Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

4 minutes ago, Relicgamer said:

Those guys shouldn't even have a channel about games they clearly dont know anything 

 Clearly true after all in the comments they are agreeing with people about Ouya vibes for this and that just comes from a lack of doing any research 

1 hour ago, supahwally said:

It's one thing to be on a forum discussion speculating, it's another to be deriving income from uniformed speculation that absolutely can and does influence the behavior of the buying public.  For me the whole format is loaded with personality-based biases and influences, (as you said) and a dearth of professionalism.  Some (many?) of these people have serious personality issues that are deeply wrapped up in their gaming behavior, and what the Amico represents appears to confuse and frequently irritate them.  It's not even the system itself, it's the whole idea.  As I've said before, clowns on youtube get to do 'on the level' interviews with an industry veteran like Tommy, and that's just wrong.  Stunted adults shouldn't have an audience, but that's pretty much what the modern online world has created.

 

 

I agree there are tons of newbs and amateurs if we can even call them that on YouTube.. heck I am just one of thise dweebs myself, doing it for fun, but I do find many diamonds in the rough on the Tubes that have unique ways of looking at the world and tech and I appreciate the platform for that reason.

Some cool blokes and blokettes out there that I would have never known about if it were for YouTube allowing us to post our drivel for all to see.

👽

TJ

1 minute ago, Alpha82 said:

 Clearly true after all in the comments they are agreeing with people about Ouya vibes for this and that just comes from a lack of doing any research 

They didn't even know the pack in games as if it wasn't released yet lol 

12 minutes ago, AtariSociety said:

I must be under a rock and keep seeing posts about Golden Ticket.  

What is this exactly?

TJ

It’s the card you got in the mail when you bought stuff from their store it will give access to exclusive giveaways and such 

On 4/9/2020 at 1:09 PM, Blarneo said:

I had them once. That was enough to burn them in my memory! BK OR are what evil tastes like.

 

Now, Sonic Onion Rings! 😍😍😍

Every time I drive by a Sonic restaurant I think of Sonic the video game character. It seems like the perfect marriage.Sonic the Hedgehog selling FAST food.... it just fits.

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

For hardcore gamers I agree.  But for a lot households this will be their only console purchase... probably since the Wii! 

 

 

But the people making videos or who even have an opinion right now are probably just the hardcore gamers. People who make YouTube videos about Amico are hardcore gamers. They're the ones that sit with a backdrop of their "collection" which consists of row after row of NES games. My problem with them is that they're being disingenuous to their audience. They collect everything, and the people watching their videos probably own multiple gaming systems.  Even those hardcore Nintendo fans probably also have an Xbox and PlayStation. So for them to come at it with the point of view that people are only going to buy one system is BS. Why can't they fathom that people who like video games might want a new PlayStation AND an Amico?  There's room in this world for both.

If you look at this from price alone, you could argue that right now an XBOX One X + a game is only $299. Why would someone get an Amico for $249 when a much, much more powerful machine is available for almost the same price?  Maybe it's because they offer very different experiences. It's why people are paying $300 for a Switch instead of that vastly more powerful console. And something else Amico has is exclusive games. It will have games you can't play anywhere else, or at least not in the way you can play them on Amico. 

I think because of that, these people who say it will fail are all going to end up buying one anyway because the thought of not having a console with a ton of exclusive games would just kill them. So right now, they can say whatever they want. The thing is, in the end the people who are not watching those videos are going to want this thing and buy them in droves. I don't know if it will be the runaway hit that Wii was, but it has the potential to be. It will bring in whole new audiences in to gaming, and that's good for everyone.

I keep thinking back to something Michael Pachter said after E3 last year. He said that he thought the biggest gaming news of 2020 was going to be Intellivision and that nobody should count them out. Now, I don't agree with everything he says, but I think he does study this industry intensely and if Amico has him convinced, then there's something there.

19 minutes ago, vongruetz said:

But the people making videos or who even have an opinion right now are probably just the hardcore gamers. People who make YouTube videos about Amico are hardcore gamers. They're the ones that sit with a backdrop of their "collection" which consists of row after row of NES games. My problem with them is that they're being disingenuous to their audience. They collect everything, and the people watching their videos probably own multiple gaming systems.  Even those hardcore Nintendo fans probably also have an Xbox and PlayStation. So for them to come at it with the point of view that people are only going to buy one system is BS. Why can't they fathom that people who like video games might want a new PlayStation AND an Amico?  There's room in this world for both.

