120 game.  For now.

Enter Intellivision.  Taking the most cost-effective approach to games publishing - acting as a game incubator for dozens and dozens of studios.. screening from hundreds or thousands of ideas as they lock Jason Enos and Paul Nurminen in some dark closet to screen ideas from every which direction.  Hopefully feeding them now and again, but we know Tommy is careful not to open that door on tours of the office...  But Intellivision is giving the video game industry a blueprint for how it can also find its way forward and sell a successful model for others to follow.  Not quintupling production costs and banking on wowing the consumer with innovative graphics and costly overages baked into games.  Rather, focus on mechanics, on gameplay experience, on items that can be addressed within a strict budget.  Extract fun gameplay from interesting concept.  Extrapolate fun individual experiences into new experiences with a group dynamic.  Get back to basics.  

And the whole model may not find consumer success.  But if it does, it paints a different formula moving forward.  The answer to growing the video game market isn't necessarily an arms race to immersive game experiences recreating realities at immense cost.  It isn't wearable tech and accounting for a billion options to work out in complex 3D worlds.  The answer could just be, make fun games.  Create the platform that bridges consumer trust, making curating trusted games that much easier a task, and present an easy product for them to adopt.  At every turn in consumer electronics, the market invariably shrinks despite manufacturers desperate measures to pack in more complexity.  Just keep it simple, stupid.  The market doesn't grow to justify doubling, tripling the cost with an Xbox Series X.  They're not getting a PS5.  PS4 owners, Xbox One owners.. THAT'S the market moving on to PS5 and Series X.  And that market has been sold and resold and resold again the same promises of ever-better graphics, ever more immersive games.  And the publishers, the manufacturers chase down that rabbit hole.

Unfortunately that's not the angle journalists are covering.  That isn't going to be the discussion with Rich at ReviewTechUSA, who will ask fair questions but is completely enamored with the leap in technological capabilities the next gen promises - just, completely devoid of the cost impact.  The guys over at Completely Unnecessary Podcast are more interested in the exciting points like console wars and hardware manufacturer total sales numbers, in lambasting who Amico could possibly appeal to.  Lost is any argument of how sustainable the video game industry present model is, and how it could be the transformative player that helps save an industry from its worse instincts. 

Wow... Somebody should use the text above to make a documentary and upload it to Youtube. 🤑👍

21 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Good man!   We got some amazing things on the drawing board right now.

 

But next up... anyone interested in checking out a new 3 minute trailer that includes new footage from 22 games!  9 games no one has ever seen before (or I've talked about) and other things like more Astrosmash levels, 4 new Moon Patrol levels and 7 Skiing levels!

 

COMING ON MONDAY!!!!!!!  Along with a new press release!

 

And then 2 more MEET AMICO videos by the end of the month!

VIP Pre-Orders start March 31st!!

 

...and you guys thought that the E3 news would keep us down?  NOT A CHANCE!!!  Going to double and triple down on EVERYTHING now!!

 

 

Tommy,

Super stoked about this...Monday can't come soon enough!

@RetroAdvisoryBoard Excellent message. Monkey Island, my favorite game, cost $100,000 to make, 20 times less than Grim Fandango and hundreds of times less than modern AAA games that try (and fail) to be movies.

And $100,000 will be the budget for every Amico game.

Tommy, does IE have any form of legal protection against unlicensed 3rd party releases for Amico?  You of course plan to curate and approve all games, but can anything stop unlicensed releases for the platform? 

With your lower end price point, if things take off as we all hope, I could easily see the mobility device development farms attempting to cash in with lame mobile shovelware ports.  Consumers get confused, and it's 1983 all over again 

The Amico system is a closed system.  Cracking the system is likely a violation of the terms of service; hackers don't care.  I don't think there's much money in making software for a cracked system.  Regardless, the curated library is still there.

1 hour ago, BiffMan said:

Tommy, does IE have any form of legal protection against unlicensed 3rd party releases for Amico?  You of course plan to curate and approve all games, but can anything stop unlicensed releases for the platform? 

