Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

Your 8 Bit CPU, is mine divided by two.  (intellivoice-- "That was on Target")

I have 8 moving object all without flicker, you get two blocky sprites and the resolutions much thicker.

End it with MLB's "Yerrrr Out"

You have the music talent, I'll leave it to you.

Came across this tonight on You Tube and I just wonder, what are your favorite songs to noodle around on.  Which of all your great tunes you written seems to bubble to the top when you grab your guitar to noodle around?  

12 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

 

Great video, someone that could articulate why Amico is such a promising/unique proposition even if you are a hardcore gamer, it’s going to let you play even more and with more people than ever before. Some of my favorite games where Metal Gear Solid and Tomb Raider, but today, playing one of the Lego games co-op with my daughter is more rewarding and fun than any single player experience could give me. 

Speaking about playing with your daughter, Sega Lord X made a video a couple of days ago about his favorite current generation games. Virtually all the games consisted in exploring huge, realistic 3D environments: BotW, RDR2... Even he noticed this, how he went from playing hardcore arcade-style games some decades ago to this. He also mentioned that he plays those games with his daughter.

As a 100% retro gamer who hasn't bought a home console since 2003, it's obvious I have different tastes than him and that's fine. I would never spend so much time wandering around those huge environments. I feel like those games try to steal my real life from me, I had enough after finishing every single GTA appeared on the PS2.

So while I respect his choices, I think the video is pretty interesting for a couple of reasons: how the industry has "forced us" to like this absorbent type of games and how sometimes people, especially hardcore gamers, try to play "the wrong games" with their kids: I don't think children should play games that require you to be there 4 hours a day, exploring an environment that never ends.

So, even if you disagree with the Amico approach about ratings (crazy how the haters are now comparing Tommy's comments about the Switch to the accusations against the game Doom after Columbine: check out the 57 replies of Smash JT's comment on Tommy's interview with Lukas, boy those guys have free time), I think the Amico can have a positive impact in our overall health by offering more simple games that are actually designed to be played together with anyone, from kids to elders, and where you can have fun for 15 or 30 minutes and you don't need to spend 5 hours a day to feel satisfied.

I just found Earthworm Jim in my Flamin' Hot Cheetos. 

19 hours ago, Stillagamer said:

Yeah definitely! The Amico is basically my dream console. No DRM, simple games, no microtransactions, couch co op games, 2 controllers, low priced games. I pretty much skipped this gen and went to pc because i got tired of AAA gaming, but steam has no curating going on. What i like about steam is that there are a lot of cheap games and its fun to mess around and not feel like you got burned if the game is bad. But its really hard to actually find the good games. Same with mobile. Theres a hole in the market there in my opinion. I miss the days when I could just "trust" (like you say) that the game was going to just work and be complete. Downloading updates, in game advertisements and so on, completely breaks the immersion and the "magic" of playing games. It feels more like a chore, and lost its escapist element which to me is the secret sauce to why games are so fun. I dont want to play a game and constantly be asked to spend real world money. Its crazy to me that the general public ok'd this. I also went back to collecting childhood favorites, and a lot of the forums online for 5th and 6th gen are millenial gamers who really dislike the greed of current gen games and want to go back to simpler times. In your interview with Lukas, i was only half-surprised that he had so much knowledge on retro gaming. A lot of the younger generation loves watching retro gaming channels because of that "magic" I described earlier when things were simpler. The same reason they listen to 70s 80s and 90s music and watch Tv shows and movies from back then. The age of information took away the magic of discovery, thats why they go back and enjoy listening to the older generation reminisce on something they havent gotten to fully experience because of social media. "Local" anything is a romantic, alien concept to them. Even though the "hardcores" arent your primary market, i think youll definitely find a niche of people who enjoy games but are jaded by the current industry trends. I have some more co op games i think would fit well on the Amico. I picked games that can run on integrated graphics this time if theyre not on android/ios. Im going to put some games that are 14.99 on steam but perhaps could be negotiated down to 9.99 as theyre not exactly brand new. But the Amico itself combined with these games i really believe would make for a new/better experience.

