Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

20 minutes ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

I'm sorry, but the price you are asking for the Amico is ridiculous. Maybe you have a reason - maybe the tech inside is so amazing an advanced that you NEED to charge that much to make a profit. But in that case, I feel like the entire project should have been downsized. I think that what you should have done is made it an affordable, budget alternative to the big-name consoles, closer to the "classic" or "mini" consoles that came out over the last few years, but packed it entirely with classic, remastered original Intellivision games (and the original versions of those games as well), and sold the whole thing for NO MORE than $100. Forget about all the new games and being able to buy more games for the console, I think you should have made the entire thing a "retro remastered" box at a competitive price, which could have been HUGE for older gamers.

 

You come off as... kind of a jerk, Tommy. You have the attitude of someone like Reggie Fils-Aime, but you're not as subtle as he is. You act like you have this enormous ego, and it makes you seem intimidating and rude. I don't think that's a good look for a corporate CEO, Tommy. When people criticize you, you have a habit of attacking them, being very rude to them even when they weren't rude, deleting their comments, calling them trolls and just generally not taking criticism well. Heck, I have the feeling that you're probably just gonna call me a troll or something for this message, even when I feel that I'm being perfectly reasonable and offering you genuine advice. You really need to stop that kind of behavior, Tommy, because... well... you're not as cool as Reggie is. He can pull off the badass attitude and not seem like a jerk. You can't, so please, stop it.

 

Oh and one last question that I forgot to ask earlier in the message. You mention during your video that you have a former president of Nintendo, and someone involved with Tetris on your team? Who exactly are they? I can't seem to figure out who you were referring to.

didnt think id be back so soon. you want him to release a 100 dollar cheap chinese piece of shit and think that's a good business decision?

my friend please, where did you get your education because i would ask for a refund.

i can already imagine the cheap plastic making creaking sounds in my hands and the crappy lcd screen with dead pixels thats so bright and has no contrast and your eyes burn. im imagining the 30 dollar atari handheld atgames crap. that thing ended up in the garbage 15 minutes later. also insulting his tact when dealing with haters is pretty bold of you. if you wanna kick the guy you could have done it a lot better than just calling him a jerk to his face. 

 

you might be projecting a little. you may be scared of tommy but hes not scary. tommy isnt intimidating in the slightest. im actually laughing my ass off imagining someone scared of tommy. im not a kiss ass, i wouldnt even kiss my own ass and im telling you flat out the guy is one of the nicest and professional people in this industry. just because he punches back on haters doesnt make him an intimidating jerk. the shit you call criticism is just trash talk for the sake of trash talk. what you wrote is criticism. what you did is a huge difference to what other people on youtube and on here have done. 

25 minutes ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

Hi there. I made this account because I'd like to try and address Tommy directly about a few things with the Amico/Intellivision in general, and I noticed he's been posting here a lot, so I figured this would be my best place to do so.

First off, lemme just say that while I am going to be tossing some criticism your way, I intend for it to be constructive. This is by no means an attempt to attack Tommy or the company, but rather, I do think there are some issues here that need to be discussed, and they might fall a bit into the "hard question/criticism" territory. I don't mean to disrespect you, but I believe that these are things you need to consider. These questions and criticisms are meant to be advice, and I hope that you respond to them and don't take them as an insult or anything like that.

Let's begin with talking about the Amico itself.

 

From what I've seen and read, you seem to be aiming the Amico towards the family, and especially the early childhood market, correct? The perfect console that everyone in the house can enjoy, and one that is perfect for children whose parents won't let them play other games because they find them to be too violent/otherwise inappropriate.

 

But... I don't think this is the correct market that you should be aiming for. I feel like this market isn't actually going to make the Amico successful. What I believe you should be aiming at instead, are the older crowd. The people that are your age - or even older. People that had the original Intellivision, or other similar consoles like the Atari ones, back when they were kids or teens. I feel like hitting that nostalgia factor is really your best bet of making the Amico successful, and while you do have some retro game remakes on the system, I feel like that should have been the core focus of the system to begin with, to appeal to that group of nostalgic older gamers.

 

To be honest, I don't feel like this system has ANY appeal with the younger demographic at all, nor does it appeal to families as a whole. Allow me to explain...

 

I don't have any kids myself, but several of my friends do, and I see them all the time. As a gamer myself, their kids will often talk to me about the games that they're enjoying. These kids are between the ages of 6 and 12, and I can tell you with certainty that not a one of them would enjoy the vast majority of games on the Amico. They already know what they like, and what they like are fundamentally different from what the Amico offers. They like games like Fortnite, Minecraft and Super Mario Maker 2. They don't play the kind of simplistic games that are on the Amico - they find them to be boring. Even a lot of the free to play phone games that are popular these days bore them to tears. And yes, while this may only be a small group of people, I think that in general, this is how kids these days feel. They like two kinds of games in general - shooting games, and building games. And if the Amico doesn't have those? They won't be satisfied with it.

 

Kids don't want to play Pong, or Space Invaders, or Galaga, or anything like that. They just don't care about the games of yesteryear. So I think that if you're expecting parents to buy their kids a walled garden console that only has simplistic, retro-inspired games... all you're gonna get is disappointed kids in the end. And as for the families as a whole... I doubt you have any market there either. Most of the adults that aren't already hardcore gamers are extremely casual gamers who play things like solitaire and golf on their phones. To them, they already have a gaming device - their phones. They don't need another one. Trust me, I've been trying to get my uncle to borrow some of my games during the quarantine because he keeps complaining that he's bored, and he'd much rather play solitaire on his phone than my 3DS and a huge stack of games that I know would appeal to him if he gave them the chance. I think that if any families are gonna be buying the Amico, it will be almost purely for their children, and those children.... will probably be disappointed.

 

I feel like you have this vision, that the Amico is going to be the next Wii. That it's going to be this massive runaway success that changes the entire industry and brings casual gamers that stopped playing dedicated consoles post-Wii, back to gaming. I... don't think this is going to happen. At all. I think you are overestimating just how much casual gamers care about something like this. Or even more so, how many of them even know that the Amico exists. I mean, I browse gaming forums and various gaming Youtube channels every day, and I very rarely even hear a peep about the Amico. So what makes you think that the average family with non-gaming parents knows what the Amico is? Or that they have any intention of buying it?

 

I think that you're expecting that kids across the world are going to ask for an Amico for Christmas, and when they open it, they're going to be overjoyed that they got exactly what they wanted from Santa. But I feel that the more likely situation is that they're going to ask Santa for a Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, or the Xbox Series X, but because it was cheaper and possibly bargain binned and "family friendly", they're going to open up an Amico and they're going to cry because they wanted Fortnite and the Amico doesn't have Fortnite, and grandpa just didn't know that there was a difference.

