Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

Just now, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

 

A couple of you are talking about Mille Bornes, just wanted to say 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?

i think a game like cosmic encounter with all the alien races you can play as would be amazing too. i think with expansions it can fit 8 people as well it's a very DLC friendly boardgame

Zingo by ThinkFun looks like it would be a good edutainment game:

• Trusted by Families Worldwide - With over 50 million sold, ThinkFun is the world's leading manufacturer of brain games and mind challenging puzzles.
• Develops critical skills – Perfect for pre-readers and early readers, builds language and matching skills in preschool kids through fun, fast-paced play. Zingo is as popular in the classroom with teachers as it is in the home with families!
• What you get -  the world famous game Zingo, one of ThinkFun's best games for kids ages 4 and up, and it includes an extra Zingo card so that up to 7 players can play! Also includes a unique Zinger device that delights players of all ages.
• Clear instructions – Easy to learn with a clear, high quality instruction manual. You can start playing right away!
• Award winner - Zingo has won many awards including an Oppenheim Gold, Parents' Choice Award, ASTRA Best Toys for Kids Award, and is a three time Toy of the Year Nominee, which makes it a great gift for boys and girls ages 4 and up.

11 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

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.

i can't believe Sega has never done much with their Pengo character..the game was a lot of fun and the Penguin is cute 

48 minutes ago, CurlyQ said:

I think it needs to be said that Tommy needs to hire you CurlyQ. Your attention to detail is freaking INCREDIBLE!  Did anyone notice E.T. holding the Atari joystick?  What about the Running Man on one of the Jawas?  Do you see the Utopia Rebel?  Again, amazing work. I’m am beyond impressed. Tommy needs you to do ALL the box cover art for the Amico!!!

1 hour ago, CurlyQ said:

What's the PEW PEW and blue shield on the black droid?

Tommy, how was the discussion with Warpedcore Studio a couple of months ago ?

Any chance they come on board ?

Diego Almazan looks like a really good guy. Likes to do games in 2D, not Pixel ...

His last game Aqua Lungers 4 players co-op on the switch looks cool. (But I can't try it, it was only released in the United States.)

That's not what I want for him, but if the games are not selling well, maybe it's the thing that can bring him with the team !

The only thing I am not sure if it's only 4 players with split screen ? I know that if possible you want to avoid that !

For those wanting to take a look :

24 minutes ago, Craig Parker said:

I think it needs to be said that Tommy needs to hire you CurlyQ. Your attention to detail is freaking INCREDIBLE!  Did anyone notice E.T. holding the Atari joystick?  What about the Running Man on one of the Jawas?  Do you see the Utopia Rebel?  Again, amazing work. I’m am beyond impressed. Tommy needs you to do ALL the box cover art for the Amico!!!

It is pretty cool. I just noticed the colored blocks you see at the start page of the game

3 hours ago, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

 

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

 

Mille Bornes is a beauty!

14 minutes ago, LePionnier said:

Tommy, how was the discussion with Warpedcore Studio a couple of months ago ?

Any chance they come on board ?

Diego Almazan looks like a really good guy. Likes to do games in 2D, not Pixel ...

His last game Aqua Lungers 4 players co-op on the switch looks cool. (But I can't try it, it was only released in the United States.)

That's not what I want for him, but if the games are not selling well, maybe it's the thing that can bring him with the team !

The only thing I am not sure if it's only 4 players with split screen ? I know that if possible you want to avoid that !

For those wanting to take a look :

 

 

 

I spoke with the developer last week when it was announced that it was on the switch.  I had mixed feelings on that because it might be moree difficult now to get it on the Amico.  I have it on steam and it would be really difficult to have it not be split screen. It does alot of zooming in and out. But the controls are super easy.  Just forward backwards jab and a powering  up the trident. I believe it would be a blast on the Amico.  

1 hour ago, The Wren said:

Mille Bornes is a beauty!

I will repeat myself in support of this game because I want it so badly !!!! What a fun game and a real classic ! I wonder if there is any chance at this happening at some point.

6 hours ago, ASalvaro said:

i can't believe Sega has never done much with their Pengo character..the game was a lot of fun and the Penguin is cute 

Up until recently with Sonic Mania, Sega hasn't known what to do with there mascot either.

10 hours 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 !!!! 

Candyland. So that son of a beech Plumpy can screw me and my family in HD on the TV. 

On 5/28/2020 at 5:58 AM, haplo13 said:

I'm curious, will the store note which games require a smartphone? My kids don't have phones yet so it would be good to know which ones will require them to use my wife's or mine. 

Absolutely... 100%. 

And when we release the info as to why... everyone will understand and get it right away.

On 5/28/2020 at 6:03 AM, Craig Parker said:

I’ve said this to him before. It’s not in the immediate future but it sure would make great use of motion controls. Disc golf is the fastest growing sport and I’m sure it will reach the Amico eventually. I play the mobile app Disc Golf Valley quite a bit and if Tommy would play a few minutes of this, he would be hooked and on board for disc golf to come to the Amico sooner than later!

