Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

We won't know the full effects of COVID until after the lockdown is over.  Los Angeles county just said that businesses can't open until August now.  If that happens in Orange County (we are the next county over from L.A.) I can tell you that it won't be ready by October... or even by the end of the year!  We need to be in the same room in order to complete hardware.  Especially to the level we're doing.  Imagine telling a car manufacturer to make a car but everyone needs to stay apart in different places.  Being apart for smaller games doesn't affect the software/games... but the hardware.  Yes.  2 of our guys are literally hand building controllers from scratch to get to our many developers around the world.  And parts are very late and delayed from China and of course need to be quarantined the second they arrive and are opened.  But if it takes 2 people to build a controller... how can you accomplish this when everything is in the office?  One guy comes in and does what he can do, then another comes in after that, etc.  How can we all test the different parts of the hardware when each machine part needs a ton of testing and companies that do it are closed and the hardware we have is limited.  It's crazy, but we're trying our best given the circumstances and health/lockdown laws that the state of California has placed upon everyone.  It is what it is.  Nothing we can do except try our hardest and work as long as humanly possible.  We were really hoping California would be "opened up" by May 1st.  And now they're talking about being closed til August?  Impossible to get hardware done in that time.  I refuse to put out a product that isn't the best it could be.  We're not going to rush it or cut corners and take shortcuts.  Part of the reason J Allard is such an important part of the team now.  He's been through the "red ring of death" and knows why and what happened.  Not enough time for heat and component testing was a big part of that.  I'm doing everything in my power to keep the promise I made to my mom, dad & brother about honoring my sister Karen's birthday on 10/10.  They keep telling me over and over not to worry.  And if this crap continues for another month... it's out of my hands.    But maybe if 10/10 slips I can do something super special on 10/10.  Maybe have a huge public showing where the general public can play all the games for the first time (like what we had planned for E3 and Gamescom).  Maybe we do one on the west coast (LA?) and one on the east coast (NYC?).  I don't know... I really don't feel like thinking about it or discussing that at this point.  10/10 launch is still our #1 goal right now. 

 

Founders Editions would be a few days before launch I would imagine... not a few weeks.

 

Road Rash would be pretty cool.  EA would need to be on board.  Probably wouldn't happen til 2022.

 

 

 

@jaybird3rd Tommy is making me haz a sad.

So could you please censor him for being open, forthright and honest? I mean he is developing a console here so he should be telling me exactly what I want to hear, and blowing smoke up my butt until I think I am a chimney!

Haha, in seriousness though it is perfectly understandable if there are some delays, Covid is throwing everything for a loop globally. I would be a little disappointed if October got changed for a delivery date but again as someone who is still waiting on 'Space Venture' since 2013 I know sometimes unexpected things happen and all one can do is just roll with it.

Still, please do not make me wait until 2027 for an Amico; October alone is already killing me with anticipation!

Another quick comment about the negative folks out there leaving comments.

Ya gotta keep in mind... this is the kind of thinking and comments that are spoken by elitist hardcores (copy & pasted from a recent YouTube video):

"Kids (and moms) don't want this. Come winter millennial moms will be playing a female viking in Assassin's Creed Valhalla."

Is someone who thinks that to be true really going to be convinced of anything I would say?  Doubtful.  My time (and yours!) is better spent elsewhere to the folks who this is targeted for. 

If folks really want to help out, start making lists of mom or kid or grandparent or GenX influencers on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.

Reach out to them on your own and ask them if they would like to speak with me... or make me a list so I can pass on to our folks!

That would be super helpful right now.

6 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

Tommy,

 

This was also probably asked as well.  But is there going to be an option to change wallpaper for the background of the Amico main menu or Amico shop?  

No.  Not initially.  But when you see how we have uniquely structured the menus & Amico Game Shop you'll understand.

25 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Thanks for the question.

 

I don't think it will be for awhile unfortunately..  I don't want to predict when... as people will then keep asking me about it. 

 

Our focus is on the hardware right now.  Of course the games are still being made, but the issue is that we intended on doing a lot of the people playing videos and explaining HOW the games are played.  Like the Missile Command and Criss Cross... er.... I mean.... SideSwipers game. 

 

Just showing the same gameplay with different levels isn't going to help explain what we're doing.  We wanted to start doing new people playing videos every week or two... but then COVID hit.  How can we show "couch co-op" when it's literally ILLEGAL to do so at this point.  It's nuts.

 

So again... hard to comment when we don't know when this crap is going to be over and life will be back to normal (hopefully!!)

 

 

 

 

Come over to Utah! We will be in the Yellow Zone on Saturday. (Except for a few counties and cities). A quick road trip out here to do some testing and as a bonus the Police won't break down your door and fine you!

1 minute ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

No.  Not initially.  But when you see how we have uniquely structured the menus & Amico Game Shop you'll understand.

 

 

Okay, sounds good.  I can't wait to see how it all works.

6 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Another quick comment about the folks out there leaving comments.

 

Ya gotta keep in mind... this is the kind of thinking and comments that are spoken by elitist hardcores (copy & paste from a recent YouTube video):

"Kids (and moms) don't want this. Come winter millennial moms will be playing a female viking in Assassin's Creed Valhalla."

