Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

1 minute ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Haha!  In the office we call it the "Tron" version as well.   

 

 

Great minds think alike!

So does this mean an updated Tron game isn't too far off the table?  Adventures of Tron would be incredible with a modern update!

17 minutes ago, ArcadeJunkie said:

oh that face.... Tommy just oozes charisma!

Look at Mikey's face too... I might be a bad influence.  Hahhaa!   

Just now, ArcadeJunkie said:

Great minds think alike!

 

So does this mean an updated Tron game isn't too far off the table?  Adventures of Tron would be incredible with a modern update!

Tron Deadly Discs is the first one we're going after!  In negotiations.

3 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Tron Deadly Discs is the first one we're going after!  In negotiations.

 

 

Dammit Tommy!  Now I gotta buy another Amico just so I can have one for every TV.  Still on the fence about one in the bathroom yet... the Odroid is doin' a pretty good job for now.

On 3/21/2020 at 11:27 PM, Tommy Tallarico said:

$9.99 for the product... then tax (for whatever state or country you're in) will be applied on top of that.  Some states don't have sales tax... others do.  It would impossible for us to keep such low margins if every place we sold a game is different.  Same for the console itself and physical media and controllers.  There's the price... and then the tax paid on top of that depending on where you are.  For countries outside the U.S. there may also be an "import tax" that the governments tack on top of it.  Again... something that is completely out of our control and something we can't absorb into the already low price points.

 

Yeah... I don't like the average person realizes how different the Japanese video game market is.  It's not like any other country in the world either.  For example... you can say that the gaming market in China is similar to Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.  But there is NO country that is similar to Japan.  Many have tried to figure it out as well... and failed.  No idea if Amico will be popular over there and we wouldn't have the capacity to try to do things different to figure it out.  

Interesting note:  The Japanese person who was the president of Xbox when they launched in Japan does consulting and advisory work with us.  Him and his team help us to get certain licenses in Japan.  He told me that the biggest mistake that Microsoft made when trying to enter Japan with the Xbox is that they tried to make the Xbox a japanese type product instead of embracing their American roots.  He said (as I'm sure you're aware) that a lot of folks in Japan (especially younger ones) think America is "cool".  Likewise there are a lot of people in the U.S. who think anything Japanese is cool.  He told me that a good strategy for Amico in Japan would be for us not to cater to what we think the Japan market wants... but to embrace what we are and see if it sticks because it would be SO DIFFERENT from what they are used to.  I saw the same thing happen for my Video Games Live shows.  Everyone told me that I needed to do my show different in Japan because that is what they are used to.  No loud cheering for symphonies, very respectful claps at the end of each song, etc.  I said "hell no!"  I'm going to bring them a rock n' roll symphony experience like they've never seen or expected.  And we did just that and they absolutely LOVED IT!!  I told the audience it was okay to scream and clap and cheer and stand up out of their seat any time they wanted.  And it was like a weight lifted off their shoulders!  I was given them permission to have fun, be crazy and cheer as much as they wanted.  They weren't used to this kind of thing for a symphony show.  They go crazy for rock & pop shows... but not for symphonies.  It was pretty cool!  I would do the same for Amico in Japan.  Embrace what it is... don't try to cater or be phony about what we are (like Xbox did) and see where it goes.  If it doesn't resonate... that's fine.  But I believe our only chance of making it there is if we're completely different than everything they are used to.  Keeping real to ourselves and our mission.

 

Oops, I kind of forgot how sales tax works, I guess. That's what I get for being gone from my own country for almost 10 years after only living in a place that actually has sales tax for a little less than 3 years. I think it comes out to more or less exactly 1 week short of 3 years or something like that.

Honestly, I'm not sure what to think about Amico in Japan. At least you won't have the same brand image that Xbox currently does. That was a horrible disaster, and if you look at the Famitsu weekly sales charts, you'll see that the Xbox One usually struggles to sell 50 (yes, fifty) units nationwide every week. Then there are some weeks when it sells 500 systems or more, and I have no idea what's causing it unless it's liquidation sales, but I also forgot to check the new releases for those weeks. I might go try to figure it out just out of my own curiosity if I remember to do so instead of being distracted by other stuff.

