Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

Tommy, suggestion/request from Italy about possible great events organized for 10.10.2020: please, consider to schedule one of them so to allow European fans to follow via streaming. At least part of it.

Thanks!

Hope it can be done!

Hey Tommy,

I was listening to the show that You and Pete did last night, Thanks to both of Y'All for Your time and effort, it was awesome!

At one point You were going through and giving out as much information as possible for all of the launch date game names as You could, and THANKS for that Sir! That was TOO COOL to hear all of those titles! I had not heard that much detail previously!

Makes me want my Amico RIGHT NOW that much more, if that's even possible!

With all of those names it did make me think of something else, one title I haven't seen mentioned previously is Pinball, and I think, the original Intellivision version of Pinball was not half bad, I can remember playing it for many hours when no one else was around, and I wanted / needed a decent time killer!

But now we have all of these wonderful pinball "emulation" type games, available on any of the consoles, where you buy a particular front end, and then can download the tables that You want to play from out in the "real" world.

LOVES ME SOME Pinbot! 🙂

Have Y'All talked about a pinball game yet? And if so, have You talked about which direction You're going to go in? More of the classic non-branded type, or with the branded style, which would be difficult to do if Y'All don't want to do DLC for the different table packs.

Just curious Sir.

Thanks for All that You and Your Team are doing, and BTW, belated Congratulations on Your new hire, it looks like he fits right in with the rest of everyone, and can hit the ground running for You!

B

Amico on launch day...

5 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

10 hours ago, LePionnier said:

So we all know because of Covid-19 that Launch date will be probably be in Q1 of 2021. (It hurts, but it is what it is !)

Sad to hear this, but I'll continue to wait patiently, as I have been since the system was announced. There's not much else I can do anyway, so...

Yeah ...  😔  Tommy said we should know in the next month what will happened with the launch date.

We have two strikes on us, and the best pitcher in on the mount...   Will it be is 102 MPH fastball, or his curve ball ? Chances are slim for us all.

2 hours ago, Barley Farquahr said:

With all of those names it did make me think of something else, one title I haven't seen mentioned previously is Pinball, and I think, the original Intellivision version of Pinball was not half bad, I can remember playing it for many hours when no one else was around, and I wanted / needed a decent time killer!

Probably one of the game he can't mention, or will not be ready for launch.

He said sometime ago that Intellivision is "associated" with the best of the best in this category (Something like that).

So you should be happy sooner rather than later ! 😉

9 hours ago, LePionnier said:

Great Pete. Thanks to you and Tommy.

 

So we all know because of Covid-19 that Launch date will be probably be in Q1 of 2021. (It hurts, but it is what it is !)

But here is one of the highlight of the live we've got today.

 

Tommy told us what games they hope would be ready for launch day.

 

Sports/Recreational

Baseball

Hockey

Bowling

Soccer

Pool

Auto Racing

Evel Knievel

 

Retro re-imagined games (Potentially on launch)

Moon Patrol

Pong

Bi-Plane

Missile Command

Night Stalker

Armor Battle

Breakout

Frog Bug

Centipede

Utopia

Astrosmash

B-17 Bomber (trying hard for launch date)

AD&D Cloudy Mountain (trying hard for launch date)

 

Original IP

Side Swipper

(Next some games could have been mentioned in Retro-reimagined, but was not. Maybe Tommy came back on the second list and tell us more games, I don't know !

Safe Craker

Horse Racing !!!  I AM SO HAPPY !

Bomb Squad

Dynablaster (Bomberman type game)

 

Casual

A lot of card Games that he can't told us.

Charade game.

 

Edutainment for kids

9 secret games ...

 

 

THANK YOU TOMMY   ( AND PETE )

 

 

 

Edit : Also, Tommy confirmed to Pete that Astrosmash will have bosses !! Great !

 

why is only one of the five known pack-ins mentioned?

27 minutes ago, Swami said:

why is only one of the five known pack-ins mentioned?

Yeah I should have delete Astrosmash ! They are the one not included as pack-in games !

So if Snafoo is not there, could it be the 7th or 8th game as a pack in !! ?? 🤔  😆

( Yes we also learn that 8 games as pack-in is not excluded ! )

Edit : When the video will be available, I will let you hear the part where Tommy is telling us the games that could be ready for launch. 😉

1 hour ago, LePionnier said:

Yeah ...  😔  Tommy said we should know in the next month what will happened with the launch date.

