Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

42 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

If I remember correctly... I also think you needed a special $30 extra cable to run it component to get it up to 720p.

 

 

 

I think.only the.menu system was capable of 720p and modded units could run 720p video  I dont think any games used 720...but i.may be mistaken and if so mega jealous  as i only  component 

8 minutes ago, Relicgamer said:

You are correct.  And there was only a couple of titles that would output 1080i stillframe type of games

Damn . I wish I had that vack.in the day lol 

48 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

If I remember correctly... I also think you needed a special $30 extra cable to run it component to get it up to 720p.

 

 

 

I think it goes up to 1080i, but I'm not an XBox type of human.

Oops, I was too slow. Anyway, yeah, that.

Just now, Nolagamer said:

Damn . I wish I had that vack.in the day lol 

They are dirt cheap now. I pick them up all the time at the goodwill 20 bucks.  Have 3 of them. 

56 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Hi!,

 

It hasn't been asked in a few weeks, and here is the exact up-to-the-minute update.

 

At this time we are still on target for 10/10 but with a lot less machines in the market that we were hoping initially (and have the purchase orders to fulfill).  We have already started the tooling process a few weeks ago.  This process is taking longer than original expected because of corona delays.  Once tooling is complete (hoping by mid May) we will be manufacturing 100 machines.  Some of those machines will be given to developers (especially the ones who are working on the pack-in games), but most will be used for extensive testing.  Both in-house and more importantly big out of house companies that do this kind of thing all the time for complex electronics.  This process can take about 2 months.  Examples of what happens... extreme heat, extreme cold, pushing the buttons and disc and screen 10 million times, dropping the controllers or the base unit from different heights, keeping the machine on for extended periods of time, battery life (charging and recharging), etc., etc., etc., and that's just the hardware side.  On the FIRMWARE side it's even more complex (yet easier to fix).  Every possible scenario has to be tested and tested and tested.  This is no small task.  Now... if we need to change something in the hardware (lets say we want a button to be 1/20th of a millimeter longer or something), then we only need to remake THAT specific tool.  The total cost of tooling for our machine is in the $250,000 range.  A simple button tool could cost $3,000 - $5,000... so we wouldn't need to redo all the tooling... just the parts we want to change.  But if things are slightly changed... we would need to quickly do that tool, make the part, switch out the part and then test the crap out of that specific part.

We can create 35,000 units per month with one set of tooling.  It takes 1 month to ship from the factory in China to the shores of the U.S. 

 

So going backwards, just to get 35,000 machines by 10/10 it looks like this...

 

October 1 - product hits U.S. shores

September - product ships from China

August 1 - manufacture 35,000 units

June 1 - start 2 month testing.

May 15 - start manufacturing 100 units and then FedEx them to the U.S. for testing.

 

 

So you'll see that right now we are already dangerously close to our deadline.  Any one of those things could go longer and put 10/10 in jeopardy.  BUT.. any of those things can also go FASTER and give us back some time as well.

 

But the biggest issue is that the U.S. as we all know is still pretty much closed down.  If the shutdown continues into mid May, there will be nothing we could do to stop a slip.

 

I think you all know the significance and importance of the October 10th release date (in honor of my sister Karen)... so you know me and team are doing absolutely EVERYTHING in our power to hit it.  But so many things are out of our hands at this point that I feel a little helpless.  But all we can do is keep working 1000%.

Hopefully folks respect (as always) are complete transparency about everything from the beginning.

 

 

Really good layout of everything Tommy. I feel like this paints a total and complete picture. We're still going to get bozo's saying whatever they feel like, but it's hard to argue with this stuff directly from you at this point. It can't get any more clear.

I wanted to double back and confirm something - are you essentially saying you're expecting 35,000 units available for launch, in total, with more on the way in November? And that's just the US market, correct? So machines won't be going out to other parts of the world on 10/10 essentially due to limited stock?

Of those 35,000... 2,600 are the FE... about 10,000 are the VIP, which leaves 22,400 consoles unaccounted for. Are these a mixture of black, white, purple, red, etc? I feel like remaining 22,400 will sell out very quickly on launch so are you planning to do a limited pre-order for the special color types? 

19 minutes ago, Relicgamer said:

You are correct.  And there was only a couple of titles that would output 1080i stillframe type of games

Here's a really interesting list that basically outlines all the games with available alternate display modes on the original Xbox.

