Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

3 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

I don't remember the exact quote, but I believe I said (or at least meant to say!) that Intellivision will NEVER have 2 games released at the same time.  Only 1 and about every 10 - 15 days.  That way the game (and developer) will get the spotlight for every system each time Amico is turned on.  The new highlighted game will appear.  For all of the games that come out on lauch... we will make sure they all get a spotlight at some point as well.

Is this by category of games? Because that makes a total of 24 to 37 games a year. Considering the broad range of games of Amico (having things like board games, educational games, or "health" games), this might seriously limit the number of games on the system.

Save the intricate stories for books and movies, I always say. Just gimme a gun and tons of baddies to blast!   😀

3 hours ago, Nolagamer said:

Speaking of VR.will the amico controller be able to play to any.sort of AR (augmented reality)gameplay experiences?

So far we don't have anything like that planned.

1 hour ago, Blarneo said:

That's about 25-36 games a year. 

Sounds quite low of an output to me. 2-3 games a month?

Not when they're all curated and quality games!  That's actually a LOT if you think about it.
 

1 hour ago, ColecoJoe said:

Does this mean Amico will require an always on internet connection and "serve ads" every time it boots up?

Nope.  The only time you need to be on the internet is when you want to download a new game.  We will never really serve ads.  I personally don't really consider featuring a brand new game that just came out an "ad", but I understand that it could be considered a grey area. 

But if folks want to keep it offline... they are more than welcome to.  But they will miss a lot of cool things and Easter Eggs we have planned. 

1 hour ago, IntelliMission said:

I have exciting news for you about the Amico.

 

The Amico will have limitations. Multiplayer is mandatory. 3D roaming is not allowed. Games with loads and loads of story and text, games that want to be movies, are not expected.

 

That was not the news. That's the cause, and the consequence is that... this console can have the same effect 80s and 90s consoles had in the minds of the developers. Limitations can encourage their imagination, just like it did in the old days. So this is my prediction: Several new genres will be created on this console.

Totally agree!  And exactly what we're seeing in the development community.  They are LOVING it!

35 minutes ago, Papy said:

Just curious... Why exactly having only 6 fights before the game is over is a problem?

 

For example, the "Career Mode" of Virtua Fighter had only 9 fights (the 8 characters + Dural), but I never saw anyone saying the game was a rip off after beating Dural. I also don't know anyone who stopped playing the game solo after beating Dural. I know 9 is more than 6, but even if VF had only 6 fights, I don't think a lot of people would have complained (mainly because the vast majority of players didn't even reach the 6th fight).

For me, it was because it was "Career" mode.  What kind of boxing career had only 6 fights?  Tekken & VF are different beasts and are arcade games first.  But for a home system with an entire training before the fight mode... I expected a LOT more. 

I'm a big boxing video game fan (even won the AIAS Best Sports Game of the Year award for co-designing Knockout Kings by EA) and all of the home console career modes were always robust and took awhile.  Something like Punch-Out in the arcades was totally different though as it was meant for quarters.  They built this really amazing world and then made the career mode super short.  Bummer. 

19 minutes ago, IntellivisionDude said:

On the topic of stories in games. My favorite games of all time have stories in them. Okami, Paper Mario, Dark Souls, Earthbound, GTA San Andreas, Red Dead Redemption. Nothing too serious. Easy to follow story. Dark Souls can be convoluted but the story doesn't even matter in that one. 

 

Arcade style games are fun too. But in a different way. They are good for some quick fun. But most times i prefer a good story. 

In a game like Moon Patrol we have both!

16 minutes ago, Papy said:

Is this by category of games? Because that makes a total of 24 to 37 games a year. Considering the broad range of games of Amico (having things like board games, educational games, or "health" games), this might seriously limit the number of games on the system.

Personally I'd rather have 20 - 30 GREAT games than 100 mediocre ones. 

We want quality over quantity.  But if we find ourselves getting non-stop amazing things... of course that release date number will go down.

It could be 7 - 10 days.  That would take the yearly total up to over 50 quality games a year.  But again... if the quality is coming in droves... then we'll make it 5 - 7 days.  Then it would be 100!

But at first... we are looking at around an average of 10 days at launch.

9 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Not when they're all curated and quality games!  That's actually a LOT if you think about it.
  

Assuming we would want every one of them. A 55 year old Network Engineer, calculating all day at work, isn't going to buy Math Fun.

Yes, that's me.

2 minutes ago, Blarneo said:

Assuming we would want every one of them. A 55 year old Network Engineer, calculating all day at work, isn't going to buy Math Fun.

 

Yes, that's me.

And then a 6 year old niece or nephew will come by and you'll be like... "Have you ever played Math Fun?" 

Actually... when you see what I'm doing with it... you'll see it's actually very cool.  And can be played by all age/skill levels with the Karma Gaming Engine.  And a GREAT license (sorry Electric Company... you've been replaced) that has info and learning about animals as well. 

 

2 hours ago, ColecoJoe said:

Does this mean Amico will require an always on internet connection and "serve ads" every time it boots up?

