Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

On 6/9/2020 at 9:36 PM, martianman2012 said:

First time poster.  This whole Amico thing has really caught my interest and I have 2 thoughts on my head that not many are saying:

Yo Quentin!  Thanks for stopping by and contributing your thoughts.  Really great first post!  Love it!!  Hope to see you around more often.

On 6/9/2020 at 9:36 PM, martianman2012 said:

1. Regardless what you think about the system or how well you think it will do (successful in my opinion), this is the first time in history we get to sit in the passenger seat and watch Tommy the CEO (kinda like the Steve Jobs of Retro gaming), share insight and input to the development and release to this product. I feel the excitement surrounding this with geeks like myself is kinda helping guide Intellivision on making this even more tailored to our liking (or at least I hope), up till its release to through its life. What if the whole thing is a science experiment and they only make this based on the feedback of fans romanticizing over it? OEB Pete has great ideas about how D&D could be made using the touch screen to mix spell... perhaps that may become reality? Hope so. Just a thought.

Thank you!  I really appreciate it.  I got so tired of all these corporations always hiding everything and holding things so close to their chest.  The only "reveals" seems to be super polished cinematics or expensive looking camera close-ups and fly by's.  This kind of "behind-the-scenes" stuff is what made our TV show Electric Playground so popular around the world and stay on TV for over 21 years! (and receiving Emmy and Telly Awards along the way!).

I figured that people would be super interested in taking the journey with us.  I only wish we had a 24 hour film crew following us around as it would make for one helluva 10 part Netflix docu-series!  (move over Tiger King!)

Hahaha!  

On 6/9/2020 at 9:36 PM, martianman2012 said:

2. Also - not quite related but on my mind. There has been some criticism over the content quality of the games (claiming that it is just playing mobile games). I once made this criticism about indie games on the PS4 and downplayed them.  After giving them a shot and being able to not be consumed but AAA title-quality, photo-realistic graphics I was actually able take in the game for what is was. Games really don't need to be AAA to be great. Anyone played Braid? The other part is this rant is that we need to realize how good mobile gaming actually is. There are incredible crafted games made exclusively for mobile with incredible graphics, yet they are overshadowed that they are 'mobile games'.

Yeah... it's a pretty dumb argument for anyone to make.  And obvious that the people making them don't actually even play or understand mobile gaming... so there's that. 

I like to counter with... so, um... you're saying our games look like the part of the industry that is absolutely DOMINATING?  Where there are BILLIONS of people playing instead of the 200 million that are hardcores and probably not?  Uh... OK!  Yes!  I want to be like the BILLIONS group.   Thanks!

On 6/9/2020 at 9:36 PM, martianman2012 said:

Anyone ever seen Infinity Blade? It's beautiful. 

Great example.  Infinity Blade was the next game that most of the team that did Advent Rising worked on!  By good buddy Donald Mustard (designer/writer of Advent Rising) started Chair Entertainment (creators of Infinity Blade) and it was because of that game that Epic ended up buying them.  And what does Donald do now?  He's the Creative Director for this little game called FORTNITE!!!!!!!!  

Super talented dude who deserves all the success in the world.  Really great guy and a BIG fan of what we're doing!

On 6/9/2020 at 9:36 PM, martianman2012 said:

The point here is that if anyone calls an Amico game just a 'mobile game' (false as it is an Amico game), then that is only really a compliment as mobile games can be pretty damn powerful even if it is stuck in a 6 inch screen.

Preach! 

On 6/9/2020 at 9:36 PM, martianman2012 said:

 

Thanks for the media to empty my thoughts,

#notashill

Quentin

Hahaha!  Nice hashtag.  I guess you're not aware that if you like Amico and you talk about it publicly that it automatically makes you a shill. 

Thanks again for stopping by and contributing to the conversation.  Hope to see ya around and please let me know if you ever have any questions.  Will do my best to answer them the best I can.

On 6/9/2020 at 9:44 PM, bigdaddygamestudio said:

welcome, I agree games dont need to be AAA to be worthwhile, they just need to be fun.  As far as mobile games, I just have two real issues with them, its the small screen and the controls which put your fingers in the way of the already small screen.  So for me mobile just isnt a real gaming option.  Like many older gamers, the older I get the bigger my screens get. As for the amico, I like the idea of the phone being totally a controller with some viewing options, Like the cards in your hand etc.  