 

And I know it sounds like I'm just trashing you, but I'm not trying to be mean, it's because I feel like you've made a lot of bad business decisions with this product. That there most certainly could be a market for the Amico, but it ain't the one you're aiming for. Especially not at the price point you're aiming for either.

 

I'm sorry, but the price you are asking for the Amico is ridiculous. Maybe you have a reason - maybe the tech inside is so amazing an advanced that you NEED to charge that much to make a profit. But in that case, I feel like the entire project should have been downsized. I think that what you should have done is made it an affordable, budget alternative to the big-name consoles, closer to the "classic" or "mini" consoles that came out over the last few years, but packed it entirely with classic, remastered original Intellivision games (and the original versions of those games as well), and sold the whole thing for NO MORE than $100. Forget about all the new games and being able to buy more games for the console, I think you should have made the entire thing a "retro remastered" box at a competitive price, which could have been HUGE for older gamers.

 

Like, think of this realistically here. Do you REALLY think that your system has more value TO THE CONSUMER than something like the Switch Lite? Why would someone buy the Amico with it's lineup of (IMO) unimpressive games for $250 when they could instead buy a Switch Lite and a game from an established series that they enjoy for about the same price? I mean, I know you're gonna say that they would, because you have to because you're in charge of the company, but please, do stew that around in your brain for a minute. Does the Amico REALLY offer the value that you think it does? I mean, one of the talking points in a recent trailer that you released was that the Amico has a whole bunch of board and card games, but the Switch is getting Clubhouse Games soon, and that has 51 different board and card games in one package. So you could buy a Switch Lite and Clubhouse Games for about the same price as the Amico and get FIFTY ONE different card and board games. Are you prepared to offer more than 50 games in one package on the Amico?

 

Anyway, let me move onto the next subject. You, Tommy Tallarico. And I know that you're probably gonna take it as an insult, but I want you to understand that I'm trying to offer you constructive criticism, which may be harsh, because I'm trying to give you helpful advice.

 

You come off as... kind of a jerk, Tommy. You have the attitude of someone like Reggie Fils-Aime, but you're not as subtle as he is. You act like you have this enormous ego, and it makes you seem intimidating and rude. I don't think that's a good look for a corporate CEO, Tommy. When people criticize you, you have a habit of attacking them, being very rude to them even when they weren't rude, deleting their comments, calling them trolls and just generally not taking criticism well. Heck, I have the feeling that you're probably just gonna call me a troll or something for this message, even when I feel that I'm being perfectly reasonable and offering you genuine advice. You really need to stop that kind of behavior, Tommy, because... well... you're not as cool as Reggie is. He can pull off the badass attitude and not seem like a jerk. You can't, so please, stop it.

 

Oh and one last question that I forgot to ask earlier in the message. You mention during your video that you have a former president of Nintendo, and someone involved with Tetris on your team? Who exactly are they? I can't seem to figure out who you were referring to.

 

Anyway, yeah. I have the feeling that you're not gonna respond well to this message, but I would appreciate it if you would try and take some of this to heart. As it stands, I don't think that the Amico is going to be successful, but I think you could probably do a few things to make it worthwhile before it releases, and maybe aim it towards a market that is actually going to care about it. Because trust me, no child is going to care about the Amico.

 

(Edit: Minor formatting fix.)

I'm predicting this will be a one and done account. 😂 I'm assuming since you have made literally every idiotic criticism that we've seen to date that you're not doing this by accident but rather you know exactly what you're doing. Also, it sounds like you have a clear idea of what the market looks like and I really think you should proceed with developing the product that you've outlined. You are going to be tremendously successful. Thanks for coming. 

7 minutes ago, cmart604 said:

I'm predicting this will be a one and done account. 😂 I'm assuming since you have made literally every idiotic criticism that we've seen to date that you're not doing this by accident but rather you know exactly what you're doing. Also, it sounds like you have a clear idea of what the market looks like and I really think you should proceed with developing the product that you've outlined. You are going to be tremendously successful. Thanks for coming. 

It's well written, I give him that. But yeah, if I have to read one more "Why buy this when I can buy a Switch" comment I may rip my hair out.

 

Why buy a Switch when you can buy a PC? Or an Xbox? Why buy a PS4 when I can buy a Smart TV? 

 

The consoles main differentiation is that it is old games brought back to life. It has a new controller that none of the others have ever had. It has new gameplay potential with couch co-op and features that aren't present on other devices that get the whole family gaming in ways they cannot on current systems, like the karma system, 8 players, etc.

 

To not know any of this about Amico yet write out that list of complaints and also then offer your own, unsolicited advice (like Rayken mentioned, releasing a $100 dollar box as an idea is pretty silly) and then also call Tommy a jerk is kind of crazy.

Edited April 19, 2020 by 1001lives

40 minutes ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

Hi there. I made this account because I'd like to try and address Tommy directly about a few things with the Amico/Intellivision in general, and I noticed he's been posting here a lot, so I figured this would be my best place to do so.

First off, lemme just say that while I am going to be tossing some criticism your way, I intend for it to be constructive. This is by no means an attempt to attack Tommy or the company, but rather, I do think there are some issues here that need to be discussed, and they might fall a bit into the "hard question/criticism" territory. I don't mean to disrespect you, but I believe that these are things you need to consider. These questions and criticisms are meant to be advice, and I hope that you respond to them and don't take them as an insult or anything like that.

Let's begin with talking about the Amico itself.

 

From what I've seen and read, you seem to be aiming the Amico towards the family, and especially the early childhood market, correct? The perfect console that everyone in the house can enjoy, and one that is perfect for children whose parents won't let them play other games because they find them to be too violent/otherwise inappropriate.

 

But... I don't think this is the correct market that you should be aiming for. I feel like this market isn't actually going to make the Amico successful. What I believe you should be aiming at instead, are the older crowd. The people that are your age - or even older. People that had the original Intellivision, or other similar consoles like the Atari ones, back when they were kids or teens. I feel like hitting that nostalgia factor is really your best bet of making the Amico successful, and while you do have some retro game remakes on the system, I feel like that should have been the core focus of the system to begin with, to appeal to that group of nostalgic older gamers.

 

To be honest, I don't feel like this system has ANY appeal with the younger demographic at all, nor does it appeal to families as a whole. Allow me to explain...