Yeah, everyone here thinks its cool to be American or something. That's why there are so many signs and stuff in English in the city and lots of bands and idol groups have names in (usually nonsense/grammatically incorrect/really odd/poorly translated) English. Video game titles/box art as well. Go look through Japanese game box art on Amazon Japan and a lot of it's in English for some reason, even Japanese games. My auto once told me she hosted a Japanese exchange/study abroad student who refused to eat any Japanese food at all while she lived in the USA and demanded American food instead. Japanese people get really confused when they ask me about our national food and I just tell them that we basically stole cuisine from around the world instead of making our own, so I now I usually just tell them that our national cultural food thing is McDonald's and then they laugh even though it's more or less true.

So, I found a game on the Switch today called Conduct TOGETHER!, and it's interesting. I don't know why the capitalization is like that, but that's how it is. It's currently on sale for literally 1 cent and someone on GameFAQs said it's actually really fun, so I got it. I already had $1.04 in my account (remember what I said a while ago about having to buy those prepaid cards? Yeah, it frequently leaves me with store credit left over and nothing to spend it on), so I literally got a free game since I gave them 1 cent of store credit and then in return they gave me 1 cent of store credit for buying it. You and people all control trains and try to not crash them. And I do mean you control trains, not a train, so you have multiple trains that you are in control of at the same time along with NPC trains to not crash into and also cars and stuff to not crash into. I guess it's an enhanced mobile port with an even more enhanced version on PC. Would be interesting for Amico, I think.

2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

My idea is that depending on the game... you could have a different voice say Amico in the logo.  So, if it's Night Stalker (for example) it could be a dark robotic voice.  If it was Shuffleboard it could be a grandparents voice, etc.  

So if it's Earthworm Jim...

48 minutes ago, ArcadeJunkie said:

Dammit Tommy!  Now I gotta buy another Amico just so I can have one for every TV.  Still on the fence about one in the bathroom yet... the Odroid is doin' a pretty good job for now.

Wouldn't it be an Odor-oid if it's in the bathroom?

I was looking tv game commercial from 1976 ...   Pong ! ( "The most exciting game you'll ever see on your TV set !"  lol )

So here is the question.

Will Pong be one of the few games that cannot be played in one player mode ? 🤔

Or like this commercial a one player game will be included ! 🙄

1 hour ago, ArcadeJunkie said:

just out of curiosity , is anyone else planning on buying another unit on 3/31 even though they got a FE?  I got 2 FE's and I am looking to get a black one as well (what I lovingly call the "Tron" version).

I missed out on the FE 😞. Was 100% in for the VIP, but with current events thinking I may need to put the deposit toward a purchase of other necessities, like 10 rolls of TP.  
 

Hi Tommy, thanks for the COTD Award nod (even if you somewhat retracted it 😁) and for addressing my (and everyone else's) questions here.  Been enjoying and learning from all your youtube interviews as well.

You mentioned somewhere that part of the FE pre order was to validate things for some of the investors (which I can only assume went as good or better then predicted). With current events and soo many people’s jobs (among other things) being impacted, do you have any concerns for a weaker VIP response; and if so, have the investors expectations for the VIP release been appropriately tempered?   
 

I’ll ultimately probably end up “finding” the money to order as I really expect this to be that item this Christmas that everyone wants, and really don't want to miss out on getting the IE Amico at launch.  
 

Thanks!

 

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yeah... I don't think it's been done before... but I thought it was a super cool way to get families to battle each other on the leaderboard chart.  And it can be combinations of folks as well!  So mom & son could have a certain score... but mom & dad could have a score as well.  Then son & daughter team up to try and beat mom & dad's score!  

Simple concept around family and fun that no one focuses on.

 

We will.

 

 

Awesome !!! That’s what I was thinking ! Fantastic !!

Talking about Cloudy Mountain this weekend made me think of Venture from Colecovision. ( A game I hope we will see someday on Amico ! )

One of the thing that I liked from this game was that before entering a new room, we had no idea what will happened behind the doors.

So in Cloudy Mountain, that was one of the thing that I like.

In the reimagined version, we could sometimes find a treasure in the middle of the room, with some ennemies surrounding it, that you know you will have to defeated before you acquire a precious object.

At other times, a treasure without ennemies, and later another room with no enemies at all, but this time, after opening it, stressfull music begin, and several ennemies arrive ...  😮

Great possibilities Tommy. I have no doubt it will be marvelous. Keep your "heart of child and great imagination" ! 😃

Do you think it could be ready for Holiday 2020, or is it better to have in mind 2021 ?

Thank you.

2 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

2) The idea of helping instead if fighting is interesting, especially in these times. In the 80s, there was a really cool cartoon called The World of David the Gnome. The protagonist, David, is a doctor who cures injured animals in the forest. I don't think that license is too expensive and it has potential for a killer edutainment RPG.

