Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

13 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

This is a very strange comment to me that makes zero sense.  Would love you to expand further.

If you aren't interested in supporting a video game system because people who also like it say some things that are distasteful to you... how the heck have you ever supported any video game system?  This isn't something that is new.

 

The fact that there are passionate folks on both sides (lucky for us 98% in the positive and we haven't even started marketing to our audience) just shows how important and exciting and talked about it's going to be.

 

I just thought it to be a very strange comment that you wouldn't support a video game system because of what other people say or don't say about it.  Wouldn't you support a system because of how YOU feel?  Or if you like or dislike it?

 

Interested to hear more about your thoughts on this.

 

I should have been more specific I don't mean not support the thing as in not play the games, I meant not support it as in voicing my opinion within an online community, because when a community becomes toxic it's best to separate yourself from it so you don't get too entangled. Before I said that I said there wasn't any of that in the community at first. There was trolls but there were no people on the amico side engaging in the same kind of behaviour. this isn't about being positive or negative it's more about being things like prejudiced and discriminatory which we get enough in the world we don't need it in this.

17 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Interesting read. 

 

Without playing the game (I've ordered it and just waiting for the release and package to show up this week) if the reviewer had fun with the games, I don't the issue with the $40 price tag (his only real complaint).

 

But again... can't really comment until I actually have a chance to play it myself.  I just thinking that if he had fun with 51 mini games, that a $40 price tag doesn't seem like too much.  Less that $1 per experience. 

This is why it's important for us to have so much more in our "simple to play" games.  Value is a huge factor.

 

I feel the same on price... $40 doesn’t seem bad if you’re finding value in a lot of the games they include, no matter how basic they might be.

But perhaps we’re in an era where we expect games to be expensive (the AAA titles) or dirt cheap (the phone games).

Maybe that middle price-tier is hard for some people to reconcile what they expect for that price? Seems like he expects more polish or options for $40, but if it were, say, $20, he’d think the exact same product was great value.

Fair enough, I suppose... we all have our criteria for what “value-for-money” is.

2 hours ago, jaybird3rd said:

Yes.  So, I maintain that the best policy is not to feed them.  I would even go so far as to say that we shouldn't continue to post or discuss critical Amico videos here going forward.  In a sane world, there wouldn't be anything wrong with respectfully engaging with these video creators and their points of view, offering reasoned counterarguments or corrections where necessary.  Several of us here have already proven that we're more than capable of doing that, and I don't think we need to prove it again.  Unfortunately, we are not living in a world when a majority of people can peacefully abide any kind of disagreement, even over trivial issues.  Anything you say is likely to be immediately picked up and taken out of context, and no matter how dispassionately or impersonally you say it, it is likely to be deliberately misinterpreted as an "attack."  What everyone does outside of AtariAge is their own business, but I don't think it's a good idea to even attempt to comment on these videos on YouTube (or wherever else they're posted); even if the video creator is genuinely mistaken and you're only trying to offer a correction, you'll only get swarmed by the trolls.  There aren't many of them, but they don't seem to have anything better to do with their time.

 

It's unfortunate that their histrionics have created this situation, but that's where we seem to be right now.  I think the best we can hope to do is to avoid anything that would make an already ridiculous situation worse, and to keep our discussions here as positive as possible.

Yeah.  I stopped weeks ago and it drives them even more crazy, which is always fun to watch happen.

"TOMMY IS GOING TO SHOW UP!!" 

And then I never do. 

It's funny watching them scramble and then start conversations with each other with their fake accounts.  The latest is to pretend like they've already pre-ordered it.  Yet whenever asked, they've never been able to provide simple proof.

The best way to handle these types of videos moving forward is to just reach out privately to the person who made the video directly.

Give them a different and respectful point of view and/or facts and information that they may have gotten incorrect.

Much more powerful and the negative trolls can't even see it or counter with pathetic made up lies, hate and disinformation.

I would like to have spoken to that Lukas kid... maybe even do an interview with him to answer all his questions and address his concerns.  Didn't see a way to reach out so I didn't.

Let the 4 or 5 fake accounts ramble on and on with themselves.  It's only really a few different banned AA people anyway.  It's hilarious that they don't even realize that the same 2 or 3 accounts always spell the same words incorrectly... or misuse punctuation the same exact way, etc. 

I'd LOVE for folks to give me YouTube channel links and/or Twitter/Facebook pages of people who you think would LOVE the system.  Not hate it.

Mom groups, kid groups, family groups, Christian groups, etc.  So many GREAT and positive channels out there.  Send me THOSE links instead so I can have our folks reach out!

Thanks!

37 minutes ago, speedy-a said:

Hi Tommy are you or Hans or Intellivision at the Show of Gamescom or not ?