 

I don't have any kids myself, but several of my friends do, and I see them all the time. As a gamer myself, their kids will often talk to me about the games that they're enjoying. These kids are between the ages of 6 and 12, and I can tell you with certainty that not a one of them would enjoy the vast majority of games on the Amico. They already know what they like, and what they like are fundamentally different from what the Amico offers. They like games like Fortnite, Minecraft and Super Mario Maker 2. They don't play the kind of simplistic games that are on the Amico - they find them to be boring. Even a lot of the free to play phone games that are popular these days bore them to tears. And yes, while this may only be a small group of people, I think that in general, this is how kids these days feel. They like two kinds of games in general - shooting games, and building games. And if the Amico doesn't have those? They won't be satisfied with it.

 

Kids don't want to play Pong, or Space Invaders, or Galaga, or anything like that. They just don't care about the games of yesteryear. So I think that if you're expecting parents to buy their kids a walled garden console that only has simplistic, retro-inspired games... all you're gonna get is disappointed kids in the end. And as for the families as a whole... I doubt you have any market there either. Most of the adults that aren't already hardcore gamers are extremely casual gamers who play things like solitaire and golf on their phones. To them, they already have a gaming device - their phones. They don't need another one. Trust me, I've been trying to get my uncle to borrow some of my games during the quarantine because he keeps complaining that he's bored, and he'd much rather play solitaire on his phone than my 3DS and a huge stack of games that I know would appeal to him if he gave them the chance. I think that if any families are gonna be buying the Amico, it will be almost purely for their children, and those children.... will probably be disappointed.

 

I feel like you have this vision, that the Amico is going to be the next Wii. That it's going to be this massive runaway success that changes the entire industry and brings casual gamers that stopped playing dedicated consoles post-Wii, back to gaming. I... don't think this is going to happen. At all. I think you are overestimating just how much casual gamers care about something like this. Or even more so, how many of them even know that the Amico exists. I mean, I browse gaming forums and various gaming Youtube channels every day, and I very rarely even hear a peep about the Amico. So what makes you think that the average family with non-gaming parents knows what the Amico is? Or that they have any intention of buying it?

 

I think that you're expecting that kids across the world are going to ask for an Amico for Christmas, and when they open it, they're going to be overjoyed that they got exactly what they wanted from Santa. But I feel that the more likely situation is that they're going to ask Santa for a Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, or the Xbox Series X, but because it was cheaper and possibly bargain binned and "family friendly", they're going to open up an Amico and they're going to cry because they wanted Fortnite and the Amico doesn't have Fortnite, and grandpa just didn't know that there was a difference.

 

And I know it sounds like I'm just trashing you, but I'm not trying to be mean, it's because I feel like you've made a lot of bad business decisions with this product. That there most certainly could be a market for the Amico, but it ain't the one you're aiming for. Especially not at the price point you're aiming for either.

 

I'm sorry, but the price you are asking for the Amico is ridiculous. Maybe you have a reason - maybe the tech inside is so amazing an advanced that you NEED to charge that much to make a profit. But in that case, I feel like the entire project should have been downsized. I think that what you should have done is made it an affordable, budget alternative to the big-name consoles, closer to the "classic" or "mini" consoles that came out over the last few years, but packed it entirely with classic, remastered original Intellivision games (and the original versions of those games as well), and sold the whole thing for NO MORE than $100. Forget about all the new games and being able to buy more games for the console, I think you should have made the entire thing a "retro remastered" box at a competitive price, which could have been HUGE for older gamers.

 

Like, think of this realistically here. Do you REALLY think that your system has more value TO THE CONSUMER than something like the Switch Lite? Why would someone buy the Amico with it's lineup of (IMO) unimpressive games for $250 when they could instead buy a Switch Lite and a game from an established series that they enjoy for about the same price? I mean, I know you're gonna say that they would, because you have to because you're in charge of the company, but please, do stew that around in your brain for a minute. Does the Amico REALLY offer the value that you think it does? I mean, one of the talking points in a recent trailer that you released was that the Amico has a whole bunch of board and card games, but the Switch is getting Clubhouse Games soon, and that has 51 different board and card games in one package. So you could buy a Switch Lite and Clubhouse Games for about the same price as the Amico and get FIFTY ONE different card and board games. Are you prepared to offer more than 50 games in one package on the Amico?

 

Anyway, let me move onto the next subject. You, Tommy Tallarico. And I know that you're probably gonna take it as an insult, but I want you to understand that I'm trying to offer you constructive criticism, which may be harsh, because I'm trying to give you helpful advice.

 

You come off as... kind of a jerk, Tommy. You have the attitude of someone like Reggie Fils-Aime, but you're not as subtle as he is. You act like you have this enormous ego, and it makes you seem intimidating and rude. I don't think that's a good look for a corporate CEO, Tommy. When people criticize you, you have a habit of attacking them, being very rude to them even when they weren't rude, deleting their comments, calling them trolls and just generally not taking criticism well. Heck, I have the feeling that you're probably just gonna call me a troll or something for this message, even when I feel that I'm being perfectly reasonable and offering you genuine advice. You really need to stop that kind of behavior, Tommy, because... well... you're not as cool as Reggie is. He can pull off the badass attitude and not seem like a jerk. You can't, so please, stop it.

 

Oh and one last question that I forgot to ask earlier in the message. You mention during your video that you have a former president of Nintendo, and someone involved with Tetris on your team? Who exactly are they? I can't seem to figure out who you were referring to.

 

Anyway, yeah. I have the feeling that you're not gonna respond well to this message, but I would appreciate it if you would try and take some of this to heart. As it stands, I don't think that the Amico is going to be successful, but I think you could probably do a few things to make it worthwhile before it releases, and maybe aim it towards a market that is actually going to care about it. Because trust me, no child is going to care about the Amico.

 

(Edit: Minor formatting fix.)

Exhibit A Why people like the majority of the this threads readers and contributors need to exist,  to combat this type of single minded and hateful spew.   This as got me angry, constructive criticism this is not, nor will it ever be when you have statements like "You come off as... kind of a jerk, Tommy"  or  "You act like you have this enormous ego"   also I assume you talked to every single kid in the world when saying "Kids don't want to play Pong, or Space Invaders, or Galaga, or anything like that. They just don't care about the games of yesteryear. " 

 

 You could have worded this so much better than what you did and got a lot more respect from people and most likely got a lot of good answers back, but you took the easy road and went on an attack veiled in a constructive criticism guise.  Man I am not happy now, I need a tea.

12 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

 

Watching in 3, 2, 1  

On 4/18/2020 at 10:59 AM, Saldo said:

That might be an East coast reference that everyone won’t get!  Was Carvel a nationwide chain?

