Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. We called the game you are all calling "cornhole" "bags". To us cornhole means something VERY different and not too pleasant I might add. I  wouldn't want to play that cornhole game.

3 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. We called the game you are all calling "cornhole" "bags". To us cornhole means something VERY different and not too pleasant I might add. I  wouldn't want to play that cornhole game.

Maybe it's a Chicago thing? I grew up in Chicago and when I heard people calling it "cornhole" I thought it was kind of vulgar (but nobody else seemed to mind).  I call it "bean bag toss" because I just can't bring myself to calling it Cornhole.

4 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. We called the game you are all calling "cornhole" "bags". To us cornhole means something VERY different and not too pleasant I might add. I  wouldn't want to play that cornhole game.

Yeah, cornhole used to be a fairly regional thing. I heard it a lot more when I moved south. I lived in Naperville, IL for most of my life. It was usually bean bags for us. 

6 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. We called the game you are all calling "cornhole" "bags". To us cornhole means something VERY different and not too pleasant I might add. I  wouldn't want to play that cornhole game.

The running joke in the office is that the reason they call it "cornhole" is because the bags are filled with corn.

I said one day... I guess we should be glad they weren't filled with peas!

Okay... after thinking about it more... I think we're going to keep the name Glacier White instead of Ivory White.

Ever since @GrudgeQ rightfully brought up the ivory/elephant thing... it's been bugging me ever since.  So thank you for bringing it up.

I was worried that the white isn't glossy anymore and when I think of glaciers they are glossy, icy, wet.  Me, our Mechanical Engineer (Slade) and our VP of Global Marketing (Cara) were going back and forth on e-mail at midnight last night.  Slade reminded me that the silver highlights and the fact that the white paint is a fine metallic would still give off a glacier kind of feeling.  Cara always liked the Glacier White name as well so we decided to keep it as is.

So Glacier White it is!

Thanks to GrudgeQ for helping to steer the decision making process!

6 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Okay... after thinking about it more... I think we're going to keep the name Glacier White instead of Ivory White.

Ever since @GrudgeQ rightfully brought up the ivory/elephant thing... it's been bugging me ever since.  So thank you for bringing it up.

I was worried that the white isn't glossy anymore and when I think of glaciers they are glossy, icy, wet.  Me, our Mechanical Engineer (Slade) and our VP of Global Marketing (Cara) were going back and forth on e-mail at midnight last night.  Slade reminded me that the silver highlights and the fact that the white paint is a fine metallic would still give off a glacier kind of feeling.  Cara always liked the Glacier White name as well so we decided to keep it as is.

 

So Glacier White it is!

 

Thanks to GrudgeQ for helping to steer the decision making process!

I think in vehicles ivory is a little bit more yellow and glacier is really bright white. There's an Ibis White Audi and a Glacier White Audi, and an older Ivory Porsche I like. Ultimately colors aren't going to show up perfectly to life on our monitors unless you have a professionally calibrated PVM or something.

https://www.color-hex.com/color/fffff0

12 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Okay... after thinking about it more... I think we're going to keep the name Glacier White instead of Ivory White.

Ever since @GrudgeQ rightfully brought up the ivory/elephant thing... it's been bugging me ever since.  So thank you for bringing it up.

I was worried that the white isn't glossy anymore and when I think of glaciers they are glossy, icy, wet.  Me, our Mechanical Engineer (Slade) and our VP of Global Marketing (Cara) were going back and forth on e-mail at midnight last night.  Slade reminded me that the silver highlights and the fact that the white paint is a fine metallic would still give off a glacier kind of feeling.  Cara always liked the Glacier White name as well so we decided to keep it as is.

 

So Glacier White it is!

 

Thanks to GrudgeQ for helping to steer the decision making process!

Wow,

I might be a bit prejudiced about how awesome @Tommy Tallarico is, but this is just another level... how many CEOs are that open to feedback and to changing something as major as a color/style name!?

