Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

How about some positive and happy news for the world right now!

Intellivision is happy to announce that next Tuesday, March 17th we will be releasing a brand new 3 minute gameplay trailer highlighting 22 games!

Almost half of which have never before been seen or talked about. Oh look! Here's one now! 

14 minutes ago, jaybird3rd said:

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

Was it that bad? I think he was misguided and full of malarkey himself, but maybe I'm not up on all the rules here.  Maybe he was too harsh in his rebuttal?  Personally, I agree that the industry is driving itself into the ground and not even realizing it.  They're doing the classic mistake of just making the same thing over and over but doing it faster and better looking. That will keep the traditionalists happy, but doesn't move the needle forward.  

I'm really excited to see how this all plays out.

OH, and Tommy, I got my hat and coffee mug.  Wow!  Really high quality, and the color changing mug is really awesome.  Great job!

On 3/12/2020 at 9:35 AM, Cranker said:

I was thinking about corn hole last night and am sure it would be a hit as a family game !! I am Also strangely excited for pong ....lol ...Bring on reimagined burger time !!  

You'll be seeing two of the three you mentioned!  Tuesday! 

On 3/12/2020 at 11:17 AM, AtariSociety said:

Even if you are not a fan of Apple, there is no denying, as a company, they have achieved great things some of us now take for granted.

 

I remember this commercial when it 1st came out... and I still enjoy it today.

 

Wondering if one day we will see some ads like this from Intellivision?

 

Come to think about it... and maybe I don't watch the right stations... but does Sony and Nintendo and even Xbox have prime time commercials these days?  I don't recall ever seeing any.

 

Not saying for Intellivision to do TV commercials but... well placed ads and videos can go a long way.

 

I look forward to seeing what @Tommy Tallarico and the Intellivision crew come up with in the coming months and years.

 

TJ

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ4OP8AFZZI&feature=youtu.be

LOVE that Apple commercial!!  I literally get tears in my eyes every time I watch it.

That is SO Intellivision right now.  Thank-you for reminding me of that ad!

16 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

How about some positive and happy news for the world right now!

 

Intellivision is happy to announce that next Tuesday, March 17th we will be releasing a brand new 3 minute gameplay trailer highlighting 22 games!

 

Almost half of which have never before been seen or talked about. Oh look! Here's one now! 

 

 

 

 

Do my eyes deceive me or is that yellow car doing a bit of "Blarneo Drift" around that corner? Can't wait for the new trailer!

Yay, Auto Racing!

On 3/12/2020 at 11:29 AM, Guy said:

We need a 22-minute trailer! With 3 minutes and 22 games it's only 8.18 seconds per game. That's less than the first trailer! (8.35s). Only in the first trailer you were talking and showing the console. So I hope that now you don't pitch anything and it's all gameplay footage 😉. Are you still in "tease" mode? 

No talking or fancy graphic cards... 3 minutes of pure gameplay!

On 3/12/2020 at 11:29 AM, Guy said:

Also:

You can take something from the E3 stuff and put it in the trailer. 

No.  We still need to figure out how we're going to announce things.  Still working it out.

On 3/12/2020 at 11:29 AM, Guy said:

Can we see console and controllers being used at the same time? So far we've seen pc monitors and laptop screens, but not the console hooked up to a big ass TV (I'm sure you guys have one, and a couch where you try out the games). Also controller demos were running on the controller screen, so far we haven't seen controllers "control" anything, just phones 😥. We want to see the whole system working as intended, that would be truly great 🙏 

 

I thought you didn't want me to talk and only see gameplay footage? 

We have absolutely shown a console hooked up to a big ass TV multiple times in our office and even in interviews.  We've had that working for over a year with our hardware.

Others have seen our controllers "controlling" things.  I just haven't shown it publicly.  But the next 2 MEET AMICO videos (all coming by the end of the month) will be showing just that!  So stand by...

On 3/12/2020 at 12:00 PM, LePionnier said:

Another thing that I am curious about :

Which game that was in the August 2019 teaser will not be in the trailer on monday, and why !? 🤔

🤒

A few have been put on the backburner for now and some of them have changed drastically as they are a lot more finished now.  

On 3/12/2020 at 12:05 PM, AtariSociety said:

Normally Mondays suck.  I mean weekend is over and you have to go back to work.

But with this teaser from @Tommy Tallarico about new trailers... I am so ready for Monday!

TJ

Sorry!  We decided to wait until Tuesday as the news cycle on Monday is going to be packed with negativity and Coronavirus stuff from the weekend.  So we decided to wait until Tuesday instead.

On 3/12/2020 at 2:03 PM, LePionnier said:

Small advertisement for Pete's hard work and contagious love for Amico !

It's only 4 minutes, and maybe he will be more successful than I in getting you involved in this little "riddle"! lol

 

 

 

He's the BEST!!

Everytime I see that there's a new video by Pete on YouTube I get excited and happy!!!

On 3/12/2020 at 2:07 PM, woobman said:

Well now.. No e3, but we are getting more trailers on Monday. A new pre-order by the end of the month.-Insert subtle hint about wanting to see Earthworm Jim in action -.  More videos on the Amico itself. It's shaping up to be a good month for us! Thank you @Tommy Tallarico!