 

If you look at this from price alone, you could argue that right now an XBOX One X + a game is only $299. Why would someone get an Amico for $249 when a much, much more powerful machine is available for almost the same price?  Maybe it's because they offer very different experiences. It's why people are paying $300 for a Switch instead of that vastly more powerful console. And something else Amico has is exclusive games. It will have games you can't play anywhere else, or at least not in the way you can play them on Amico. 

 

I think because of that, these people who say it will fail are all going to end up buying one anyway because the thought of not having a console with a ton of exclusive games would just kill them. So right now, they can say whatever they want. The thing is, in the end the people who are not watching those videos are going to want this thing and buy them in droves. I don't know if it will be the runaway hit that Wii was, but it has the potential to be. It will bring in whole new audiences in to gaming, and that's good for everyone.

 

I keep thinking back to something Michael Pachter said after E3 last year. He said that he thought the biggest gaming news of 2020 was going to be Intellivision and that nobody should count them out. Now, I don't agree with everything he says, but I think he does study this industry intensely and if Amico has him convinced, then there's something there.

Yeah!  You make some GREAT points!

3 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Nah.  Just jokes.

 

 

Maybe you should trademark it.

3 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

 

I think a few other factors folks may forget is that all systems (and almost EVERYTHING that is sold on the planet... especially electronics) comes out initially at a higher price.  Early adapters and folks who are not price sensitive typically drive when the ideal time to lower a product pricing may be.  In our case (and everyone elses' this year) Corona is unfortunately driving components higher and scarcity will drive prices even higher on the open market.

To assume that the price will always be set at $249 forever would be a mistake. This has never been the norm for anything electronic related... especially around Christmas or Black Friday/Cyber Monday.  Maybe folks will be running them at $199 by holidays of 2021.  I do believe that is our "magic" number that really gets them to fly off the shelves and goes from "millions" of units sold to "tens of millions" of units sold.  Of course we are doing EVERYTHING in our power to achieve that.  We're not dumb.  

 

But the other thing that our family marketing will be doing is ensuring that major VALUE will be front and center!

 

Folks can easily look at it like this.

 

Lets say it was a typical machine and it was the AMAZINGLY LOW PRICE of $150.  It would come with one controller and 1 game at that price.  Then you added 1 more controller ($50 lets say) and then 5 more games ($40 lets say) and then on top of that you included a $25 RFID gift card to purchase more games.  (not even going to throw in the value of the 3 soundtracks or 3D signed card or 25% merch discount... lets just keep to the very basics).

 

$150 - console w/one controller, one game

$50 - 2nd contoller

$40 - 5 more games

$25 - extra credit for more games

TOTAL = $265!

 

So at $249 that is still an amazing deal as you're talking about a $150 machine at that point.

PLUS... factor in that EVERY game is between $2.99 - $9.99 with NO loot boxes, microtransactions, in app purchasing, in app advertising, etc.

 

Even at $249 it's the deal of the century when compared to the typical video game console.

 

ALSO... lets not forget that 14 years ago about 30 million people purchased a Nintendo Wii for $249 just to play a small bowling demo.  Most people didn't buy a 2nd game for their Wii (my mom was one of them).  $249 14 years ago is the equivalent of about $317 today.  Again... a savings of nearly $70 when compared to just playing one demo on a Wii from 14 years ago.

It will be on US to ensure the big value proposition is there.  VERY easy to do... especially when the new machines will be $450 - $600.  We will always be about HALF of all the next gen consoles.  That right there is a big deal.

We have a very specific plan.

 

As a final note... in all of the focus group testing we've done... when non-gaming or casual gaming parents who have a total household income of at least $40,000 are asked how much they would be willing to pay for Amico (without telling them the price) the majority typically say around $300.  So again... those folks who are our target audience think our pricing is fantastic.  These are the families that will spend $80+ just to take their family of 4 to a movie which is a 2 hour entertainment experience.  Those folks have no problem spending 3 times that amount for a device that EVERYONE can play and have fun and that will provide hundreds of hours of SAFE family entertainment.