Internet will not have to be always on it only has to be on when you go to the store to purchase games and there are no adds with Amico just a spotlight game that will be the newest game added for a 10-14 day window 

8 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Single player experiences will definitely be over 2 hours.  I'm sure there may be some exceptions... but as of right now... definitely longer than that.

AS OPPOSED to most of the VR games I play and play $20 - $30 for!!  Is it me... or is this ridiculous!  I love the Rocky movies... so I bought Creed for my Ocolus Quest last week.  There were literally only 5 or maybe 6 fights in Career Mode before it was over.  I couldn't believe it.  Great game... but I felt ripped off that they didn't take the time to create 50+ boxers that I could have worked my way up the ranks to defeat.  I didn't lose a single match and the entire career experience was over in less than an hour.  And I paid like $25 for it?  WTH!?!?!?

A lot of VR games seem to be like that.  I don't mind short experiences... but the price should reflect that!  Just one other way that Amico is going to be so different than other stuff out there.  VALUE!  A family of 4 could spend up to $60 - $80 to take the family to a 2 hour movie.  Add in going to dinner before and you're talking over $100.  My goal is to offer a family multiple hours and hours and hours of fun and time together for an average of around $7.  If we can show that and pull that off successfully... it will be just another big marketing bullet point and reason for folks to want one.  This has always been an important part of the plan.

To your other question... games will have to be closed.  No multiple windows, etc.  But the great news is that its very seemless and quick to go back into the menu and into a new game.  Doesn't take minutes like the other machines.  Yet another one of my pet peeves in the current home console scene.

 

whoa they have a Rocky VR game?? i LOVE VR..that sounds cool 

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

And then a 6 year old niece or nephew will come by and you'll be like... "Have you ever played Math Fun?" 

Actually... when you see what I'm doing with it... you'll see it's actually very cool.  And can be played by all age/skill levels with the Karma Gaming Engine.  And a GREAT license (sorry Electric Company... you've been replaced) that has info and learning about animals as well. 

 

Okay, I trust you for now. But she's 8 now, in Washington State, and I live in Florida. So I'm going to get the "Uncle Tracy! Why are we playing this? It's summer and no school! Take me to Busch Gardens or Magic Kingdom!" And an answer of "But this is $8, and those places are $90+" probably isn't going to cut it . 😜 

I'm just thinking though, that no matter how many they will be, I could get 4 Amico games for the price of Mega Man 11 alone, or 6 for Crackdown 3. We're gonna be begging for your games like dogs who smell bacon. 

I'm glad you're not going for the IOS or Steam landfills, or even the piles shovelware on PS4, but there should be a happy medium between a desert and a rainforest.

1 hour ago, Blarneo said:

Okay, I trust you for now. But she's 8 now, in Washington State, and I live in Florida. So I'm going to get the "Uncle Tracy! Why are we playing this? It's summer and no school! Take me to Busch Gardens or Magic Kingdom!" And an answer of "But this is $8, and those places are $90+" probably isn't going to cut it . 😜 

 

I'm just thinking though, that no matter how many they will be, I could get 4 Amico games for the price of Mega Man 11 alone, or 6 for Crackdown 3. We're gonna be begging for your games like dogs who smell bacon. 

 

I'm glad you're not going for the IOS or Steam landfills, or even the piles shovelware on PS4, but there should be a happy medium between a desert and a rainforest.

Your not wrong but really every new console faces this to a degree. Look at the Switch - it was basically a Breath of the Wild machine for months and months then Super Mario Odyssey finally hit. Of course they had some other games but not much that was solid quality except for maybe one or two every month or so. That first year was just pretty slim. Of course eventually the flood gates opened but that is when the tsunami of shovel ware hit also. If you can find a few quality games that can last you a few weeks or even a month or two to master or just stay entertaining then several new releases will be out and maybe you can strike onto another one. Of course people buying the Amico Christmas 2021 are going to boot up with 70, 80 maybe more games in the store and are going to have a much easier time staying back from the release curve.

53 minutes ago, GrudgeQ said:

Your not wrong but really every new console faces this to a degree. Look at the Switch - it was basically a Breath of the Wild machine for months and months then Super Mario Odyssey finally hit. Of course they had some other games but not much that was solid quality except for maybe one or two every month or so. That first year was just pretty slim. Of course eventually the flood gates opened but that is when the tsunami of shovel ware hit also. If you can find a few quality games that can last you a few weeks or even a month or two to master or just stay entertaining then several new releases will be out and maybe you can strike onto another one. Of course people buying the Amico Christmas 2021 are going to boot up with 70, 80 maybe more games in the store and are going to have a much easier time staying back from the release curve.

I'm honestly not sure how many other game systems in history have launched with 30+ games let alone 50. And certainly not all curated and highly above average.  Granted our games are smaller... but thats yet another cool advantage we have with the machine!

I hope you offer a discounted bundle with all 50 launch games i fo.plan on buying all.  Friends and I are planning game nights on.off days

4 hours ago, IntellivisionDude said:

On the topic of stories in games. My favorite games of all time have stories in them. Okami, Paper Mario, Dark Souls, Earthbound, GTA San Andreas, Red Dead Redemption. Nothing too serious. Easy to follow story. Dark Souls can be convoluted but the story doesn't even matter in that one. 