2 issues (like you mention) that we take care of!  Now, add in no loot boxes, no microtransactions, no selling of your data, no in-app ads, no curation and of course... almost zero way to play together in the same room... it's pretty easy to see how Amico could fill a very huge gap that mobile gamers are willing to currently deal with.  What happens when all those things they dislike are fixed?  What if we only got 1% of that audience?  THAT'S 30 MILLION AMICOS!!

On 6/9/2020 at 10:06 PM, martianman2012 said:

I am not sure if Plants Vs. Zombies or Evil Dead Army of Darkness would work as well without the touch screen as they were made to require you tapping on objects quickly that were a far distance away (which would generally be too fast for gamepad speed).

That one had great music and sound design if I recall.

😱🤣😇

On 6/9/2020 at 10:27 PM, Starpaddler said:

Whats wrong with both?  I’m looking forward to all and differing aspects of the games i’ve heard about to date. With 5 main categories, there is bound to be something for everyone (not accounting for the 5 or so folks who wont have time to enjoy playing it because they are to busy following things they do not like).

That is definitely our goal!

On 6/9/2020 at 10:48 PM, Starpaddler said:

Tommy, did Intellivision Productions used to have headquarters in Redondo Beach?  I looked them up one time and seem to remember them being on PCH near Artesia (which isn't too far from my house), but never did see it.

Yep!  Keith Robinson had a small office there!

On 6/10/2020 at 12:00 AM, Relicgamer said:

Even Kitt preferred the Intellivision over the Atari 

Don't forget Richard Pryor and Chuck too!

On 6/10/2020 at 6:53 AM, GrudgeQ said:

I first heard about the Amico from the generally dismissive YouTube buzz coming out of the Portland Gaming Expo in 2018. According to them it was at best a tired play on another retro rehash, would never sell and Tommy was an idiot for even trying. Fortunately shortly thereafter Tommy did one of his patented "Tommy-a-thon" hour & half interviews on the Rerez YouTube channel. I watched that interview over & over because I am one of those hyper analytical people and wanted to think through every single point he was making. The need for a simple, affordable system, with approachable games, that the whole family could play, with no parent 'gotcha' traps of inappropriate content or yet-another-single-screen-babysitter-syndrome - it all just made sense. In short, Tommy went from idiot to genius in about 1 1/2 hours.

Can you please tell my wife this.  It's normally the other way around!

4 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Yep!  Keith Robinson had a small office there!

Thanks,  Was always my intent to stop by and poke my head in, check it out, share some stories and give some accolades for keeping the lights on all these years, but unfortunately never got the chance ☹️
 

11 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Can you please tell my wife this.  It's normally the other way around!

 

 

This coming from you, makes me feel better about me being in the same boat.
 

As smart as I think I am, cannot ever seem to outsmart my wife. 

On 6/10/2020 at 10:05 AM, woobman said:

I found out about the Amico in '18 with the original announcement. Checked back on the site every so often. Searched for it every so often. Then I discovered this group in Atari Age in early November of last year. I didn't do much posting until then. But when you have the chance to help with any part of the development cycle of a console, regardless of how many it sells. How can you not? Especially when the CEO of that company responds to you. And gives you a real answer. Yes. No. Wouldn't that be something? (TM)  Plus we have a fun group of misfits!!!  What more do you need?

 

During that same time, we've watched some people come and go. Some haters come and go. We've watched a Pandemic sweep the globe. The shutting down and locking down of the world's economy.  The slow crawl back to normal. Whatever that will look like in the future. Now riots. AND THERE IS STILL A CHANCE THE AMICO WILL COME OUT ON TIME. How amazing is that? If the date does slip, so be it! That means more completed games to choose at launch.  Darn.

 

Thanks!  Trying our hardest.  And every week there seems to be some new horrifying out of the blue challenge the universe throws at us.  One of the companies we're working with had to shut down because of the riots, another got slammed by an earthquake out towards Bakersfield, CA last week!  Ya can't make this stuff up!  Crazy.

But it all doesn't matter.  We keep plowing through and figuring out alternative ways to make it happen.  In the end... all that really matters is that it comes out and it's successful.  And although I'd be the one who is most disappointed if it didn't come out on time... I'm also NOT going to sacrifice the quality just to "hit a date" that could be taken out of our hands and beyond our control.

