Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

3 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

Preach brother Blarneo, among their many sins concept cars are one of my biggest pet peeves (the Chevy Volt as exhibit A)

I loved that concept Volt. 

When the real car came out, I was heartbroken. 

11 minutes ago, popsicle said:

I learned to drive in a parking lot of Zayre. In a 1980 white T-bird. In the snow. Good times.

 

Haha. For a minute I thought you meant Zaire, which would be a long time ago, since it's now Republic of Congo.

Sort of the "Istanbul was Constantinople. Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople. So if you have a date in Constantinople, she'll be waiting in Istanbul." narrative. 🤒

1 hour ago, Blarneo said:

Haha. For a minute I thought you meant Zaire, which would be a long time ago, since it's now Republic of Congo.

 

Sort of the "Istanbul was Constantinople. Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople. So if you have a date in Constantinople, she'll be waiting in Istanbul." narrative. 🤒

Check out that awesome corporate logo, which lit up the night sky in broken crimson glowing glory.  

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/former-playstation-boss-says-aaa-game-development-/1100-6478908/

I found an interesting article today. I feel that I've seen this thing before.

Yes, that's right, it's in this exact thread not long ago. Normally I'd write something about my thoughts on this, but I didn't really sleep well last night for whatever reason and I feel super exhausted, so I'll refrain this time.

1 hour ago, Steven Pendleton said:

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/former-playstation-boss-says-aaa-game-development-/1100-6478908/

 

I found an interesting article today. I feel that I've seen this thing before.

 

Yes, that's right, it's in this exact thread not long ago. Normally I'd write something about my thoughts on this, but I didn't really sleep well last night for whatever reason and I feel super exhausted, so I'll refrain this time.

Great article. This reminds me of Heavenly Sword on PS3. Anyone play it? Fantastic game that plays through in 4-5 hours. I loved it. I finished it with one friend then took it to another friends place to finish it with them. Lot of play.

10 hours ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

11 hours ago, Keatah said:

that's how I see it. Right or wrong.

yeah, its wrong.  .... (16 comments from you and Ive already run out of patience, who in the world had to hear the 24000 other ones)  Listen the New Games+ is happening today, Lots of companies are showing trailers of their upcoming games, perhaps you can go on all their forums and yell " vaporware". It seems to be your thing

Technically I don’t think Keatah is wrong, if you believe The Googles:

5 hours ago, Blarneo said:

Haha. For a minute I thought you meant Zaire, which would be a long time ago, since it's now Republic of Congo.

 

Sort of the "Istanbul was Constantinople. Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople. So if you have a date in Constantinople, she'll be waiting in Istanbul." narrative. 🤒

why they changed it I can’t say. People just liked it better that way

6 minutes ago, nester said:

why they changed it I can’t say. People just liked it better that way

I saw They Might Be Giants in concert back in 1990. Really enjoyed it. 

8 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

Preach brother Blarneo, among their many sins: concept cars (the Chevy Volt as exhibit A)

This Nissan 126X concept car from 1970 is my all time favorite. At least it became a popular matchbox model.

A racing game "CONCEPT RACING" with a lot of strange and futuristic concept cars would be funny as an Amico game. 

16 hours ago, Keatah said:

 

Let's hope they can do it again. Or the modern day equivalent that fits today's times.

 

As they say in the investment world "past performance is no guarantee of future results." And I do get leery of the term "industry veteran". And that's just it. They're seasoned veterans hoping their view fits into today's market. Seems their vision often gets lost when an actual product goes through development.

 

"Industry veteran" reminds of D. Crane's remake of Pitfall, that jungle adventure thing which flopped on kickstarter. I also think of the three Intellivision remakes, Shark Shark was one of them I forget the other two. But marketing had the term in there as a major point. Then there was the chameleon dust-up. Just because one of the engineers on the project had done design work on the very successful Apple //e's reduced parts-count chipset, the MMU or IOU, it wasn't anywhere near enough to make a difference in the end.

 

 

 

You incidentally brought up a great idea. Wouldn't an exclusive Jungle Adventure game by David Crane be something for the Amico? I know he has been asking a lot of money to accomplish this, but if he could just be supervising one of the Amico development studios or be involved in any other possible way it should be less expensive. @Tommy do you know him? Would it be possible? 