 

Arcade style games are fun too. But in a different way. They are good for some quick fun. But most times i prefer a good story. 

Those are all action adventure or action RPG. This is a genre I also love. Deus Ex (the first game), System Shock 1 and 2, Gothic, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, and even, to some degree, the BioShock series are among my favorites.

However, I guess my taste is more eclectic than yours. Among my favorite games, there are also games like Total Annihilation, SpaceChem or Trackmania. If I had to make a top 100 list, RPG and adventure games would be only a minority.

Reading the story in Total Annihilation annoyed me. It was completely pointless and just a waste of time. It was even worse for SpaceChem. Not only was it pointless, but it was so disconnected from the game that it felt dumb. I agree there are a few games outside of the adventure / RPG genre where the background story did add some flavor. Thief is an example of this. However, those games are exceptions. Generally, I'm just annoyed by stories.

I know some people are motivated by stories, so I'm not against having them as an option, but I'd prefer that to be only an option. Just give me the levels one after the other.

4 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

For me, it was because it was "Career" mode.  What kind of boxing career had only 6 fights?  Tekken & VF are different beasts and are arcade games first.  But for a home system with an entire training before the fight mode... I expected a LOT more.

[Yoda voice] Path to frustration, anger, and hate, expectations are.

Which makes me think... Next time you see haters saying Amico will fail, give them copies of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I'm sure they need it. 😉

4 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

And then a 6 year old niece or nephew will come by and you'll be like... "Have you ever played Math Fun?" 

Actually... when you see what I'm doing with it... you'll see it's actually very cool.  And can be played by all age/skill levels with the Karma Gaming Engine.  And a GREAT license (sorry Electric Company... you've been replaced) that has info and learning about animals as well. 

 

People might say I'm weird, but I love doing mental calculation. When I was in school, we used to have competition about this. I also loved to watch TV shows like "Des chiffres et des lettres" (in the UK it's called Countdown) and try to find solutions.

Of course, I want something a bit harder than 5 + 7 (unless I'm forced to use the common core method, in which case 5 + 7 is too complicated for me).

48 minutes ago, Papy said:

People might say I'm weird, but I love doing mental calculation. When I was in school, we used to have competition about this. I also loved to watch TV shows like "Des chiffres et des lettres" (in the UK it's called Countdown) and try to find solutions.

 

Of course, I want something a bit harder than 5 + 7 (unless I'm forced to use the common core method, in which case 5 + 7 is too complicated for me).

The way I'm redesigning it is by people first entering in your age so we at least know which area of problems to start in... then the Karma Gaming Engine will take over as your start to play so it recognizes if the questions are too hard, easy or just right.  Kinda cool being able to compete against a 7 year old and your both really trying hard and the 7 year old could beat you. 

5 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

And then a 6 year old niece or nephew will come by and you'll be like... "Have you ever played Math Fun?" 

Actually... when you see what I'm doing with it... you'll see it's actually very cool.  And can be played by all age/skill levels with the Karma Gaming Engine.  And a GREAT license (sorry Electric Company... you've been replaced) that has info and learning about animals as well. 

 

Great! I picked up the 2 Electric Co. games for my kiddo when she got old enough. Glad to hear that it's getting revamped!

2 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

I'm honestly not sure how many other game systems in history have launched with 30+ games let alone 50.

I thought you said 40. If it's 50 then awesome! 

I'm still not buying Math Fun. I do that crap for work.  😂

And I think Apple Arcade is the first with 50 launch titles... if you can call that a system. Service seems more appropriate.

56 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

The way I'm redesigning it is by people first entering in your age so we at least know which area of problems to start in... then the Karma Gaming Engine will take over as your start to play so it recognizes if the questions are too hard, easy or just right.  Kinda cool being able to compete against a 7 year old and your both really trying hard and the 7 year old could beat you. 

Will the new Math Fun also teach tricks used for mental calculation?

For example, the way I would solve 33 x 26 mentally is :

(33 x 27) - 33

[(30+3) x (30-3)] - 33

[(30x30) - (3x3)] - 33

(900 - 9) - 33

891 - 33

(891 - 30) - 3

861 - 3

858

For those who never participated in mental calculation competitions, this may look complicated, but when we are used to it, we find the solution very quickly using this trick. When I was a kid, I would find the solution of something this easy in less than two seconds (and I just realized that 37 years later, I really need to practice!).

Amico's controller could really be helpful here. What I'm thinking is the Karma engine could use the screen on the controller of the weaker player to display a hint like (a+b) x (a-b) = a² - b² before the problem appears on the TV in order to give him an edge.

My god. Here I am, being excited about doing maths again. I think I really need to grow up.

16 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

But the great news is that its very seemless and quick to go back into the menu and into a new game.  Doesn't take minutes like the other machines.  Yet another one of my pet peeves in the current home console scene.

Totally share that pet peeve, which reminds me of another: logo screens you can't bypass. 

The only way I could feel good about clients forcing us to put in logo screens that couldn't be skipped is that's usually where we hid all the loading events, so no loading screens after that.

Still skippable logos would be nice.