Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

13 minutes ago, SuperJeremyWorld said:

New video! For Father's Day I share some of my earliest memories of playing video games with my dad—who, it turns out, is the inspiration for this channel. ‬

 

Posting here because most of the memories were about Intellivision.

‪

Happy Father's Day to all! ‬

 

 

That was a nice video.  It's cool that your dad was the inspiration for your channel.  Thanks for sharing Jeremy! 😃

2 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

Tommy,

 

Is there an update on when the new merchandise will be in the IE shop?

No.  Not yet.

I'll let folks in here know when I get more info.

Too many more important things going on right now and new merch stuff is always at the bottom of the list.

2 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

Tommy,

 

Are the exclusive games for Amico going to be locked to certain regions?  Such as, an exclusive that only releases in Europe or Japan?  Is the Amico region locked by the way?  

Not that I know of.

1 minute ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

No.  Not yet.

I'll let folks in here know when I get more info.

Too many more important things going on right now and new merch stuff is always at the bottom of the list.

 

 

That's okay, I was just wondering.  Thanks!

4 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Not that I know of.

 

 

Okay.

Tommy,

With the exclusives, will some get both a digital & physical version, while others might only get one version?  

1 hour ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

One of the things I am really impressed with Tommy and his team is how he has been able to set up the distributors Aka all the major retailers. Its a very hard thing to do especially as a new company with a new product. Im guessing two factors allowed for this. Some people on his team most have good prior relationships with the buyers and the amico must have a good margin. 

Thank you for noticing and bringing it up!  People don't understand how monumental it is to do what we're doing in the distribution, pre-order and retail space... and to get into the places and countries we're getting.  People will say how Intellivision is a lame name that no one cares about and how Atari is a million times bigger and more well known.  So... how come the Atari VCS isn't sold at retail and we are?  How come our retail store pre-orders have been 25X's higher than theirs so far?  Is it the messaging, the team, the vision, the relationships, the games, the hardware, the market appeal, the pricing, the margins... or maybe it's ALL of that.

Keep in mind...  idiots like Pat (the self proclaimed retro expert) bragged with glee that Amico would NEVER be sold at retail.  He also said we were lucky if we sold 5,000 units during the lifetime of the product.  Yet here we are with zero advertising dollars spent and for all intents and purposes, a new company that has come out of nowhere which will now be in the same area and shelves that Sony, Microsoft & Nintendo are in.  You'd think some of these folks would at least give us a bit of credit for that huge achievement.  Nah... it's easier to double down on the hate and negativity and PRAY that we don't become successful so they won't forever be known as the "Coleco Chameleon" of YouTubers.

I appreciate you understanding the achievement.  J Allard was blown away with what we've accomplished so far.  The vision is so clear and the retailers are so excited and want to see this be a huge success for a number of reasons.

Good times ahead!

1 hour ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

For those that still think pricing isnt a CRITICAL factor, just look to whats going on with Sony and Micro right now, they each are showcasing their new gen console, thy'll tell you everything except......price.  Why is that... cause price is critical, getting it wrong can cost you critical market share

...or... (pure speculation here)... maybe they don't even know themselves at this point. 

Maybe they are waiting to see who blinks first and then adjust their own price accordingly.

Going to be super interesting to see how it plays out between them.

1 hour ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

The amico is looking at creating its own new space in console gaming, that brings with it all sorts of opportunities but also challenges. Usually the opportunity far out way the hurdles, but this freakin covid is really screwing up everyone and everything.  Timing like price is critical. I hope they can navigate this whole pandemic and the economic calamity that is surely to follow. Just sucks that great strategy and hard work can be screwed up by something beyond your control.  

Tell me about it!

If the mass uncertainty about "normal life", friends and family being able to gather, unemployment, political & social unrest, etc..  is still a thing by the end of the summer... anyone would be crazy to try and launch something in a poor economy!  No matter WHAT the price is.  $199 or $249 isn't going to matter if people don't have jobs or very little extra cash to spend on something new and they are being told NOT to get together and gather with grandparents or friends.  Lots of crazy and challenging things to consider folks.  I think everyone was hoping this would all be over by now... but there are reports of it getting worse in a lot of places.

Yikes!

We need to be extremely careful.  Timing is very important.

1 hour ago, SuperJeremyWorld said:

New video! For Father's Day I share some of my earliest memories of playing video games with my dad—who, it turns out, is the inspiration for this channel. ‬

 

Posting here because most of the memories were about Intellivision.