 

With your lower end price point, if things take off as we all hope, I could easily see the mobility device development farms attempting to cash in with lame mobile shovelware ports.  Consumers get confused, and it's 1983 all over again 

I can’t think of a console that this has happened with since the 2600. It’s always been an issue with computers, though, since they have a whole different purpose. I believe it’s achieved through control of the “cart” design and frequent anti-hack and anti-piracy updates of the system. The real reason this happened with the 2600 was they either didn’t consider the possibility that 3rd parties would do it or assumed it would be illegal. After Activision and Mystique, everyone took preventative measures. 

This is is a problem with PCs and mobile, though. 

Windows, Macos, Linux are open systems.  Apple ios is closed.  Android is an open system but you need Google's approval to be on their store.  I don't use ios so I don't see it as a problem.

Both nes and genesis had legal unlicensed cartridges.

57 minutes ago, mr_me said:

 

Both nes and genesis had legal unlicensed cartridges.

It had to have been just a trickle compared to the 2600, Atari 800, C64. My understanding is that NES and Sega patented the cart design, so no one could legally sell an NES or Sega game without their approval. They could after the patent expired, of course. 

On 3/12/2020 at 11:25 AM, Tommy Tallarico said:

Good man!   We got some amazing things on the drawing board right now.

 

But next up... anyone interested in checking out a new 3 minute trailer that includes new footage from 22 games!  9 games no one has ever seen before (or I've talked about) and other things like more Astrosmash levels, 4 new Moon Patrol levels and 7 Skiing levels!

 

COMING ON MONDAY!!!!!!!  Along with a new press release!

 

And then 2 more MEET AMICO videos by the end of the month!

VIP Pre-Orders start March 31st!!

 

...and you guys thought that the E3 news would keep us down?  NOT A CHANCE!!!  Going to double and triple down on EVERYTHING now!!

 

 

I'll be looking forward to all of this!

4 hours ago, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

Lost is any argument of how sustainable the video game industry present model is, and how it could be the transformative player that helps save an industry from its worse instincts. 

the top games like Red Dead, GTA etc make a billion dollars in its first few weeks of release.  The amount these games can make is mind boggling. To be honest Im just glad games game prices havent really risen in 20+ years. its kind of astounding.  There is a place for Intellivision Amico for sure, but companies arent going to move away from trying to make blockbusters. Blockbuster games make way more than Hollywood blockbusters now.  GTA 5 over its sales life made 6 BILLION dollars

Tommy, since there has been a tentative talk about supporting the original Intellivision game cartridges, will the Amico also support the Kiosk Multiplexer for the Intellivision?  It let's you plug in 10 Intellivision cartridges.  There are like 5 known to exist in the world so supporting the Kiosk Multiplexer could help you really rake in the dough.

1 hour ago, Lathe26 said:

Tommy, since there has been a tentative talk about supporting the original Intellivision game cartridges, will the Amico also support the Kiosk Multiplexer for the Intellivision?  It let's you plug in 10 Intellivision cartridges.  There are like 5 known to exist in the world so supporting the Kiosk Multiplexer could help you really rake in the dough.

 

 

No!

Although maybe I'll make an adapter off the clock...

6 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

Wow... Somebody should use the text above to make a documentary and upload it to Youtube. 🤑👍

Really RetroAdvisoryBoard! You already have the script all you need is a cheap/free video editor (heck even PowerPoint can make videos) and drop a slide show of the consoles and maybe some Amico clips in there. Less than $50 will get you a decent mic (Yeti Snowball is pretty good) and away you go. PM me if you need any advice / help if you are interested in doing this. I work with a lot of this stuff making tech trainings and can get you started at least.

6 hours ago, BiffMan said:

Tommy, does IE have any form of legal protection against unlicensed 3rd party releases for Amico?  You of course plan to curate and approve all games, but can anything stop unlicensed releases for the platform? 