Yeah.... definitely the type of game that we want on Amico for sure.  Especially with the motion controls and co-op.  It's on the list.

Question:  Does anyone know if there is already a Disc Golf game out there?  Steam?  Switch?  Mobile?  If so (and it's a good game), I could have our folks reach out to them and maybe accelerate the process.

22 hours ago, woobman said:

Love Windjammers. Have the AES version. Bought the Limited Run Games Switch version. All around fun. Would love to see a lot of the NEO GEO games on the Amico. As much as I love Metal Slug, I don't think that it would cut the mustard on the Amico. But other games would fit nicely.

I didn't know the Switch version existed until I bought my Neo Geo last month. Speaking of Neo Geo version, I think even the MVS version is expensive now... as much as I'd love to get it, it's time to buy the NeoSD Pro and call it good!

21 hours ago, Swami said:

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 forgot about the size limits thing. Lots (most/all?) of modern games use uncompressed audio, which takes up a crapload of space. Uncompressed textures in high resolutions do, as well. Not sure which one takes up more space in general. I am almost certain it's audio, but I'm not sure.

We have a game dev here in the thread to answer that question, though, so I do know a way to find out... Tommy, what generally takes up more space in modern games, art assets or audio?

10 hours ago, Craig Parker said:

I think it needs to be said that Tommy needs to hire you CurlyQ. Your attention to detail is freaking INCREDIBLE!  Did anyone notice E.T. holding the Atari joystick?  What about the Running Man on one of the Jawas?  Do you see the Utopia Rebel?  Again, amazing work. I’m am beyond impressed. Tommy needs you to do ALL the box cover art for the Amico!!!

Or the "Pew Pew" on the larger droid, along with the new Running Man family along its base, the rebel logo an axle of the Sandcrawler, the "10/10/2020" around another, the classic controllers built in above the doors, the iconography of an Amico controller R2 unit on the closed bay door, the classic Intellivision start-up screen 8 color boxes in the upper right.. I THOUGHT C3PO's droid nipple was one of the applied buttons for the Amico controller, but I think it's just classic C3PO.  

And now, if your significant others are asking you, "Whatcha doin, hon?", you can honestly reply robot nips, and not have to clear your browser history.  

AtariAge threads, making the internet better one odd post at a time.

Seriously though, every photo's like a Where's Waldo full of surprises and happy discoveries.  CurlyQ, your creative eye exceeds your technical wizardry with this stuff, and that's a whole lotta wizardry right there.  Brilliant stuff!

On 5/28/2020 at 6:37 AM, 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?

Never heard of it.  Will check it out.

19 hours 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!  😂

HAHAHHAHAHA!!!

Ain't that the truth!!

🤣

19 hours ago, Jake67 said:

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'm a HUGE Backgammon player and have been my entire life.  Actually entered tournaments and won a few times in my class.  Was nationally ranked at one point.

I was personally taught by the greatest backgammon player the modern world has ever seen.  Nack Ballard (https://www.nackbg.com/)

One of the issues with Backgammon online is that a lot of places are "gambling".  This causes folks to get a little more suspicious and upset when the perfect roll comes up for others.

That being said... I've literally played tens of thousands of online backgammon matches... and yes... the dice are rigged sometimes.  Especially towards the end.  I'm guessing there is some kind of "Karma Gaming Engine" algorithm going on. 

I can't tell you how many times I was 99% sure to win when the other person or CPU or bot would roll the absolute perfect roll... or... 3 or 4 doubles in a row.  This would happen about once per day when I was playing around 20 matches per day.  So about 5% of the time.  Granted, I was good so I probably saw it happen more than the average player.  But it definitely occurs.  Which to be quite honest... is why I stopped playing.  It gets to be so painful and frustrating after awhile... especially when there is money involved.

17 hours 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.

Totally!! 

A lot of folks don't realize how random generation is such a huge cornerstone of programming and not just one line of code.

14 hours ago, Starpaddler said:

dip·shit

/ˈdipˌSHit/

 

noun

VULGAR SLANG•NORTH AMERICAN

 

1. a douchy contemptible or inept asshat

Fixed.

13 hours ago, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

 

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.  

We incorporate a lot of the things you mentioned into Bomb Squad & Safe Cracker!

13 hours ago, RetroAdvisoryBoard said:

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

 

Bueller?

Hahaha!  True!

I'm guessing no.

11 hours ago, CurlyQ said:

WOW!!  This one is SO GREAT!!

I know what I'll be posting all over social media today!!

So many hidden secrets in this one.  ET w/Atari stick, Rebel rusted into the ship, 10/10 date... so much great stuff!

Hahaha!

21 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Never heard of it.  Will check it out.

 

Apparently Windjammers on the Neo Geo is really awesome. I've heard things like that it's the single best sports game ever made. Interesting that it would take 26 years for a sequel to get released.