 

 

It has really come to bother me with the recent complaints on the cost of the system (not that it isn't important, it will be super important to the final numbers sold), but that it is being vocalized by people who spend 100's and 100's of dollars on SW (games) alone a year, not to mention the cost of their HW.  It's not the intended consumers who are complaining (most of them do not even know of the system yet), and I get elitists may not be interested, but then why do some of them spend so much time and energy on something in which they "have no interest"?  

Here is something that many people may not give much thought to - the cost to deliver a system includes two main types of costs; Recurring costs which includes things like the per unit internal component procurement, assembly, distribution and other costs that have a somewhat fixed cost per Amico produced.  While somewhat simplified, if that cost is $50/unit, the approximate recurring cost is $5,000 for 100, $2.5M for 50,000 units, and so on.  

The 2nd type of cost is NRE (at least that is what it is called in my industry, and is Non-Recurring Engineering).  This includes things like the payroll for the time it takes to design, test and iterate the system, payments made for market research, fabrication of the test articles, programming for milling, creation of tooling and other costs to complete the design and get set for fabrication.  On top of this there are also facility, utility, insurance, legal, marketing and other buisness related costs.

The difference between the two costs are that the recuring costs are tied to each unit fabricated, whereas the NRE gets "buttered" or spread across the entire run.  So if NRE is $10M, and you have a run of 1, then your total cost to produce one article is $10,000,050.  The more units produced, the lower the realized per unit NRE cost.  Don't want to speak for Tommy, and I am not in retail, but I assume they base the cost of the unit with a projected number of units that will be sold.  While oversimplified, once that number of units are sold and the NRE is fully recouped, the price could be dropped.  This is of course not done at say unit number 100M, but rather on a curve with ever changing projections.

My point to all this?  Consider how long IE has been designing the system and how much cost has gone into NRE.  All of that money invested needs to be recouped from a sales.  All that payback needs to be added to the recurring cost of fabrication.

Now throw in development cost for 6 games...  - At $249 for an Amico, 2 controllers and 6 games - sounds like a steal to me.

In short, if its too expensive for your interest level - don't buy it - just like every other purchasing decision you ever make; but please keep your bitch'in to yourself, because there are people that are genuinely excited for this, and $20 or $30 is not going to sway a large percentage of people's purchasing decision; at least not mine.

3 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

NO loot boxes, microtransactions, in app purchasing, in app advertising, etc.

This is another great feature of the Amico.  I am so sick and tired of trying to find apps for my phone that does what I want and that I can just buy outright.

3 hours ago, vongruetz said:

I think one thing that keeps getting lost in the debate about Amico's place in the gamine world is that it isn't meant to be someone's only game console. It's been said a number of times, but people keeping putting it as an "either/or" argument.  Amico is an "and" console.  It's much like the original Wii was for a lot of gamers.  You had a PlayStation AND a Wii.  Amico isn't competing with Xbox, Nintendo, or Sony.  I think they're a compliment to them. It fills in the holes that are absent in the consoles from the big players.

Excellent point on this. Additionally, as its marketing is geared towards people who wouldn't seriously consider buying a console in the first place, something accessible and affordable like the Amico may serve as a good 'starter console'. It's certainly not difficult to entertain the theory that making gaming at home a more welcoming thought might even bring the inner gamer out of those who might not otherwise give it a chance. Overall, the Amico's success will be a big win for gaming in general.

At least, that's my opinion.

1 hour ago, Alpha82 said:

 Clearly true after all in the comments they are agreeing with people about Ouya vibes for this and that just comes from a lack of doing any research 

Research? But that is sooo hard 😭

Just ask Tommy, sounds like he has a little experience. 

1 hour ago, Zeptari1 said:

Every time I drive by a Sonic restaurant I think of Sonic the video game character. It seems like the perfect marriage.Sonic the Hedgehog selling FAST food.... it just fits.

 

You know what they say, grease sells.

1 hour ago, Starpaddler said:

Here’s another way to look at it (admittedly a sideways one) -  1 vocal gaming elitist’s average time hating on the system to date ➗ by the cost of 1 Amico = ~$0.50 an hour  ($0.25/hr in Pat and Ian’s case) for time spent. Minimum wage where I live is currently $12/hr which leaves $11.50 ($23.50 combined for Pat and Ian) of equatable deficit from their time vs. the cost of the system; which means with all things factored and considered - I’ve just waste 2 minutes of my time determining a quantifiable conclusion of the qualitative assessment that most “logical”  people already know in that these elitist are idiots.  

