Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

On 8/5/2020 at 8:43 PM, swlovinist said:

I wish Tommy and his team nothing but the best with the launch of the Amico.  I am signed up to purchase a founders edition, and there was some games that have gotten my interest.   Skiing looks great and cant wait to play that one.   With that being said, I was honest in my video and think that there are some things to address in terms of the graphics of some games shown today.  Moving to a spring launch might be really good for them.  4Q is crowded and this will give them more development time to refine some games.  I am looking forward to seeing what they do with the MLB license.  

Oh wow!  Yo John!  Haven't seen you in here before.  Thanks for stopping by!

Yes.  As I mentioned a few comments above, I thought your coverage and concerns were very fair.  And we will continue finishing the products to make them look even better.  You'll notice that theme throughout the last year of showing footage.  Each time we show any of the games... they keep getting better and better.  The idea was to take people with us on this journey... to see the games being developed from start to end.  Different than how most companies do it.  But that's okay.  We want to be unique and different in every aspect we can.

On 8/5/2020 at 8:45 PM, IMBerzerk said:

@Tommy Tallarico

 

Finally watched the video, as I was at work when it came up.  I should have banged in sick for it!  LOL!

 

Impressive is the word that immediately comes to my mind, and backing up the hype.  What I liked most about it is that many of the programmers were part of it, and they were giving their opinions and thoughts about the system and programming games for it.  They all seemed very enthusiastic about the whole process and what the console hardware has to offer.  That in itself is a huge positive as you know if they like it, some really good designs and quality games will come from it.

 

Speaking from experience with not only Intellivision, but MAME and Retropie... this system really brings the boom for modern technology.  It's definitely NOT a RPi4 hidden in a large piece of plastic... so the haters need to stop comparing it to a Retropie system.  From the actual footage shown, it will be a fun, entertaining and visually appealing system with sharp and well designed graphics and killer sound! 

 

My likes... Battle Tanks, Evel Knievel (grew up wanting to be him!), Corn Hole, Astrosmash and definitely Bomb Squad.  To pinpoint that game for a moment... that's the first time I have ever heard of a system being the actual prop in the game.  What a fantastic concept!!  Can't wait to see that one in play!   The idea of having to work with others, much like you do in an Escape Room is an incredible and well thought game concept.  Kudos!!   Moon Patrol is completely insane!!  It was awesome to hear from the actual designer/producer of the original game and that he was totally on board for the remake.  Great stuff!

 

Dislikes... well... some of the games look a little too flashy and "cell phone" like.  Missile Command and Spades look like something I'd play on a tablet.  Not really console enough in my eyes, but again, I'm holding off until I play them.. and I will.  If that is the only complaint, then well... it's not really a big one.  I'm sure the vast library and style of games that you can play on it will more than make up for it.  There was no video of MLB Baseball!!

 

Suggestion:  a more Poker influenced game much like the original LV Blackjack and Poker.  That would be amazing!   Would have been great to see MLB Baseball in action, and from what it looks like Snafoo and Flying Circus (Biplanes?).  Bottom line... more game video.  I thought the whole hour plus video was very good, and a very good sales point (not pitch, we're beyond cheap sales pitches).  It gave a future buyer some real evidence that this is going to be a special console.  I enjoyed listening to the comments and hearing the pride of the developers from all over the world.  That was fun to watch.

 

Great news... and sad news too.  Sorry about your sister Tommy... My only sister, 2 years older than me shares the same birthday as yours, probably different year... 10-10-67.  But I know what it's like to loose someone so close and dear to you. 

 

"Push the envelope, watch it bend."   - Lateralus, Tool.

 

Rgds, James (IMB)

 

PS... sound and looks like Earthworm Jim will be Intellivision's "Deadpool" ... hahaha... "pull my finger!"  classic!

Thanks so much for your thoughts, comments and feedback!

Great stuff!

Glad you enjoyed the event!

On 8/5/2020 at 9:39 PM, Loafer said:

Presentation was flawless at my end. I even paused it for a bit due to work stuff and it picked up fine after unpausing, no lag

 

High points of presentation:

- Intros to a lot of the key players (team/devs).  How everyone seemed to show genuine enthusiasm for the system, the controllers and the Intellivision Amico vision

- Earthworm Jim 4 looked great, simply great. loved the match 3 joke and reaction.  This should bring some serious attention when gameplay videos (ie: with enemies) is shown. Obviously there is no point showing more until say... March, then March you show killer gameplay just before launch. The game doesn't even need to be a launch title, the gameplay demo will carry you to a great launch

- Concrete retail partners.  This adds legitimacy to the console. I don't need it, but some out there obviously do and obviously the console itself needs it to succeed.