But as of today... it's still possible to hit 10/10.  The number of units to be manufactured by then shrinks every day.  Waiting for things like compliance testing is just one of the many challenges that are currently out of our control.  The ability to purchase simple components is another as well as "waiting in line" for the other big companies to catch up on their manufacturing as they've taken over all of the best high quality places. 

If things aren't ironed out and fall into place by middle or end of July... it will be near impossible to get it out by 10/10.  Remember it takes 1 month just to ship from China to the U.S. (or Europe).  So everything would need to be packaged and on a boat by the latest... September 1st.  That means manufacturing must start on August 1st just to get a mere 35,000 units produced.  But if compliance isn't met and components aren't available... then all we can do is wait. 

Everything will be fine no matter what.  We've restructured our entire pre-revenue business plan just in case.  We actually did that back in February as our CFO and manufacturing partners saw the potential of something bad happening to the entire manufacturing and supply chain.  Super KUDOS to our incredible team for "reading the tea leaves" and preparing us ahead of time.  This is why it's so great to have so many talented folks on the team!

There's nothing we can't accomplish and we're all so passionate about making this dream a reality.  Nothing will EVER stop Amico from coming out!

On 6/10/2020 at 6:14 PM, Intellivision Master said:

There's supposed to be a press release this Thursday or Friday.  

Riots delayed that. 

Important to be appropriate with timing.

Especially considering the nature of the next release.

On 6/10/2020 at 7:10 PM, GrudgeQ said:

With Sony blowing out the tech news cycle tomorrow (even though Tommy said it wasn’t directly gaming related) I could see it getting pushed to Friday or even early next week. Would love some Amico news however,

Should be later this coming week. 

On 6/10/2020 at 7:25 PM, LePionnier said:

I loaded the demo version of Club House Games on the Switch.  4 games out of 51 are available.

The first game I tried was Four in a Row ! That was one of my favorite game when I was a young teenager.

We made tournament with trophies. I was U.S.S.R. and my favorite movie was Rocky IV ! 😃

I was really good at Connect 4, and I am sure still I am !

That's why I was ready for a big first game against the computer, and I put that level at expert !

I let the computer begin, and guess what ? I won with only 4 pieces needed !!!

It's really not serious! I lost all interest in playing this game that I love ! 😪

 

The second game that I tried is President ! That's a card game that I really enjoyed playing when I was at a friend's house !

I was not deceive by this game. I really enjoyed it !

Which leads me to say that card, dice and board games will be a superb hidden card for Amico that even several hard core gamers will appreciate in my opinion.
I'm really looking forward ! I can't wait any longer!😅

 

Yeah... one of my biggest complaints about Clubhouse 51 (aside from the horribly confusing UI) is the lack of AI.

J Allard always says... Amico will have the most advanced A.I. any new video game system has ever seen or had!

Because you'll actually be playing against another real human being in the room with you.

Willy Wonka Tidbit for Tommy. 
 

https://apple.news/AhvdJoJ4KR-WAZDrwL3ATVw

On 6/10/2020 at 7:26 PM, Stillagamer said:

Hey Tommy, I just listened to the generation zen interview and i think it was the best one so far. Also the disney inspiration and Miyamoto design philosophy is really exciting and sets a high bar. Im really curious about the controller feel, even though itll be hard to not see it and remember the 360's pad. I have a few questions if you dont mind. You mentioned that a lot of your games will be liked by hardcore gamers but they dont know it yet. I would say that there are a lot of different people who fall into the "hardcore" category. I remember reading an article on why the xbox couldnt get a foothold in japan. The japanese people who even knew what it was, said it was because the games on xbox were too complicated, not because it was american.

We have 2 people on our team that were the decision makers of Xbox in Japan... including the former president of Xbox in Japan!.. and of course J Allard.  They said one of their biggest mistakes was not embracing the "American" enough in Japan!  Folks in Japan think "American" is cool.  Just like a lot of folks in America think "Japanese" is cool.  So instead of marketing the Xbox as an American machine and embracing the "American" vibe.  They tried to turn something from America into something Japanese and really missed the mark.  Always thought that was very interesting and a mistake we would not make with Amico.  We will embrace what we are instead of trying to cater to something we are not.

