Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

7 hours ago, Swami said:

I've also heard them say xbox and playstation haven't attacked each other since the Genesis/SNES days, but I remember the E3 in 2014 when Playstation commented on how they would support players ability to buy used games versus Xbox being online only.

Here it is!

9 hours ago, Swami said:

I was once in a discussion where I commented about how I thought video games had more replayability than movies or TV shows and this guy answered that he usually only plays a video games once and never again while he's watch some movies 3 or 4 times. This made no sense to me, but now I realize he's just playing these modern movie-games where once you make it to the end of the story there is little point in replaying it versus most good games before 2010 you might replay 25-100 times or more.

Yeah.  I've had these kinds of discussions as well in reference to Amico.  We are trying to design our games to able to play for not just "til you beat the game".  Like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Tetris, etc.

REplayability is an important part of getting things right from a design perspective.  And that's where the focus on couch co-op and versus becomes really key and yet another advantage we have.

Think about how many times you played "GoldenEye" on the N64 by yourself.  Did you ever go back and play it after you finished the game?  Now think about all the times you played when friends came over.  It's just a different experience.  Would I have as fond memories of GoldenEye if I was just playing a bunch of strangers online?  Hell no. 

Online PC games like World of Warcraft at least give you opportunities to join guilds, etc.  But nothing beats doing it in person.

I was thinking that once this COVID thing is over with... there are going to be so many people in the world that have missed that interaction with friends.  Our timing could be absolutely PERFECT for a device that takes advantage of people getting together in person!

8 hours ago, supahwally said:

 

I used to assume the same-let the user make these choices, what's the negative?

 

Unfortunately, as I get older, it's become obvious that 'decision fatigue' is a very large factor in my late-day entertainment choices.  I spend all day making decisions, either about how to fix something, what should be fixed first, or if I'm even in good enough physical condition to fix it today.   By 9:30 PM, I'm sick of choices, even if they seem simple and allow me greater customization.  It's why a billion Netflix options won't get me away from over-the-air MeTV and Twilight Zone reruns at 11:30.  Yes, there is cool new stuff on Netflix, sadly I'm just too tired to pick something, or even choose a 'recommended' title. 

 

  

I've been finding lately that me & wife end up spending more time trying to PICK something to watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime as we do actually watching something!

 

8 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

we will see likely this thing will not be out in 2020 so they actually will have MORE time on their side to do things they thought they didnt have time for.  Plus I still think their demo will turn out to be US, as in the people here, the grandparents and original gaming OGs.  This system is perfect for gaming grandparents and to be honest more is always better as long as you dont force it. Its better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it. 

The issue we've been seeing though is that even IF there are options to go deeper (no matter where you put them) it makes the average person feel a little uncomfortable.  They feel that maybe the product isn't for them and that they aren't getting the most out of the system because there's all these things you could do... but they don't want to.  It makes them feel disconnected to the experience in a small way.  That's been some initial feedback... but we're still figuring out the best way to handle.

3 hours ago, Relicgamer said:

Or how about when sony announced their price at that press conference right after sega announced their more expensive saturn. I believe it was sony rep walked up said $200 then walk off the stage. That was a hugh death blow to sega. So they whiny babies must have been born to gaming yesterday lol

That was a great one.  I was in the room when that happened!  It was Steve Race.  He comes up to the mic and says....  "$299!"  And then goes back to his seat. 

7 hours ago, MarioMan88 said:

I agree, I miss the days of turning the system on, playing a game and having fun. Really glad you guys at IE take time to think of a simpler UI and just having an “ON/OFF” for some sound options. 

This got me thinking about UI changes to various websites and programs I've used frequently over the years.  'Clean' looking pages appeal greatly to designers, fewer visible options are a way to avoid visual overload for the user, but there is a limit.  One technique that's being used a lot now is the hidden menu.  When I print labels for ebay via the pop-up menu, the print options tab stays visible for a couple seconds, and than vanishes, invisible unless I hover the mouse pointer over that exact spot on the screen!  This is fine for the frequent user, or even an infrequent user who understands right away how to proceed because they have encountered similar things before.   

