Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

1 hour ago, Steven Pendleton said:

I just learned that apparently Windjammers 2 is in development for Switch and PC. Any chance of Amico being added to that list?

I get the sense it would be very different from the other two versions given the limit around 1 GB and the controller. It makes me wonder if when the Amico sells 20 million+, if four years from now we’ll have an Amico S with the equivalent of an Intel i9 processor. 

I think Sega is going to announce that they have created a 2020 version of "Game over, yeah!": "Don't touch me, yeah!".

Nah, seriously: probably it will only be the Dreamcast 2, Shenmue 4 and the Saturn mini.

A little fun for your Thursday...

It's been teased this week that Sega will be dropping a revolutionary announcement on June 4th...wouldn't it be something if they were jumping on the Amico bandwagon?  
 

I hope Sega does announce a Saturn and Dreamcast mini units.

It's a great way to play a bunch of games for systems I didnt collect for.

Like my Neo-geo and Turbo grafx minis. Same idea!👍

10 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Yo @Michael Garvey:  You need to start tagging all your videos with the words Intellivision & Amico.  They don't come up when folks do a YouTube search.  You'd get a lot more views if you tagged your vids.  They are amazing and we need to get ya more eyeballs!

 

 

I am working with him on it   We will make his a superstar!

I have broken the Amico All Access into Clips for easy digestion, or not.  If it does cause indigestion, I am sorry .  Two more clips coming soon  

https://youtu.be/b4z7-SjvR6I

This is the Amico podcast that was live streamed May 27th from OEB Pete.

3 hours ago, SuperJeremyWorld said:

A little fun for your Thursday...

It's been teased this week that Sega will be dropping a revolutionary announcement on June 4th...wouldn't it be something if they were jumping on the Amico bandwagon?  
 

 

I seriously doubt the announcement has anything to do with the Amico. Why?  Because we all know Tommy can’t keep a secret THAT big to himself!  😂

38 minutes ago, Craig Parker said:

I seriously doubt the announcement has anything to do with the Amico. Why?  Because we all know Tommy can’t keep a secret THAT big to himself!  😂

I would say this in another way :  Tommy would have already gave us  a hint, because he likes us ! 😁

I was watching Pete’s video on board games. (And thank you for breaking it into a separate video!)

I started thinking of the board/card games I’d like to see, no matter how unlikely:

Fluxx

Dixit

Ticket to Ride

Guillotine

Yahtzee (Don’t know if this is kind of rendered moot by Farkle... never played that one.)

Memoir ’44 (Card-based wargame. The least likely to make the Amico.)

Boss Monster

Munchkin (Not the version that barfed onto the Switch.)

Mahjong

Twister (Not really, but interesting to consider how that might work.)

Backgammon

On backgammon, I wanted to toss this out to anyone who would know more than I do on the topic. I’ve tried a variety of backgammon apps on my iPad. Based on reviews, the biggest complaints of these games is that they cheat with the dice rolling... coming up with just the right roll at just the right time.

Most of the developers I’ve followed have spent literally years fighting that in the review comments by swearing up and down their games don’t cheat. 

Can anyone explain what “random” means when it comes to dice rolling in a computer game? Is there true randomness that can be programmed or is what we consider “random” not quite the same in the programming world?

1 hour ago, Jake67 said:

Can anyone explain what “random” means when it comes to dice rolling in a computer game? Is there true randomness that can be programmed or is what we consider “random” not quite the same in the programming world?

*True* randomness is really impossible to achieve with a computer just by itself. I know one firm uses a camera shot of 100 lava lamps to generate a random seed so their cryptography will be more secure. For your typical game, however, most programmers would just use the 'good enough' random generator function in C# or Unity or whatever they are using. If analyzed carefully these don't generate perfectly random numbers because of the algorithms they use. That being said, the lack of true randomness is WAY below a human's detection capability and is really only a concern if cryptography or big money is involved (maybe some sort of real dollar gambling program). Humans however are pattern matching animals and think silly things like a roulette ball hitting black 5 times in a row lessens the chances it will hit black on the 6th. So of course they think the program cheated when it gets a lucky roll (when they get a lucky roll, it is because they are lucky of course ).

Also no one even thinks to compare that to their $1 Walmart dice which aren't perfectly balanced (actually no dice is *perfectly* balanced, even casino dice - although they are much better). Much less lazy or spinning throws which really don't roll the dice properly (there is also a gambler cheating technique called "dice control" too, which attempts to do this without getting caught at a casino).

Back in the day you had to seed random functions and if you didn't a program would generate the exact series of results over and over again, but programmers quickly learned to pass in the current time as a seed to prevent that from being an issue (or again detectable by people). Modern random functions generally don't even suffer from that requirement and are, again, plenty good enough for a game of backgammon or Farkle.

