Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

great to hear today that Beauty & The Beast will be one of the 1st Imagic games released for the Amico 

24 minutes ago, RxScram said:

Currently the design intent is for natural circulation airflow. There is no fan. We still have to do environmental chamber testing to see how it performs in hot environments, but our models all suggest that it will not need active cooling. We do have design provisions in place in case it does become necessary, but we're pretty confident.

 

The console has the power button, and the controller has the buttons and the disk assembly. Other than that, there's not much that can mechanically fail. 🙂  We're currently working on some mechanical stress testing to cycle the controller buttons and the disk assembly to the point of failure. The buttons are rated for a million cycles, and the disk is a unique enough design that it shouldn't have any failure mode at all.

I was wondering about the polymer that covers the disk contacts to make it pressure sensitive. How resilient is that to being repeatedly compressed and deformed?

2 minutes ago, Swami said:

I was wondering about the polymer that covers the disk contacts to make it pressure sensitive. How resilient is that to being repeatedly compressed and deformed?

Probably more important is the durability of what I am assuming is a pliable conductive material. Over time this could wear and decrease sensitivity, but I also know there are some kick ass materials for this out there.

1 minute ago, Swami said:

I was wondering about the polymer that covers the disk contacts to make it pressure sensitive. How resilient is that to being repeatedly compressed and deformed?

FEA solver for elastomers puts it around 4.2 x 10^14 deformations at any point on the ring. When we do the mechanical testing we'll probably put it through a million or more, but I doubt we'll seriously stress any part of the ring.

2 minutes ago, Starpaddler said:

Probably more important is the durability of what I am assuming is a pliable conductive material. Over time this could wear and decrease sensitivity, but I also know there are some kick ass materials for this out there.

That's what I assumed he was asking about, and answered the question for.

The disk contacts themselves use a carbon resin that should handle 10 million or so presses. Since there is no abrasion, just a pliable material that gets pressed over it, we see extremely low risk for that to be a point of failure.

7 hours ago, RxScram said:

Hi @Pathfinder!

We are using a universal power supply (120/240V, 50/60Hz), so all you will need is a travel adapter! We pull less than 1 amp at either 120 or 240, so there shouldn't be any need for a heavy duty version.

 

Also, I believe (but this may have changed) that for FE editions only (not VIP) we will be supplying travel adapters for all of the international orders. I will confirm and get back to you on that.

 

 

Thank you for the information, that has put my mind at rest, I now know what I need.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Atari-VCS-800-Carbon-Gold-All-In-Bundle-with-Classic-Joystick-and-Modern-Controller-Walmart-Exclusive/344097754

So tommy . Looks like those other guys have no clue when they will launch as  walmart changed from march to december quietly 

20 minutes ago, RxScram said:

FEA solver for elastomers puts it around 4.2 x 10^14 deformations at any point on the ring. When we do the mechanical testing we'll probably put it through a million or more, but I doubt we'll seriously stress any part of the ring.

 

4.2 x 10^14 seems like a reasonably high number 

3 hours ago, wolfy62 said:

I have nothing bad to say here,and if I ever stray from being positive about the Amico or anything else,everyone feel free to call me out on it!

I agree that random negativity just for the sake of it has no place in this forum.

Oh and by the way, I hope everyone has a great day!👍

Dale if I ever see a negative post with your name attached to it I will know that someone has hacked your account. 😜

7 minutes ago, Nolagamer said:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Atari-VCS-800-Carbon-Gold-All-In-Bundle-with-Classic-Joystick-and-Modern-Controller-Walmart-Exclusive/344097754

 

 

So tommy . Looks like those other guys have no clue when they will launch as  walmart changed from march to december quietly 

Turn you head, now baby, just spit me out.

December promise you gave unto me
December whispers of treachery
December clouds are now covering me
December songs no longer I sing

Tommy, great interview on TurboJoe's youtube channel!

btw, the final battle scene in Return of the Jedi is my all time favorite as well. It truly culminated to that moment. MUSIC.IS.IMPORTANT... MUSIC.IS.LIFE.