I always thought a good mechanic would be that you are in charge of protecting the creatures in your kingdom from the hordes of "hunters/killers/psycho avatars" that are constantly invading. You can set up traps, use magic and even combat these invading avatars and send them back to where ever they came from since all they seem to do is kill kill kill.  Its flips the whole mmo/rpg game on its head since in this game the evil that must be stop is the gamers and their avatars themselves since they are nothing but psychos that just kill everything that moves, in this game it would be your job to stop them and protect the npc creatures.

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

Wouldn't it be an Odor-oid if it's in the bathroom?

*insert rimshot here*

2 hours ago, ArcadeJunkie said:

just out of curiosity , is anyone else planning on buying another unit on 3/31 even though they got a FE?  I got 2 FE's and I am looking to get a black one as well (what I lovingly call the "Tron" version).

Really really pondered giving one of my Founder’s Edition pre orders back(the one I am gonna give my brother for breaking his INTV back in the 80’s) because I selfishly want the black one, which everyone refers to as the Tron Edition apparently 😁 Buuuuut I am gonna do the right thing and right a wrong from many moons ago. Plus, it will give me something to do when Amico launches and I scour my local retail stores to see what is happening and if I can snag one.
 

Yea I’m one of those guys that likes to see all the madness and line standing at console launches. Took my 17 year old daughter to the midnight release of Animal Crossing Switch console and only 2 other folks there. Kinda disappointed but maybe the current events of the world stifled people’s enthusiasm? Who knows but I know my daughter was tickled she has one and since Friday I’ve seen her very little since the actual game was released 😂

1 hour ago, Starpaddler said:

I missed out on the FE 😞. Was 100% in for the VIP, but with current events thinking I may need to put the deposit toward a purchase of other necessities, like 10 rolls of TP.  
 

Hi Tommy, thanks for the COTD Award nod (even if you somewhat retracted it 😁) and for addressing my (and everyone else's) questions here.  Been enjoying and learning from all your youtube interviews as well.

 

You mentioned somewhere that part of the FE pre order was to validate things for some of the investors (which I can only assume went as good or better then predicted). With current events and soo many people’s jobs (among other things) being impacted, do you have any concerns for a weaker VIP response; and if so, have the investors expectations for the VIP release been appropriately tempered?   
 

I’ll ultimately probably end up “finding” the money to order as I really expect this to be that item this Christmas that everyone wants, and really don't want to miss out on getting the IE Amico at launch.  
 

Thanks!

 

 

Just get one. You got nothing to lose!😀

41 minutes ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

I always thought a good mechanic would be that you are in charge of protecting the creatures in your kingdom from the hordes of "hunters/killers/psycho avatars" that are constantly invading. You can set up traps, use magic and even combat these invading avatars and send them back to where ever they came from since all they seem to do is kill kill kill.  Its flips the whole mmo/rpg game on its head since in this game the evil that must be stop is the gamers and their avatars themselves since they are nothing but psychos that just kill everything that moves, in this game it would be your job to stop them and protect the npc creatures.

 

Home Alone !

30 minutes ago, MarioMan88 said:

 

Took my 17 year old daughter to the midnight release of Animal Crossing Switch console and only 2 other folks there. Kinda disappointed but maybe the current events of the world stifled people’s enthusiasm? Who knows but I know my daughter was tickled she has one and since Friday I’ve seen her very little since the actual game was released 😂

My 7 years old son named our Island "Amico".  😀

38 minutes ago, ArcadeJunkie said:

*insert rimshot here*

Cornhole right? 

how cool is this....former Chicago Cub outfielder and current ESPN commentator Doug Glanville is looking forward to the Amico!  

5 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

 

It is something we are going to be looking at after launch and probably in year two or three.  We first need to establish the machine as a CO-OP in person experience.  I don't want parents to purchase it and then have little Johnny never play with them because he hoards it in his room and plays online all day with his friends.  You also then need to deal with parents worried about who their kids are talking to online and how toxic the environment is.  I would NEVER want that on Amico.

 

If the majority of folks who purchase the machine would like an online component... then we will look into doing it but it would be more set-up like Facebook in that you would need to Send or Accept an invite from someone you know in order to play.   I'd love to play my brother Mike in Baseball or Utopia from across the U.S.!   But not something we want to do for launch as it doesn't match our messaging.