They were incredibly forward thinking at the time. A 2001 machine with 1080i capability was pretty monumental, but it went largely unused because no one knew what the hell 1080i/1080p was in the mainstream market. Not to mention getting a display capable of that was next to impossible (or was impossible for 1080p). The fact it got the MX Unleashed and MX vs. ATV Unleashed games running in 1080i is really impressive. 

https://en.everybodywiki.com/List_of_Xbox_games_with_alternate_display_modes

10 minutes ago, 1001lives said:

Here's a really interesting list that basically outlines all the games with available alternate display modes on the original Xbox.

 

They were incredibly forward thinking at the time. A 2001 machine with 1080i capability was pretty monumental, but it went largely unused because no one knew what the hell 1080i/1080p was in the mainstream market. Not to mention getting a display capable of that was next to impossible (or was impossible for 1080p). The fact it got the MX Unleashed and MX vs. ATV Unleashed games running in 1080i is really impressive. 

 

https://en.everybodywiki.com/List_of_Xbox_games_with_alternate_display_modes

 

You know what's really impressive? There is at least one game on the 32X that runs in 16:9 (Virtua Fighter). See? Blast processing is real!

Actually blast processing really is real, but it has nothing to do with Virtua Fighter being in widescreen at all.

Thanks for the insight Tommy.  This is just one of the things that sets IE apart. Self serving considerations aside, We all wish you the best of luck in navigating these unprecedented times and for you personal motivation for that date as well. I have no doubt your sister would be honored. 
 

With the upcoming licenses to be announced, will some of them be on two fronts, meaning news release from IE’s side as well as press releases from the licensed partners?  I’m sure the news will also be picked up on the wire, but having large entities make announcements from their end sure couldn't hurt.    

48 minutes ago, haplo13 said:

Perhaps this is old news, but I just noticed the homage to the original Moon Patrol title screen complete with woodgrain TV and bunny ears on the title screen of the re-imagined Moon Patrol for Amico.  Love it!  It would be cool to have easter-eggs in each re-imagined game where some element of the original appeared.  A title screen for Moon Patrol.  Maybe the old-style Alien ship comes in every once in a blue moon on Astrosmash.  Maybe the original dragon breathing sound on Cloudy Mountain...

Count on it!

21 minutes ago, 1001lives said:

Really good layout of everything Tommy. I feel like this paints a total and complete picture. We're still going to get bozo's saying whatever they feel like, but it's hard to argue with this stuff directly from you at this point. It can't get any more clear.

 

I wanted to double back and confirm something - are you essentially saying you're expecting 35,000 units available for launch, in total, with more on the way in November? And that's just the US market, correct? So machines won't be going out to other parts of the world on 10/10 essentially due to limited stock?

 

Of those 35,000... 2,600 are the FE... about 10,000 are the VIP, which leaves 22,400 consoles unaccounted for. Are these a mixture of black, white, purple, red, etc? I feel like remaining 22,400 will sell out very quickly on launch so are you planning to do a limited pre-order for the special color types? 

 

Correct.  35K per month... so, by the end of the year there would be approximately 100K in the market (which is why you'll notice in my latest interviews that I said we had to cut off purchase orders to around 100K.

But that 35K in October would be worldwide... Founders 1st, VIP 2nd, retail pre-orders 3rd (which include US, Canada, Germany & UK).

But the other thing to consider is if pricing gets too crazy (because of scarcity) we may hold mass production because UNLIKE Sony, Microsoft, etc. we can't lose money on the hardware and I refuse to put out the base unit over $249, etc.  So many important things still up in the air at this point... but we will know within the next 6 - 8 weeks what it happening for sure.

30 minutes ago, 1001lives said:

Here's a really interesting list that basically outlines all the games with available alternate display modes on the original Xbox.

 

They were incredibly forward thinking at the time. A 2001 machine with 1080i capability was pretty monumental, but it went largely unused because no one knew what the hell 1080i/1080p was in the mainstream market. Not to mention getting a display capable of that was next to impossible (or was impossible for 1080p). The fact it got the MX Unleashed and MX vs. ATV Unleashed games running in 1080i is really impressive. 

 

https://en.everybodywiki.com/List_of_Xbox_games_with_alternate_display_modes

 

Advent Rising at the bottom.  I worked on that one!

One of the best storyline games I ever worked on.

I did all the sound design, music and voice producing.

Won a few awards for that one.