 

Tiny Brains:

 

 

Chariot:

 

 

Never Alone (rated E10+ on Steam):

 

 

Lovers in a Dangerous Space Time:

 

 

Guacamelee Super Turbo Championship Edition:

 

 

Great post!  You pretty much nailed everything and confirmed what our research and data has shown for years.

Some GREAT games in there that I didn't know about.  Please keep the 2D couch co-op stuff coming!

p.s.  Been speaking to the Never Alone folks for over a year.

17 hours ago, Swami said:

Could something like Rabbids Invasion that was E10+  be on the system in the future?

 

 

 

Not sure our processor could handle that level of detail and 3D.  Controls would be a little tough as well.

Figuring out how to "Amico-ize" games to make them exclusive ports is super important also.  Sometimes easier to build something from scratch around our controller then to port existing stuff.

I like seeing all the games you guys post though as it's interesting to see the concepts and to figure out on how to improve them with our controller design, couch co-op, etc.  When we contact the developers, they always have great ideas as well.

So feel free to keep em coming!  Best are 2D/2.5D couch co-op's that no one has heard of on Steam or Mobile or Switch.  Those are typically our sweet spots with getting Indie's.

16 hours ago, Machine said:

So I wanted to share this for a long time. This is a bitter sweet picture of my son at Video Games Live in 2013(Colorado Springs, CO.).  My son had an amazing time. He entered the costum contest as Luigi and won!!

He got a really cool gift bag full of prizes which he flipped out for..... Unfortunately shortly after the show, the Colorado Black Forest Fire happened and took our house.   Thankfully we all got out alive and I managed to rescue our two dogs. I was compelled to order the Founders Edition.  Makes it a little more special.   

@Tommy Tallarico  Thanks for the Amico and a late thanks for a great show!

 

Yo!

Thanks so much for sharing your story.  I remember that show well.  We were doing 3 different Colorado show locations in a 4 or 5 day run and I just remember wanting to take a few days off in each location as we drove from place to place and the surrounding areas were so amazing.  Me & my wife are big nature folks and Colorado has some incredible places.  We even rented a cabin in Estes Park for 3 months one summer while she was getting her equine massage therapist license.  Amazing area.

So horrible and saddened to hear about your house.    I can't even imagine how that must feel.  Please PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you a complete digital collection of all my Video Games Live albums.  Thank-you for your support for Video Games Live... and now Intellivision!

11 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

Came across this tonight on You Tube and I just wonder, what are your favorite songs to noodle around on.  Which of all your great tunes you written seems to bubble to the top when you grab your guitar to noodle around?  

 

 

That was awesome!  The dude played it better than I ever did!  

The video that came on after it was even more epic!  Another tune I did for Aladdin (probably the most famous of the original stuff that was written).

And this guy NAILS THE CRAP OUT OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!

So cool to hear this stuff acoustic/live when I only had MIDI back then.
 

Stuff I mess around with on guitar is typically from The Terminator as it was originally played and written for guitar.

Usually this one:

Or this one (both on piano and/or guitar):

And this one (also from Terminator Sega CD)
 

I have fun with this one from Sonic that I did as well:

Probably pretty obvious that I was a kid from the 70's/80's and dig that classic melodic rock style (which is TOTALLY gone these days!).

Maybe I'll bring that back in some of these games. 

15 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

That was awesome!  The dude played it better than I ever did!  

 

The video that came on after it was even more epic!  Another tune I did for Aladdin (probably the most famous of the original stuff that was written).

And this guy NAILS THE CRAP OUT OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!

 

So cool to hear this stuff acoustic/live when I only had MIDI back then.
 

 

 

Stuff I mess around with on guitar is typically from The Terminator as it was originally played and written for guitar.