1 hour ago, Craig Parker said:

I seriously doubt the announcement has anything to do with the Amico. Why?  Because we all know Tommy can’t keep a secret THAT big to himself!  😂

1 hour ago, LePionnier said:

I would say this in another way :  Tommy would have already gave us  a hint, because he likes us ! 😁

Good points to both of you. That said...there are many secrets that Tommy is keeping still, so there's always a chance!

54 minutes ago, Jake67 said:

I was watching Pete’s video on board games. (And thank you for breaking it into a separate video!)

 

I started thinking of the board/card games I’d like to see, no matter how unlikely:

 

Fluxx

Dixit

Ticket to Ride

Guillotine

Yahtzee (Don’t know if this is kind of rendered moot by Farkle... never played that one.)

Memoir ’44 (Card-based wargame. The least likely to make the Amico.)

Boss Monster

Munchkin (Not the version that barfed onto the Switch.)

Mahjong

Twister (Not really, but interesting to consider how that might work.)

Backgammon

 

On backgammon, I wanted to toss this out to anyone who would know more than I do on the topic. I’ve tried a variety of backgammon apps on my iPad. Based on reviews, the biggest complaints of these games is that they cheat with the dice rolling... coming up with just the right roll at just the right time.

 

Most of the developers I’ve followed have spent literally years fighting that in the review comments by swearing up and down their games don’t cheat. 

 

Can anyone explain what “random” means when it comes to dice rolling in a computer game? Is there true randomness that can be programmed or is what we consider “random” not quite the same in the programming world?

I'd also love to see Exploding Kittens! Great family game that would translate really well to Amico with opportunity for some awesome animations!

52 minutes ago, Jake67 said:

I was watching Pete’s video on board games. (And thank you for breaking it into a separate video!)

 

I started thinking of the board/card games I’d like to see, no matter how unlikely:

 

Fluxx

Dixit

Ticket to Ride

Guillotine

Yahtzee (Don’t know if this is kind of rendered moot by Farkle... never played that one.)

Memoir ’44 (Card-based wargame. The least likely to make the Amico.)

Boss Monster

Munchkin (Not the version that barfed onto the Switch.)

Mahjong

Twister (Not really, but interesting to consider how that might work.)

Backgammon

 

On backgammon, I wanted to toss this out to anyone who would know more than I do on the topic. I’ve tried a variety of backgammon apps on my iPad. Based on reviews, the biggest complaints of these games is that they cheat with the dice rolling... coming up with just the right roll at just the right time.

 

Most of the developers I’ve followed have spent literally years fighting that in the review comments by swearing up and down their games don’t cheat. 

 

Can anyone explain what “random” means when it comes to dice rolling in a computer game? Is there true randomness that can be programmed or is what we consider “random” not quite the same in the programming world?

An amazing board game to add to the list would be Big Trouble in Little China. It's out of print now. A good way of preserving some of these.  https://www.everythingepic.us/big-trouble-in-little-china

On that same preserving note: If you create a game that has been around for a while, maybe you can have the multiple versions. For instance: The board game Mouse Trap from the 70's/80's is different than the current version. It would be neat to see an evolution of the game. Same with Life. Monopoly. Sorry.. ETC. Even if it's just a graphical change. 

I had already given my vote for Dark Tower a while back. (Both old and new versions).

1 hour ago, GrudgeQ said:

*True* randomness is really impossible to achieve with a computer just by itself. I know one firm uses a camera shot of 100 lava lamps to generate a random seed so their cryptography will be more secure. For your typical game, however, most programmers would just use the 'good enough' random generator function in C# or Unity or whatever they are using. If analyzed carefully these don't generate perfectly random numbers because of the algorithms they use. That being said, the lack of true randomness is WAY below a human's detection capability and is really only a concern if cryptography or big money is involved (maybe some sort of real dollar gambling program). Humans however are pattern matching animals and think silly things like a roulette ball hitting black 5 times in a row lessens the chances it will hit black on the 6th. So of course they think the program cheated when it gets a lucky roll (when they get a lucky roll, it is because they are lucky of course ).

 

Also no one even thinks to compare that to their $1 Walmart dice which aren't perfectly balanced (actually no dice is *perfectly* balanced, even casino dice - although they are much better). Much less lazy or spinning throws which really don't roll the dice properly (there is also a gambler cheating technique called "dice control" too, which attempts to do this without getting caught at a casino).

 

Back in the day you had to seed random functions and if you didn't a program would generate the exact series of results over and over again, but programmers quickly learned to pass in the current time as a seed to prevent that from being an issue (or again detectable by people). Modern random functions generally don't even suffer from that requirement and are, again, plenty good enough for a game of backgammon or Farkle.

Thank you!!

I usually don’t worry about things like that, but I find the argument between gamer and developer occasionally interesting.