 

Is someone who thinks that to be true really going to be convinced of anything I would say?  Doubtful.  My time (and yours!) is better spent elsewhere to the folks who this is targeted for. 

 

I am just surprised to learn that vast majority of young moms, who have never gamed outside of casual cell phones games, were just waiting for the next Assassin's Creed release. Talk about patience!

And just so this post won't be a complete waste of space - good article on toxicity in online chat:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/02/26/racism-misogyny-death-threats-why-cant-booming-video-game-industry-curb-toxicity/

Tommy's interview on the Stone Age Gamer podcast (via Brett Weiss on FB):

https://stoneagegamer.com/blog/sag-episode-306-talking-with-tommy-tallarico-pts-12/

Haters can sometimes get everyone distracted, and while some are indeed trolls, others just think different.  What works for me when I run up against some people who's opinions "I JUST DONT GET", and I find myself wasting too much time caring what they think,  I remind myself of chocolate ice cream and Farrah.  Its to remind me even though I LOVE chocolate ice cream and think Farrah was one of the most beautiful women ever,  some people actually and honestly dont agree. They like vanilla and dont think Farrah was gorgeous. To each their own, and it reminds me that people do have different likes and dislikes, and so it reminds me to just let it go and not be distracted since if people cant agree of chocolate ice cream and Farrah then people will never agree on anything. So I just let it go and get my mind back on to positive things.

44 minutes ago, woobman said:

Come over to Utah! We will be in the Yellow Zone on Saturday. (Except for a few counties and cities). A quick road trip out here to do some testing and as a bonus the Police won't break down your door and fine you!

We've actually been looking into and met with government officials in Utah to put one of our facilities there.  They are offering a lot of great tax incentives for tech companies right now.  Utah is an amazing and beautiful state!

49 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

I am just surprised to learn that vast majority of young moms, who have never gamed outside of casual cell phones games, were just waiting for the next Assassin's Creed release. Talk about patience!

 

And just so this post won't be a complete waste of space - good article on toxicity in online chat:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/02/26/racism-misogyny-death-threats-why-cant-booming-video-game-industry-curb-toxicity/

That article could easily apply to the negative elitist hardcore haters as well.  

5 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

As funny as this is, I'd rather we all pooled our money together and purchased a small state or country. Call it Amicoland or some crap.

Say, Tommy, any plans for a theme park? 😊

30 minutes ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

Haters can sometimes get everyone distracted, and while some are indeed trolls, others just think different.  What works for me when I run up against some people who's opinions "I JUST DONT GET", and I find myself wasting too much time caring what they think,  I remind myself of chocolate ice cream and Farrah.  Its to remind me even though I LOVE chocolate ice cream and think Farrah was one of the most beautiful women ever,  some people actually and honestly dont agree. They like vanilla and dont think Farrah was gorgeous. To each their own, and it reminds me that people do have different likes and dislikes, and so it reminds me to just let it go and not be distracted since if people cant agree of chocolate ice cream and Farrah then people will never agree on anything. So I just let it go and get my mind back on to positive things.

 

Yeah... if only it was that simple. 

Unfortunately... the narrative is...

"PEOPLE WHO LIKE VANILLA ARE BRAINWASHED IDIOTS!  NO ONE IS EVER GONNA BUY VANILLA!!!  THEY ARE STUPID AND DISILLUSION IF THEY THINK ANYONE IS EVER GONNA BUY AND LIKE VANILLA!!  AND BY THE WAY, THERE ARE OTHER COMPANIES THAT MAKE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FLAVORS OTHER THAN VANILLA ALREADY!!  SO WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT VANILLA WHEN THERE ARE ALREADY 3 OTHER FLAVORS THAT AREN'T CHOCOLATE!!"

2 minutes ago, SpectreFighter said:

Say, Tommy, any plans for a theme park? 😊

That would be epic. 

The only "plans" are in my imagination right now. 

 

5 minutes ago, SpectreFighter said:

Say, Tommy, any plans for a theme park? 😊

Wouldn't that be something?

4 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

That would be epic. 

 

The only "plans" are in my imagination right now. 

 

Amicoland has a nice ring to it!

Just now, Craig Parker said:

Amicoland has a nice ring to it!

Or Amicoworld. 

Hmmmmm....I was just thinking maybe there could be a Willy Wonka game for the Amico !!! 
 

Tommy’s reply : Wouldn’t that be something ? 😂

12 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yeah... if only it was that simple. 

 

Unfortunately... the narrative is...

 

"PEOPLE WHO LIKE VANILLA ARE BRAINWASHED IDIOTS!  NO ONE IS EVER GONNA BUY VANILLA!!!  THEY ARE STUPID AND DISILLUSION IF THEY THINK ANYONE IS EVER GONNA BUY AND LIKE VANILLA!!  AND BY THE WAY, THERE ARE OTHER COMPANIES THAT MAKE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FLAVORS OTHER THAN VANILLA ALREADY!!  SO WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT VANILLA WHEN THERE ARE ALREADY 3 OTHER FLAVORS THAT AREN'T CHOCOLATE!!"

Well you cant fix stupid and its not worth it to try.  Kill em with kindness and move on.  

Space Hawk I remember you could literally play a game for hours, usually your thumbs gave out before you lost.  Those side buttons were tough on thumbs etc, especially in the summer with you coming in and out of the pool.