Usually this one:

 

 

Or this one (both on piano and/or guitar):

 

And this one (also from Terminator Sega CD)
 

 

 

I have fun with this one from Sonic that I did as well:

 

 

 

Probably pretty obvious that I was a kid from the 70's/80's and dig that classic melodic rock style (which is TOTALLY gone these days!).

 

Maybe I'll bring that back in some of these games. 

 

 

Totally can’t wait to hear music in Amico games as I LOVE the 80’s melodic rock! Love some Y&T and early 90’s Hardline(some of my favorite Neal Schon work)

How many months we have left to wait? 10-10-2020 seems too far away 😳

6 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

Speaking about playing with your daughter, Sega Lord X made a video a couple of days ago about his favorite current generation games. Virtually all the games consisted in exploring huge, realistic 3D environments: BotW, RDR2... Even he noticed this, how he went from playing hardcore arcade-style games some decades ago to this. He also mentioned that he plays those games with his daughter.

 

As a 100% retro gamer who hasn't bought a home console since 2003, it's obvious I have different tastes than him and that's fine. I would never spend so much time wandering around those huge environments. I feel like those games try to steal my real life from me, I had enough after finishing every single GTA appeared on the PS2.

 

So while I respect his choices, I think the video is pretty interesting for a couple of reasons: how the industry has "forced us" to like this absorbent type of games and how sometimes people, especially hardcore gamers, try to play "the wrong games" with their kids: I don't think children should play games that require you to be there 4 hours a day, exploring an environment that never ends.

 

So, even if you disagree with the Amico approach about ratings (crazy how the haters are now comparing Tommy's comments about the Switch to the accusations against the game Doom after Columbine: check out the 57 replies of Smash JT's comment on Tommy's interview with Lukas, boy those guys have free time), I think the Amico can have a positive impact in our overall health by offering more simple games that are actually designed to be played together with anyone, from kids to elders, and where you can have fun for 15 or 30 minutes and you don't need to spend 5 hours a day to feel satisfied.

Super interesting video as well as your thoughts on the subject (I agree 100%). 

It is interesting how certain folks get so offended because you don't like the same video games as they do.  I dealt with that kind of insanity for over 13 years on my TV shows.  HOW DARE I GIVE A CERTAIN GAME A 7.5 WHEN CLEARLY IT'S A 9!!!  It really shows the level of maturity of the folks you're dealing with. 

Wow... that YouTube comment thread was um... interesting to say the least.     That's that same "caught lying" here guy using a few confirmed fake accounts talking to himself to try and prove his weak misinformed points.  Funny that he said I wouldn't answer his questions here because I was afraid and they were so tough.  Nah... I just don't waste my time with liars and negative immature folks with fake accounts who are only looking to pick a fight.  The poor guy is clearly obsessed at this point.  Every day he is compelled to think about me/Amico and shout his "opinions" to the other 3 haters with their fake alt accounts as well.  Calling me a censorship guy is absolutely hilarious considering I'm the exact opposite.  Not only am I a big free speech advocate, but have also been fighting against censorship in the video game industry my entire 30+ year career.  Even did my TED Talk on the subject:

Boy needs to learn a little history and get himself informed and some education before spouting off nonsense like that.   It must suck to constantly have proof thrown in your face that makes you look silly.  (Same thing that happened to him a few weeks ago here).  At what point do you just decide to stop making a fool of yourself? 

Sounds like just another scorned Nintendo fanboy upset that other people don't have the same exact opinion as he does.

Immature as it is pathetic.

4 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

I just found Earthworm Jim in my Flamin' Hot Cheetos. 

 

GROOOOVY!!!
(and horrifying at the same time!)

2 minutes ago, MarioMan88 said:

How many months we have left to wait? 10-10-2020 seems too far away 😳

We got 4 months and 3 days to go.  Just hang in there.  I know it's tough but it'll be here before you know it.