There are times when I do feel a dice roll was lucky for the computer... yet, I never feel that way when the roll is “lucky” in my favor. 😉

1 hour ago, SuperJeremyWorld said:

I'd also love to see Exploding Kittens! Great family game that would translate really well to Amico with opportunity for some awesome animations!

48 minutes ago, woobman said:

An amazing board game to add to the list would be Big Trouble in Little China.

I may have mentioned before that I’m not much of a board/card gamer and even my iPad/console gaming is limited compared to most people.

That list I gave is either stuff I enjoy playing, or would like to explore, and that’s about the extent of it.

But with the Amico, I am excited to see what board/card games come along, and fully intend to give each one a fair shot. 

1 hour ago, GrudgeQ said:

Back in the day you had to seed random functions and if you didn't a program would generate the exact series of results over and over again, but programmers quickly learned to pass in the current time as a seed to prevent that from being an issue (or again detectable by people). Modern random functions generally don't even suffer from that requirement and are, again, plenty good enough for a game of backgammon or Farkle.

yeah, randomness created via code isnt perfectly "mathematically" random, but as you mentioned, it is good enough for games and so forth since you would need to run big sample sizes and run mathematically formulas to see the small imperfections.  Long story short, in 2020 its nothing to worry about in video game board games

3 hours ago, Jake67 said:

I was watching Pete’s video on board games. (And thank you for breaking it into a separate video!)

 

I started thinking of the board/card games I’d like to see, no matter how unlikely:

 

Fluxx

Dixit

Ticket to Ride

Guillotine

Yahtzee (Don’t know if this is kind of rendered moot by Farkle... never played that one.)

Memoir ’44 (Card-based wargame. The least likely to make the Amico.)

Boss Monster

Munchkin (Not the version that barfed onto the Switch.)

Mahjong

Twister (Not really, but interesting to consider how that might work.)

Backgammon

 

On backgammon, I wanted to toss this out to anyone who would know more than I do on the topic. I’ve tried a variety of backgammon apps on my iPad. Based on reviews, the biggest complaints of these games is that they cheat with the dice rolling... coming up with just the right roll at just the right time.

 

Most of the developers I’ve followed have spent literally years fighting that in the review comments by swearing up and down their games don’t cheat. 

 

Can anyone explain what “random” means when it comes to dice rolling in a computer game? Is there true randomness that can be programmed or is what we consider “random” not quite the same in the programming world?

Howdy Sir,

A few I'm hoping for are :

Euchre ( card game variant )

42 ( dominoes variant )

Moon ( dominoes variant )

Train ( dominoes variant )

Here's a second vote for Dark Tower, I've already put in my $ for the new version coming out.

There are many more mainstream games, but I don't know if they'll have difficulties with licensing :

Battleship

Stratego

Mille Bornes

Clue

Trivial Pursuit

Axis & Allies

Life

Just to name a few off the top of my noggin.

Can't wait until they really start their main advertising push, then we'll start getting lots more information, instead of the little bits they've been able to parcel out so far.

Thanks,

B

13 minutes ago, Barley Farquahr said:

Here's a second vote for Dark Tower, I've already put in my $ for the new version coming out.

I’m waiting patiently for this game and would love an Amico version.

57 minutes ago, Barley Farquahr said:

Howdy Sir,

 

A few I'm hoping for are :

 

Euchre ( card game variant )

42 ( dominoes variant )

Moon ( dominoes variant )

Train ( dominoes variant )

 

Here's a second vote for Dark Tower, I've already put in my $ for the new version coming out.

 

There are many more mainstream games, but I don't know if they'll have difficulties with licensing :

 

Battleship

Stratego

Mille Bornes

Clue

Trivial Pursuit

Axis & Allies

Life

 

Just to name a few off the top of my noggin.

 

Can't wait until they really start their main advertising push, then we'll start getting lots more information, instead of the little bits they've been able to parcel out so far.

 

Thanks,

B

I would love to see Clue and Stratego and Battleship!!! And Mille Bornes is an absolute classic !!! They would make great use of the controller. Some other ideas:

Taboo

The game of things

Wits and wagers Family

Say anything

Wide World

Masterpiece

Scattergories
Spot it 

Scrabble

Apples to apples 

And many more !!!! 

2 hours ago, woobman said:

An amazing board game to add to the list would be Big Trouble in Little China. It's out of print now. A good way of preserving some of these.  https://www.everythingepic.us/big-trouble-in-little-china

 

On that same preserving note: If you create a game that has been around for a while, maybe you can have the multiple versions. For instance: The board game Mouse Trap from the 70's/80's is different than the current version. It would be neat to see an evolution of the game. Same with Life. Monopoly. Sorry.. ETC. Even if it's just a graphical change. 

 

I had already given my vote for Dark Tower a while back. (Both old and new versions).

 

I remember Dark Tower!  That was fun. Brigands, gold, and loved killing with the sword!