Mmm...been a while since I had a Fudgie The Whale ice cream cake.  You guys are taking me back...

1 minute ago, 1001lives said:

It's well written, I give him that. But yeah, if I have to read one more "Why buy this when I can buy a Switch" comment I may rip my hair out.

I think you're being too kind and giving too much credit. 😂 I honestly don't think it's sincere at all. Well written in that it's couched in the same sort of disingenuous language that we saw in the other thread, "I want to see it succeed, I really do!".  I call BS.

 

As someone that has been on this forum for a decade, I honestly think I've only responded to maybe a handful of troll posts out of the 15,000+ posts I have made, and this one made the list. I'm tired of the same old uninformed bullsh*t, or passive aggressive garbage that's thrown towards this console. I am happy to admit that I am an unabashed Inty fan, and by extension, an Amico fan and I honestly don't understand why people come to forums to

post about things they really have no interest in nor love for. I do not like country music and as a result I don't go to country music forums to tell the people there who love country music that I think it sucks. In part because I don't want to waste my time on things that don't bring me happiness and in part because it's insulting to shat on something that people on a forum like that do love. 
 

my 0.02.

Just now, sramirez2008 said:

Mmm...been a while since I had a Fudgie The Whale ice cream cake.  You guys are taking me back...

Why go back?

 

Bring Fudgie forward!

 

https://www.carvel.com/cakes/fudgie-the-whale

7 minutes ago, OEB_Pete said:

Exhibit A Why people like the majority of the this threads readers and contributors need to exist,  to combat this type of single minded and hateful spew.   This as got me angry, constructive criticism this is not, nor will it ever be when you have statements like "You come off as... kind of a jerk, Tommy"  or  "You act like you have this enormous ego"   also I assume your talked to every kid in the world when saying "Kids don't want to play Pong, or Space Invaders, or Galaga, or anything like that. They just don't care about the games of yesteryear. " 

 

 You could have worded this so much better than what you did and got a lot more respect from people and most likely got a lot of good answers back, but you took the easy road and went on an attack veiled in Constructive criticism guise.  Man I am not happy now, I need a tea.

Heres whats hilarious.  My friends has an Atari 2600 heavy sixer kid you not they didn't even know what they had. And it was the wifes when she was a kid. Their kid is 11. You couldn't pull him off of space invaders lol. And they dont have any new systems.  

@Tommy Tallarico

Thanks for finding those Riverside Videos...  Great Stuff. 

Seeing photos of the stock cars...  Flashed my AFX slot car memories!  LOL

 

To the Haters...  We are ALL in favor of constructive criticism and feedback. But baseless hate and spewing of misinformation is just a waste of time and effort. 

As an Intellivision fan, I want the very best possible next iteration of my favorite system. 

I have offered feedback, asked questions and made suggestions.  Maybe they could be interpreted in a way I did not intend.  I have read stuff I have posted and thought... What was I smoking!  LOL

But I never go out of my way to "Hate".  

Please give it a rest already!

 

 

Just now, cmart604 said:

I think you're being too kind and giving too much credit. 😂 I honestly don't think it's sincere at all. Well written in that it's couched in the same sort of disingenuous language that we saw in the other thread, "I want to see it succeed, I really do!".  I call BS.

 

As someone that has been on this forum for a decade, I honestly think I've only responded to maybe a handful of troll posts out of the 15,000+ posts I have made, and this one made the list. I'm tired of the same old uninformed bullsh*t, or passive aggressive garbage that's thrown towards this console. I am happy to admit that I am an unabashed Inty fan, and by extension, an Amico fan and I honestly don't understand why people come to forums to

post about things they really have no interest in nor love for. I do not like country music and as a result I don't go to country music forums to tell the people there who love country music that I think it sucks. In part because I don't want to waste my time on things that don't bring me happiness and in part because it's insulting to shat on something that people on a forum like that do love. 
 

my 0.02.

Yeah, I think you're right. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt but the more I look at the post, the more it comes off like the typical internet genius, here's all the problems with your idea, here's my idea, and then he ends it by calling Tommy an intimidating jerk. Rayken is posting in here again and he's been really harsh to Tommy more than once, but you can see the tonal difference in someone who is harsh vs someone who is fake. 

 

Definitely seems like it's just disingenuous language.

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

 

C'mon fellas... you know you loved this as a teenage boy!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Blarneo

look i dont give a shit. tommy isnt intimidating to me. hes a human being. he has no ego. he brings up his achievements to show credibility not because he has an ego. the only person who thinks thats an ego is someone who is insecure because they have no credibility themselves.

ill say it right now i dont care

 

the consoles too expensive. do i want a premium product? yes. do other people find value in premium products? market research suggests otherwise if atgames sells like it does.

 

the console needs kickass games and all of them need to be skiing quality or higher. all i see now that is good is skiing and night stalker. shark shark is rough. wip in progress or not. console launch in 5 months step to it. i gave you my money yes i did preorder. if it sucks i will be on this board to say good job trying not on this board shitting on it. this isnt a toilet.

 

anyone who says tommy doesnt take criticism is just trying to attack tommy and not actually offer criticism. people are mad jealous of his ferrari and his achievements so they see something they can tear down and they tear at it. they have nothing so tommy opens up they think they can also hurt him so he has less and is more like him. aka less intimidating to them.

 

yes i took counseling classes in college and majored in business management. unlike our friend whatsthatsounds business degree, mine was actually worth it.

51 minutes ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

Hi there. I made this account because I'd like to try and address Tommy directly about a few things with the Amico/Intellivision in general, and I noticed he's been posting here a lot, so I figured this would be my best place to do so.

First off, lemme just say that while I am going to be tossing some criticism your way, I intend for it to be constructive. This is by no means an attempt to attack Tommy or the company, but rather, I do think there are some issues here that need to be discussed, and they might fall a bit into the "hard question/criticism" territory. I don't mean to disrespect you, but I believe that these are things you need to consider. These questions and criticisms are meant to be advice, and I hope that you respond to them and don't take them as an insult or anything like that.

Let's begin with talking about the Amico itself.

 

From what I've seen and read, you seem to be aiming the Amico towards the family, and especially the early childhood market, correct? The perfect console that everyone in the house can enjoy, and one that is perfect for children whose parents won't let them play other games because they find them to be too violent/otherwise inappropriate.

 

But... I don't think this is the correct market that you should be aiming for. I feel like this market isn't actually going to make the Amico successful. What I believe you should be aiming at instead, are the older crowd. The people that are your age - or even older. People that had the original Intellivision, or other similar consoles like the Atari ones, back when they were kids or teens. I feel like hitting that nostalgia factor is really your best bet of making the Amico successful, and while you do have some retro game remakes on the system, I feel like that should have been the core focus of the system to begin with, to appeal to that group of nostalgic older gamers.