(Not that) offtopic: I just can't believe what is going on with The Last of Us 2. Everyone is talking about the story of the game. Hundreds and hundreds of pages about politics, characters, deaths, plot twists...

But this is a game! And I love the graphics of this game, and it looks like I could like the exploration parts, but honestly:

1) Combat, upgrading weapons... Those gameplay elements are always the same, they are tiresome and repetitive.

2) The story is not that great, folks. It's just like The Walking Dead with a bit more realism and drama and less fun, that's it.

Why am I more interested in Shark! Shark! than in The Last of Us 2? Because, even if it's super simple,

1) It's a game

2) It has no forced drama

3) It has no gore

4) People will get together to play it instead of discussing the freaking plot online

I don't understand that 99% of Sony fans in 2020 don't realize about this. I feel like I'm living in some kind of alternative reality or dream.

Imagine if people called "music" a monument tour where you entered a building such as a castle and then, every 10 minutes, some speakers played a few notes of a melody.

Imagine if people called "drama" a representation with no actors where the public just listened to songs inside a theater.

Imagine if somebody called "paintings" the works of art in an exposition which consisted of hundreds of words written on dozens of canvases, telling a story.

But nobody does that! Only video games are treated like that, and it's sad. It's sad because they should use those resources to create interactive and original experiences instead of B movies.

2 hours ago, N0mi said:

You incidentally brought up a great idea. Wouldn't an exclusive Jungle Adventure game by David Crane be something for the Amico? I know he has been asking a lot of money to accomplish this, but if he could just be supervising one of the Amico development studios or be involved in any other possible way it should be less expensive. @Tommy do you know him? Would it be possible? 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/288558-intellivision-amico-tommy-tallarico-introduction-qa/?do=findComment&comment=4430009

50 minutes ago, mr_me said:

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/288558-intellivision-amico-tommy-tallarico-introduction-qa/?do=findComment&comment=4430009

 

Wow, thank you! Must have missed out on Tommy's reply back then. 

1 hour ago, N0mi said:

Wow, thank you! Must have missed out on Tommy's reply back then. 

The AtariAge Amico thread.  Miss a day... miss a lot.

2 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

(Not that) offtopic: I just can't believe what is going on with The Last of Us 2. Everyone is talking about the story of the game. Hundreds and hundreds of pages about politics, characters, deaths, plot twists...

 

But this is a game! And I love the graphics of this game, and it looks like I could like the exploration parts, but honestly:

 

1) Combat, upgrading weapons... Those gameplay elements are always the same, they are tiresome and repetitive.

 

2) The story is not that great, folks. It's just like The Walking Dead with a bit more realism and drama and less fun, that's it.

 

Why am I more interested in Shark! Shark! than in The Last of Us 2? Because, even if it's super simple,

 

1) It's a game

 

2) It has no forced drama

 

3) It has no gore

 

4) People will get together to play it instead of discussing the freaking plot online

 

I don't understand that 99% of Sony fans in 2020 don't realize about this. I feel like I'm living in some kind of alternative reality or dream.

 

Imagine if people called "music" a monument tour where you entered a building such as a castle and then, every 10 minutes, some speakers played a few notes of a melody.

 

Imagine if people called "drama" a representation with no actors where the public just listened to songs inside a theater.

 

Imagine if somebody called "paintings" the works of art in an exposition which consisted of hundreds of words written on dozens of canvases, telling a story.

 

But nobody does that! Only video games are treated like that, and it's sad. It's sad because they should use those resources to create interactive and original experiences instead of B movies.

I think one of the reasons this happens is because that these games have $10s of millions in budgets and most of that is for 3D art assets (characters, backgrounds, character movement, etc). So you got maybe 70% of people on the project doing that and the guy/girl in charge is typically the 'keeper of the story' about the game, so you end up with a 3d narrated story with some game elements. Think of an indie or Amico team - probably 4 to 6 people. A couple on art, one on sound, a couple on coding, one person with the vision - maybe it is some other mix but it is way closer to a balance of art, game play, sound & story telling.