- Bomb Squad was probably my biggest surprise.  not only did the game look fun, but the video presentation of it worked.  I'm big on humour and John Callaghn was hilarious.  More of that game and him please 

- Space Strike:  Star Castle?  Did someone say Star Castle?  Holy shit this game looked fantastic. I think this could do for Amico what Geometry Wars did when it rehashed Robotron and found a lot of fans.  Well done, day 1 purchase!

- Break Out: there was a real passion behind a lot of people showing off their games and the relationship with the Amico team but Alex Noisy (sp?) did the best job of them all with his articulated commentary.  The fact Break Out marries gameplay with music isn't a bad thing too, brings something different to the paddle genre

- Moon Patrol: other levels look great too, and really nice to see some level of involvement from Scott Tsumura!

- Being an Amiga fan, the name Bitmap Brothers hit home; so hopefully Liar's Dice will be fun

- I'm a HUGE fan of pinball, so don't think for a second I didn't notice what was on the wall of Barnstorm Games' office!  We want pinball and an Amico Timeshock, arguably the best digital pinball game every released, would be welcomed!  EK will be a fun game too, I realize pinball was not present at the presentation lol

- Rigid Force Redux Enhanced should fill that classic shooter hole we crave!

 

Lower points of presentation:

- Confirmation launch date will not match up with my retirement date and let me be clear @Tommy Tallarico, I am NOT delaying my retirement just for you!

- I love what they are doing with Amico's menu but it did very much feel "early" (which Tommy stated in the video).  There is def some work needed here

- Staff training is not up to snuff, I caught a few people saying "The Amico" instead of Amico.  Crack the whip Tommy!

- I knew it wasn't going to make it in but I was so wishing to see gameplay of baseball (or hockey)

- Personally this close to the old launch date, I would have loved to see some press guys also booting up and playing some of the Amico games.  Until yesterday, this originally was supposed to be the full reveal and I expected more Joe Schmoe's having their hands on it right in the stream.  Not a complaint, but an honest observation.  it's moot though because I'm not saying this from a position of doubt and I think a delayed launch is for the better.

- You need to find a way to get a Horizon Chase style arcade racing game on the system, pronto.

 

Conclusion:

First more of a conclusion on some of the reaction here:  I don't get how some people can use the word "mistake" to describe the delay.  For a various reasons (mostly COVID19), they are simply not ready.  If everything has been delayed including testing, certification, etc, then it's not a mistake but a DISASTER of epic proportions to go ahead with the launch. We've seen big market items get delayed (including high profile games) just weeks before launch. That stings a heck of a lot more.  Here we have plenty of heads up and frankly, it is what it is and it allows me to get my after-retirement video blog ongoing prior to launch! LOL

 

Conclusion on event:

It succeeded on what it set out to do, show more games and especially introduce the world to Amico devs.  As disappointed as I am on the delay, due to covid19 and maybe other stuff for sure it's not ready and rushing to try and make it ready within these uncertain times is asking for a disaster.  Now let's look at the positives of the delay.

 

- obviously, more games can be polished and finished

- the console's development can proceed through some polish (boot up front end) and certification can take the time it needs

- I know that there was a hint that an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres show was going to play a role. Man, it is not time for that right now but in 5 months from now? That could work great, time heals all wounds.

- having more time to launch allows you to line up more devs, more retail partners, etc.

 

That's about it.  I want more but I'll take what was shown today and I hope you guys really use this monthly youtube series to mentioned to really open things up a bit

Fantastic post and round up of your thoughts.  I really appreciate the feedback and comments.

Thanks!!!

On 8/6/2020 at 2:56 AM, IntelliMission said:

I liked everything about the event except for the following details:

 

- The delay (but it's not really their fault and it's probably a good decision)

 

- The high-profile Distribution Department guy and his daughter looked too serious (not trying to be nitpicking)

Do you mean Phil & Kelly?  That isn't his daughter.  They are actually super funny folks, but we had to cut out a lot of their banter and stuff due to time.

btw... Kelly worked at Nintendo for almost 10 years!  We have people from Nintendo who worked in Sales, Distribution, Marketing, PR, Product Development and of course... the former president of Nintendo Software Technology (Nintendo's US in-house development team... that did games like Wave Race 64, etc.).

On 8/6/2020 at 2:56 AM, IntelliMission said:

 

- The fox game (there's gotta be something for everyone, but this game screams solitary experience for me)

It's mostly a single player experience, but we added a really fun versus mode for some of the levels as its own stand alone multiplayer experience.

