Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

2 hours ago, Relicgamer said:

So basically I can play it on my phone and save nearly $400. Your drunk atari go home. 

Atari SA hasn't promised any exclusives.  Looks like the Steam version supports mouse/trackball controllers, so the Atari VCS version might also.  I'd hate to play it with a Switch controller.

51 minutes ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

yeah me either.  I did a take on Missile Command a little while back, I themed it all with a Pirate Genre.  Basically the secret Pirate port of Bumboo Bay is being threatened when a nearby islands volcano erupts.  As a Pirate ship in port you are required to blast the flying flaming volcanic rocks out of the sky before they set fire to and ultimately destroy your secret port and/or your ship.

 

Here is a video still up that I made of one of the later levels when things are really going nuts.

 

 

That is a really cool take on the game. Love the pirate theme. I'd play this game in a heartbeat.

33 minutes ago, mr_me said:

Atari SA hasn't promised any exclusives.  Looks like the Steam version supports mouse/trackball controllers, so the Atari VCS version might also.  I'd hate to play it with a Switch controller.

I hope it does well. Jist doesn't seem they are doing anything exclusive that would draw me to wanting to spend that much money.  Especially when there is the series x and ps5 looming on the horizon.  And the price is too close. Maybe omce its been out for a while and the price drops but it need games. And so far the Amico has that going for it. And with 50 games in development thats more interesting to me

11 hours ago, vongruetz said:

 

So....  Atari just showed up their new version of Missile Command, optimized for the VCS.  I'm not sure I get what they're going for here.

 

Intellivision's take on the game seems to be 100x better, and actually looks like something you'd want to play.

At :16 it says, “Optimized for the AtariVCS” which struck me funny because it doesn’t look like a very complex game that would need optimization. 

Don’t get me wrong... it might be a wildly fun game on the machine, and I know nothing about game design so maybe it’s resource-hungry and optimization is something buyers would want to know about.

Just seemed like an odd selling point to include in a :30 promo.

6 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

Happy 4th everyone! Time to drink a beer and forget about 2020 for a while. 

Thanks!  Same here; and yea, can we try unplugging it and plugging it back in?

7 hours ago, RREDDWARFF said:

Tootsie Edition 

Well that’s a win right there, maybe your finest work lol

On 7/3/2020 at 9:07 PM, CurlyQ said:

Happy Independence Day! 😃👍

 

 

So if this is just you playing around with these awesome designs what would your official Amico designs look like if you worked for them? Just a thought... Have you made any photos what you think the box could look like?

While we’re still on the topic of the company that crowd funded and hasn’t delivered yet, I think it would be interesting to run a pcap on the box when/if it is delivered to see exactly what info it sends and receives. I have this gut feeling that it’s potentially a combination of an off the shelf coin miner for the parent company, while having a system engineered to monetize user data. This is speculative, but based on the tidbit that it requires an internet connection to operate and the only thing we know about the proprietary OS is that is has “the vault” I see no good reason to require connectivity.
 

I bring this up to highlight that Tommy has been really clear about what is NOT at risk regarding data exfiltration and the Amico. 

Another reason I’m team Amico beyond the games.

19 hours ago, vongruetz said:

 

So....  Atari just showed up their new version of Missile Command, optimized for the VCS.  I'm not sure I get what they're going for here.

 

Intellivision's take on the game seems to be 100x better, and actually looks like something you'd want to play.

Yeah that system confuses me. It seems like they are kinda doing retro re-imagined, but not really. It's like newer sounds and HD graphics but looks old. I also saw videos of it trying to play steam games, but dropping a lot of frames. I think they are still trying to figure out what they wanna do.

2 hours ago, martianman2012 said:

Yeah that system confuses me. It seems like they are kinda doing retro re-imagined, but not really. It's like newer sounds and HD graphics but looks old. I also saw videos of it trying to play steam games, but dropping a lot of frames. I think they are still trying to figure out what they wanna do.

They are using the new low wattage AMD R1606G APU - 2 cores 4 threads and VEGA 3 integrated graphics. As you might imagine from the specs when using it as a Linux/Windows box it struggles in anything not retro or indie or highly optimized 3D titles. You can look up gaming reviews for the AMD 200GE if you want to see what a similar spec chip is capable of. 
 

The real problem is direction - it isn’t fast enough to be a good at modern games but they aren’t doing much so far in getting software to the platform that is more suitable either. With such a small number of units sold (11,000ish is my guess) and no software development money like Intellivision, at best you are going to get games with minor tweaking (basically support for the controllers and ability to run under Linux). I wouldn’t doubt Atari is requiring that PC dev retro game licensees now support it as part of the deal - probably how this new Missile Command game is coming to the platform. However without a compelling software library it is just a power draw in a cute case so are VCS owners going to use the App Store, subscribe to Ant Stream and keep the system alive or will it be flashed over to be a pirate retrobox or sold on FB for someone who wants to setup a mini Linux web server/pi hole/etc. 

The good news for VCS backers is the VCS is the cheapest way to get a R1606G right now so it will be popular among hobbyists - just not as an Atari console. 

2 hours ago, martianman2012 said:

Yeah that system confuses me. It seems like they are kinda doing retro re-imagined, but not really. It's like newer sounds and HD graphics but looks old. I also saw videos of it trying to play steam games, but dropping a lot of frames. I think they are still trying to figure out what they wanna do.

I think you're right. It's sad that a company who was supposed to release their product a year ago still has no idea what it is they want to be. They are really like the next OUYA. They want to be everything and anything for everybody. In the end, it looks like they're for nobody.