We have two strikes on us, and the best pitcher in on the mount...   Will it be is 102 MPH fastball, or his curve ball ? Chances are slim for us all.

Yeah, nothing to do but wait at this point. I noticed that Tommy's not been here for a few days, so I imagine he's busy with stuff. I guess we'll just have to see what he says when he gets back.

Did anyone do a high-res screen grab of the Wonka book in Pete’s video?  🤔

30 minutes ago, Craig Parker said:

Did anyone do a high-res screen grab of the Wonka book in Pete’s video?  🤔

COULDN'T DO IT!

TOO MUCH LIKE looking for my hidden Christmas presents around the house ahead of time!

B

32 minutes ago, Barley Farquahr said:

COULDN'T DO IT!

 

TOO MUCH LIKE looking for my hidden Christmas presents around the house ahead of time!

 

B

Maybe what Tommy is teasing at us, it's not what's inside, but it's what's outside !   A WILLY WONKA game !?

Another interesting point from yesterday that Tommy was talking about, it's the good relationship with Warner Bros.

If I am not mistaking, they have the rights for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), a movie that Tommy really like !

Same thing for Looney Tunes ...

And I don't remember if he was talking about them when he said that they have the rights for :

JOUST

DEFENDER

ROBOTRON

Really cool stuff ahead ! 😀

2 hours ago, LePionnier said:

2 hours ago, Swami said:

why is only one of the five known pack-ins mentioned?

Yeah I should have delete Astrosmash ! They are the one not included as pack-in games !

So if Snafoo is not there, could it be the 7th or 8th game as a pack in !! ?? 🤔  😆

( Yes we also learn that 8 games as pack-in is not excluded ! )

 

Edit : When the video will be available, I will let you hear the part where Tommy is telling us the games that could be ready for launch. 😉

Here it is.

And Pete almost did a heart attack when he heard some of the names ...  😆  lol

https://youtu.be/5Sgp4l9K7iw?t=4802

Part 3 was on YouTube but disappeared.  I'll upload it here once it comes back.

40 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

Part 3 was on YouTube but disappeared.  I'll upload it here once it comes back.

Part 3 had issues, so it is re uploading as we speak, will be available within the hour  

10 hours ago, Relicgamer said:

Love your video. Its straight to the point. 

Thank you! I originally was going to do this combined with 5 concerns I have, but it was going to be waaaaay too long of a video combined, so had to split them. Hoping to have the other one up later this week. 

Hopefully the added time allows for a very impressive and comprehensive launch library. I also thought Burgertime was targeted for launch, but that may have changed and I missed it.

Here is part 3.

Final part is up....thank you to @Tommy Tallarico for being so gracious with his time and answering so many questions, until next time Tommy.  I want to give a special Thank you from the bottom to my heart to all the community that showed up and made this Stream amazing, we hit almost 150 concurrent viewers at one point, wow.  Thanks 

2 minutes ago, OEB_Pete said:

Final part is up....thank you to @Tommy Tallarico for being so gracious with his time and answering so many questions, until next time Tommy.  I want to give a special Thank you from the bottom to my heart to all the community that showed up and made this Stream amazing, we hit almost 150 concurrent viewers at one point, wow.  Thanks 

 

It was an awesome interview Pete - such a great job. I love seeing the new Amico console carrying bag & Tommy's rundown of games he is hoping for launch. Just tons of good stuff in there.

An edutainment question Tommy: Has this piece of development and the current situation changed the conversation, as home learning has taken on a newfound importance?

I’ve been all-in with the Amico since I first heard about and there’s no way I’m cancelling my pre-orders. I do have a couple of concerns still. Nothing major in any way, but being that there’s a worldwide pandemic going on and I’ve got a bit of spare time on my hands...

1. Lack of game demos

First off, Pete’s interview last night was great... lots of Q&A quick-hits. I’m still not clear on why demos won’t be a part of games. That’s not a deal killer for me because I’m sure YouTubers here and elsewhere will review them quickly, and we’ll probably get official videos with each release.

But this idea that we can try games that our friends bring over seems to side-step the reason for demos. Especially starting out, the Amico won’t be in huge supply from what I’m gathering. It’s a nice thought that I’ll have friends upon Amico’s release who will be happy to be the gaming guinea pig and bring over games for me to try, but I don’t think it’s likely, especially in the early days. 

I must have missed it, but is there a specific reason that demos aren’t going to be made? If it’s resources (the time it takes to add demo code to a game) I certainly get that. I just don’t feel “have a friend bring it over to play on your system” is a suitable replacement for a demo I can try out whenever I want, and having to hope I have a nearby friend who bought the game already. 