 

To be honest, I don't feel like this system has ANY appeal with the younger demographic at all, nor does it appeal to families as a whole. Allow me to explain...

 

I don't have any kids myself, but several of my friends do, and I see them all the time. As a gamer myself, their kids will often talk to me about the games that they're enjoying. These kids are between the ages of 6 and 12, and I can tell you with certainty that not a one of them would enjoy the vast majority of games on the Amico. They already know what they like, and what they like are fundamentally different from what the Amico offers. They like games like Fortnite, Minecraft and Super Mario Maker 2. They don't play the kind of simplistic games that are on the Amico - they find them to be boring. Even a lot of the free to play phone games that are popular these days bore them to tears. And yes, while this may only be a small group of people, I think that in general, this is how kids these days feel. They like two kinds of games in general - shooting games, and building games. And if the Amico doesn't have those? They won't be satisfied with it.

 

Kids don't want to play Pong, or Space Invaders, or Galaga, or anything like that. They just don't care about the games of yesteryear. So I think that if you're expecting parents to buy their kids a walled garden console that only has simplistic, retro-inspired games... all you're gonna get is disappointed kids in the end. And as for the families as a whole... I doubt you have any market there either. Most of the adults that aren't already hardcore gamers are extremely casual gamers who play things like solitaire and golf on their phones. To them, they already have a gaming device - their phones. They don't need another one. Trust me, I've been trying to get my uncle to borrow some of my games during the quarantine because he keeps complaining that he's bored, and he'd much rather play solitaire on his phone than my 3DS and a huge stack of games that I know would appeal to him if he gave them the chance. I think that if any families are gonna be buying the Amico, it will be almost purely for their children, and those children.... will probably be disappointed.

 

I feel like you have this vision, that the Amico is going to be the next Wii. That it's going to be this massive runaway success that changes the entire industry and brings casual gamers that stopped playing dedicated consoles post-Wii, back to gaming. I... don't think this is going to happen. At all. I think you are overestimating just how much casual gamers care about something like this. Or even more so, how many of them even know that the Amico exists. I mean, I browse gaming forums and various gaming Youtube channels every day, and I very rarely even hear a peep about the Amico. So what makes you think that the average family with non-gaming parents knows what the Amico is? Or that they have any intention of buying it?

 

I think that you're expecting that kids across the world are going to ask for an Amico for Christmas, and when they open it, they're going to be overjoyed that they got exactly what they wanted from Santa. But I feel that the more likely situation is that they're going to ask Santa for a Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, or the Xbox Series X, but because it was cheaper and possibly bargain binned and "family friendly", they're going to open up an Amico and they're going to cry because they wanted Fortnite and the Amico doesn't have Fortnite, and grandpa just didn't know that there was a difference.

 

And I know it sounds like I'm just trashing you, but I'm not trying to be mean, it's because I feel like you've made a lot of bad business decisions with this product. That there most certainly could be a market for the Amico, but it ain't the one you're aiming for. Especially not at the price point you're aiming for either.

 

I'm sorry, but the price you are asking for the Amico is ridiculous. Maybe you have a reason - maybe the tech inside is so amazing an advanced that you NEED to charge that much to make a profit. But in that case, I feel like the entire project should have been downsized. I think that what you should have done is made it an affordable, budget alternative to the big-name consoles, closer to the "classic" or "mini" consoles that came out over the last few years, but packed it entirely with classic, remastered original Intellivision games (and the original versions of those games as well), and sold the whole thing for NO MORE than $100. Forget about all the new games and being able to buy more games for the console, I think you should have made the entire thing a "retro remastered" box at a competitive price, which could have been HUGE for older gamers.

 

Like, think of this realistically here. Do you REALLY think that your system has more value TO THE CONSUMER than something like the Switch Lite? Why would someone buy the Amico with it's lineup of (IMO) unimpressive games for $250 when they could instead buy a Switch Lite and a game from an established series that they enjoy for about the same price? I mean, I know you're gonna say that they would, because you have to because you're in charge of the company, but please, do stew that around in your brain for a minute. Does the Amico REALLY offer the value that you think it does? I mean, one of the talking points in a recent trailer that you released was that the Amico has a whole bunch of board and card games, but the Switch is getting Clubhouse Games soon, and that has 51 different board and card games in one package. So you could buy a Switch Lite and Clubhouse Games for about the same price as the Amico and get FIFTY ONE different card and board games. Are you prepared to offer more than 50 games in one package on the Amico?

 

Anyway, let me move onto the next subject. You, Tommy Tallarico. And I know that you're probably gonna take it as an insult, but I want you to understand that I'm trying to offer you constructive criticism, which may be harsh, because I'm trying to give you helpful advice.

 

You come off as... kind of a jerk, Tommy. You have the attitude of someone like Reggie Fils-Aime, but you're not as subtle as he is. You act like you have this enormous ego, and it makes you seem intimidating and rude. I don't think that's a good look for a corporate CEO, Tommy. When people criticize you, you have a habit of attacking them, being very rude to them even when they weren't rude, deleting their comments, calling them trolls and just generally not taking criticism well. Heck, I have the feeling that you're probably just gonna call me a troll or something for this message, even when I feel that I'm being perfectly reasonable and offering you genuine advice. You really need to stop that kind of behavior, Tommy, because... well... you're not as cool as Reggie is. He can pull off the badass attitude and not seem like a jerk. You can't, so please, stop it.

 

Oh and one last question that I forgot to ask earlier in the message. You mention during your video that you have a former president of Nintendo, and someone involved with Tetris on your team? Who exactly are they? I can't seem to figure out who you were referring to.

 

Anyway, yeah. I have the feeling that you're not gonna respond well to this message, but I would appreciate it if you would try and take some of this to heart. As it stands, I don't think that the Amico is going to be successful, but I think you could probably do a few things to make it worthwhile before it releases, and maybe aim it towards a market that is actually going to care about it. Because trust me, no child is going to care about the Amico.

 

(Edit: Minor formatting fix.)

You are not fooling anyone, go take this to the Taco Thread and just keep reading  the locked out bacon thread.. You love to read your own post's..  You just Don't know when to quit .  Wow  

Thankfully we only have a few once in a while in this group.  So its time for me to break out my mug. 

2 hours ago, 1980gamer said:

I think a game like CLUE would be a perfect game for the controllers capabilities.