Here's a little gaming trivia for folks.  Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game) co-wrote the script with game designer/creator Donald Mustard.  Donald is now the head creative director of this little game called Fortnite!

Him and his wife are dear friends of mine.  He is super excited about Amico and can't wait to get one for his own family.  Just goes to show that no matter how "hardcore" you are... you don't need to be a negative snobby "elitist".

Hardcore gamers will love Amico as well.  It's the elitist snobs that will dismiss it entirely.  And I'm PERFECTLY OKAY with that as I'm not a fan of those types of folks anyway. 

14 minutes ago, Starpaddler said:

Thanks for the insight Tommy.  This is just one of the things that sets IE apart. Self serving considerations aside, We all wish you the best of luck in navigating these unprecedented times and for you personal motivation for that date as well. I have no doubt your sister would be honored. 
 

With the upcoming licenses to be announced, will some of them be on two fronts, meaning news release from IE’s side as well as press releases from the licensed partners?  I’m sure the news will also be picked up on the wire, but having large entities make announcements from their end sure couldn't hurt.    

Yes.  Both sides... with the "licensor" side being much bigger than anything we could do or anything the gaming industry could do in regards to "families".

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

but most will be used for extensive testing.  Both in-house and more importantly big out of house companies that do this kind of thing all the time for complex electronics.  This process can take about 2 months.  Examples of what happens... extreme heat, extreme cold, pushing the buttons and disc and screen 10 million times, dropping the controllers or the base unit from different heights, keeping the machine on for extended periods of time, battery life (charging and recharging), etc., etc., etc., and that's just the hardware side.

Do you need someone for testing one of this things for free ? 😊

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Hi!,

 

It hasn't been asked in a few weeks, and here is the exact up-to-the-minute update.

 

At this time we are still on target for 10/10 but with a lot less machines in the market that we were hoping initially (and have the purchase orders to fulfill).  We have already started the tooling process a few weeks ago.  This process is taking longer than original expected because of corona delays.  Once tooling is complete (hoping by mid May) we will be manufacturing 100 machines.  Some of those machines will be given to developers (especially the ones who are working on the pack-in games), but most will be used for extensive testing.  Both in-house and more importantly big out of house companies that do this kind of thing all the time for complex electronics.  This process can take about 2 months.  Examples of what happens... extreme heat, extreme cold, pushing the buttons and disc and screen 10 million times, dropping the controllers or the base unit from different heights, keeping the machine on for extended periods of time, battery life (charging and recharging), etc., etc., etc., and that's just the hardware side.  On the FIRMWARE side it's even more complex (yet easier to fix).  Every possible scenario has to be tested and tested and tested.  This is no small task.  Now... if we need to change something in the hardware (lets say we want a button to be 1/20th of a millimeter longer or something), then we only need to remake THAT specific tool.  The total cost of tooling for our machine is in the $250,000 range.  A simple button tool could cost $3,000 - $5,000... so we wouldn't need to redo all the tooling... just the parts we want to change.  But if things are slightly changed... we would need to quickly do that tool, make the part, switch out the part and then test the crap out of that specific part.

We can create 35,000 units per month with one set of tooling.  It takes 1 month to ship from the factory in China to the shores of the U.S. 

 

So going backwards, just to get 35,000 machines by 10/10 it looks like this...

 

October 1 - product hits U.S. shores

September - product ships from China

August 1 - manufacture 35,000 units

June 1 - start 2 month testing.

May 15 - start manufacturing 100 units and then FedEx them to the U.S. for testing.

 

 

So you'll see that right now we are already dangerously close to our deadline.  Any one of those things could go longer and put 10/10 in jeopardy.  BUT.. any of those things can also go FASTER and give us back some time as well.

 

But the biggest issue is that the U.S. as we all know is still pretty much closed down.  If the shutdown continues into mid May, there will be nothing we could do to stop a slip.

 

I think you all know the significance and importance of the October 10th release date (in honor of my sister Karen)... so you know me and team are doing absolutely EVERYTHING in our power to hit it.  But so many things are out of our hands at this point that I feel a little helpless.  But all we can do is keep working 1000%.

Hopefully folks respect (as always) are complete transparency about everything from the beginning. 

It's funny to see people calling me a "liar" because of things like the retail price and crowdfunding.  This is what happens when immature hateful bullies try their best to destroy and tear something or someone down.

 

If you meet any of these ding dongs on the internet feel free to remind them of the following.