 

With your lower end price point, if things take off as we all hope, I could easily see the mobility device development farms attempting to cash in with lame mobile shovelware ports.  Consumers get confused, and it's 1983 all over again 

With modern software signing and a totally controlled online store you would basically have to hack the system in order for executables to run on it (of any kind). Modern app signing control is built into the hardware of the CPU and is really difficult to crack (not impossible mind you, but difficult). So basically someone would have to crack the system, setup a competing web store or sell say USB based media and all to compete against $6 to $9 games. Oh and btw you can't ever update your Amico again and Intellivision would probably term your account if their software detected any unauthorized programs running. I would say the risk is near non existent while Intellivision is still supporting the Amico and after it is legacy, who cares?

8 hours ago, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

 We expect all 48 trillion Pokemon in the next Pokemon: Shampoo and Conditioner series. 

This is a gem.  It's so funny because it's true.

Have you read "The Innovator's Dilemma" by Clayton Christensen?  It's talks a lot about what you're talking about, and sometime that always comes to my mind when Tommy talks about the vision of Amico.  It's a product that serves a purpose that the big players can't fulfill, and in time, it's easier for the smaller companies making these kinds of products to work their way up than it is for the bigger companies to work their way down (for example, it's easier for a discount car company like Kia to eventually enter the high end luxury market than it ever would be for an established high end luxury car company to suddenly start making discount cars).

This got me thinking about the origins of video game consoles.  Sony was an electronics company that got into gaming because of a failed partnership with Nintendo. Microsoft is a software company that got into gaming to prevent Sony from dominating the living room. Intellivision was originally created by a toy company. Amico however is a gaming console created by people who have been in the gaming industry for years. Gaming is the foundation of the company. What was the last console that was created by a team of gaming experts from the ground up? Was OUYA like that?  I just find everything Intellivision is doing lately to be really fascinating in how they've identified the holes in the current models and are trying to correct them.

I never get phone games. I have exactly one phone game on my phone, which is Crypt of the Necrodancer. Every time I think about getting a phone game like Ms Pac-Man or Centipede or QBert, I feel like that pilot in the movie BLOW who has to give his kids names to the drug dealers before they’ll hire him. 

I hope they they put Cadence of Hyrule on Steam or I’ll have to wait for an emulator so I don’t have to buy a Switch. 

3 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

With modern software signing and a totally controlled online store you would basically have to hack the system in order for executables to run on it (of any kind). Modern app signing control is built into the hardware of the CPU and is really difficult to crack (not impossible mind you, but difficult). So basically someone would have to crack the system, setup a competing web store or sell say USB based media and all to compete against $6 to $9 games. Oh and btw you can't ever update your Amico again and Intellivision would probably term your account if their software detected any unauthorized programs running. I would say the risk is near non existent while Intellivision is still supporting the Amico and after it is legacy, who cares?

So you're saying it's a very significant and serious concern? 

🙃

4 hours ago, Guy said:

What a bunch of malarkey @RetroAdvisoryBoard 

no your post is "malarkey" RetroAdvisoryBoard's post was spot on and one of the best i've read 

3 hours ago, Swami said:

I never get phone games.

I hate phone games.. despise them. Screen is way too small for my eyes, No tactile feedback on buttons, and your thumbs block part of the screen. For me, a lifetime gamer, it is just the worst platform I have ever experienced.

8 minutes ago, ASalvaro said:

no your post is "malarkey" RetroAdvisoryBoard's post was spot on and one of the best i've read 

Don't worry, we won't be seeing any more malarkey from "Guy" in this thread.

4 minutes ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

I hate phone games.. despise them. Screen is way too small for my eyes, No tactile feedback on buttons, and your thumbs block part of the screen. For me, a lifetime gamer, it is just the worst platform I have ever experienced.

And don’t forget that high scores can be bought because of in app purchases. That pisses me off as a lifetime gamer and a super fan of the 70’s and 80’s arcade where score meant everything.