‪

Happy Father's Day to all! ‬

 

 

LOVED THIS!!!!

Thank you for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!

29 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

That's okay, I was just wondering.  Thanks!

No worries.  Fear not... when there is news to share... as always... I'll be usually sharing it here first.

27 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

Tommy,

 

With the exclusives, will some get both a digital & physical version, while others might only get one version?  

Correct.  Not all games will be getting a physical release.  Only the super cool and special ones where we can do something extra and it makes sense.

1 minute ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Correct.  Not all games will be getting a physical release.  Only the super cool and special ones where we can do something extra and it makes sense.

 

 

Awesome.  

1 hour ago, Relicgamer said:

Not necessarily.  I know plenty of people that haven't purchase a switch or any other console due to the cost. Hell I have a good friend in California with 2 kids, boys in their late teens the are still playing on a ps3. Gaming is a very expensive hobby.  And for several of my friends when I've told them about the Amico.  The price was more acceptable to them. Especially when they dont have to worry about $60 games because all the games are $10 or less. So if the marketing is done right I can still this being picked up over a Nintendo.  Because there is alot of people that dont and wont buy a Nintendo switch due to cost and added cost especially when you have a household with multiple children.  

Again several friends I know dont like buying consoles that require more cost to allow other kids in the house to play together.  Many people today are really strapped for money and dont even own current consoles 

I never really understood the argument that gaming is an expensive hobby. I don't think it is anymore. Back in the day, yes. Very. Today though, when compared with other forms of entertainment, I'd say it's relatively inexpensive. The cost of entry is only a few hundred dollars for a console with so many inexpensive or even free games. I just bought a 12 month subscription to PS Now for $40, and it gives me access to download around 375 games. Thanks to sales and PS Plus, I have literally hundreds of games, most of which have never been played. 

To be honest, sometimes I miss the days when gaming was really expensive and I only had a few games to play. I appreciated them more. I played each one more and learned the ins and outs of them. I remember playing Pitfall or Frogger on my Intellivision over and over again for years. People today will rave about The Last of Us 2, but once they "finish" it, how many will ever touch it again?

If your going to have pac-man, why not take it up a notch with...baby pac-man! Pac-man with video pinball integrated together.

Hey Tommy, what happened with that cookie announcement last month? Sorry if you mentioned it already but I didn't see anything, and almost forgot about it.

3 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

One of the things I am really impressed with Tommy and his team is how he has been able to set up the distributors Aka all the major retailers. Its a very hard thing to do especially as a new company with a new product. Im guessing two factors allowed for this. Some people on his team most have good prior relationships with the buyers and the amico must have a good margin. 

This popped out to me because of another company that hasn’t gotten it totally right.

I’m an Apple ][e guy from way back, but we also had the equivalent of an Atari/Intellivision battle... our “Who’s more popular?” battle was with the Commodore 64. 

As I’m sure many here know, a company released The64Mini not too long ago and a prelude to a fuller C64 they produced last year. For whatever reason, their distribution system didn’t include the U.S.... no Amazon, no Gamestop, etc. 

You can get it as an import, but U.S. folks were a bit miffed... not because they’d either have to wait to get it “locally”, or pay more for the import, but because the company kept dodging questions about the delay or how their distribution failed to include the U.S. to begin with since the early indications were positive for a U.S. release along with other countries. A lot of answers from them about U.S. distribution were “soon” or “as soon as possible”. That’s fine... for the first month or two. But we’ll be closing in on a year pretty quick and still nothing. (Although they say they have some announcements coming.)

The contrast between that company’s communication and Tommy’s stands out. Most rational people will accept delays or mistakes when a company is upfront and honest (to the degree that they can, legally), but when potential customers are asking questions about buying your product and you appear to be sidestepping them, one’s view of that company can sink a bit. 

Crap happens, and sometimes a company falls short of realistic expectations. I hope Tommy never loses the drive to deal straight with people, even when the news isn’t good.

1 hour ago, vongruetz said:

To be honest, sometimes I miss the days when gaming was really expensive and I only had a few games to play. I appreciated them more. I played each one more and learned the ins and outs of them. I remember playing Pitfall or Frogger on my Intellivision over and over again for years. People today will rave about The Last of Us 2, but once they "finish" it, how many will ever touch it again?