On 8/6/2020 at 2:56 AM, IntelliMission said:

 

It was great to confirm that the console is a reality and many of the people working with Tommy are plain geniuses (the EWJ guys, the Bomb Squad guy, the guys who make Breakout...).

Thank-you!

Mission Accomplished!

On 8/6/2020 at 3:39 AM, themewsh said:

All caught up!
 

Finish: Matte woodgrain! Matte finish all day, every day.

 

Delays: Delay was handled perfectly, consumers were kept in the loop for months on the possibility and the reasons are understandable.

Teams: The people involved in this journey project a passion for the mission, and I think that is something special. It was cool to hear from some faces behind the journey.

Games: Keep the sneak peeks and hands-on demonstrations coming! Not every game is going to be for every consumer...AND THATS OK! I didn’t have any surprise changes to my “top 5” after this, but it was cool to see new games.

 

Im still excited for my VIP pre-order and look forward to watching the product’s journey to market unfold. 

 

@Tommy Tallarico - thanks for including us along the way.

Thank-you!

Our goal was to hit on all the points you enjoyed.

And YES!!!  More sneak peeks and hands on demo's will be coming for sure!!

Glad you pointed out that "not every game is going to be for every consumer... AND THAT'S OK!" 

I completely agree 100%.

On 8/6/2020 at 6:07 AM, Zee said:

One thing I noticed when Tommy turned on the Amico, went to the menu and picked skiiing, they briefly cut away from the screen and showed Tommy holding the controller.  I wonder if that was due to a glitch while loading skiing?  Seems strange that they didn't show whole transition on screen from picking skiing to seeing it load up.

No.  Not a glitch at all.  Would have been boring waiting 15 seconds (or whatever) while the game loaded in.  You see the LOADING on screen after the cut away.  One of the final things that is done in game development is optimization.  All of our loading times will get smaller and shorter as the games start to be completed.  If I would have shown 15 seconds of Skiing just loading... some folks would have complained and commented on how crappy our load times are, how disappointed they are, etc., etc.... when in reality they would have nothing at all to worry about.  It's all part of the game development process that folks wouldn't have understood.

Hope that helps to clear things up.

Thanks!

On 8/6/2020 at 6:31 AM, Loafer said:

Sure, It is also possible the cut away was intended to not show a lengthy loading sequence because the internet would run away with this with “Amico has LONG LOADING TIMES”. At this moment, the game is likely not optimized so it would be misleading to show the actual loading time.

BINGO!

On 8/6/2020 at 6:56 AM, mtamborra said:

So, I noticed many of the games accommodate more than 2 players (locally) but it just has 2 controllers.  I'm aware cell phones can be used as controllers for people to join in but my question is that if additional controllers are purchased (I'd prefer everyone that plays gets to use the awesome amico controller), will there be some kind of charging dock/station to house additional controllers to keep them charged?

Additional controllers will be sold at launch and we have been working on a docking station for additional controllers, but will come down to compliance testing in different countries in order to see it on launch.  If not... I would imagine soon after.  That being said... you can plug any of the controllers into a wall (or any power brick/charging device) with a standard USB-C cable AND... don't forget that even if you're playing with 2 controllers... you can have 2 more docked in the base and charging as well.  

On 8/6/2020 at 7:16 AM, nightmonkeyii said:

The only issue with the controller that im thinking about, is if the paint starts disappearing from use. (The gold sections)

No paint used on the gold sections.

On 8/6/2020 at 7:20 AM, Juice said:

This event was not kid friendly that's all I'm gonna say, it was like a documentary your parents would force you to sit through,

That's probably a good thing considering it wasn't meant for kids.

On 8/6/2020 at 7:20 AM, Juice said:

I only found one kid reaction and he was not pleased.

That was a teenager and they are definitely our least likely audience.

On 8/6/2020 at 7:20 AM, Juice said:

Will kids be calling their friends saying hey did you see that live Amico event on YouTube? Can we admit this was geared towards an older generation?

Yes.  Correct.  I agree.  This event was not geared towards kids.

On 8/6/2020 at 7:30 AM, jaybird3rd said:

It's not my impression that this video was intended primarily for kids.  As I said before, videos like this have a specific target audience in mind and are made for a specific purpose, so people who are outside of that audience might not get as much out of it.  I'm sure there will be more kid-friendly videos as the release date gets closer.

Totally!

On 8/6/2020 at 7:48 AM, jaybird3rd said:

Tommy would have to be the one to answer definitively, but off the top of my head, some possibilities that come to mind are: journalists, investors, industry analysts, retail buyers, game developers ... and parents and grandparents, of course.