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Probably pretty obvious that I was a kid from the 70's/80's and dig that classic melodic rock style (which is TOTALLY gone these days!).

 

Maybe I'll bring that back in some of these games.

now your just totally messing with us.   The games we want with the music we want!...  good god, so how does this work? should I just start shoving money through my screen for you or what? 

5 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

I just found Earthworm Jim in my Flamin' Hot Cheetos. 

 

At first glance I thought it was a piece of bacon!  It is 9AM here on a Sunday morning.  I have breakfast on my mind.   TJ

12 hours ago, CurlyQ said:

 

Now we need an Amico guitar.  

Played Clubhouse 51 with my wife last night.

I wrote up my thoughts to share with some of my friends (that also did the same) and thought some of you may find it interesting as it's been referenced a few times in comparison to Amico.

p.s.  This is my personal biased opinion.  I don't care if anyone agrees or disagree.  

Value - 10 

Lots of great stuff that can be played over and over again either by yourself or with others for only $40. 

Gameplay/Fun Factor - 8

This is an important category.  If you're playing with others it's about an 8.  If you're playing by yourself it drops to about a 6.  And here's why...

A.I. - 4
The computer AI is really lacking and barely challenging at all.  It's more just "random" than intelligent... which in these style games isn't the way to go. As an example... if any of you play backgammon, chess or checkers... play a single player game and you'll see exactly what I mean.  Because Switch is a portable system, it would have been great to actually get super challenging A.I. in these games.  I never lost anything a single time in single player.  Zero challenge from that regards. 

Audio - 6
I averaged the sound design, v.o. and music and rounded up to get the 6. 

The sound design would get about a 7.  What's there is really good, but it gets repetitive and lacks dynamics.

The music is pretty annoying and production is poor.  I'd give it a 5.
Voice-overs are a little on the creepy and annoying side.  I'd say 5.

Graphics - 8

Very well done.  It is what it is.  Everything looked really good.  No complaints. 

Multiplayer - 8

The multiplayer experience was cool for certain games but completely lacking in others.  You do need multiple joy-cons or Switches to play over 2 player I believe.  It's actually a little confusing as to what you can and can't do with multiplayer because there are so many different combinations.  Not being able to plug in the all-in-one Switch controller (the one that looks like the Xbox or PS controllers) really sucked.  But for 2 player it's totally fine as much as I hate splitting the joy-cons.  Bowling & Darts worked well.  The shooting game was virtually unplayable.

User Experience/User Interface - 4
This is where it really takes a dive.  Frustrating is an understatement.  You need to hold the split up joy-cons in a certain way for the menu screens and other ways for the games and you never quite know which way you're supposed to be holding them and which button does what.  Constantly throughout the hours we were playing it was hard for both of us to move forward in menus or to back out.  The 4 joy-con buttons kept doing different things in our minds (because we were holding them wrong and it didn't show you how to hold it every time you were in the menus.  And even if we were, we couldn't remember which button moved forward and back.  Now hardcores will easily call me a "boomer" and idiot because I'm sure it was very easy for them to understand.  But the average person is going to be lost and frustrated.  Shannon literally finally got up and left because we both kept trying to do something in the menus... but couldn't.  It's also weird because sometimes her controller would advance or start a game, and sometimes mine did.  We never really even figured it out.  The other thing I want to mention is that it took a few minutes of total garbage before I could even play the first game.  It kept pushing all this crap on me that I didn't care about (avatars, globe info, etc.).  It was so frustrating... right out of the gate!

Presentation - 5

I hated it.  Weird plastic people as avatars, strange globe thing telling you about the games, cheesy dialogue, etc.  Why they didn't just make this more like Mario Party with all their amazing characters is beyond me.  Instead you get a bunch of strange plastic people where their animations consist of the plastic thing bouncing back and forth.  Very eye-rolling and annoying.

Enjoyment for non-gamers - 8

It would have gotten higher if not for the bad UI.