I hear ya. We didn’t have a lot of extra cash back in the day, so every purchase was thought out because it wasn’t like we would be getting another new game a week later. 

I have a related issue with music... I buy a lot of music because it’s a passion of mine, but so much of it doesn’t get very many listens because I keep buying new stuff.

I do get a bit nostalgic for the days of buying an LP with what little money I had and getting to know the music from beginning to end before I had saved up to buy a new album.

34 minutes ago, Swami said:

If your going to have pac-man, why not take it up a notch with...baby pac-man! Pac-man with video pinball integrated together.

 

 

I have the arcade pinball/video in my house!  Such a cool combo.

To all the fathers out there, happy Father’s Day.

So, my dad wasn’t a big gamer, but there were a few games he got into.  In the mid/late seventies he would love playing Tank and Gun Fight with my brother and me when we would go to the boardwalk arcades in Wildwood, NJ for vacation every summer.  At that time Pong was the big home console and of course we wanted one for Christmas.  In his infinite wisdom he convinced us to wait until they came out with a console that you could change the games with cartridges.  Of course we were like, what is he talking about, how are they going to do that (I was 11 and handheld games, digital watches, and calculators were the extent of my electronic knowledge).  I don’t know how he knew that companies were working on cartridge based systems, but he was an electrical engineer at IBM and worked on power systems for their mainframes.  Maybe being in that field he was in touch with the electronics field at the time.  So, when the Atari VCS came out we got one for Christmas.  The fact that it came with Combat was icing on the cake.  We later purchased Outlaw and my father would play those two games with us all the time.

4 minutes ago, Saldo said:

To all the fathers out there, happy Father’s Day.

 

So, my dad wasn’t a big gamer, but there were a few games he got into.  In the mid/late seventies he would love playing Tank and Gun Fight with my brother and me when we would go to the boardwalk arcades in Wildwood, NJ for vacation every summer.  At that time Pong was the big home console and of course we wanted one for Christmas.  I his infinite wisdom he convinced us to wait until they came out with a console that you could change the games with cartridges.  Of course we were like, what is he talking about, how are they going to do that (I was 11 and handheld games, digital watches, and calculators were the extent of my electronic knowledge).  I don’t know how he knew that companies were working on cartridge based systems, but he was an electrical engineers at IBM and worked on power systems for their mainframes.  Maybe being in that field he was in touch with the electronics filed at the time.  So, when the Atari VCS came out we go one for Christmas.  The fact that it came with Combat was icing on the cake.  We later purchased Outlaw and my father would play those two games with us all the time.

Super cool memories man!

2 hours ago, vongruetz said:

I never really understood the argument that gaming is an expensive hobby. I don't think it is anymore. Back in the day, yes. Very. Today though, when compared with other forms of entertainment, I'd say it's relatively inexpensive. The cost of entry is only a few hundred dollars for a console with so many inexpensive or even free games. I just bought a 12 month subscription to PS Now for $40, and it gives me access to download around 375 games. Thanks to sales and PS Plus, I have literally hundreds of games, most of which have never been played. 

 

To be honest, sometimes I miss the days when gaming was really expensive and I only had a few games to play. I appreciated them more. I played each one more and learned the ins and outs of them. I remember playing Pitfall or Frogger on my Intellivision over and over again for years. People today will rave about The Last of Us 2, but once they "finish" it, how many will ever touch it again?

Well that depends on your situation.  What is not expensive to you can be to alot of other people.  Like going to the movies.  Thats a luxury others cant afford.  And thats not too terribly expensive to me.  If you say gaming isn't expensive that depends on what type of gaming you are discussing.  If you are talking about getting a used wii with a couple of games at goodwill for $40 sure thats affordable.  But paying $300 for a switch console with zero games is possibly not affordable.  

I own 7 arcade1ups and bought them all in 8 months and preorder 1 Amico at $300 along with a FE. To me none of that is expensive to. Its just my current circumstances 

But to others it is expensive.  

Lastly had you asked me 2 years ago if all I've bought was a possibility I would say 100% absolutely not. It just comes down to each individuals personal situation. 

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

I have the arcade pinball/video in my house!  Such a cool combo.

 

 

It's an amazing cabinet. ImStarryEyed has one, too, and used it to help the programmer perfect the version in the video. There were only a couple other pinball/arcade game combos made.