Listen, the games are inexpensive, so this is not a huge deal at all. But I cringe a bit when I hear Tommy say that my “demo” experience can be a friend who will supposedly buy the game before I do so I can try it out. That’s certainly an option, but not as easy as being able to play a demo whenever I want without calling on a friend to rush over with his controller.

2. Release schedule

I think the release of new games has been stated as every 10-14 days. I do think it’s great that one game gets released at a time and gets the full attention of every gamer. But I would prefer to see a weekly release for two reasons. First, habits are important. If I know a new game is released every Friday before the weekend, I will quickly have that burned into my skull. That’s just me, though.

But the second reason is related to how often we’ll see a new game in a given genre. Let’s say I’m a parent with young kids and those educational games really appeal to me. How often will I see a game like that... every 5th release? In other words, is there a plan for rotating through the genres? I would think production schedules will be a huge factor... can’t release a game in a certain genre if none are currently ready. And obviously people will have all the launch titles to keep them busy, no matter what type of game they like. 

This comes back, though, to a more frequent release schedule where, in theory, a game in a genre I like will come quicker on a weekly schedule than a 10-day or bi-weekly schedule.

I also wonder what sort of backlog will be created when you have even more developers making games for the Amico. Is is possible that a finished game doesn’t get released for a year or longer because the pipeline is already filled with completed games? Or is that more managed because Amico is investing in each game and helping in its creation?

I don’t bring either of these up thinking I have the insight and info the Amico team has. Decisions are made for various reasons and these two points won’t kill my enjoyment of the Amico. But I figured I’d bring them up for possible discussion... or have it pointed out that I should pick up another hobby while we wait for the planet to reboot.

Final thing which isn’t a concern, but more a curiosity... how do older games get promoted? It occurred to me this morning that, as a developer, I’d be a bit torn on being an “early release” title vs. a title that gets released after the first year. I can see the pros and cons either way. If you’re an early release when there’s not many games available (relatively speaking), you have a great shot at a sale. But the installed base of Amicos a year or two after launch will be much higher. If I’m an “early” game, then a year from launch I’m not getting as many eyeballs on my game because it’s not getting promotion on the home screen. 

One of the joys of getting an Amico on day one is more easily keeping up with each new release and few games, if any, slipping through the cracks. But later buyers won’t have that advantage. 

I guess this points to how good the store will need to be to discover the older titles. This is such a crap experience on some platforms. I hope the Amico team can really nail this one.

Again, I want to be very clear... these aren’t complaints, and I’m still 100% excited for the Amico... just thoughts that popped into my head as I’m waiting for our governor to say it’s safe to get a haircut from a professional without condemning the state’s population to certain death from infected combs.

11 minutes ago, Jake67 said:

I’ve been all-in with the Amico since I first heard about and there’s no way I’m cancelling my pre-orders. I do have a couple of concerns still. Nothing major in any way, but being that there’s a worldwide pandemic going on and I’ve got a bit of spare time on my hands...

 

1. Lack of game demos

First off, Pete’s interview last night was great... lots of Q&A quick-hits. I’m still not clear on why demos won’t be a part of games. That’s not a deal killer for me because I’m sure YouTubers here and elsewhere will review them quickly, and we’ll probably get official videos with each release.

 

But this idea that we can try games that our friends bring over seems to side-step the reason for demos. Especially starting out, the Amico won’t be in huge supply from what I’m gathering. It’s a nice thought that I’ll have friends upon Amico’s release who will be happy to be the gaming guinea pig and bring over games for me to try, but I don’t think it’s likely, especially in the early days. 

 

I must have missed it, but is there a specific reason that demos aren’t going to be made? If it’s resources (the time it takes to add demo code to a game) I certainly get that. I just don’t feel “have a friend bring it over to play on your system” is a suitable replacement for a demo I can try out whenever I want, and having to hope I have a nearby friend who bought the game already. 

 

Listen, the games are inexpensive, so this is not a huge deal at all. But I cringe a bit when I hear Tommy say that my “demo” experience can be a friend who will supposedly buy the game before I do so I can try it out. That’s certainly an option, but not as easy as being able to play a demo whenever I want without calling on a friend to rush over with his controller.

 

2. Release schedule

I think the release of new games has been stated as every 10-14 days. I do think it’s great that one game gets released at a time and gets the full attention of every gamer. But I would prefer to see a weekly release for two reasons. First, habits are important. If I know a new game is released every Friday before the weekend, I will quickly have that burned into my skull. That’s just me, though.

