Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

Tommy may come up as too passionate for some. Some may also argue that he talks too much. A few believe that he should never say negative things about other systems, especially the ones created by one particular Japanese company.

But in the end, what we're seeing is an hyperactive, creative person who is about to release a product for a very specific kind of market and, before starting with actual promotion, he has managed not only to get thousands of people from other markets interested, but also have them preorder the machine.

Some people on the ReviewTechUSA comments keep repeating that mobile games already do this, but you only need to take a closer look to the Amico to realize that you're playing in a big screen, you're playing with 3-7 people, you're playing with a special controller and you're playing games that anyone in your family can understand and enjoy.

The fact that this game device, aimed mostly to non gamers, also includes classic games for a niche market like us, is something we should be thankful for. The like/dislike ratio of the ReviewTechUSA interview is 10/1 and this doesn't quite reflect in the comments section, which makes me believe that that this video has ruffled a few feathers.

The numbers speak for themselves: you don't need to be in love with Tommy to be interested in the Amico. We've even seen some very critical hardcore gamers complaining about the price of the console recognize that they preordered the machine.

Tommy is doing a great job at generating a lot of news and debates about its product, and at this point I think it is safe to assume that, even if it wasn't intended by any of the parts involved, the Pat & Ian controversy has actually helped promote the console.

So, as a wise man said once,

2 hours ago, CurlyQ said:

 

Swords & Serpents has one of the most disappointing endings. I played the absolute shite outta this game and felt completely ripped off at the final outcome.

 

Not sure of the validity of this story below but funny none the less...

 

 

lol 😆🤣😂

 

WOW!  After nearly 40 years that mystery has finally been solved!  Thanks so much!!

I remember playing this and not being able to figure out how to battle the dragon.  I finally came to the conclusion I must have had a defective cartridge. 
 

This is too funny.  At the time it really sucked, but how many other games did I play 40 years ago that I remember the final battle; or lack thereof. 
 

I bought the cart at the OC Swap meet that we hit a few times a year.  If I’m remembering things correctly, believe I was planing on buying a replacement one weekend when we went back but ended up with Treasure of Tarmin instead.  Looks like ”I chose wisely”

8 hours ago, CurlyQ said:

 

An interesting concept! Although, the first thing that came to mind when I saw those little buttons was a potential choking hazard for infants. How many times have you dropped something that size and never found it again? Stuff like that always rolls under the couch or refrigerator. Or, as George Carlin says...

 

 

Yeah that Steelseries product wanted to create actual tactile buttons but the height seems like a nightmare to make stick to me. If you strike them at an angle it looks like they will pop off or loosen then drop as soon as you pick up the phone/tablet.

I would actually prefer the Amico “buttons” to more of a textural guide rather than a fancy mechanical mechanism. Just something to keep your fingers homed in on the touch screen area, disc area and pseudo side buttons on the phone app. The whole thing could just be a peel & stick overlay with some guide bumps / dome buttons or even just cutouts - just something for your fingers to stay in the right zones through feel.

42 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

I would actually prefer the Amico “buttons” to more of a textural guide rather than a fancy mechanical mechanism. Just something to keep your fingers homed in on the touch screen area, disc area and pseudo side buttons on the phone app. The whole thing could just be a peel & stick overlay with some guide bumps / dome buttons or even just cutouts - just something for your fingers to stay in the right zones through feel.

That's what i loved about the original Intellivision controllers. The raised buttons were like reading Braille. I knew exactly where my thumb was at any given time without having to look down at the keypad. (I NEVER used overlays, overlays are for NOOBS!) LOL 😄

7 hours ago, Blarneo said:

Atmospheric sounds in the rear channels. Hooting owls, crickets, an occasional splash from a fish, distant banjo playing or the flutter of a dragonfly in Frog Bog for example. How about a game level where it rains in the bog & the sounds of water coming down envelop the room? Then the next level, we hear water droplets as the rain subsided.

I get what you are saying about the sounds, but then I got to the part about the banjo I thought a banjo in a video game?! Is Tommy planning to release a game based on the old TV show He Haw or something?! 🤣

17 minutes ago, atarifan88 said:

I get what you are saying about the sounds, but then I got to the part about the banjo I thought a banjo in a video game?! Is Tommy planning to release a game based on the old TV show He Haw or something?! 🤣

 

Does this count?

28 minutes ago, atarifan88 said:

I get what you are saying about the sounds, but then I got to the part about the banjo I thought a banjo in a video game?! Is Tommy planning to release a game based on the old TV show He Haw or something?! 🤣

 

What's a bog without a swamp rat playing banjo?