I can't even imagine my 80 year old parents being confronted with an essentially blank screen because they didn't happen to be looking at it before the menu faded out.  Making the inexperienced user feel stupid, with nowhere to turn for help (where's that printed book of instructions?  Online!) has always struck me as arrogant and a bit insular.   Phones are notorious for this.  I don't use 85% of my phone's features, because learning how to use them requires an early adopter/teen or 'hobby' mentality, where the end user is imagined to be so enamored with this device they willingly spend free time playing around with it, digging through submenus, and allowing all kinds of data access that I'm not comfortable with.  I won't even enable Bixby on my Samsung.  Screw that guy.

Let me put it this way:  I had no problem learning how to program VCR's back in the 80's.  My age 50ish parents wanted nothing to do with it.  4 buttons needed to be pushed in the right order at the right time, and there were instructions telling you how to do it.  It was not difficult, and once you did a couple you knew the thought process behind it and could program any of them.   Did that matter to people over 40 or so back then?  Nope, it was alien and made them feel stupid. That clock would blink 12:00 for years if they were left to set it.  Not worth the effort.

About the Sega announcement:

- It will be revealed in 3 days in Famitsu.

- A Japanese guy who has the magazine can't speak for legal reasons but says the news is not about Microsoft, is strictly Sega.

2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yeah.  I've had these kinds of discussions as well in reference to Amico.  We are trying to design our games to able to play for not just "til you beat the game".  Like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Tetris, etc.

REplayability is an important part of getting things right from a design perspective.  And that's where the focus on couch co-op and versus becomes really key and yet another advantage we have.

Think about how many times you played "GoldenEye" on the N64 by yourself.  Did you ever go back and play it after you finished the game?  Now think about all the times you played when friends came over.  It's just a different experience.  Would I have as fond memories of GoldenEye if I was just playing a bunch of strangers online?  Hell no. 

Online PC games like World of Warcraft at least give you opportunities to join guilds, etc.  But nothing beats doing it in person.

I was thinking that once this COVID thing is over with... there are going to be so many people in the world that have missed that interaction with friends.  Our timing could be absolutely PERFECT for a device that takes advantage of people getting together in person!

 

 

I may have mentioned this before, but I get the feeling that some modern games are being designed, developed, and treated as if they are disposable commodities. Play it once, then either throw it away/sell it and buy a new game or delete it from your HDD or SSD or whatever storage device it's on and never download it again. I have basically no desire to replay pretty much any modern games at all, and, somewhat like you said, Mario Kart only gets played with friends. I actually checked, and I have not played Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for over a year, apparently. With my friends, it's mostly been older stuff, and what I mostly remember playing with friends over the last year is Super Smash Bros., Contra, and Metal Gear Solid 2, of all things. R-Type Dimensions (this game is awesome!) and a few Castlevania games were in there too, but the only one from that series that I specifically remember is Rondo of Blood on the PC Engine.

Meanwhile, my Sonic 3 & Knuckles lives inside my Nomad so I can play it whenever and wherever I want (provided I have batteries for it, which I currently don't because it ate them all so I have to leave it plugged in to use it). The game is 25~26 years old, depending on how you want to count the separate releases of Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, but it retains its fun even though I've been playing it since shortly after launch. Same with the other Sonic games. Of special note is Sonic CD, which I only ever played for the first time like 4 years ago and actually hated for the first 7 (!) playthroughs before I really started to like it a lot. Super Metroid, which I never played until 2005, is also a game I replay regularly, as is Metal Gear, which I didn't play until 2008/2009, and also the Castlevania games, which I had never played until February of last year. For some reason, these games have infinite replay value, and it's not just because I played them when I was a kid, because out of those, only Sonic really meets that criteria. There's something about most modern games that makes it so I do not feel compelled to replay them 6 million times.

17 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

The idea of controls needing to be easier is a simple concept for the average person... but seems to be totally lost on modern consoles.  Is it every game?  Of course not.  Is it the majority?  Absolutely.