 

They say I lied about the price.  Um no... never.  In our very first reveal trailer 2 years ago we gave a "price-range" of $150 - $180.  And in every interview I've ever done I've always said... we are trying to get the product within a certain "range".  We ALWAYS used words like "around $200" or whatever.  Along the way we've massively upgraded the controllers and now with a worldwide pandemic and component and memory prices rising because of scarcity... yeah... we may need to go to $249 at first and then bring it down to the $199 range when feasible.  Almost every electronic product does this.  Comes out at one price... and then a year or so later the retail pricing starts to drop.

But the main point is that I've NEVER said in ANY interview or video or press release what the price was going to be.  I always just gave a range that I was HOPING to achieve.  That isn't LYING.  It's actually the exact opposite.  It's being 100% open and honest and trying to give folks as much information as we had at that time.  People should appreciate and recognize our honest and up front nature instead of calling us "liars".  But they will never do that... because it doesn't fit their narrative.

And we've been over a few times already here, but just to once again reiterate...

 

We are NOT using FIG as a crowdfunding site.  Not a single "campaign" on their website is a pre-order, has a $1 goal and is only a portion of the cost of the product ($100) which is 100% refundable. 

But the biggest nonsense is that if people INVEST in something they are calling that crowdfunding.  So I guess EVERY company that has ever been listed on the Stock Market over the past 100 years are nothing more than crowdfunding?  The logic is completely flawed.  They are grasping at straws.  The product is already made, built and we've gone into the tooling stage 3 weeks ago.  We already have a $150 million line-of-credit for manufacturing.  The product is already being built and in production (not mass production yet... as we still need to test all the machines for a month or two when we get the first run).  Roblox is a $4 billion company yet they raised $150 million a few months ago for investment:   https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/26/roblox-raises-150m-series-g-led-by-andreessen-horowitz-now-valued-at-4b/
 

Point being that even massively successful companies are constantly raising money for different things.  Their crowdfunding argument is completely flawed.  Especially considering we're not even using the website like others do.

But as we all know... it will always be something with these hateful elitist narcissistic fascist bullies. 

 

Having doubts, concerns, etc. is one thing.  I get it... Amico isn't for everyone. 

 

But what they do has nothing to do with that. 

 

 

Going to do you one better.  Taking a 5-6 day break.. a sabbatical from the forum, "Yay, no lengthy readings during spring break!!!!!" [the masses rejoice!] to focus on completing a response video(s) addressing a podcast's recurring concerns/coverage of a video game system in development.  There's a litany of things to be cleared and to be addressed.  I'm going to try to do it constructively, respectfully, but.. we'll see.

It's due.  [Overdue.]  Maybe save the gang some time fighting those same windmills in the depths of those darkest pits of despair comments sections, and having to repeat some of the same points till heads hurt.

26 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Correct.  35K per month... so, by the end of the year there would be approximately 100K in the market (which is why you'll notice in my latest interviews that I said we had to cut off purchase orders to around 100K.

 

But that 35K in October would be worldwide... Founders 1st, VIP 2nd, retail pre-orders 3rd (which include US, Canada, Germany & UK).

 

But the other thing to consider is if pricing gets too crazy (because of scarcity) we may hold mass production because UNLIKE Sony, Microsoft, etc. we can't lose money on the hardware and I refuse to put out the base unit over $249, etc.  So many important things still up in the air at this point... but we will know within the next 6 - 8 weeks what it happening for sure.

 

 

I hope you'll do pre-orders for the limited colors, the ones at the $279.99 price point I think you said.

I was assuming 35k for the US. If that means the 22,400 are spread out among Canada, Germany, and the UK, those are going to be gone day one! I don't even want to risk trying to find it in a retail shop nearby.

36 minutes ago, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

Going to do you one better.  Taking a 5-6 day break.. a sabbatical from the forum, "Yay, no lengthy readings during spring break!!!!!" [the masses rejoice!] to focus on completing a response video(s) addressing a podcast's recurring concerns/coverage of a video game system in development.  There's a litany of things to be cleared and to be addressed.  I'm going to try to do it constructively, respectfully, but.. we'll see.

 

It's due.  [Overdue.]  Maybe save the gang some time fighting those same windmills in the depths of those darkest pits of despair comments sections, and having to repeat some of the same points till heads hurt.