It's E10+. We can't actually have his sister dance naked on the kitchen table like in real life.😲

9 hours ago, CurlyQ said:

 

Swords & Serpents has one of the most disappointing endings. I played the absolute shite outta this game and felt completely ripped off at the final outcome.

 

Not sure of the validity of this story below but funny none the less...

 

 

lol 😆🤣😂

 

Perhaps if this game gets re-imagined, there can be a proper ending added.  A better ending.  

considering that the Amico is getting launched in the year of the Covid-19 . It would be fitting to have a game with something in it marking this once in a century event.  

maybe a game that you need to find cures. Start with past pandemics working your way up to the present. What a way to pressure history.  

see it

17 minutes ago, m-crew said:

considering that the Amico is getting launched in the year of the Covid-19 . It would be fitting to have a game with something in it marking this once in a century event.  

maybe a game that you need to find cures. Start with past pandemics working your way up to the present. What a way to pressure history.  

10 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

Ok Quick fun question.

 

During your gaming life what games were system sellers for you?   You know as soon as you saw or played it you had to have that system.  

Like many of you I have had a ton of systems, but at various times I wasnt always the earliest adapter so sometimes it was a game that sold me the system.

 

Three come to mind.

 

Smurfs Adventure made me have to have a Colecovision

Castlevania made me get a Nintendo literal right then. We stopped playing and we drove to a store and I bought the NES

Resident Evil made me get a Playstation

 

 

I like your question. Made me think back, and a little reflection is always a good thing.

That said, I've realized, through my reflection, that I'm probably a little weird in my console purchases. At least, in their motivations.

The first console I bought with my own money was a PS2, but not for any game in particular. It was more about having something with more modern titles, as I had fallen behind, and couldn't really hold my own in gaming conversations with my friends (unless they were going out of their way to talk about NES/Genesis games, for my benefit).

I went back and bought a refurbished Nintendo, for nostalgia's sake. Strangely, my dad's NES died within a month of that purchase, so it was pretty much instinctive for me to box mine up and take it over to hook up there.

I was good to go until 2011, where I found myself (once again) behind the times when talking games with friends and co-workers. Some were into older systems, but this is about the same time that I'd noticed that anything pre-1990 was 'ancient history', and now the few of us at work who had access to older consoles in our youth got to take center stage for 'back in the day' stories. Still, my computer had fried, and the Mrs. (we had just got married that November) needed me to get a new one pronto, as she was doing her schooling online. So, I'd made a deal with her: she chose the computer, and I got a new console.

Our PS4 was purchased because, similar to why I'd stuck with a PS3, me and the wife were just used to the controller. This console was the closest to being bought specifically for playing a game, albeit not by myself. She's a fan of the Fallout series, and desperately wanted to play Fallout 4. I managed to hold this off for one of the better surprises that Christmas. Between the PS3 and PS4, I'd bought a Retron 3, because I'd still had a good collection of games from the late 80s/ early 90s, and I'd just wanted to get back to playing some of the games I enjoyed in my school days.

As you could tell, I was never in a rush to buy anything video game related. A large part of that had to do with other hobbies. Additionally, money was always kind of tight as a kid. We weren't starving, or anything like that. We just didn't have the resources to devote to things until the price dropped a little.

Strangely, the Amico will be the first system that I get at launch. Once again, I think I'll enjoy several of the games coming out, but I can't say (aside from Baseball) I'm super-exited for any of them. The thing that has me exited for this system is the accessibility of play. With free time's ever shrinking spot in daily life contracting a little with every year, it feels good to know that there's a system being built to deliver a quality gaming experience without feeling the need to continue the 'more, but bigger and with higher resolution' trend that video games are currently going down.

So yeah, I thank you for posing that question to the forum. Brought back some memories for me. And, my apologies to everyone who read through all of that. I could've summed it up with 'I'm rather cheap, and kind of strange', but wanted to elaborate on that a little.

2 minutes ago, Blarneo said:

 

That's what I was thinking as well ..

45 minutes ago, m-crew said:

That's what I was thinking as well ..

This one was confirmed 

1 hour ago, Intellivision Master said:

Perhaps if this game gets re-imagined, there can be a proper ending added.  A better ending.  

And if they release the original, fix it as well

8 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

The numbers speak for themselves: you don't need to be in love with Tommy to be interested in the Amico. We've even seen some very critical hardcore gamers complaining about the price of the console recognize that they preordered the machine.

 

I replied to a couple of them. They seem to conveniently ignore the fact that Coronavirus is driving up the prices of components, and that's what is causing most of the price hike. 