On 6/10/2020 at 7:26 PM, Stillagamer said:

They prefer games like jrpgs that are easy to play and xbox didnt offer those experiences. I want to ask you, will there be jrpgs on the amico?

Not currently.  I'm personally not a big fan, but if the right SIMPLE japanese RPG came around I wouldn't dismiss it.  Those are generally for hardcore gamers though... so I don't really see it happening in Year 1.  That is something the Switch and especially PlayStation does really well.  Not really a genre that is important to us at this point... especially when the others do it really great.

On 6/10/2020 at 7:26 PM, Stillagamer said:

I know Hironobu Sakaguchi's studio is making one for the Apple Arcade. Also, whats your interest level for the asian market?

Not a concern at this point.  Need to do it right for North America first, Europe/UK 2nd.  Spreading ourselves too thin would be the death of us.  Something J Allard pounds into our heads on a daily basis!

On 6/10/2020 at 7:26 PM, Stillagamer said:

You also talked about how there will be 2d platformers on your console and this is where it clicked for me. You worked on games like Aladdin that at the time were really ahead of the pack when it came to presentation, art, and sound. Are super high quality 2d games what we can expect from the Amico? Games like Ori and the Blind Forest, and artistic games like Limbo and Gris? 

I'd like to think so.  We have a really fantastic and fun 2D platformer with a unique twist that is in production and is slated for launch. 

Any 2D platformer we do will be super high quality.  Easy to make a mediocre or "same old... same old" type of game.  When we do platformers they should feel "new" and use our controller is a unique way.

On 6/10/2020 at 7:26 PM, Stillagamer said:

You said that one of your favorite games is Ico, and youre already talking to the Never Alone team so it seems like you have a taste for games that push the mediums artistic boundaries. Unlike Sony's hollywood stories, I think it would be amazing if the Amico was a home to games that have a more "show don't tell" approach to storytelling. I think thats where games set themselves apart from movies or books as art. You have the guy who brought Flow and Flower to psn too. All that plus the Disney and Miyamoto inspiration, paints the picture that the Amico will be a lot more than just a hypercasual mom console. I wonder why you haven't gone with that as part of your initial pitch because it would have resonated with the gamer crowd better. Is your intention to surprise people? 

Mostly because that isn't our initial target audience.  We are definitely looking for the next "Ori" and it's the main goal of Rusty (former PSN).  There are a lot of things currently on the table and yes... lots of surprises.  But those types of games aren't one's that you can really "brag" about.  They just need to be experienced and played.  So I feel your "surprise people" comment is pretty accurate. 

On 6/10/2020 at 7:26 PM, Stillagamer said:

Its an interesting gamble i think artists do because if it lands it really lands. The hardest punches are the ones they dont see coming kind of thing. 

There's gonna be a LOT of that when it comes to Amico I think.

On 6/10/2020 at 7:26 PM, Stillagamer said:

 

After the interview I was playing this game called The King's Bird, which got me thinking about games like that on Amico. Its a really fantastic game despite what the critics thought (they said its too hard, its not).  I think you should play it! Anyway thank you for being so approachable, I think i was right in thinking there was something special brewing here. An artist with funds, connections, experience, leadership traits, and does things "the right way" is hard to find. Especially in the games industry i think its a very small list.

Thanks for the info!  I'll check it out!

On 6/10/2020 at 7:26 PM, Stillagamer said:

That along with the amount of talent and experience on your team, it really is unprecedented. I think youre going to approach this the same way you did with VGL. Elevating not just innovating. I cant wait to see how this all plays out. Thanks if you read all this!

Thank you for the vote of confidence!  It means a lot.  And yes... you're 100% correct.  I'm using a lot of experience that I got through Video Games Live and bringing people together (no matter what kind of gamer or non-gamer you are).  People forget to mention how important that experience is and how much success it brings when done right.  With 18 years of achieving this with Video Games Live... I'd say I've probably picked up a few things here and there that will translate to Amico.

On 6/10/2020 at 11:16 PM, nightmonkeyii said:

Hi Tommy,

 

My mother is disabled, and was wondering if any software that could possibly be in the pipeline that could be a cognitive training type game. I think the amico could also play a role in that type of device. Ive ordered the vip edition, so when it arrives i can try it out with her

 

nightmonkeyii

Hi!,

Thanks for the great question and GREAT first post!  Hope to see ya around more often.