Quite frankly I think Pokemon Sword & Shield got caught in the same mill but maybe for a slightly different reason. First it is a good game, but not great IMHO, but they had so many Pokemon models to make & animate (don't forget those bazillion fighting moves too, although most are pretty generic) and so you end up with some scenes that look really good and then you enter into a battle and you literally get a foggy grey background in certain locations. Also some textures look great and some look like I did them in Microsoft Paint. Game balance? Near non existent, ridiculous easy & no scaling (or really bad scaling like with the Isle of Armor expansion). Story line - makes little sense, near pointless and mostly unskippable, ugh! The Pokemon collect-a-thon theme & the paper-scissors-rock battle style is a winning combination & carries this game forward but the rest is pretty meh. At least they have an excuse that they have painted themselves into a Pokemon menagerie corner.

23 hours ago, Keatah said:

To me vaporware is very simple. A product that is talked about, announced, but still not available for me to take home and play with - that's how I see it. Right or wrong. It also applies to to PS and XBOX. So when they come out they come out. Till then it's just talk.

OK.  Thanks for clarifying your definition.

I disagree with your personal definition... and that's fine... I'm guessing you would disagree with my definition. 

To me... vaporware has a sense that it may not come out.  Its set aside for things that are ideas that may or may not be real or ever come out.

But I acknowledge that the "official" definition is what you are saying.

In (what I and most people I think believe to be the modern and real definition) the case of Amico, the PS5 or XBOX X... those are not vaporware.  There is a 100% chance (not 99%) that all of these items will come out.  So for me... I do not personally classify them as "vaporware".

But again... thanks for clarifying your position.  I'm off to play my vaporware some more.

22 hours ago, Keatah said:

 

Let's hope they can do it again. Or the modern day equivalent that fits today's times.

 

As they say in the investment world "past performance is no guarantee of future results." And I do get leery of the term "industry veteran". And that's just it. They're seasoned veterans hoping their view fits into today's market. Seems their vision often gets lost when an actual product goes through development.

 

"Industry veteran" reminds of D. Crane's remake of Pitfall, that jungle adventure thing which flopped on kickstarter. I also think of the three Intellivision remakes, Shark Shark was one of them I forget the other two. But marketing had the term in there as a major point. Then there was the chameleon dust-up. Just because one of the engineers on the project had done design work on the very successful Apple //e's reduced parts-count chipset, the MMU or IOU, it wasn't anywhere near enough to make a difference in the end.

I would push back a little and say there is a big difference between people who have ONCE done something... and people who have consistently done many things over 2, 3 and even 4 decades.  There isn't a single "one hit wonder" on our team.  That should mean something.

21 hours ago, Keatah said:

It does.

 

Sounds ideal and that's what most all of us want. At least those of us here in this thread. It's how we gamed in the past. Except maybe for the violence part. Loads of videogames were about blowing stuff up. But not as bad as some of the stuff today.

 

It is depressing and tiring to see that microtransactions, DLC, loot boxes, constant updating, "fanboism" and advertisements have seemingly captured the gaming market. It seems if a game or console doesn't include those features it's immediately reduced to mediocrity.

 

Can the generation of smartphone twitch gamers slow down and embrace the qualities I highlighted above?

The data, research and focus group testing points to YES.

21 hours ago, Jenny Davis said:

HeyHey I would love see something fishing games

Thanks @Jenny Davis.  I would as well.

Would love to get more info about you.

Curious to know...

1.  What country are you located?

2.  Are you female? 

3.  What age range are you?

4.  Do you have kids?  If so, how many?

5.  What game systems do you current own?

6.  How did you find out about the AA forums and this thread?

7.  I noticed your awesome Amico shirt from inside Animal Crossing.  Where did you get that?  Is that your avatar?

Thanks!  Curious to find out more.

13 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/former-playstation-boss-says-aaa-game-development-/1100-6478908/

 

I found an interesting article today. I feel that I've seen this thing before.

 

Yes, that's right, it's in this exact thread not long ago. Normally I'd write something about my thoughts on this, but I didn't really sleep well last night for whatever reason and I feel super exhausted, so I'll refrain this time.

Totally agree and have been saying the same thing for about 5 years now.  I'll also say the same thing about subscription services for AAA games.  Google thought they could figure it out... they haven't just yet.  The financial models just don't work.  AntStream... sure!  Makes sense.  Triple A titles in the future.  VERY difficult.  Maybe not impossible.  Interesting to see how "digital" vs. "subscription" vs. "physical" plays out over the next decade. 