Tommy... This is brilliant!

You should change the name of your game to Starpaddler's Math Fun! I am in a mathman crush now.😍

39 minutes ago, NTV said:

This is another great feature of the Amico.  I am so sick and tired of trying to find apps for my phone that does what I want and that I can just buy outright.

I personally would not mind DLC if it was additional levels and actual content. 

Think how Expansion Packs used to work in the golden days before they got dissolved into micro-transactions that feel like filler. Amico could even go as far as using the term "Expansion Pack" instead of calling it DLC. 

But yeah - none of this "You want your pong paddle to be purple? That'll be 13.99 for the Rainbow Colors Pack!"

4 minutes ago, 1001lives said:

I personally would not mind DLC if it was additional levels and actual content. 

 

Think how Expansion Packs used to work in the golden days before they got dissolved into micro-transactions that feel like filler. Amico could even go as far as using the term "Expansion Pack" instead of calling it DLC. 

 

But yeah - none of this "You want your pong paddle to be purple? That'll be 13.99 for the Rainbow Colors Pack!"

What if the so called expansion. Was a full.game but if you gave the first game it can be linked to form a whole new experience

3 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Thank you all for your support!  If any of you would like to help me out... please help me to repeat this kind of stuff online.  Whether YouTube comments, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc.  The more folks who chime in with knowledge the more the info will start to get out there.

Thank you all!!
 

 

Doing my best. wait until you watch my bonusode tomorrow

10 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

We may have an Easter Egg or two at some point. 

 

 

The ultimate for me would be if, in 2021 when classic Intellivision packs come out, they were playable right there on the controller itself. Holding it vertically, top half of the controller screen is the 'TV', bottom half is the keypad as in the DS version, and you've already got the disc and side buttons there. 

All of a sudden, you have the ultimate Intellivision emulator literally in your hands.... 🙂

29 minutes ago, Nolagamer said:

What if the so called expansion. Was a full.game but if you gave the first game it can be linked to form a whole new experience

Sonic and Knuckles! The OG "DLC"... And best type IMO!

11 minutes ago, 1001lives said:

Sonic and Knuckles! The OG "DLC"... And best type IMO!

 

"Wouldn't  that be something ."

6 hours ago, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

Looked into this a few days ago.. I wasn't seeing it on my feed either.

If you're a new channel, it can take several days for your video to show up in the search.  Also, any edits affect how soon items show up in the search.  I'm probably in a rookie tier where my content gets a little extra scrutiny/delay until showing up.  Plus I edited audio on Monday and tags yesterday, soooo, maybe next week. 

 

Can tell you generally speaking the like ratio has been really high for most Amico content - rarely see anybody's video get much more than 10-12% dislikes.  Exceptions are Smash JT's videos - his frequency in calling out other YouTube creators could explain the really high, if not upside-down dislike-to-like ratios on these, and Pat's videos, who gets closer to 18-25% dislikes on his Amico videos.  But just on his Amico stuff, his audience is usually more thumbs-uppish.  But since likes far outweigh dislikes, and any dislike or like is going to be something like 5-10% of the comparative views for a said video, I would say the likely count of total dislikes among positive view videos should be in the low ten thousands range.  And you probably get 3,000-4,000 dislikes among the negative takes (wouldn't presume all of these translate to Amico likes, but 2/3rds would seem reasonably conservative?). 

Will run the numbers over the next few days when it's a bit slower.

My video burning my Pat & Shirt got a lot of dislikes. I think people didn't understand my video or something. Some thought i was Pat & Ian which doesn't make sense. lol

5 hours ago, Alpha82 said:

I watched most of it and left a response I think Retro Advisory would be proud of lol 

Ya did good, kid.

Tommy,

How are the orders for merchandise being handled during the quarantine?  Are orders placed being processed and shipped?  If so what is the average time it is taking to ship items?

4 minutes ago, Saldo said:

Tommy,

 

How are the orders for merchandise being handled during the quarantine?  Are orders placed being processed and shipped?  If so what is the average time it is taking to ship items?

Ordered a hat, 2 shirts and a mug early on Sunday.  Got the hat Wednesday, and a message today something else is in shipment.     Total order was ~$100 bucks; getting a receipt from Intellivision in 2020, priceless.