18 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

The oddest thing is that they actually think they are making intelligent arguments.  I refuse to comment on places I see the same 5 numb nuts, but friends will sometimes send me Facebook messages with screen grabs or videos when they say the most idiotic of things (we have a good laugh).  One obsessed ding dong recently declared how dumb we are to have an office in Germany when Germany isn't a big gaming market.  They are so deranged and eager to call us dumb that they couldn't even take 10 seconds to Google and realize that Germany is in fact the BIGGEST video game market in Europe (even surpassing the UK) and the 5th biggest country IN THE WORLD for video game revenue.

https://newzoo.com/insights/rankings/top-10-countries-by-game-revenues/

 

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

 

Having respectful disagreements and differences of opinions is one thing.  Being painfully stupid because you're so negatively obsessed with hoping we fail is literally a mentally unstable condition for these 5 folks.

 

 

26 minutes ago, Cranker said:

I would love to see Clue and Stratego and Battleship!!! And Mille Bornes is an absolute classic !!! They would make great use of the controller. Some other ideas:

 

Taboo

The game of things

Wits and wagers Family

Say anything

Wide World

Masterpiece

Scattergories
Spot it 

Scrabble

Apples to apples 

 

And many more !!!! 

i'd love to see the board game scythe adapted for the amico

2 hours ago, Jake67 said:

Thank you!!

 

I usually don’t worry about things like that, but I find the argument between gamer and developer occasionally interesting.

 

There are times when I do feel a dice roll was lucky for the computer... yet, I never feel that way when the roll is “lucky” in my favor. 😉

There are, I feel, mobile games that bias the dice as you turn up the difficulty, and (again) feel like the developer just shortcut the code and tweaked the randomness of dice rather then develop better AI for the harder settings. When the AI rolls three doubles in a row, time after time, near the end of a Backgammon game, the virtual dice begin to smell a little RL fishy. 

On 3/31/2020 at 2:08 PM, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

Was wondering about that.  Ramps, Jumps, even pitfalls and elevator traps to drop you/fling you up onto one of two concurrent tracks.. so just when you've got the hang of track A, grandma just dropped you onto track B.  Maybe a track switch to divert you suddenly onto the part of the track you weren't expecting.  Thought about switching directions to disorient and mix-up expectations, but I think it'd only work if all cars were simultaneously switched.. otherwise it's just a second or two til an inevitable collision.  

 

WOULD be cool if you get a bonus, go-go-Gadget type weird trap avoidance per level, and nobody knows what trap avoidance you have.  They can each play one of their three traps but they don't know when you'll use your [get out of jail free card].  If you're not familiar with Coup Fourré/Mille Bornes, a card game where the objective is to earn miles and place auto hazards on other players (who in turn can earn invulnerabilities or play their invulnerabilities when you play your hazard, as a surprise coup fourré (counter-attack), check it out.  Fun, easily understood party game. 

 

Hoping there's some night time tracks!

Not really much for quoting myself, but saw a couple of you talking about Mille Bornes, just wanted to add a very enthusiastic YEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!

Since we're on board games and it's tangentially marketed with board games, how fun would an Amico version of Simon be??

Eight controllers, eight colors, everybody gets a color and has to remember the pattern/tones and the group is trying to remember that it goes red, purple, blue, green, green, yellow, orange, red, blue, green, purple, pink, yellow, orange, orange, yellow, orange, green, pink, purple, (continued about 30 more colors), the game becomes this collective memorization of remembering when you are going after someone, then next going after someone, and you have to rely on nobody else falsely remembering the order and buzzing in and screwing it all up.

Bonus, you don't have to just do colors.  You can have tones or sounds associated with anything. Display images on the controllers for some really clever association, and for the really hard modes, those images can mix up on everybody's controllers.  You'd all be shouting at each other, "OK, who's teddy bear?  Hit it!  All right, chocolate chip cookie, go!  Now beach ball!"  "No!  Beach ball comes after tricycle!"  "No, I'm sure it's teddy bear, chocolate cookie, beach b-"    "RRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!"   The buzzer, the group was too slow.  You guys are awful, you're down at the bottom of the leaderboards.  You're cursing the day you ever bought this cheating plastic system with the cheesy carbon fiber inset and lame red sports car veneer.  But you look at everybody else and they look half-ready to go another go.  

Four hours later, you finally made the god-damned Simon leaderboards for Southern California.  Sure, you'll never catch up to "PIan"; "Who's Peein?" you'll earnestly ask.  Only the most committed tag team Simon party game aficionados in the Southern California leaderboard region, local legends who fully realized the potential of such a system that utilized a screen and mission-driven to find the co-op and group dynamic unique experience in so many classic games.  

You think anybody on Sony's boards are talking about making Parcheesi fun and innovative or a completely unique experience?  

Bueller?