The ”eye-opener” to me was when I got Minecraft on PS3 instead of Ipad/Iphone, the controls went from simple “point and drag” motions on a touchscreen to 10 buttons and two analog sticks😲 The Amico controller will be truly revolutionary and will make it really hard for me to ever want to go back to play games on a “regular” console controller, much like the first time I held an iPhone in my hand my first reaction was, what the hell have all the “traditional” phone manufacturers been doing all this time😩

11 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

  Plus I still think their demo will turn out to be US, as in the people here, the grandparents and original gaming OGs.

Right now it might look like that, but when the advertising and marketing towards the “new” demographic is implemented, I sure hope that hardcore gamers are going to be an overwhelming minority of the customer base, or they would have to substantially tweak their strategy.

I did forget something, now that I think about it, and it's too late to edit, but it's something interesting to note. I think the game that I've put the most time into in the past 10 years or so is actually Shin Megami Tensei IV. The battery in my 3DS somehow got damaged and swollen, so it no longer holds a charge at all and I had to remove it for safety reasons. I can't check the activity log on my 3DS because of this, but last I checked, my time for this game was either just over or just under 500 hours, most likely being slightly over. Metal Gear Solid V comes in a close second at 435 hours on PC and another 30 or so on PS4 plus another 20 hours of Ground Zeroes on PC. Forgot my PS4 time for that one, though.

There are obviously still modern games that I find replayable, but I feel the trend, across the entire market, is something in the direction of things that lack replay value. Perhaps this is why I've basically given up on most modern games and mostly play old games instead.

4 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

That was a great one.  I was in the room when that happened!  It was Steve Race.  He comes up to the mic and says....  "$299!"  And then goes back to his seat. 

 

 

Thats it lol I was off on the price. But that moment was hilarious.  

8 hours ago, Relicgamer said:

Or how about when sony announced their price at that press conference right after sega announced their more expensive saturn. I believe it was sony rep walked up said $200 then walk off the stage. That was a hugh death blow to sega.

4 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

That was a great one.  I was in the room when that happened!  It was Steve Race.  He comes up to the mic and says....  "$299!"  And then goes back to his seat. 

 

 

Here is a 7 minutes video talking about this moment ! ( I wonder why Youtube put it in my suggestion list !? Is it because someone (Mr Youtube) is spying on me at AtariAge and saw you guys talked about it ... 🤔 ) lol

So here is the link. I know many of us like stories about retro stuff. 😊

10 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

 

I wonder in how many directions we will be able to move on Amico !? 🙄

4 minutes ago, LePionnier said:

I wonder in how many directions we will be able to move on Amico !? 🙄

It needs some Daft Punk 

5 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

I've been finding lately that me & wife end up spending more time trying to PICK something to watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime as we do actually watching something!

 

Same.......And sometimes the PICKING turns out to be an activity on its own and by the time we finally find something to watch it’s time to go to bed 😜

Interesting insights from this young man

32 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

 

This would be an awesome pack-In game If there is  a 7th one included !!!

1 minute ago, Cranker said:

This would be an awesome pack-In game If there is  a 7th one included !!!

Wouldn't that be something?  

1 hour ago, theswede said:

Right now it might look like that, but when the advertising and marketing towards the “new” demographic is implemented, I sure hope that hardcore gamers are going to be an overwhelming minority of the customer base, or they would have to substantially tweak their strategy.

 
The hardcore gamers will be getting Amico as their 2nd or 3rd system.  I just can't say that publicly because none of them would believe me and it would just cause more unjust criticism.

34 minutes ago, Juice said:

 

 

Interesting insights from this young man

Nothing new here. He is just picking the video apart in a very mechanical way rather that actually learning about the console and talking about it in an intelligent way. In most commentaries , there are usually both positives and negatives discussed . No surprise here ! He comes off as a smart ass kid that had no interest in the console and had taken no time to learn about it. It’s just the usual negative rant comparing it to a cell phone ......blah blah blah ......You don’t like it ? Don’t buy it ! Simple as that 😜

30 minutes ago, Juice said:

Interesting insights from this young man

And what's interesting from your point of view ?

51 minutes ago, LePionnier said:

I wonder in how many directions we will be able to move on Amico !? 🙄

4 is good enough.  We even got rid of the diagonals.  I hated those in the original.

29 minutes ago, Cranker said:

This would be an awesome pack-In game If there is  a 7th one included !!!

Wouldn't That Be Something?™