Plus, they have several versions of this game and you could do a few of those

 

as long as they have a "classic version" like the 1972 edition of the board game. something similar to the 1986 film. ambience is key with clue. absolutely vital! which will inherently also render the soundtrack imperatively important.

1 minute ago, Relicgamer said:

Thankfully we only have a few once in a while in this group.  So its time for me to break out my mug. 

True, look at the beaches in Florida today!

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

Hi there. I made this account because I'd like to try and address Tommy directly about a few things with the Amico/Intellivision in general, and I noticed he's been posting here a lot, so I figured this would be my best place to do so.

First off, lemme just say that while I am going to be tossing some criticism your way, I intend for it to be constructive. This is by no means an attempt to attack Tommy or the company, but rather, I do think there are some issues here that need to be discussed, and they might fall a bit into the "hard question/criticism" territory. I don't mean to disrespect you, but I believe that these are things you need to consider. These questions and criticisms are meant to be advice, and I hope that you respond to them and don't take them as an insult or anything like that.

Let's begin with talking about the Amico itself.

 

Thanks for joining to speak with me.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

 

From what I've seen and read, you seem to be aiming the Amico towards the family, and especially the early childhood market, correct? The perfect console that everyone in the house can enjoy, and one that is perfect for children whose parents won't let them play other games because they find them to be too violent/otherwise inappropriate.

 

But... I don't think this is the correct market that you should be aiming for. I feel like this market isn't actually going to make the Amico successful. What I believe you should be aiming at instead, are the older crowd. The people that are your age - or even older. People that had the original Intellivision, or other similar consoles like the Atari ones, back when they were kids or teens. I feel like hitting that nostalgia factor is really your best bet of making the Amico successful, and while you do have some retro game remakes on the system, I feel like that should have been the core focus of the system to begin with, to appeal to that group of nostalgic older gamers.

 

You're certainly entitled to your opinion and that's fine.  But we have very extensive market research, data and focus group testing that basically say the exact opposite of your belief and opinion.

That's not me not being able to accept criticism... it's me letting you know that we have spent a lot of time and money to back up the entire premise of Amico.

 

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

 

To be honest, I don't feel like this system has ANY appeal with the younger demographic at all, nor does it appeal to families as a whole. Allow me to explain...

 

Well, I'm sorry to say... but you are wrong.

Now you make take that as me "attacking" you or me not being able to take criticism.  But I'm not sure how else I communicate it. 

It's at this point that folks will sometimes go off the deep end and descend into disliking me.  Because I dared to challenge their personal opinion for which I know is incorrect.

Ignoring you would be the "jerky" thing to do.  We see this style all the time when folks like Pat will DELETE anyone's post on their channel who makes a good counter-point... and never really engages with folks who have a different opinion than him.

Me & you have a difference of opinion.  We can still be respectful and cordial and I don't dislike you for having a difference of opinion.  So hopefully you won't feel that my facts, knowledge and experience which counter your opinion is taken with respect.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

 

I don't have any kids myself, but several of my friends do, and I see them all the time. As a gamer myself, their kids will often talk to me about the games that they're enjoying. These kids are between the ages of 6 and 12, and I can tell you with certainty that not a one of them would enjoy the vast majority of games on the Amico.

 

See... this is where you start to take your thought and opinions in a completely wrong direction.  None of those kids have played an Amico game.  To declare that "with certainty" that they won't enjoy something they've never played and you youself have never played... is an absolute ridiculous statement to make.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

They already know what they like, and what they like are fundamentally different from what the Amico offers. They like games like Fortnite, Minecraft and Super Mario Maker 2. They don't play the kind of simplistic games that are on the Amico - they find them to be boring.

 

Once again you are misrepresenting what you think and feel our games are.  Just because you watched a trailer of gameplay footage you feel you understand what we're doing and the fun factor involved.  Is their mom playing Fortnite with them?  How about Minecraft?  Do kids 10 and under WANT to play games with their parents.  YES!!  Again... I have all the research that says exactly the opposite of what you're saying.

 

And finally... you think kids don't like simple games?  So no kids played Wii Bowling with their parents?  No kids are enjoying playing old NES or SNES mini consoles with their parents?  No kids enjoy games like Pac-Man, Galaga, etc.?

With all due respect... you're way off in that statement.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

Even a lot of the free to play phone games that are popular these days bore them to tears.

 

Well, lucky for us that isn't what we're doing or have on Amico.  

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

And yes, while this may only be a small group of people, I think that in general, this is how kids these days feel. They like two kinds of games in general - shooting games, and building games. And if the Amico doesn't have those? They won't be satisfied with it.

 

Again.. you are just plain wrong.  I'm sorry.  I'm not trying to make you look silly or trying to be confrontational.  You came here wanting to discuss this with me in a respectful way and I'm answering all of your points.  You don't need to agree with them... but I can tell you that all the data says the exact opposite of what you're saying.

 

p.s.  We DO have building games (Utopia and others) and shooting games (Moon Patrol, Night Stalker, Armor Battle, Asteroids, etc).  So just based on those facts... it somewhat makes your points moot.

If you say they only like shooting and building games... then they will like some of the big games we're doing as well.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

 

Kids don't want to play Pong, or Space Invaders, or Galaga, or anything like that. They just don't care about the games of yesteryear.

 

Very ignorant and uniformed statement my friend.  I'm sorry... it just is. 

Maybe you're friends kids haven't been exposed to those types of games... or maybe they have and they didn't like them.  But for you to make such a blanket statment like that is just plain incorrect.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

So I think that if you're expecting parents to buy their kids a walled garden console that only has simplistic, retro-inspired games... all you're gonna get is disappointed kids in the end. And as for the families as a whole... I doubt you have any market there either.

Well... you're incorrect.  Do you think we've come all this way on a "hunch"?   Just curious.

Do you think smart investors put in millions of dollars on a "maybe"?   Just curious.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

Most of the adults that aren't already hardcore gamers are extremely casual gamers who play things like solitaire and golf on their phones. To them, they already have a gaming device - their phones. They don't need another one.

Wrong again my friend.  They WANT to play with others... but they CAN'T because mobile doesn't offer it and the other consoles are too complicated.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

Trust me, I've been trying to get my uncle to borrow some of my games during the quarantine because he keeps complaining that he's bored, and he'd much rather play solitaire on his phone than my 3DS and a huge stack of games that I know would appeal to him if he gave them the chance. I think that if any families are gonna be buying the Amico, it will be almost purely for their children, and those children.... will probably be disappointed.

 

Spoken like someone who doesn't have any kids.