 

Speculation on some of the new games being shown - Earthworm Jim... Earthworm Jim... Earthworm Jim. Zaxxon. Battle Zone.  Star Strike. A Tron Game. Did I mention EWJ?

 

Unfortunately we're not ready to show Earthworm Jim just yet.  We need to make sure that "first look" is really polished and amazing because the expectations are going to be so high!

22 hours ago, Swami said:

@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.

Not familiar with that game.  I'll need to check it out.

Gonna be a long weekend to get to that Tuesday! Gives me something to look forward to and pat myself on the back for ordering the Founders Edition 😉

14 hours ago, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

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. 

 

 

 

Holy CRAP that was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!

Going to be passing this around to our team!

Part of it reminded me of this article I just read a few days ago. 
http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2019/06/sony_well_never_stop_making_single_player_story-driven_games

Thank-you as always for your amazing perspective and well thought out and educated post.

Well our company just sent us all home for the foreseeable future to work remotely. I am one of the lucky ones where my job is 100% doable from home, so many more cannot which is a disheartening.  I understand many people are bummed as they will miss their friends and social networks from work, but I only see this as a positive opportunity for myself and my team to grow and learn new ways to communicate  On a more  positive note it means I get more time back in my day as  I don't have to commute which means more time  to talk to you all about Amico and retro gaming. Thanks to everyone at Intellivision for continuing to chat with us, release new info and spread good cheer, cannot wait for Tuesday!  Please be safe and take care of the ones you love!

47 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

How about some positive and happy news for the world right now!

 

Intellivision is happy to announce that next Tuesday, March 17th we will be releasing a brand new 3 minute gameplay trailer highlighting 22 games!

 

Almost half of which have never before been seen or talked about. Oh look! Here's one now! 

 

 

 

 

Wow!

It brings to mind the old 'Super Sprint' arcade game I used to love to play in our local arcade back in the day. But with some seriously updated graphics!

Haha, I am glad we are getting a gift card with the FE as I suspect I am going to burn though that credit rather quickly. I have yet to see an Amico game I am not excited for.

I do not think I have ever said this on a Friday evening before, but I cannot wait for Monday to come! :D

13 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 

We control our online store.  Only through the store will you be able to get games on your system.  They wouldn't be able to do physical either as the machine needs to be connected to our servers in order for the physical to work properly. 

9 hours 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.

 

 

Yeah, but @cmart604 owns 4 of them so we would only have 2 sales.  

7 hours ago, RxScram said:

 

No!

 

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

I TOTALLY want to see that!  A USB add-on to Amico that allows original carts to be played on Amico! 

Now that you'll be working at home for the next few weeks... you'll have a ton of time that would have been spent "driving" instead!  

14 minutes ago, OEB_Pete said:

Well our company just sent us all home for the foreseeable future to work remotely. I am one of the lucky ones where my job is 100% doable from home, so many more cannot which is a disheartening.  I understand many people are bummed as they will miss their friends and social networks from work, but I only see this as a positive opportunity for myself and my team to grow and learn new ways to communicate  On a more  positive note it means I get more time back in my day as  I don't have to commute which means more time  to talk to you all about Amico and retro gaming. Thanks to everyone at Intellivision for continuing to chat with us, release new info and spread good cheer, cannot wait for Tuesday!  Please be safe and take care of the ones you love!

Pete would you like to see TV Sports Hockey on the Amico?? 

6 hours ago, vongruetz said:

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.

Thank you for recognizing that!  We take great pride in the folks we hire... and why.  Everyone in the office is so passionate about what we're doing.

And yes... you're correct.  Ouya was created and run by a gal who sold ad space on IGN and is now working at Playboy.  The folks at Atari (I know and like them as people) also do not come from a game development background... and it clearly shows.

Thanks to all who recognize that we're trying to buck the current trend of the industry.  We are the underdogs... but willing to fight our hearts out so you can hear our story.

We're like Rocky Balboa up in this bitch!!

1 hour ago, jaybird3rd said:

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

Damn!  What did I miss?

Anything good?

1 hour ago, vongruetz said:

OH, and Tommy, I got my hat and coffee mug.  Wow!  Really high quality, and the color changing mug is really awesome.  Great job!

Thanks!  All the merchandise stuff we do is super high quality.  You should see/feel the hoodies!  Super soft and super high quality!

We don't make much on any of that stuff because it's so expensive to make... but I don't care!   Everything always can't just be about the money all the time.

2 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Damn!  What did I miss?

Anything good?

 

 

He strongly disagreed with RABs Console games assessment but instead of sticking to counter arguments decided to throw in some insults 

24 minutes ago, OEB_Pete said:

Well our company just sent us all home for the foreseeable future to work remotely. I am one of the lucky ones where my job is 100% doable from home, so many more cannot which is a disheartening.  I understand many people are bummed as they will miss their friends and social networks from work, but I only see this as a positive opportunity for myself and my team to grow and learn new ways to communicate  On a more  positive note it means I get more time back in my day as  I don't have to commute which means more time  to talk to you all about Amico and retro gaming. Thanks to everyone at Intellivision for continuing to chat with us, release new info and spread good cheer, cannot wait for Tuesday!  Please be safe and take care of the ones you love!

More time for Pete to make Amico videos?!??!