Game depth - 5

Barely any at all.  Each game is what it is... so I put this right in the middle of the scale.  No unlockables or even the ability to pick your own side/car/color/team, etc.  And I get it... it's a LOT of games in one... so it's hard to knock it for what it is.

Overall - I'd say a solid 7 overall.  Maybe even a 7.5 if I play more and get used to the controls.  The Metacritic average is around 8.0 so not that far off.

In comparison, the places the game is lacking are some of the most important things that we are doing right on Amico and what we feel casuals and non-gamers find to be very important.

Would love to hear folks in here give a review if you pick it up.  I believe a few of you said you were going to get it.

9 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

A.I. - 4
The computer AI is really lacking and barely challenging at all.  It's more just "random" than intelligent... which in these style games isn't the way to go. As an example... if any of you play backgammon, chess or checkers... play a single player game and you'll see exactly what I mean.  Because Switch is a portable system, it would have been great to actually get super challenging A.I. in these games.  I never lost anything a single time in single player.  Zero challenge from that regards. 

see things like this I dont understand.  There are a TON of decent chess/backgammon/checkers games out there with good AI already.  They have been around for a good while and were never expensive to begin with, why didnt they simply reach out and license the game and/or code  and use it for the base/foundation on the game and AI.  The Freakin egos at these large companies, you see it all the time in tech.  Its just one more reason you guys/Intellivision should kill it, you dont or wont let ego get in the way of getting or making or creating a good product. The way we see Tommy willing to reach out to all the devs for games already create in genres they are interested in is a great sign, and its a rarity in tech.   

10 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Audio - 6
I averaged the sound design, v.o. and music and rounded up to get the 6. 

The sound design would get about a 7.  What's there is really good, but it gets repetitive and lacks dynamics.

The music is pretty annoying and production is poor.  I'd give it a 5.
Voice-overs are a little on the creepy and annoying side.  I'd say 5.

Tommy,

If Nintendo had you do the music for this game, it would have been a 10.

13 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Played Clubhouse 51 with my wife last night.

I wrote up my thoughts to share with some of my friends (that also did the same) and thought some of you may find it interesting as it's been referenced a few times in comparison to Amico.

p.s.  This is my personal biased opinion.  I don't care if anyone agrees or disagree.  

 

 

Value - 10 

Lots of great stuff that can be played over and over again either by yourself or with others for only $40. 

 

Gameplay/Fun Factor - 8

This is an important category.  If you're playing with others it's about an 8.  If you're playing by yourself it drops to about a 6.  And here's why...

 

A.I. - 4
The computer AI is really lacking and barely challenging at all.  It's more just "random" than intelligent... which in these style games isn't the way to go. As an example... if any of you play backgammon, chess or checkers... play a single player game and you'll see exactly what I mean.  Because Switch is a portable system, it would have been great to actually get super challenging A.I. in these games.  I never lost anything a single time in single player.  Zero challenge from that regards. 

 

Audio - 6
I averaged the sound design, v.o. and music and rounded up to get the 6. 

The sound design would get about a 7.  What's there is really good, but it gets repetitive and lacks dynamics.

The music is pretty annoying and production is poor.  I'd give it a 5.
Voice-overs are a little on the creepy and annoying side.  I'd say 5.

 

Graphics - 8

Very well done.  It is what it is.  Everything looked really good.  No complaints. 

 

Multiplayer - 8

The multiplayer experience was cool for certain games but completely lacking in others.  You do need multiple joy-cons or Switches to play over 2 player I believe.  It's actually a little confusing as to what you can and can't do with multiplayer because there are so many different combinations.  Not being able to plug in the all-in-one Switch controller (the one that looks like the Xbox or PS controllers) really sucked.  But for 2 player it's totally fine as much as I hate splitting the joy-cons.  Bowling & Darts worked well.  The shooting game was virtually unplayable.