 

https://static-koelnmesse.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/cloudfront/gamescom/redaktionell/gamescom/downloads/pdf/press/pm10_de.pdf

 

and Reggie (former Nintendo US president) and Harold talk to Geoff:

 

 

 

If we were doing something special with Gamescom we wouldn't be able to tell you just yet because they would want to add it to their own press release.

(see what I did there)

18 minutes ago, LePionnier said:

Tommy, price tag for software on Amico will be between 2.99$ and 9.99$ ( Mostly 5.99$ to 9.99$ if I remember well ).

What kind of game could be at 2.99$ ?   A game like Pool ? Some Edutainment games ?

 

I am trying to be original with my question ! 😊

Thank you !

Not sure.  We don't have any at that price tag yet.  Just wanted to leave it open in case it ever came up.  So far that's not the case.

I believe our least expensive game is $5.99 at this point... but could change, so don't quote me on it (and please don't ask which one).  

5 hours ago, Cranker said:

That’s what I was wondering. It’s not interesting in any way to me.

I think the interesting thing was that he really liked the games and if they ”where available on his switch he would buy/enjoy them”. The negative commentary was obviously just to be ”cool” for his buddies, the same as I woudn’t expect him to make a praise video about any other toy/console marketed towards 3-7 years old kids, but his interest is shining through 😄  

7 minutes ago, Juice said:

I should have been more specific I don't mean not support the thing as in not play the games, I meant not support it as in voicing my opinion within an online community, because when a community becomes toxic it's best to separate yourself from it so you don't get too entangled. Before I said that I said there wasn't any of that in the community at first. There was trolls but there were no people on the amico side engaging in the same kind of behaviour. this isn't about being positive or negative it's more about being things like prejudiced and discriminatory which we get enough in the world we don't need it in this.

Ah!  Okay.   I gotcha now.

Understood.

Makes sense.

6 hours ago, Juice said:

 

 

Interesting insights from this young man

I know he's wrong on a few points, but ya know... some of that made me laugh out loud.

My favorites...

"Oh, Yeah, I worked on all these games n’ stuff.  It’s just bragging basically."

"I have a vision that’s gonna completely disrupt the video game industry.   =  He’s gonna sell these twin iPod Nanos to Intellivision, basically."

🤣

3 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

If we were doing something special with Gamescom we wouldn't be able to tell you just yet because they would want to add it to their own press release.

 

 

(see what I did there)

 

 

 

 

Thats great looking forward then to the Gamescom 2020 Video Show with Geoff Keighley I think....

5 minutes ago, theswede said:

I think the interesting thing was that he really liked the games and if they ”where available on his switch he would buy/enjoy them”. The negative commentary was obviously just to be ”cool” for his buddies, the same as I woudn’t expect him to make a praise video about any other toy/console marketed towards 3-7 years old kids, but his interest is shining through 😄  

Yeah... that's the great thing that I keep bringing up to folks as well.  The fact that we're interesting enough to make a video about speaks volumes.  If we were insignificant and boring... no one would care.  But the reality is we get peoples attention.  And when 99% of it is positive (tens of thousands of real comments on our videos and only a handful of negative fake account ones) then you know you've created something worth talking about. 

4 minutes ago, speedy-a said:

Thats great looking forward then to the Gamescom 2020 Video Show with Geoff Keighley I think....

Not with Geoff Keighley.  He's not part of Gamescom.  He's his own thing.

The last "on the fence" guy was a "put the freaking lotion on the basket" type (1, 2). Let's see how this one turns out, it will be interesting... He seems promising!

5 hours ago, LePionnier said:

I agree with you. Almost Never played this mode.

(Edit : Maybe I disliked this mode because instead of hitting the opponent, we managed to get through!

The graphics also seemed less beautiful with the line cut diagonally.)

 

But I am curious to know if you have tried to move with the touch screen and go anywhere you want !?

The intellivision disc wasn't good for eight directions.  It was great for four directions and not bad with open field sixteen directions.  Had Intellivision Snafu used keypad buttons as an option, the diagonal Snafu modes would have worked better.  The Amico disc has plenty of directions with 64 so I don't see the need to try the touchscreen here.

No Sony presentation this week: https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/playstation-5-june-4-event-canceled/

11 minutes ago, speedy-a said:

No Sony presentation this week: https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/playstation-5-june-4-event-canceled/

 

Yeah... Hans sent me that about an hour ago.

Just my own personal thoughts here...

I understand and respect the sentiment, but I would have thought bringing good and positive news during a time of such unrest and negativity in the world would be a nice change and something that would be welcomed.

I was looking forward to their announcements and now the cancellation just added to the pile of other negative stuff I'm disappointed about in the world right now.

😢

47 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Yeah... Hans sent me that about an hour ago.

 

Just my own personal thoughts here...

 

I understand and respect the sentiment, but I would have thought bringing good and positive news during a time of such unrest and negativity in the world would be a nice change and something that would be welcomed.

I was looking forward to their announcements and now the cancellation just added to the pile of other negative stuff I'm disappointed about in the world right now.