1 minute ago, RxScram said:

Wow,

I might be a bit prejudiced about how awesome @Tommy Tallarico is, but this is just another level... how many CEOs are that open to feedback and to changing something as major as a color/style name!?

Can I have a raise? 

I just posted this over in the other thread, but thought folks here would be interested in knowing the process as well...

1 hour ago, mr_me said:

What they are waiting for is patent filing not patent approval. Once receipt of their patent file has been acknowledged they can proceed (patent pending).  They shouldn't make anything public until patent applications have been filed.  They can release their products to market with patents pending.

 

The previous price increase was when they changed the controller touchscreen technology.  The initial $150 price might have been a little ambitious as well.  It was a target set before engineering even started.  In 1979 Mattel announced the intellivision with a price of $150 when most of their engineering was done.  In 1980 it sold for $300.  The Amico special editions were always going to cost more.  Other than possibly adding an additional pack-in game, no new functional features have been mentioned.  It's things like using better batteries, higher quality plastics, better touchscreens.

You're 100% correct!  $150 was before engineering started and before we spoke to retailers, which is why I gave a price range of $149 - 179 (because we were initially hoping to be somewhere in there).

Once we picked our chip and started settling on certain quality parts... it got to $199.  Then we starting speaking to retailers who all told us the same thing.... making it under $200 is going to scare a lot of folks away because they will associate it with being "cheap" or even worse... just a "retro" or "flashback" type of console.  Once we heard that, we started looking into ways we could upgrade some of the parts because we felt we sacrificed a few important things in order to keep it at $199.  The screen, the plastics/colors, batteries were just a few.  Once we saw how much better and more responsive the capacitive touch screens were... we knew we had to keep them.  At that point, was still hoping to be around $229 - $239.  But now, with the Coronavirus and scarcity of parts... it could get to $249 for the initial launch and until the manufacturing/supply chain stuff goes away (estimating Q1 or Q2 of 2021).  Meaning... base units would sell for $249 for the first 6 months or so and then come down by the spring of 2021 if everything stays on track.  If you think about... very typical for any video game system.  Year one it comes out at the biggest price... then by Christmas of the following year the first "sales" or "bundles" start to happen.

During all of this we have started thinking about adding more great games to the system to ensure value.  Right now it's looking like 6 and may even go to 7.  And these are all premium games! 

The Wii was $249 when it came out 14 years ago... which was the equivalent to $317 back then.  So even at $249 we are still one of the least expensive premium video game machines to ever hit the market AND the only system in 30 years (since the Super Nintendo) that has come with 2 separate controllers with the base unit.  And considering how incredible and expensive the technology is for our controllers (higher than any of the other base controllers on the market to my knowledge) it's still and absolute helluva deal.

Of course... before deciding each step we did massive amounts of focus group testing all over the world.  And once families heard all of the options, held it in their hand and were told the price... most of them said they would pay $299 for the experience and that $229 - $249 would feel like an absolute bargin for what they were getting... and the quality.  You really need to see the system in person and hold the controllers in your hand to really experience what I'm talking about. 

So there ya go... the history of the pricing and why/how. 

Still haven't figured out what it is yet.  Is going to depend on what happens with components over the next month.  The base units will NOT be over $249... THAT I can 100% promise!  I'm guessing by fall of 2021 the units would come down to somewhere between $199 - $229 depending.  So, for the folks who want to stay under the $200 range... they will be able to jump in a bit later and still really early in the life cycle.  Units are going to be super scarce this year and the beginning of 2021 anyway (whether we like it or not) so the more premium price doesn't seem out of character considering the situation everyone is in.  But if I can keep it in the $229 area... I will for sure.

Another thing to consider... even at $249 we'll STILL be at least HALF the price of the other 2 new consoles (if they even come out this year).  So value proposition is still strong (even though they aren't really our competition... they will be perceived as such by some). 

12 minutes ago, RxScram said:

Can I have a raise? 