I'm an empire guy  but I'm a fan of ep 3 , 4 , 5.  6

17 minutes ago, Nolagamer said:

I'm an empire guy  but I'm a fan of ep 3 , 4 , 5.  6

5 hours ago, wolfy62 said:

That's a great clip and a pretty funny movie.

I am proud to say most of it was filmed on stage 19 and 20,and many of the location shots were done as well,at CBS Studio Center,where I have worked for the last 26 years.

Thanks for posting that Mr. Blarneo!😃

 

Just loved our private studio tour in February . Thanks Dale.  

9 hours ago, wolfy62 said:

And I hope maybe a running man key chain too...

Indeed...key chains in general! Patches of all the retro reimagined! give it over Tommy  

4 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Wouldn't that be something™

And if you keep it up...a "Wouldn't that be something" T-shirt might start to be warranted  

8 hours ago, vongruetz said:

I happened to be looking at the XBOX website and noticed that a lot of the information about the Series X is about its fan and cooling features.  In fact, most of the information is all about the power of the processor and how great its cooling system is.

 

This got me wondering, is Amico going to even have a fan?  Does it even need one?  

And if it doesn't, does it have any mechanical moving parts?  I only wonder because those are always the things that fail in consoles. Disc drives break down. Hard drives fail. Fans stop spinning. I don't see anything like that on Amico and was wondering if I was missing something.  Are the buttons on the controller about the only thing that could mechanically fail?

Yes, the Amico is cool. Yes, it has a lot of fans and yes, we are all cybernetic bitches. 🤓

On 4/2/2020 at 3:05 PM, RxScram said:

That's a bit earlier prototype... final design has a USBC connector where the USB3 connector is.

Isn't a usb-c connector unusual for a host device.  You'd need an adapter to plug in a thumb drive or other peripheral.

7 hours ago, RxScram said:

FEA solver for elastomers puts it around 4.2 x 10^14 deformations at any point on the ring. When we do the mechanical testing we'll probably put it through a million or more, but I doubt we'll seriously stress any part of the ring.

....

 

FEA solver for elastomers puts it around 4.2 x 10^14 deformations at any point on the ring. When we do the mechanical testing we'll probably put it through a million or more, but I doubt we'll seriously stress any part of the ring.

So the disc material is naturally conductive?  When I saw the disc explained in an interview.  I thought what a clever and simple design; simpler than a thumbstick.

17 hours ago, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

 

I'm wary of comparisons with these inflation calculators - the Consumer Price Index lags in reflecting the cost in its basket of goods (factors of cost take years to work through lines of production), inflation isn't realized in real time and the comparable costs of goods aren't evaluated in relation to standard of living or the relative amount a given item's purchase weighs within disposable income.  It neglects entirely purchasing power, and it dismisses entirely the general rapid reduction in cost of consumer electronics.  

 

 

That's a bit why video games, even those absent DLC and hidden costs, still retail for $39.99 - $59.99 25 years after those prices were pretty uniform.  Were they to have risen with cost of inflation, were these calculators realistic, those new Super Nintendo games in the early 90s.. would have felt, psychologically, like a $111 purchase today.  Likewise, that $299.99 new Intellivision did not approximate to nearly $1,100 for those consumers in 1979, who, mostly, bought the thing for its game value, not as a discount computer.  (By the way, those same calculators would price the home computer back then at about $4,000.  It was considered an expensive hobby, but not that kinda expensive hobby...)

 

 

I have an old grad paper on this somewhere, I want to dust it off and make a long post, per request by @Michael Garvey      Definitely ought to do a blog or video about it - those meme infographic with the comparative cost of consoles are... misleading.

 

I think I understand what you're saying because the big difference between now and then is the cost of housing.  That alone makes a lot more disposable income available to people back then.

Still home video games, computers, and televisions were very expensive in 1980. Very few families could justify an Intellivision or Atari at that time; household penetration rate was very low.  A colour TV like most appliances was a major purchase and expected to last at least twenty years; most households only had one.  An average new car was about us$7000.  Computers were at another level until the TI Commodore price war.  But even when PCs went mainstream in the 1990s they cost thousands..  One of the reasons the price of games and software has come down over time is because the system household penetration rate and install base has increased dramatically.  There might still be some gouging going on.