😢

 

 

 

 

Apologies, it's not directly Amico related, but thought this was interesting:

You made the list! Day 24 (roughly 22:23 into the video) - Music that you constantly have stuck in your head. He picked a track from Terminator on Sega CD.

I'm going to have to sit down and try this challenge for myself. Might be fun to see some of the picks that you all come up with!

I hope the Breakout demo is going to be a full level.  Still waiting for that full level of Moon Patrol demo.  Maybe we'll get lucky and both come out this month.  

2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Interesting read. 

 

Without playing the game (I've ordered it and just waiting for the release and package to show up this week) if the reviewer had fun with the games, I don't the issue with the $40 price tag (his only real complaint).

 

But again... can't really comment until I actually have a chance to play it myself.  I was just thinking that if he had fun with 51 mini games, that a $40 price tag doesn't seem like too much.  Less than $1 per experience. 

This is why it's important for us to have so much more in our "simple to play" games.  Value is a huge factor.

 

The only problem I see with this game isnt the game its the platform its being sold on. It will get some advertising then get lost in the sea of the estore like most games of this caliber on Nintendo.  It will likely make its bulk money in 1 week then steadily drop off. Thats my feelings on this. I'm going to get it because I think they can be alot of fun. But also to compare the experience between it and what the Amico will have.

2 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

 

I know he's wrong on a few points, but ya know... some of that made me laugh out loud.

 

My favorites...

 

 

"Oh, Yeah, I worked on all these games n’ stuff.  It’s just bragging basically."

 

"I have a vision that’s gonna completely disrupt the video game industry.   =  He’s gonna sell these twin iPod Nanos to Intellivision, basically."

 

🤣

I had fun with my nano 🤣🤣

Just a germ of an idea for super casuals and maybe kids would be a meme type game. Maybe like the emoji game or maybe something different. Don't ask me, I just know meme's still seem to be speeding up rather than slowing down.

17 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

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.

 

I get it.  At the end of the day its about the games and simplicity to play them.  There’s a lot a validity and value to that approach so cant really argue it (and may even end up liking it more). Thanks. 

I just clicked on the comments section of the Sony cancellation on a Spanish forum and had to close the tab after reading a few words. It was:

- Conservartives Vs Progressives

- Sony fans Vs Xbox fans

You only needed a bit of Marvel Vs DC and some Real Madrid Vs Barcelona / insert American team rivalry to make it the perfect storm.

In retrospective, I suspect Tommy would have preferred to launch the machine in either 2019 or 2021. I hope at least people get tired of all this drama and isolation and start looking at the Amico as a cool toy with happy-looking visuals that you can enjoy with friends.

15 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

I hope the Breakout demo is going to be a full level.  Still waiting for that full level of Moon Patrol demo.  Maybe we'll get lucky and both come out this month.  

Yes. The idea is to have that full level that we showed on our YouTube channel.

Hoping to get something for both of those this month... but finishing the games are more important right now.

2 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yes. The idea is to have that full level that we showed on our YouTube channel.

 

Hoping to get something for both of those this month... but finishing the games are more important right now.

That's great to hear.  😃

5 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

I just clicked on the comments section of the Sony cancellation on a Spanish forum and had to close the tab after reading a few words. It was:

 

- Conservartives Vs Progressives

 

- Sony fans Vs Xbox fans

 

You only needed a bit of Marvel Vs DC and some Real Madrid Vs Barcelona / insert American team rivalry to make it the perfect storm.

 

In retrospective, I suspect Tommy would have preferred to launch the machine in either 2019 or 2021. I hope at least people get tired of all this drama and isolation and start looking at the Amico as a cool toy with happy-looking visuals that you can enjoy with friends.

Yankees vs. Red Sox (you asked to insert American team rivalry and that is probably the biggest and longest in U.S sports history).  

Hard to say if it will be good or bad launching in 2020.  Everything is still in flux with the world and the economy.  Taking a "walk before you run" type of approach isn't a bad thing for us.  We don't need to put out a million units in the first month in order to be successful and to sustain Amico moving forward.  Remember we only need less than 200,000 units sold to be profitable over the lifetime of the product!  So even if we are forced to do a "soft launch" by the end of this year (or even in Q1 of 2021) we still have a great future runway for success and lots of time to get there. 

Me & my CFO Nick were saying yesterday... Lets see... worldwide pandemic, awful stock market, high unemployment, expensive parts, delayed manufacturing, killer hornets and now mass rioting/protesting across the U.S.

What other completely AWFUL thing can happen that makes this the worst year ever to launch anything!  AND WE'RE NOT EVEN HALFWAY THROUGH THE YEAR YET!!  

Must be careful and take every precaution in order to succeed.  This stuff is hard to do in normal times... let alone this INSANE & CHALLENGING TIME in history.

It's better to be smart than "on time".