You know I'd say yes to everyone!

Which is why the answer I've been programmed to say is...

"Ask Nick".

I wonder if this is really going to happen!

https://www.gizchina.com/2020/03/15/microsoft-xbox-series-x-and-sony-playstation-5-will-be-postponed/

23 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

I wonder if this is really going to happen!

 

https://www.gizchina.com/2020/03/15/microsoft-xbox-series-x-and-sony-playstation-5-will-be-postponed/

If so, would the Amico still be launching this year? Potentially could have the market all to itself. 

Just now, 1001lives said:

If so, would the Amico still be launching this year? Potentially could have the market all to itself. 

Wouldn't that be something!

As of today, we are still on track for a release (although limited numbers than we originally planned) on 10/10.

But keep in mind that things are changing from week to week.  So noone knows yet (which is why Sony & Microsoft have gone silent over the matter).  I'm guessing that neither of them know their pricing and if they can get units out by Christmas.

5 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Wouldn't that be something!

 

As of today, we are still on track for a release (although limited numbers than we originally planned) on 10/10.

 

But keep in mind that things are changing from week to week.  So noone knows yet (which is why Sony & Microsoft have gone silent over the matter).  I'm guessing that neither of them know their pricing and if they can get units out by Christmas.

Yeah I assume they would have to severely limit the number of consoles they would produce as well. Since Amico was a smaller scale launch from the get go this may not be as big of an impact to you guys.

It's probably the decision between launching and releasing to holiday shortages and unhappy unfulfilled customers, or just postponing release. I remember that first holiday for PS2 with chip shortages going on and how much scalpers were selling them for. 

9 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Wouldn't that be something!

 

As of today, we are still on track for a release (although limited numbers than we originally planned) on 10/10.

 

But keep in mind that things are changing from week to week.  So noone knows yet (which is why Sony & Microsoft have gone silent over the matter).  I'm guessing that neither of them know their pricing and if they can get units out by Christmas.

Man.. would be great to have one now with all this self-quarentine, and social distancing going on.  Hunker down and play me some Amico!!

18 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

No... not those on launch.  PONG & Missile Command are definitely on launch... potentially Breakout as well.

 

All 12 Atari games were in one of our first press releases:

Atari Classics REIMAGINED and REMADE EXCLUSIVELY for the Intellivision Amico™: Pong™, Asteroids™, Centipede™, Tempest™, Adventure™, Missile Command™, Yar's Revenge™, Breakout™, Lunar Lander™, Night Driver™, Sky Diver™, Warlords™

Yup.. I can see myself buying probably all of those..  It would be great to get the original designers "Seal of approval" for each of them  Between Warren Robinett. Howard Scott Warshaw. David Theurer (SP?) and the others. If there was a "Minter" mode for Tempest... Jeff Minter.  That would be amazing. 

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

I just posted this over in the other thread, but thought folks here would be interested in knowing the process as well...

 

You're 100% correct!  $150 was before engineering started and before we spoke to retailers, which is why I gave a price range of $149 - 179 (because we were initially hoping to be somewhere in there).

Once we picked our chip and started settling on certain quality parts... it got to $199.  Then we starting speaking to retailers who all told us the same thing.... making it under $200 is going to scare a lot of folks away because they will associate it with being "cheap" or even worse... just a "retro" or "flashback" type of console.  Once we heard that, we started looking into ways we could upgrade some of the parts because we felt we sacrificed a few important things in order to keep it at $199.  The screen, the plastics/colors, batteries were just a few.  Once we saw how much better and more responsive the capacitive touch screens were... we knew we had to keep them.  At that point, was still hoping to be around $229 - $239.  But now, with the Coronavirus and scarcity of parts... it could get to $249 for the initial launch and until the manufacturing/supply chain stuff goes away (estimating Q1 or Q2 of 2021).  Meaning... base units would sell for $249 for the first 6 months or so and then come down by the spring of 2021 if everything stays on track.  If you think about... very typical for any video game system.  Year one it comes out at the biggest price... then by Christmas of the following year the first "sales" or "bundles" start to happen.