They also believe that XBSeriesX/PS5 will be $400 instead of the more likely $600-650 price range... also because of shortages due to the pandemic. They ignored that talk between Rich & Tommy, probably because they only watched 10 minutes of it.

Since I was a kid I’ve always thought a 2D side view (which was all that was available at the time) hang gliding game would be cool. Not sure why, as I’ve never had any interest IRL but every time I see one I’m fascinated and entranced. Riding the thermals to gain altitude, having staying afloat, trying to get to particular locations, avoid hitting the mountains, having different locations & mountains with different wind/thermals/weather effects, and introduce some game elements like getting to items/power up’s, having to avoid birds or other meanies and drop items on something to achieve some objective. 
 

think this would be cool.

51 minutes ago, Starpaddler said:

Since I was a kid I’ve always thought a 2D side view (which was all that was available at the time) hang gliding game would be cool. Not sure why, as I’ve never had any interest IRL but every time I see one I’m fascinated and entranced. Riding the thermals to gain altitude, having staying afloat, trying to get to particular locations, avoid hitting the mountains, having different locations & mountains with different wind/thermals/weather effects, and introduce some game elements like getting to items/power up’s, having to avoid birds or other meanies and drop items to achieve some objective. 
 

think this would be cool.

There's already a 1985-90 game about that for the Amstrad CPC. I can't find it now, it's not Glider Rider. Give me a few seconds/minutes/hours/years and I will find it for you.

Edit: Done! It's a 1991 French game called Paragliding Simulation/Paraplane (it has two names!). It's paragliding, but hey! You can see hang gliders passing close to you. It's a decent game, apparently.

Edit 2: Here's some gameplay of the game. It looks a bit too simple, but the idea and graphics were good.

14 minutes ago, Starpaddler said:

Since I was a kid I’ve always thought a 2D side view (which was all that was available at the time) hang gliding game would be cool. Not sure why, as I’ve never had any interest IRL but every time I see one I’m fascinated and entranced. Riding the thermals to gain altitude, having staying afloat, trying to get to particular locations, avoid hitting the mountains, having different locations & mountains with different wind/thermals/weather effects, and introduce some game elements like getting to items/power up’s, having to avoid birds or other meanies and drop items to achieve som objective. 
 

think this would be cool.

There was one on colecovision that had a guy holding balloons flying over an amusement park, that sounds like what you're describing.

Atari had an arcade game years ago called Fast Freddy, where he hang glided over cities & schtuff.

14 minutes ago, Blarneo said:

There was one on colecovision that had a guy holding balloons flying over an amusement park, that sounds like what you're describing.

CV game was called "Gustbuster"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gust_Buster

13 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

Ok Quick fun question.

 

During your gaming life what games were system sellers for you?   You know as soon as you saw or played it you had to have that system.  

Like many of you I have had a ton of systems, but at various times I wasnt always the earliest adapter so sometimes it was a game that sold me the system.

 

Three come to mind.

 

Smurfs Adventure made me have to have a Colecovision

Castlevania made me get a Nintendo literal right then. We stopped playing and we drove to a store and I bought the NES

Resident Evil made me get a Playstation

 

 

It was the Intellivision and it was for the early 1980 sports games. Baseball, Football, Basketball, Auto Racing, Hockey, Soccer, Golf and Skiing. 

1 hour ago, LePionnier said:

 

Great interview.  The questions were good.  I liked the E.T. topic.  It was nice of Tommy to consider bringing The Atari Creep on board to help with the E.T. game.  That's really cool.

3 hours ago, CurlyQ said:

 

That's what i loved about the original Intellivision controllers. The raised buttons were like reading Braille. I knew exactly where my thumb was at any given time without having to look down at the keypad. (I NEVER used overlays, overlays are for NOOBS!) LOL 😄

 

 

 

That's actually a concern of mine as this gets closer.  I, like you, usually never used the overlays.  I knew where to push on the controller without looking.  Now with it being a touch screen... not sure how that will effect game play.  I don't do well with phone games as it is, so I never play them.  The pads of my finders are fat, so I constantly miss the touch points... we'll just have to see how this goes.

1 hour ago, Blarneo said:

There was one on colecovision that had a guy holding balloons flying over an amusement park, that sounds like what you're describing.

 

Atari had an arcade game years ago called Fast Freddy, where he hang glided over cities & schtuff.

 

"Looping" comes to mind as well as...

Jungle King or Jungle Hunt

Sega's "Alex Kid"

Flicky - great for the little kids!!

Commander Keen

Paperboy

Avenger

Marble Madness

And all those like that.  Not sure how deep they'll go into remakes of old arcade games... but would be fun to see these and a ton more.