Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

20 minutes ago, vongruetz said:

Interesting.  In the Navy, we use 999 as the code to say "WE NEED IT DELIVERED NOW!!!"  Which is also appropriate in this situation.

Well being delivered now for a bootie call makes sense too.  haha

TJ

1 hour ago, NTV said:

Watching your interview yesterday you mentioned that you are going to sign and number each founder edition Amico. Can I have #1 of 2600?

I would want #2600 I think.  That would be as cool as #1.

TJ

26 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Yeah, I always found it interesting that every comment made by someone who actually works in the industry that I have personally read is supportive of the system. Those types of people have access to the same market research and other information that you do, as well, so I'm sure they are aware of all of the potential customer base that you are targeting, as well. I'm not sure why nobody else thought to go after the Wii people that got left behind by the Wii U, though.

 

Still, if the data and market research suggest that there is a chance to make some good cash from such target customers (and apparently so, or we wouldn't be talking about this right now), there's no reason not to. First rule of business = provide value, and if there is an untapped market, you might as well provide value to them if nobody else is doing so. In a sense, you'd have... well, you can't really call it a "monopoly", but you'd control that entire sub-section of the customer base. I'm pretty tired right now so I can't exactly think as clearly as I'd like, but perhaps we'll continue later. Time to go to sleep, I think.

I believe it would be exceptionally hard for an established gaming console company to get out of the fast lane and pivot toward what IE is doing.  Feel it would alienate their current market base, so think something like this needs to come from the ground up from an “outside” entity, like IE is doing. Mix this with how hard (and expensive) it is to get where IE is today and think you have the answer. 

13 minutes ago, Starpaddler said:

I believe it would be exceptionally hard for an established gaming console company to get out of the fast lane and pivot toward what IE is doing.  Feel it would alienate their current market base, so think something like this needs to come from the ground up from an “outside” entity, like IE is doing. Mix this with how hard (and expensive) it is to get where IE is today and think you have the answer. 

I think you're absolutely right, and I believe I mentioned it some time back.  This was highlighted in the book The Innovator's Dilemma, a book which I highly recommend Tommy read (if he hasn't already).  While the book generally is a guide to prevent big companies from falling into the traps that allow these small startups to over take them, it also provides a clear roadmap for how smaller companies can rise up to prominence.

Take Sony for example.  You're absolutely right in that they can't pivot in this lane without upsetting their current player base.  We know this because they've tried.  Multiple times.  PlayStation Move, WonderBook, Play Date... all initiatives to bring the non-gamers into the PlayStation ecosystem were met with resistance from their clientele and quickly abandoned.  Hell, they even tried to put out a family-friendly couch co-op game (Knack) and were met with torches and pitchforks from the faithful.  

Sony can't enter this market.  Microsoft can't enter this market.  Nintendo could possibly do it, but it's becoming increasingly clear that they're busy and focused on chasing the Xbox and PS customers.  A new entry into the gaming space could consolidate a large market that the others ignore.  If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how IE does in all this.  I just hope they don't get "Tuckered" and have the big three gang up to take them out.

This is an interesting article, not because it talks about the Amico directly but about disaffected gamers. The author seems to think that maybe the Stadia killer app is to bring back former gamers who just don't find PC or console gaming worth it anymore. However even if you accept his argument that maybe Duncan or Paula (from the article) might dive back into gaming occasionally for a new "Total War" or "Doom" game he kind of overlooks the fact that those people would be 'game snipers'. People who might use the low intro cost of Stadia to get the one or two games they want to play but then they won't be hanging around past that (certainly not with a paid subscription, because he surmises this is all about cost). Maybe they might dive in a few years later when "Total War 47" or "Doom, The Retirement Years" hits or something, but that certainly doesn't sound like a revenue model to power those Stadia servers on.

I bet the business meetings behind Stadia were all about expanding the gaming market by lowering the 'friction' of gaming. Their solution to the hemorrhaging of existing gamers/slow growth of new gamers was to take an XBox and boil it down to just the controller and then borrow an existing screen & your current data plan in order to 'fix' the problem. We are brilliant - we lowered the cost, lowered the boot/update speeds, make it mobile - how can we lose? - look at all the friction we just eliminated! Unfortunately that doesn't have seemed to cause a groundswell of marginalized gamers entering/re-entering the market on the Stadia train so far.

This gets me to the "51 Games" on the Switch. As far as the Amico is concerned it doesn't matter how many "51 Games" carts sell, it is how many *Switches* the "51 Games" cart sells. In other words, is this "moving the needle" and getting non Switch owners to buy a Switch just for the 51 Games and that satisfies them & their gaming needs. Only Nintendo knows for sure, but I doubt "51 Games" will be a true "system mover". In fact, I think most people would laugh at that idea in comparison to real system movers like Mario, Pokemon or Smash Bros. However as great as Mario, Animal Crossing, Pokemon & Smash Bros are, they are bringing in the Nintendo faithful & the fringe of the faithful who were just waiting for "their game" to hit. The last Nintendo related (and only slightly, really just the GameFreak company) groundswell of 'normal' people getting into a game was the Pokemon Go craze in 2016 - and that was on mobile.