During all of this we have started thinking about adding more great games to the system to ensure value.  Right now it's looking like 6 and may even go to 7.  And these are all premium games! 

The Wii was $249 when it came out 14 years ago... which was the equivalent to $317 back then.  So even at $249 we are still one of the least expensive premium video game machines to ever hit the market AND the only system in 30 years (since the Super Nintendo) that has come with 2 separate controllers with the base unit.  And considering how incredible and expensive the technology is for our controllers (higher than any of the other base controllers on the market to my knowledge) it's still and absolute helluva deal.

Of course... before deciding each step we did massive amounts of focus group testing all over the world.  And once families heard all of the options, held it in their hand and were told the price... most of them said they would pay $299 for the experience and that $229 - $249 would feel like an absolute bargin for what they were getting... and the quality.  You really need to see the system in person and hold the controllers in your hand to really experience what I'm talking about. 

So there ya go... the history of the pricing and why/how. 

 

Still haven't figured out what it is yet.  Is going to depend on what happens with components over the next month.  The base units will NOT be over $249... THAT I can 100% promise!  I'm guessing by fall of 2021 the units would come down to somewhere between $199 - $229 depending.  So, for the folks who want to stay under the $200 range... they will be able to jump in a bit later and still really early in the life cycle.  Units are going to be super scarce this year and the beginning of 2021 anyway (whether we like it or not) so the more premium price doesn't seem out of character considering the situation everyone is in.  But if I can keep it in the $229 area... I will for sure.

Another thing to consider... even at $249 we'll STILL be at least HALF the price of the other 2 new consoles (if they even come out this year).  So value proposition is still strong (even though they aren't really our competition... they will be perceived as such by some). 

What about say 8 games ...I remember the original plan was 7 then dropped to 5.  But 8 games and console supports up to 8 players  it keeps all numbers matching .  10/10/2020 that's 3 20s while 8.players and 8 games is 2 8s 

14 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Correct.  Although just so everyone is clear... you can change the base lighting to whatever you'd like.  I like the Tron colors the best of course!

 

Any chance of the VIP edition give you the ability to pick your color? Or will it all be the Woodgrain? 

1 minute ago, woobman said:

Any chance of the VIP edition give you the ability to pick your color? Or will it all be the Woodgrain? 

I think he said it's woodgrain, abyssal black, or arctic white.

Those color names may or may not be official. 

Just wanted to thank you Tommy for bringing passion back to gaming. I have not been this excited for a new console in forever. My second system was an Intellivision (first was an Odyssey 2) and have always loved it. I've been sharing Amico news with friends and everyone sees the passion you and your team have for this project and I know several are planning to buy. $249 is a nothing for this system and I can't wait. 

29 minutes ago, 1001lives said:

I think he said it's woodgrain, abyssal black, or arctic white.

 

Those color names may or may not be official. 

Abyssal?  Sounds too much like abysmal. 

Just now, insertclevernamehere said:

Abyssal?  Sounds too much like abysmal. 

I guess it would be abysmal living in the abyssal zone. 

14 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Spent some time with him as well.

 

 

Met him in London.  He liked my music.

 

 

 

Missing a Boy George shot.  I'll need to eventually get me one of those.  

 

 

Wow... uber cool.

Now show me a picture of you in a Shaolin uniform studying the art deep in the mountains of China and wow, even more respect.

I always had a thing for Shaolin.  I am too soft for it now but in my younger years I enjoyed learning a tad in my teens.

TJ

14 hours ago, Cranker said:

When you talked about Cornhole , I thought it was a game I played as a kid called sandbags !! I have educated myself on Cornhole now ! The one I played had 9 holes and was a kid version I think .

Every time I see the word cornhole in this thread it makes me think of this.

TJ