 

And the point about your uncle is just proving my point.  I'm curious to know which games you're trying to get him to borrow.  PLEASE list them here for us.  And be honest.

 

Which games is he "rejecting".  I bet I know the reason!  And more important... I have the solution.

 

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

I feel like you have this vision, that the Amico is going to be the next Wii. That it's going to be this massive runaway success that changes the entire industry and brings casual gamers that stopped playing dedicated consoles post-Wii, back to gaming. I... don't think this is going to happen. At all.

 

Looking forward to proving you wrong then.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

I think you are overestimating just how much casual gamers care about something like this.

And I KNOW you are underestimating them. 

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

Or even more so, how many of them even know that the Amico exists. I mean, I browse gaming forums and various gaming Youtube channels every day, and I very rarely even hear a peep about the Amico. So what makes you think that the average family with non-gaming parents knows what the Amico is? Or that they have any intention of buying it?

 

We haven't started advertising or marketing the console yet.  That's why.

 

And see above about all of the market research and focus group testing with people we've done.

So there is your reason.  Do you accept it?

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

 

I think that you're expecting that kids across the world are going to ask for an Amico for Christmas, and when they open it, they're going to be overjoyed that they got exactly what they wanted from Santa. But I feel that the more likely situation is that they're going to ask Santa for a Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, or the Xbox Series X, but because it was cheaper and possibly bargain binned and "family friendly", they're going to open up an Amico and they're going to cry because they wanted Fortnite and the Amico doesn't have Fortnite, and grandpa just didn't know that there was a difference.

 

This is the scenario you have created in your head.  I have data and reserach and focus groups to back me up.  But the only thing you have to back up your thoughts is your opinion.

 

I don't say that to be mean... but once again... just pointing out the reality of the situation.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

 

And I know it sounds like I'm just trashing you, but I'm not trying to be mean, it's because I feel like you've made a lot of bad business decisions with this product. That there most certainly could be a market for the Amico, but it ain't the one you're aiming for. Especially not at the price point you're aiming for either.

 

You're not coming across as mean at all and I appreciate the respectful dialogue.  But you are coming across as not understanding the real world family scenario.  And that's fine.  No one expects everyone to understand this stuff.

 

But to then say that I'm making "bad business decisions" really shows your lack of understanding and appreciation of my 30+ year experience as well as the 600+ year experience of the folks on our team.

 

Do you think the former President of Nintendo would know about this stuff?  How about the Sr. VP of Marketing for Nintendo?  How about the former head of marketing for all Disney products at Mattel?  Would the producer of Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Dance Dance Revolution, Contra & Castlevania know how to make a game?  Maybe the guy who brought Tetris to the world?  How about some of the folks who worked on the hardware for the PlayStations, Xbox's & Nintendo machines?  Do they know what they're doing?  Are they making bad business decisions as well for all joining Intellivision?

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

I'm sorry, but the price you are asking for the Amico is ridiculous. Maybe you have a reason - maybe the tech inside is so amazing an advanced that you NEED to charge that much to make a profit. But in that case, I feel like the entire project should have been downsized. I think that what you should have done is made it an affordable, budget alternative to the big-name consoles, closer to the "classic" or "mini" consoles that came out over the last few years, but packed it entirely with classic, remastered original Intellivision games (and the original versions of those games as well), and sold the whole thing for NO MORE than $100. Forget about all the new games and being able to buy more games for the console, I think you should have made the entire thing a "retro remastered" box at a competitive price, which could have been HUGE for older gamers.

I'll let someone else in here answer this one for ya as it's obvious.

Although here's a nice video that could help you to start to understand:

 

 

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

 

Like, think of this realistically here. Do you REALLY think that your system has more value TO THE CONSUMER than something like the Switch Lite?

 

Absolutely.  100%.  Tell me how many 4 players games can you play on a Switch Lite?  You'll need 2, 3 or 4 Switch Lites?  $400 - $800?

 

How is a casual gamer going to find anything in the e-shop?  Clearly you're a Nintendo fan... and that's totally fine (I am as well)... but are you proud of that e-store?  Are you proud of the excessive violence, full frontal nudity, rape, realistic killing, drug taking and children in compromising sexual positions that the Switch Lite offers to it's "consumers" and "families"?

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

 

Why would someone buy the Amico with it's lineup of (IMO) unimpressive games for $250 when they could instead buy a Switch Lite and a game from an established series that they enjoy for about the same price?

 

See above.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

 

I mean, I know you're gonna say that they would, because you have to because you're in charge of the company, but please, do stew that around in your brain for a minute. Does the Amico REALLY offer the value that you think it does?

Hopefully you'll "stew around" all of the things I've responded to and enlightened you on.  Are you willing to change your mind based on evidence, data and experience?

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

I mean, one of the talking points in a recent trailer that you released was that the Amico has a whole bunch of board and card games, but the Switch is getting Clubhouse Games soon, and that has 51 different board and card games in one package. So you could buy a Switch Lite and Clubhouse Games for about the same price as the Amico and get FIFTY ONE different card and board games. Are you prepared to offer more than 50 games in one package on the Amico?

 

Tell me how many of those games are not thrown together "mini games" as opposed to in-depth "real" games.  How many will be able to be played by a family of 4 at the same time?  With one tiny small Switch Lite you think?

 

Our Cornhole and Bowling games (for example) have hundreds of unlockables.  Will there little bowling strike demo have that?  Same with all of our card games. 

Once again... you are comparing 2 products against each other that you yourself have NEVER played.  You don't see that as being biased or missing the picture at all?

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

 

Anyway, let me move onto the next subject. You, Tommy Tallarico. And I know that you're probably gonna take it as an insult, but I want you to understand that I'm trying to offer you constructive criticism, which may be harsh, because I'm trying to give you helpful advice.

No offense... but I don't need any advice from a random person on the internet who clearly doesn't understand anything that we're doing.

 

But lets continue...

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

You come off as... kind of a jerk, Tommy. You have the attitude of someone like Reggie Fils-Aime, but you're not as subtle as he is. You act like you have this enormous ego, and it makes you seem intimidating and rude. I don't think that's a good look for a corporate CEO, Tommy.

And more people LOVE me for that kind of attitude than don't.  The majority of folks LOVE that I'm not the typical stick up the butt CEO that only cares about bottom lines and quarterly returns.  People LOVE that I'm willing to stick up to internet bullies and triggered dumb asses like Pat & Ian.

 

So although it may not be your cup of tea... that's fine.  I don't care.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

When people criticize you, you have a habit of attacking them, being very rude to them even when they weren't rude, deleting their comments, calling them trolls and just generally not taking criticism well.