As Tommy as pointed out several times, the Switch is an amazing success and has moved 55 million units so far. I wouldn't doubt they hit 75 or 100 million some day - but why isn't that number hundreds of millions? Maybe it is because it *really* doesn't match the needs of the most common casual gamer. Maybe it really isn't just about cost and maybe the 'friction' isn't just about boot times or wanting the games to be mobile. Maybe it is the complexity of the games, the complexity of the systems, the play length to make any real progress & the controllers themselves.

1 hour ago, NTV said:

Watching your interview yesterday you mentioned that you are going to sign and number each founder edition Amico. Can I have #1 of 2600?

Thinking about it, I think I’d like #2600. (I see TJ mentioned that, too.) The 2600 was my first game system, then the Intellivision. The number would represent a nice merger of the two. 

I understand that Tommy wants and gets #1, but that might have made a nice auction item among the FE buyers with the money going to some charity. Might work with #2600, too.

3 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellivision_Amico#Games

 

The list was updated recently.  More will be added as time goes by.  Back Talk Party is shown in the list, I think this is the 6th pack in title that Tommy has hinted at.

Maybe Tommy could give us some help for some developers missing in this list. ( Those that he can tell us ! )

Like who is making Missile Command and Sideswipers !? 😊

3 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellivision_Amico#Games

 

The list was updated recently.  More will be added as time goes by.  Back Talk Party is shown in the list, I think this is the 6th pack in title that Tommy has hinted at.

It's likely I’ll buy most games that come out, but my “buy it the millisecond it shows up on the home screen” list so far is:

Archon

Bomberman (or whatever the name will be)

Bowling

Burgertime

Cloudy Mountain

Lode Runner

Miner 2049er

Moon Patrol

Snafoo

Tron Deadly Discs

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

That one is going on my desk.  Like our YouTube channel... I was first. 

And yes...

 

I cheat.

 

 

 

Ok, then, is there any chance I could have 2600/2600???  WTBS???  😂

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Yes!  There are a few I've been kicking around.  Don't want to say right now as a few of them are very personal choices.

 

 

It’s obvious you are going to name it Houdini, Tommy!!!

2 minutes ago, Jake67 said:

It's likely I’ll buy most games that come out, but my “buy it the millisecond it shows up on the home screen” list so far is:

 

Archon

Bomberman (or whatever the name will be)

Bowling

Burgertime

Cloudy Mountain

Lode Runner

Miner 2049er

Moon Patrol

Snafoo

Tron Deadly Discs

 

 

That's a pretty good list there.  Those are titles I would grab too.  It would be cool if Tommy could show us a video trailer of Lode Runner.

2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Very cool.  A very well done page.  Sometimes rare for Wikipedia!  But whoever is working on it is doing a nice job.

 

Any folks from here?

On my part, a couple months ago I added Farkle, and if I remember well, I added the developer name for Skiing. That's it.

35 minutes ago, Jake67 said:

Thinking about it, I think I’d like #2600. (I see TJ mentioned that, too.) The 2600 was my first game system, then the Intellivision. The number would represent a nice merger of the two. 

 

I understand that Tommy wants and gets #1, but that might have made a nice auction item among the FE buyers with the money going to some charity. Might work with #2600, too.

Okay okay ...  I know that somewhere Tommy said it's impossible to do this kind of little attention,it will take too long, and time is money ! lol

But for the pleasure to do it like you are doing, I will ask # 1971 ( my year of birth ) and # 2012 ( My son's year of birth ).

Thank You Tommy ! 😆

1 hour ago, Steven Pendleton said:

I'm not sure why nobody else thought to go after the Wii people that got left behind by the Wii U, though.

Cause this shit is hard! 

And you need to have an incredible team of pros with big balls, lots of passion, loads of confidence and major connections to even think about it.

17 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

That's a pretty good list there.  Those are titles I would grab too.  It would be cool if Tommy could show us a video trailer of Lode Runner.

Lode Runner was such a big game for me. I loved having all those built-in levels, and then the ability to design your own. I still pull that one up on an emulator every-so-often. 

I’m assuming a level creator won’t be a part of the Amico version just because of the extra work involved.  

And, yeah... I’d be over the moon with some work-in-progress video.

1 hour ago, AtariSociety said:

I would want #2600 I think.  That would be as cool as #1.

TJ

I know right!  I might send that one to my friends at Atari just to bust their balls.