Answer:  ABSOLUTELY!!

A lot more info coming by the end of the summer.

On 6/11/2020 at 8:26 AM, Intellivision Master said:

 

I crashed @OEB_Pete and @Michael Garvey's live stream last night and talked about what we're doing with this.  Gonna be very cool I think!

On 6/11/2020 at 1:52 PM, Craig Parker said:

I would have thought it would have happened by now if it was going to be today. Maybe Tommy decided against releasing it today because of the PS5 reveal. Tommy has been relatively quiet over the past 48 hours so he is probably busy talking to Bob Chapek or Rob Manfred. 

PS5 conference shift, riots, earthquakes, killer hornets... you name it... we got it.

Press release should be by the end of this coming week.

On 6/11/2020 at 6:54 PM, Jake67 said:

I’m afraid we’ve been duped. It’s never been Tommy posting here. It’s one of those people with multiple accounts posting negative comments on YouTube. He or she is playing both sides of the field... good friend here, angry basement dweller on YouTube. 

 

Those videos we’ve seen him on? Carefully crafted CGI created by a custom-mod, tricked-out Vectrex. 

 

The real Tommy Tallarico lives a quiet life in Wyoming, watching endless repeats of Electric Playground on a Spider-Man-branded VCR.

 

And the company behind this elaborate plot to fool us?

 

It should be obvious that only one company has the expertise to create fake, yet realistic looking game hardware that will never actually make it to market: 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

https://atarivcs.com -- Still looking to kick sand in the face of Intellivision fans everywhere after all these years.

 

Or, he’s just been really busy like you said. Yeah... actually it’s probably that.  

 

 

Damn!  Outed!!

Ya caught me!

p.s.  I'm also every obsessed lunatic hater.  I figured it would be cool to cause a little conflict so people thought how important the console is going to be.  So far it was working...

On 6/11/2020 at 9:45 PM, Relicgamer said:

Just looking at this graph is telling.  Sure alot has to do with the fact that most people use smartphones games are readily available.  But there is also an increase in how people dont like using cellphones for gaming.  Either way even if the Amico gains the attention of a small percentage of this market they will be successful.  

Wait... hold on... I thought I was supposed to be worried that our games look like mobile?

I'm so confused.  Will someone just tell me what I'm supposed to do!

😜😁🤣😇

On 6/11/2020 at 10:56 PM, GrudgeQ said:

Yeah the dirty little truth is the console software market is about the same size as it was back in 2012. If you take 2012 numbers of 45% of $70.6 billion, that’s $31.77 b. In 2018 they did 25% of $137.9 billion or $34.48 b. If that doesn’t sound like an “inflation & population growth” sort of change I don’t know what does. I think maybe the Switch is bringing back some disaffected former gamers and entry into untapped markets like China could be providing some real growth recently but overall they are just “preaching to the choir”.

I've been saying this exact thing for the past 2 years.  Console & PC gaming has been losing ground to Simple & Affordable for 10 years. 

And now the mobile industry is doubling and tripling them.

Yet the so-called self proclaimed "experts" will ignore facts and data and tell you something different.  Someone sent me this gem a month or so ago.

Ignorance is bliss.  Especially when you're trying to form a false narrative about something you really don't know much about.

2 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Wait... hold on... I thought I was supposed to be worried that our games look like mobile?

 

I'm so confused.  Will someone just tell me what I'm supposed to do!

 

😜😁🤣😇

I laugh every time I hear someone say that.  When mobile games literally look better than the original xbox. Its a head scratcher lol

On 6/9/2020 at 12:08 PM, vongruetz said:

Yeah, if you don't care about something, you just don't think about it.  Reminds me of the new handheld console Playdate.  It's interesting... I have zero desire to get one, and I don't hate it.  In fact, I just don't think about it.  If people like it, cool.  If it fails, then it fails. But I'm not going to go one every YouTube video about it and post why I don't like it or why it should fail.  

 

 

I agree completely. If I have no interest in this product or any other product , why would I research it , follow it , talk about it , spend time writing about why I’m not interested  in it etc .....this is beyond my comprehension. Most people have much less free time then they would like so why why why ? 

On 6/11/2020 at 11:00 PM, CurlyQ said:

"WOAH!"

Nice to see that someone took the RED pill!


 

These just keep getting BETTER AND BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!