I don't pretend like I have all the answers, but I think what we're doing and the way we are doing it gives us a good chance of survival and easy to pivot in any of those future directions.

11 hours ago, Oldfool said:

Technically I don’t think Keatah is wrong, if you believe The Googles:

 

va·por·ware

/ˈvāpərˌwer/

 

noun

INFORMAL•COMPUTING

1. software or hardware that has been advertised but is not yet available to buy, either because it is only a concept or because it is still being written or designed.

I agree.  I looked it up yesterday as well.  According to the "technical" definition, he is correct.

I just don't think that people use or think of that term in that way anymore.  The definition should be updated for what it has really become at this point.

I don't think most people would categorize the PS5 as "vaporware".  But I could be wrong.  It may just mean something different to me.

6 hours ago, oelli said:

 

This Nissan 126X concept car from 1970 is my all time favorite. At least it became a popular matchbox model.

A racing game "CONCEPT RACING" with a lot of strange and futuristic concept cars would be funny as an Amico game. 

 

 

 

Reminds me a little bit of the De Tomaso Pantera that Ford did in the 70's!

https://www.google.com/search?q=pantera+car&client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=ALeKk00K4ihNRZF6yxPVCu5zeodwZPzVow:1593012661500&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjIu77O4prqAhXYJzQIHS_VBpMQ_AUoAXoECBQQAw&biw=1920&bih=898

6 hours ago, N0mi said:

You incidentally brought up a great idea. Wouldn't an exclusive Jungle Adventure game by David Crane be something for the Amico? I know he has been asking a lot of money to accomplish this, but if he could just be supervising one of the Amico development studios or be involved in any other possible way it should be less expensive. @Tommy do you know him? Would it be possible? 

Yep!  Have had multiple calls and meetings with David.  We'll be doing something at some point I'm sure!

4 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

(Not that) offtopic: I just can't believe what is going on with The Last of Us 2. Everyone is talking about the story of the game. Hundreds and hundreds of pages about politics, characters, deaths, plot twists...

 

But this is a game! And I love the graphics of this game, and it looks like I could like the exploration parts, but honestly:

 

1) Combat, upgrading weapons... Those gameplay elements are always the same, they are tiresome and repetitive.

 

2) The story is not that great, folks. It's just like The Walking Dead with a bit more realism and drama and less fun, that's it.

 

Why am I more interested in Shark! Shark! than in The Last of Us 2? Because, even if it's super simple,

 

1) It's a game

 

2) It has no forced drama

 

3) It has no gore

 

4) People will get together to play it instead of discussing the freaking plot online

 

I don't understand that 99% of Sony fans in 2020 don't realize about this. I feel like I'm living in some kind of alternative reality or dream.

 

Imagine if people called "music" a monument tour where you entered a building such as a castle and then, every 10 minutes, some speakers played a few notes of a melody.

 

Imagine if people called "drama" a representation with no actors where the public just listened to songs inside a theater.

 

Imagine if somebody called "paintings" the works of art in an exposition which consisted of hundreds of words written on dozens of canvases, telling a story.

 

But nobody does that! Only video games are treated like that, and it's sad. It's sad because they should use those resources to create interactive and original experiences instead of B movies.

I agree.  Liked the first one... haven't been too excited about Part II and lost interest quickly (like I did with Red Dead II over the first one which I LOVED).

It's all getting to be too much for me personally, but I respect the art and talent involved in creating it all.

Metacritic reviewer score averages 95%!  It's for this reason that I KNOW we're going to get blasted by professional reviewers... and we won't care.

But in regards to your comment of living in some kind of alternative reality... you're not.  Just remember... less than 7% of all people who play video games are playing them on current consoles or PC's.

And ALL console games and hardware make up only around 25% of the entire game industry gross $'s.  Mobile/hyper casual doubles it (and doesn't include the money for phone hardware... just to be clear).

Those AAA are the minority.

470 million more people play QQ Speed than Mario Kart. 

QQ speed has 400 million MORE people playing than the lifetime of World of Warcraft.

2 hours ago, N0mi said:

Wow, thank you! Must have missed out on Tommy's reply back then. 

How is that possible?  This thread only has around 20,000 replies!

😇