I don't want online multiplayer for the new Amico games, i only want online for the classic Intellivision games. And i bet a majority of the people here feels the same way. Something us old school heads have always wanted a way to play against each other in the classic games. Especially the sports games. Can you imagine all of us fighting for a chance to play Boxing, Baseball, Football, Slam Dunk, Body Slam etc. Or we can recreate the Frog Bog scene from Grandmas Boy. 🤩

2 hours ago, LePionnier said:

I was looking tv game commercial from 1976 ...   Pong ! ( "The most exciting game you'll ever see on your TV set !"  lol )

So here is the question.

Will Pong be one of the few games that cannot be played in one player mode ? 🤔

Or like this commercial a one player game will be included ! 🙄

One player... no problem.  You can also add up to 3 A.I. players with 3 different difficult modes (easy, medium, hard).  You can also put the A.I. players on whatever side or team you wanted.  For example... if you and a friend wanted to be on the same team and play against 2 hard A.I.'s, you could.  Or... if you wanted to play against your friend and he wanted to have an extra player as a hard A.I. (i.e. 2 players against 1)... you can do that as well.

Simple things that go a LONG way for gameplay, co-op, versus and even single player mode.

p.s.  The Coleco Telstar was the very first video game machine my family ever owned.  My dad got it in 1975 and I still have it!!  I've since bought a brand new one in the box (for my collection)... but my beat-up one will always remain one of my most valued video game items.  Intellivision in 1980 was the next machine we got and the one we played the most.

 

2 hours ago, Starpaddler said:

I missed out on the FE 😞. Was 100% in for the VIP, but with current events thinking I may need to put the deposit toward a purchase of other necessities, like 10 rolls of TP.  
 

Hi Tommy, thanks for the COTD Award nod (even if you somewhat retracted it 😁) and for addressing my (and everyone else's) questions here.  Been enjoying and learning from all your youtube interviews as well.

 

You mentioned somewhere that part of the FE pre order was to validate things for some of the investors (which I can only assume went as good or better then predicted). With current events and soo many people’s jobs (among other things) being impacted, do you have any concerns for a weaker VIP response; and if so, have the investors expectations for the VIP release been appropriately tempered?   
 

I’ll ultimately probably end up “finding” the money to order as I really expect this to be that item this Christmas that everyone wants, and really don't want to miss out on getting the IE Amico at launch.  
 

Thanks!

 

 

Another great question.

The VIP edition isn't for investors & retailers as much as it is for knowing the minimum we will need to manufacture in our first round.  Our direct orders will always take precedent over other places... so knowing how many we will need at the least (without spending money on advertising) will be important with everything that is going on.

Do I think the timing with the virus is the worst ever to be doing a VIP.  Yep!!  Not gonna lie.  Couldn't have been worse... but we need to know before we can start production and all the manufacturing numbers are going to be low anyway... so I'm assuming it will all work out in the end.  Our goal is to ensure that we at least make enough FE's & VIP's as the worst case scenario.  But we can't do such a small run (prices go up on everything) so we also need to make sure all of the promised Purchase Orders from big nationwide stores is taken care of as well.  You don't want to disappoint them either.  The good news is that with everything going on... the big box retailers totally understand that things are crazy and won't be too upset if the numbers don't exactly match.

Keep in mind... no one still knows the effect of what is going on and how long the delay in everything is going to take and effect manufacturing.  Sony & Microsoft with all their money and resources don't know (and they are already saying that Switch's will be limited)... and we're still in the same boat.  The difference of course being that I talk about it.   

2 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

I always thought a good mechanic would be that you are in charge of protecting the creatures in your kingdom from the hordes of "hunters/killers/psycho avatars" that are constantly invading. You can set up traps, use magic and even combat these invading avatars and send them back to where ever they came from since all they seem to do is kill kill kill.  Its flips the whole mmo/rpg game on its head since in this game the evil that must be stop is the gamers and their avatars themselves since they are nothing but psychos that just kill everything that moves, in this game it would be your job to stop them and protect the npc creatures.

 

Love this!

1 hour ago, ASalvaro said:

how cool is this....former Chicago Cub outfielder and current ESPN commentator Doug Glanville is looking forward to the Amico!  

 

Yeah... he's a big fan!  Have spoken to him a number of times about Amico.

1 hour ago, ASalvaro said:

how cool is this....former Chicago Cub outfielder and current ESPN commentator Doug Glanville is looking forward to the Amico! 

17 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yeah... he's a big fan!  Have spoken to him a number of times about Amico.

 

 

I understand now ! 😂🤣  lol