 

 

Yeah... we've talked about it internally... but not sure giving them all the credence, attention or legitimacy would be the best way to go.  But we do think it might be really fun to do another more general "Mean Message Boards" type of video.  Call it "Mean YouTubers" and take a variety of the "best" (i.e. WORST) clips from a bunch of different YouTubers and have a little fun (while dropping "facts" in the process).  Keep it light hearted and funny and sometimes self-deprecating.

Thoughts?

For those not knowing what I'm referring to... it's this:

28 minutes ago, 1001lives said:

I hope you'll do pre-orders for the limited colors, the ones at the $279.99 price point I think you said.

Correct!  Interesting and awesome news coming within the next 2 weeks.

6 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Yeah... we've talked about it internally... but not sure giving them credence, attention or legitimacy would be the best thing.  But we do think it might be really fun to do another "Mean Message Boards" type of video.  Call it "Mean YouTubers" and take a variety of the "best" (i.e. WORST) clips from a bunch of different YouTubers and have a little fun.

 

 

Thoughts?

 

For those not knowing what I'm referring to... it's this:

 

 

 

Yes, do another one of these.  It's fun to watch.  Can't wait.  Suggestion: you could show a small clip of Ian getting mad and having steam come out of his ears.  Lol.

Originally, my main motivation for grabbing the FE was more on the nostalgia end. (I had the Intellivision II.) And that’s still what I look forward to most.

But more and more I’ve been thinking about board games. We used to play them more when our kids were young. But as time went on, they were more engaged in their computers and devices... as were, uh... their parents.

What used to be a bit frustrating was the card games when we were huddled around a table (sometimes with other friends) and it was difficult to truly keep your hand of cards hidden from prying eyes.

The value of a controller that allows everyone to sit where they want and have easy view of their own cards might seem like a minor thing, but for me it’s not. Even games like Fluxx or Uno where it’s a challenge to hold and view an over-abundance of cards in your hand is eliminated with the controller. (Well, likely some scrolling necessary, but I’ll take that.)

Anyone here familiar with Dixit? Wouldn't that make a good Amico game? I know it says up to 6 players, but I think we’ve played it with 8 in the past. But then we’ve had that “tightly huddled around the game board” issue. 

It just struck me odd today that I really stopped enjoying physical board games, but could see myself getting back into it with an Amico.

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game) co-wrote the script with game designer/creator Donald Mustard.  Donald is now the head creative director of this little game called Fortnite!

 

Him and his wife are dear friends of mine.  He is super excited about Amico and can't wait to get one for his own family.  Just goes to show that no matter how "hardcore" you are... you don't need to be a negative snobby "elitist".

OSC & wife or Donald and wife? Not clear on that.🤔 

Hells to the yes - I am not even a car guy and that is sexy AF:

50 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Yeah... we've talked about it internally... but not sure giving them all the credence, attention or legitimacy would be the best way to go.  But we do think it might be really fun to do another more general "Mean Message Boards" type of video.  Call it "Mean YouTubers" and take a variety of the "best" (i.e. WORST) clips from a bunch of different YouTubers and have a little fun (while dropping "facts" in the process).  Keep it light hearted and funny and sometimes self-deprecating.

 

 

Thoughts?

 

For those not knowing what I'm referring to... it's this:

 

 

 

As funny as it.is.

 If honestly avoid it . Keep the positivity going.  

1 hour ago, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

 

Point being that even massively successful companies are constantly raising money for different things.  Their crowdfunding argument is completely flawed.  Especially considering we're not even using the website like others do.

But as we all know... it will always be something with these hateful elitist narcissistic fascist bullies. 

 

Having doubts, concerns, etc. is one thing.  I get it... Amico isn't for everyone. 

These guys are nobodies. I remember Mitt Romney telling the world in 2012 that Tesla was a failed company, during his presidential run, and in a televised debate with Barack Obama. 

I'm not "completely" sure, but I think he's wrong.🤣

56 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Yeah... we've talked about it internally... but not sure giving them all the credence, attention or legitimacy would be the best way to go.  But we do think it might be really fun to do another more general "Mean Message Boards" type of video.  Call it "Mean YouTubers" and take a variety of the "best" (i.e. WORST) clips from a bunch of different YouTubers and have a little fun (while dropping "facts" in the process).  Keep it light hearted and funny and sometimes self-deprecating.

 

 

Thoughts?

 

For those not knowing what I'm referring to... it's this:

 

I say go for it!