That's one of the things Intellivision has really nailed. They have a vision. They know exactly what this console is going to be and who it is for. They have games being designed with a vision in mind. It's really cool to see.

Atari meanwhile has a... nice website.

53 minutes ago, vongruetz said:

Atari meanwhile has a... nice website.

To me, and this is just me, it looks like a a few guys bought the Atari license and are just trying to milk it for whatever they can. It's sad since the Atari name has been through this dance a few times before, it deserves better.

6 minutes ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

To me, and this is just me, it looks like a a few guys bought the Atari license and are just trying to milk it for whatever they can. It's sad since the Atari name has been through this dance a few times before, it deserves better.

I believe Tommy mentioned something to the effect that he believes that they did all of this to get it to a certain point in hopes thst a big investor would jump in and take a over. And because that didn't happen they are in the mess they are in. And why there is sooo many setbacks.  But I can't say with 100% certainly that it was him or someone that what talking to him.  But that seems plausible that they have good intentions just that the money didnt come in when they needed it and the grand plan could be fully realized. 

36 minutes ago, Relicgamer said:

I believe Tommy mentioned something to the effect that he believes that they did all of this to get it to a certain point in hopes thst a big investor would jump in and take a over. And because that didn't happen they are in the mess they are in. And why there is sooo many setbacks.  But I can't say with 100% certainly that it was him or someone that what talking to him.  But that seems plausible that they have good intentions just that the money didnt come in when they needed it and the grand plan could be fully realized. 

They did just get a new investor who was placed on the Board of Atari SA - maybe they brought some money to bail them out of the VCS mess and that is why things are suddenly moving a bit. According to my back of napkin math, I think they are at best breaking even on the base unit and are only making a few bucks on the $400 ish combo controller pack. If they can ramp their volume up that might work itself out but considering their less than stellar reputation and feeble software library, I don’t see these flying out of the warehouse.

Atari SA is not a video game company they are a licensing company; not much different than Intellivision Productions was.  They invested a lot of money in those licenses and have every right to generate profit from it.  That's why they licensed titles to Amico and any other video game company that wants to make video games with their titles.  Every once in a while they try to make something on their own and it's good they try.

It's been a long time since it was discussed, but when did Intellivision officially decide to upgrade the internal memory from 16gb to 32gb? I know there was debate about doing that, or including an SD card.  I just noticed the official Amico website now says it has 32gb built in. 

20 minutes ago, vongruetz said:

It's been a long time since it was discussed, but when did Intellivision officially decide to upgrade the internal memory from 16gb to 32gb? I know there was debate about doing that, or including an SD card.  I just noticed the official Amico website now says it has 32gb built in. 

This is great news.

43 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

They did just get a new investor who was placed on the Board of Atari SA - maybe they brought some money to bail them out of the VCS mess and that is why things are suddenly moving a bit. According to my back of napkin math, I think they are at best breaking even on the base unit and are only making a few bucks on the $400 ish combo controller pack. If they can ramp their volume up that might work itself out but considering their less than stellar reputation and feeble software library, I don’t see these flying out of the warehouse.

Has anyone actually gotten their hands on one? Done a review?  I keep hearing that so many units are shipped but still no word from the recipients of these consoles. 

Just rewatched (and listened to) the Night Stalker Trailer (for like the 30th time), and was wondering if the bullet count will also be shown on the players controller?  Would also be good to get a {{rumble}} when you are down to a few bullets.  
 

to my point earlier:
 

I’d love to do a bake-off between systems re: data privacy, security, and OS stability. Throw each system in the lab for traffic analysis, index CVEs with the respective kernels, test exploits, etc but I feel like that might be punching down a little bc of the point a few lines up - only one of the entities is a tech company, the other just licenses IP and has made hats with speakers in them.
 

I think I’ll just stick with making mine Amico and not worrying the little PC with a half baked OS likely leaking data with it’s always online required  

2 hours ago, Relicgamer said:

Has anyone actually gotten their hands on one? Done a review?  I keep hearing that so many units are shipped but still no word from the recipients of these consoles. 

No they just shipped in 96 units for their marketing/sales company and developers. No units have been sent to the public and none have been sent for actual review. Really all that proves (and some people would say it is Atari and so you can’t even believe that) is the China manufacturing line is capable of producing some working units. People have noted the machines are made of a cheap shiny plastic that Atari has repeatedly said wont be in the production units.

25 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

No they just shipped in 50 units for their marketing/sales company and developers. No units have been sent to the public and none have been sent for actual review. Really all that proves (and some people would say it is Atari and so you can’t even believe that) is the China manufacturing line is capable of producing some working units. People have noted the machines are made of a cheap shiny plastic that Atari has repeatedly said wont be in the production units.

Had a troll a week ago all saying the atari is out and beat the Amico to the punch. Well evidence proves otherwise lol

15 minutes ago, Relicgamer said:

Had a troll a week ago all saying the atari is out and beat the Amico to the punch. Well evidence proves otherwise lol

I hear the Weekly World News is their favorite newspaper

So I just watched the latest Pat and Ian video on YouTube where they each gave their opinions about which console they'd play for the rest of their life should there only be one.

To my surprise it wasnt bad at all, but what struck me most was Ian's argument about the PC Engine and GameBoy being the ones he'd choose, mainly because of the type of game he enjoys, shooter and mahjong games, but also that:

he could have access to many games that he can play for short periods of time and have fun with (45 mins);

he can log his scores in;

they are simple games that he can access quickly;

boot up time;

He finally went a chose the PC Engine because he prefers to have a game console for TV.

Seems to me that if a shooter game and a mahjong game was made available on Amico, he'd like it

😉