 

But the second reason is related to how often we’ll see a new game in a given genre. Let’s say I’m a parent with young kids and those educational games really appeal to me. How often will I see a game like that... every 5th release? In other words, is there a plan for rotating through the genres? I would think production schedules will be a huge factor... can’t release a game in a certain genre if none are currently ready. And obviously people will have all the launch titles to keep them busy, no matter what type of game they like. 

 

This comes back, though, to a more frequent release schedule where, in theory, a game in a genre I like will come quicker on a weekly schedule than a 10-day or bi-weekly schedule.

 

I also wonder what sort of backlog will be created when you have even more developers making games for the Amico. Is is possible that a finished game doesn’t get released for a year or longer because the pipeline is already filled with completed games? Or is that more managed because Amico is investing in each game and helping in its creation?

 

I don’t bring either of these up thinking I have the insight and info the Amico team has. Decisions are made for various reasons and these two points won’t kill my enjoyment of the Amico. But I figured I’d bring them up for possible discussion... or have it pointed out that I should pick up another hobby while we wait for the planet to reboot.

 

Final thing which isn’t a concern, but more a curiosity... how do older games get promoted? It occurred to me this morning that, as a developer, I’d be a bit torn on being an “early release” title vs. a title that gets released after the first year. I can see the pros and cons either way. If you’re an early release when there’s not many games available (relatively speaking), you have a great shot at a sale. But the installed base of Amicos a year or two after launch will be much higher. If I’m an “early” game, then a year from launch I’m not getting as many eyeballs on my game because it’s not getting promotion on the home screen. 

 

One of the joys of getting an Amico on day one is more easily keeping up with each new release and few games, if any, slipping through the cracks. But later buyers won’t have that advantage. 

 

I guess this points to how good the store will need to be to discover the older titles. This is such a crap experience on some platforms. I hope the Amico team can really nail this one.

 

Again, I want to be very clear... these aren’t complaints, and I’m still 100% excited for the Amico... just thoughts that popped into my head as I’m waiting for our governor to say it’s safe to get a haircut from a professional without condemning the state’s population to certain death from infected combs.

As always with my answers (unless I say otherwise), these aren't canon Intellivision policy answers, but things I've heard around the watercooler, in team meetings, and in various other discussions. (Plus wild assed guesses on my part, since I'm not involved in the game team meetings.) Possibly hypothetical, but nothing confidential to my knowledge. @Tommy Tallarico can squash me and tell me to shut up if necessary, but I am trying to be careful.

Disclaimer over.

1. Lack of game demos. I think this is for a couple of reasons. The first of which is that these games are by their nature, short and have limited development resources put into them. Second, is the way that we're going to be showing off and promoting the games in the Amico store. There are some really cool things that haven't been shown there, and I know I can't talk about, but that will alleviate a lot of concern I think.

Third (and this is just a conjecture on my part... I'm not a console gamer (PC hardcore gamer to the extreme though)... what console or PC games have demos? None that I can recall on the PC, and my steam library has 150+ (301 actually!) games on it, not counting the free to play games.)

2. Release schedule. This has been brought up a couple times, but easy to miss. Just because we are starting out at an every-other week or so release schedule doesn't force us to keep that schedule. As we get a larger install base, and more funding to pay more developers, there's nothing that says we can't move up to weekly releases. Also, the schedule will probably vary depending on the time of year. Start of the school year? Maybe release edutainment games on a slightly faster schedule. Christmas or other major holiday coming up (or maybe in the few weeks following Christmas?)... release games weekly! Slow, boring part of the retail year? Slow down releases to biweekly.

In general though, even the super affordable games like Amico is offering cost a fair bit to develop. Let's say it's a hypothetical $75,000 per game that Intellivision has to pay to create a game, and it takes 4 months to develop a game. If we were doing weekly releases from the start, we'd need 4 months (~20 weeks) worth of games that we already paid for in the queue. At $75,000 per pop, that's $3,000,000 before any retail systems had sold. Not to mention having to feed games beyond that initial 4 month window. We're already going to have a pretty huge starting library, and 15-20 additional games in the queue, but at some point we have to try balance how much we've spent on games and actually starting to get some money back from those games.

As far as promotion of older games... I don't think there is anything saying Intellivision can't go back and promote "old" games. Maybe in one of the doldrum weeks between biweekly releases there will be a promotion week for an older game.