2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

That one is going on my desk.  Like our YouTube channel... I was first. 

And yes...

 

I cheat.

 

 

 

Lol wouldn't it be something if I got 2601 🤣🤣🤣

3 minutes ago, Jake67 said:

I’m assuming a level creator won’t be a part of the Amico version just because of the extra work involved. 

You never know.  Wouldn't that be something?

12 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Cause this shit is hard! 

 

And you need to have an incredible team of pros with big balls, lots of passion, loads of confidence and major connections to even think about it.

 

 

I really think the Atari folks were banking on something like that happening with the VCS. A white knight investor or company was going to swoop in and take this “great start” at launching a game console and fund/manufacturing it. Atari would just sitting back and get a nice chunk of the profits and somebody else doing the work. However they got a hard “nope” because people knew how hard it would be to sell more than the 10,000 or so of them, develop a software library, set up distribution, create and fund a marketing campaign, do manufacturing and get all of the certifications needed, etc.

1 minute ago, Intellivision Master said:

You never know.  Wouldn't that be something?

It would!

I’ll take it one step further... designing levels that could be uploaded for others to download. 

You know what would be interesting?  Is if the Running Man was a playable character in the new Lode Runner re-imagined.

Wouldn't that be something?

1 hour ago, vongruetz said:

I think you're absolutely right, and I believe I mentioned it some time back.  This was highlighted in the book The Innovator's Dilemma, a book which I highly recommend Tommy read (if he hasn't already).  While the book generally is a guide to prevent big companies from falling into the traps that allow these small startups to over take them, it also provides a clear roadmap for how smaller companies can rise up to prominence.

 

Take Sony for example.  You're absolutely right in that they can't pivot in this lane without upsetting their current player base.  We know this because they've tried.  Multiple times.  PlayStation Move, WonderBook, Play Date... all initiatives to bring the non-gamers into the PlayStation ecosystem were met with resistance from their clientele and quickly abandoned.  Hell, they even tried to put out a family-friendly couch co-op game (Knack) and were met with torches and pitchforks from the faithful.  

 

Sony can't enter this market.  Microsoft can't enter this market.  Nintendo could possibly do it, but it's becoming increasingly clear that they're busy and focused on chasing the Xbox and PS customers.  A new entry into the gaming space could consolidate a large market that the others ignore.  If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how IE does in all this. 

Such a great post.  Totally agree 100%.  Forgot about the book you mentioned... just ordered it!

They could all try to pivot, but the reality is that they would all need to do new and approachable hardware in order to make a difference.

If we are extremely successful... they'll absolutely be others who will see the success and try to enter the market we created. 

We'll be waiting.

49 minutes ago, Jake67 said:

It's likely I’ll buy most games that come out, but my “buy it the millisecond it shows up on the home screen” list so far is:

 

Archon

Bomberman (or whatever the name will be)

Bowling

Burgertime

Cloudy Mountain

Lode Runner

Miner 2049er

Moon Patrol

Snafoo

Tron Deadly Discs

 

 

Here's my list of for sure buys  ...

Auto Racing

Baseball

Bowling

Boxing

Football

Hockey

Back Talk Party

Picture Charades

Frogger

Miner 2049er

Safecracker

Tron Deadly Discs !!!!!!

And I assume I will buy a lot more too. I moved on to the ColecoVision and Atari 400 and missed out on a lot of the later Intellivision titles after about 1982 so I am unfamiliar with a lot of the later games.

45 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

49 minutes ago, Jake67 said:

It's likely I’ll buy most games that come out, but my “buy it the millisecond it shows up on the home screen” list so far is:

 

Archon

Bomberman (or whatever the name will be)

Bowling

Burgertime

Cloudy Mountain

Lode Runner

Miner 2049er

Moon Patrol

Snafoo

Tron Deadly Discs

 

 

That's a pretty good list there.  Those are titles I would grab too.  It would be cool if Tommy could show us a video trailer of Lode Runner.

Ok ! Here is the list I am the most excite about, but I will probably buy them all !

Astrosmash

Autoracing

B-17 Bomber

Bocce

Breakout

Burgertime

Cloudy Mountain

Demon Attack

Earthworm Jim

Evel Knievel

Frogger

Horse Racing

Lock 'N' Chase*

Lode Runner ( If more like the original game, small character kind of same size as the one in Skiing )

Microsurgeon

Missile Command

Moon Patrol

Night Stalker

Safecracker

Shark! Shark!

Sideswipers

Skiing

Snafoo

Spelunker

Tron

Utopia

So 26 games and I have make difficult decisions ! ( No sports game like Hockey' football and Baseball ... )

That's a lot of games ! How many game should I be excited for PS5 ? That's one of the reason (And the price) I will wait at least a year or two to buy one ! )