User Experience/User Interface - 4
This is where it really takes a dive.  Frustrating is an understatement.  You need to hold the split up joy-cons in a certain way for the menu screens and other ways for the games and you never quite know which way you're supposed to be holding them and which button does what.  Constantly throughout the hours we were playing it was hard for both of us to move forward in menus or to back out.  The 4 joy-con buttons kept doing different things in our minds (because we were holding them wrong and it didn't show you how to hold it every time you were in the menus.  And even if we were, we couldn't remember which button moved forward and back.  Now hardcores will easily call me a "boomer" and idiot because I'm sure it was very easy for them to understand.  But the average person is going to be lost and frustrated.  Shannon literally finally got up and left because we both kept trying to do something in the menus... but couldn't.  It's also weird because sometimes her controller would advance or start a game, and sometimes mine did.  We never really even figured it out.  The other thing I want to mention is that it took a few minutes of total garbage before I could even play the first game.  It kept pushing all this crap on me that I didn't care about (avatars, globe info, etc.).  It was so frustrating... right out of the gate!

 

Presentation - 5

I hated it.  Weird plastic people as avatars, strange globe thing telling you about the games, cheesy dialogue, etc.  Why they didn't just make this more like Mario Party with all their amazing characters is beyond me.  Instead you get a bunch of strange plastic people where their animations consist of the plastic thing bouncing back and forth.  Very eye-rolling and annoying.

 

Enjoyment for non-gamers - 8

It would have gotten higher if not for the bad UI.

Game depth - 5

Barely any at all.  Each game is what it is... so I put this right in the middle of the scale.  No unlockables or even the ability to pick your own side/car/color/team, etc.  And I get it... it's a LOT of games in one... so it's hard to knock it for what it is.

 

Overall - I'd say a solid 7 overall.  Maybe even a 7.5 if I play more and get used to the controls.  The Metacritic average is around 8.0 so not that far off.

In comparison, the places the game is lacking are some of the most important things that we are doing right on Amico and what we feel casuals and non-gamers find to be very important.

Would love to hear folks in here give a review if you pick it up.  I believe a few of you said you were going to get it.

 

 

 

I just picked it up yesterday l was playing it on the ferry boat ride to the mainland with my son. I was actually surprised to even get it to download of the tether through my phone.  See your assessment is totally fair. If you gave it really low scores then I would think it was totally bias. But in the end even though it has similarities to what the Amico is doing its limited in many ways including that nothing more will come of this. Also no night stalker lol. I got it to see how it would measure up later down the road with the Amico.  But I will say one thing I really hate the freaking joycons lol

29 minutes ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

see things like this I dont understand.  There are a TON of decent chess/backgammon/checkers games out there with good AI already.  They have been around for a good while and were never expensive to begin with, why didnt they simply reach out and license the game and/or code  and use it for the base/foundation on the game and AI.  The Freakin egos at these large companies, you see it all the time in tech.  Its just one more reason you guys/Intellivision should kill it, you dont or wont let ego get in the way of getting or making or creating a good product. The way we see Tommy willing to reach out to all the devs for games already create in genres they are interested in is a great sign, and its a rarity in tech.   

As a business owner, I also think it's a little strange to blatantly rip off a game like Yahtzee and Connect Four without getting the license.  Sure, it wasn't feasible with the value and $40 price tag... but um... how are they NOT being sued??  I mean... change it around a little.  These aren't public domain games.  Very curious about how they were able to get away with that. 

Interesting to see if there is any fall out from the folks who own the rights for those games.  It's such a high profile product, I'm sure they'll find out about it at some point.

Even our Bomberman type game (Dynablasters) has very different elements than a typical Bomberman game (and the Dynablasters license was even what they called Bomberman over in Europe at one point). 

Tommy,

These games might be cool to have in 2D/2.5D on Amico.

Bionic Commando

Chase H.Q.

Spy Hunter

Turok