Tommy, we have seen a few Amico prototypes in your interviews. You showed the black one the other day and I think you have shown the white one before, so is there a woodgrain/red/purple prototype that you might show us next time?

16 hours ago, OEB_Pete said:

wow this is the first really negative comment I have seen for my AMico stuff "  This makes me Sad   James needs an OEB hug

 

 

James C. 

 

 • 11 hours ago 

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Oh look, Tommy has another Amico Shill Bitch! Did Tommy give you a ride in his car and give you a T-shirt like he did Smash JT?

 

 

Oh look it’s James C I was wondering when his Ill informed self would show back up 

11 hours ago, vongruetz said:

So the guy's name is Joe, but Tommy calls him Tony the entire time.  And Joe just couldn't bring himself to correct him.  Too funny.

 

I do want to correct Tommy on something he said.  Early on, he made a comment about how game makers pale in comparison to those who served in the military.  I just want to say that video games are a big part of life for people in the military, and especially when deployed overseas.

 

I deployed twice with the Navy, once on a ship and once to Iraq. Video games were a huge way for us to entertain ourselves and keep ourselves sane. On the ship, we would play games constantly.  We'd have FIFA tournaments on the mess decks. Something like the Amico would have been a god-send if we could have had up to 8 people playing at the same time. When I was in Iraq a few years ago, gaming was also huge. The USO and MWR had gaming rooms set up so that we could go in and play games in our free time.  I used to go play FIFA all the time with a guy I worked with from Turkey.  The problem is, the games were PS4/XB1, and they were complicated. Just setting them up and getting a game going required logging in with certain accounts, getting online connected, and all of this other stuff that prevented us from just playing.

 

Now Amico is coming out, and all I can think is how amazing something like this would have been. People of all skill sets, from all different countries, could come together and just have fun.  Because at the end of the day, that's all we were looking for. We wanted to hang out in a relaxed environment and just forget the fact that we were away from home and our families for almost a year. Amico, not requiring an internet connection, having up to 8 players, and being accessible to people of all skill levels, is like a dream come true. If you haven't contacted the USO or MWR yet, then you might want to.  Amicos in USO facilities around the world would be simply amazing. It'd make a lot of sailors, soldiers, marines, and airmen really happy.  

Hey Vongruetz and JSmith, my brothers! US Army (Armored Cavalry Medic) & "dud" here,  '84-87! Cheers! 🍻🍺🍺🍺

This is something!

1 hour ago, Blarneo said:

Hey Vongruetz and JSmith, my brothers! US Army (Armored Cavalry Medic) & "dud" here,  '84-87! Cheers! 🍻🍺🍺🍺

 

This is something!

Cheers brother! 🍻

4 hours ago, mr_me said:

By the way, those same calculators would price the home computer back then at about $4,000.  It was considered an expensive hobby, but not that kinda expensive hobby

In 83 my farther purchased an original IBM PC for just shy of $3,000 from what I remember, and that was with his employee discount. That’s in 1983 dollars.  Granted it wasn’t a base unit (the base started at around $1,500), it had a color monitor with upgraded CGA graphics card (4 color graphics!), 300 baud modem, dot matrix printer with acrylic stand, and I think 64mb memory (not sure on that), no hard drive, just two 5 1/4 single sided floppy drives. I still have it to this day.  
 

it wasn’t until the PC clones started showing up that the prices began to drop drastically.  

22 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yep!  You can shake the controller and see the dice moving.  In fact EVERYONE can do it... even when it's not your turn.  The sound even comes out of the controller while you're doing it. 

#CantDoThatOnSwitch

 

Well I guess I better get to installing that TV mount in the camper....oh wait you didn’t actually mention if Yahtzee was going to a released title....lol.

9 hours ago, The Wren said:

Indeed...key chains in general! Patches of all the retro reimagined! give it over Tommy  

I have been trying to think of stuff beyond keychains,and your patches idea is absolutely,spectacularly brilliant! 

Well done!👍