 

Now you're just lying to try and support your narrative.  I have NEVER been rude to anyone that wasn't being a total jerk to me.  Giving someone information to back up my position is NOT attacking them.  It's answering their questions and/or giving proper information when they have suggested or given bad information.

You're going to read my responsed here and it's going to get your blood boiling.  How DARE I give counter-points to your arguement.  You'll probably call me rude and tell me I can't take criticism... when the reality is... it may just be the other way around my friend.

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

Heck, I have the feeling that you're probably just gonna call me a troll or something for this message, even when I feel that I'm being perfectly reasonable and offering you genuine advice.

You're being respectful... but I definitely wouldn't say "reasonable".  And no.... I didn't call you a troll either.  And I'm responding to this post as I'm reading it (I didn't read the entire thing first). 

So once again... something you thought was reality in your mind... wasn't.

How will you handle it at this point?  Will you just ignore everything and say "SEE!!  Tommy is a big ole' meanie and can't take criticism!!"  Or... will you see that maybe there is another side of the story that you haven't yet considered or understand and say... "Thanks for answering some of my questions, I can see that point and side as well."

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

You really need to stop that kind of behavior, Tommy, because... well... you're not as cool as Reggie is.

HAHAHAHAHAA!!   Okay bud.  That's cool. 

Look... it's clear from all of this that you are a huge Nintendo fanboy.  And that's great.  Love your system all you want.

But ask yourself why you feel so threatened by Amico?  Why do you feel the need to come here and give me all this advice and tell me I'm making bad business decisions?

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

Oh and one last question that I forgot to ask earlier in the message. You mention during your video that you have a former president of Nintendo, and someone involved with Tetris on your team? Who exactly are they? I can't seem to figure out who you were referring to.

 

By your tone here I'm guessing you may be thinking I'm not telling the truth?

If I were to provide you with the proof would you be willing to apologize?  Or say... Wow, ok... that's pretty cool.

Here ya go friend:
https://www.fig.co/campaigns/amico

Scroll on down and see just a SMALL fraction of the folks on our team.

 

Now tell me... are you impressed?  Yes or No?

Do you think that those people may know a thing or two about the video game industry and marketing that you don't?  Yes or No?

 

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

Anyway, yeah. I have the feeling that you're not gonna respond well to this message, but I would appreciate it if you would try and take some of this to heart.

 

I wasn't a smart-ass and I was 100% respectful.  There is ZERO way I could have presented any of my information in a way that you would have approved.  So it's a bit of a losing proposition for me.

 

Yet still... I gave you the respect and information you seeked. 

 

I wonder if your hero Reggie would have done that for you? 

Something to think about eh?

 

 

1 minute ago, WhatWasThatSound said:

As it stands, I don't think that the Amico is going to be successful, but I think you could probably do a few things to make it worthwhile before it releases, and maybe aim it towards a market that is actually going to care about it. Because trust me, no child is going to care about the Amico.

 

And trust me.  You are 100% wrong.
 

 

 

53 minutes ago, speedy-a said:

I still really like the old Italo Disco Sound and touch me remembers me of so many great tracks from the 80s. Still have all the CDs.

You are a great man for admitting this!

I'm in the same boat... but I would never admit it publicly.

 

(oh crap!)

 

 

47 minutes ago, wolfy62 said:

I am pretty sure we could work out some kind of a trade,at least for some of it!😁

Count me in!!

36 minutes ago, LordRayken said:

didnt think id be back so soon. you want him to release a 100 dollar cheap chinese piece of shit and think that's a good business decision?

my friend please, where did you get your education because i would ask for a refund.

i can already imagine the cheap plastic making creaking sounds in my hands and the crappy lcd screen with dead pixels thats so bright and has no contrast and your eyes burn. im imagining the 30 dollar atari handheld atgames crap. that thing ended up in the garbage 15 minutes later. also insulting his tact when dealing with haters is pretty bold of you. if you wanna kick the guy you could have done it a lot better than just calling him a jerk to his face. 

 

you might be projecting a little. you may be scared of tommy but hes not scary. tommy isnt intimidating in the slightest. im actually laughing my ass off imagining someone scared of tommy. im not a kiss ass, i wouldnt even kiss my own ass and im telling you flat out the guy is one of the nicest and professional people in this industry. just because he punches back on haters doesnt make him an intimidating jerk. the shit you call criticism is just trash talk for the sake of trash talk. what you wrote is criticism. what you did is a huge difference to what other people on youtube and on here have done. 

Damn...  I missed you. 

 

 

 

26 minutes ago, OEB_Pete said:

Exhibit A Why people like the majority of the this threads readers and contributors need to exist,  to combat this type of single minded and hateful spew.   This as got me angry, constructive criticism this is not, nor will it ever be when you have statements like "You come off as... kind of a jerk, Tommy"  or  "You act like you have this enormous ego"   also I assume you talked to every single kid in the world when saying "Kids don't want to play Pong, or Space Invaders, or Galaga, or anything like that. They just don't care about the games of yesteryear. " 

 

 You could have worded this so much better than what you did and got a lot more respect from people and most likely got a lot of good answers back, but you took the easy road and went on an attack veiled in a constructive criticism guise.  Man I am not happy now, I need a tea.

Damn!  I've never seen OEB Pete upset. 

 

Good job!  I didn't think it was possible.

 

That poster needs to win a prize or something?

 

 

4 hours ago, Starpaddler said:

Video pinball is a lot of fun when done right and would make a great interactive family game!

I dont know if this exist but I think a great video pinball game would be a versus mode.  So you have flippers at the bottom ( like Normal) and top. Since in video pinball you dont have the physics to worry about as much as real pinball.   Anyway in the versus mode one player controls the bottom flippers, the other the top flippers, both players try to keep the ball in play as to score points but you also competing since the player who loses ( drains) the ball gives up all the points accumulated by that ball to the other player.  So your sort of rooting for each other as to gain a bunch of points while the ball in play, but you dont want to be the player who loses the ball, as the other player than gets the points. 

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!    

I also had the Samantha Fox poster from Spencer Gifts as well (along with Catherine Bach in the Daisy Dukes and of COURSE Farrah Fawcett in the red one piece.)

 

C'mon fellas... you know you loved this as a teenage boy!

 

 

 

 

i love ALL 80s pop music lol...i remember those posters from Spencers..i had the Heather Thomas one 

17 minutes ago, Blarneo said:

 

 

 

As you mentioned that you are an openly gay man... I've been waiting for you to comment on Fudgie the Whale.

 

BUT NOTHING!!!  What the hell!!

 

Don't disappoint us now!