 

The assumption that they would make this presentation for kids doesn't make sense to me.  Much of the information in it (such as distribution partnerships) isn't relevant to kids and clearly wasn't intended for them.  In addition, the release date is now months away, and kids have notoriously short attention spans, so why begin marketing to them now when the system won't be available until April?

Dropping truths.

🚀🤩🏆

On 8/6/2020 at 7:55 AM, squirrelgotdead said:

Bolded the answer. This was an event serving the purposes for and in lieu of no E3. E3 is very much for the formal business side of things. It was to begin getting more formal media exposure, gain new investors, and find more store shelf space, first. For fans second.

Exactly.  This was a bit like our E3.  Lots of business type things happening. 

And again... the goal was to show legitimacy.  Instead of people thinking it's some Kickstarter with me making this in a garage, people can now start to understand that hundreds of people from around the world are making this happen and are as passionate and excited as I am.

On 8/6/2020 at 7:57 AM, Zee said:

Others have mentioned the fact that this delay until April probably means we get more games at launch which is good news.  Not sure what was officially slated for October in terms of games, but would love to see MLB Baseball in April as well as Cloudy Mountain. 

Count on it!

MLB just in time for Spring and the launch of the new season!

Always the BEST time to release a sports game.

On 8/6/2020 at 8:06 AM, Juice said:

Well they will have to appeal to kids at one point, you answered my question this was not for them so we can agree on that. Kids ask parents to buy them something, parents don't just spend that much money and say here you go. This is gonna be an uphill battle.

I would just ask that you wait til you see our actual family and kid marketing (as well as a whole bunch of things we haven't announced) before judging.  Marketing anything brand new is an uphill battle.  But one that we have the right people for and one that we intend on winning.

On 8/6/2020 at 8:06 AM, Juice said:

I see mostly positive comments from people who have been following the Amico but mostly negative ones from people who are new to it.

Completely not true.  Read the 500+ comments on the event video.  Overwhelming majority of brand new people seeing, watching, learning about it for the first time and absolutely loving it and/or excited about it.  Don't get caught up in a handful of negative gamers and believe that it is the "majority" or even our target audience.  It's the equivalent of a heavy metal lover reviewing country music.

On 8/6/2020 at 8:06 AM, Juice said:

I posted a video of a father and son yesterday and they did do another reaction I'm not going to post it because it's negative, but this is good feedback from people out of the amico bubble. 

Teenagers are not our target audience.

On 8/6/2020 at 8:06 AM, Juice said:

I think they would have better success marketing this as a board game machine and not a video game console, still add the retro games on there but just market it as a board game machine. I think that would be more effective in bringing in non-gamers than saying hey this is a video game console for non-gamers should be a board game console. That's just my opinion though.

Yep.  We are definitely going after the board game crowd and our marketing will appeal to those folks and be targeted as such.

On 8/6/2020 at 8:13 AM, squirrelgotdead said:

They haven't really even shown many of their youth-oriented properties. Now with Mattel and Sesame Street onboard, you will see more of that. 

Exactly.  We very quickly glossed over those.  Could have spent 5 minutes on each if we wanted.  But it wasn't our audience and we have many more kids things to reveal.  If we would have spent a considerable amount of time on Sesame Street (for example)... people would have complained I'm sure.

On 8/6/2020 at 8:18 AM, mtamborra said:

The way I see it, even if this system flops its still worth getting.  Hear me out for a sec.  The Sega Dreamcast flopped but I got YEARS of fun with people playing Powerstone and Powerstone 2 with people way after the system was "dead".

Some games are TIMELESS.  Another example, I still play Fusion Frenzy (original classic xbox) with people when they come over (I just did two weeks ago actually).  Its a million more times fun than mario party IMO.

This system looks like it will have many TIMELESS multiplayer games that are easy to pick up and play and are great for playing when having people over.  If the system flops, who cares? if you have a big library of games you can squeeze lots of life out of it.

Why do I think it may flop?  I'm not a an expert on the market but anyone I've talked to randomly about this is like "what the heck is amico"?

They just had a big event yesterday and I can't find any info about this anywhere on IGN.COM

I typed in "Amico forums" in google and this is all that really comes up.

I typed "amico" into amazon and all that comes up is stuff like "Amico ARC-160D, 160 Amp Stick ARC IGBT Inverter DC Welder 115/230 Dual Voltage Welding Soldering"

I guess in a nutshell, it seems many of the games will have infinite replay value, therefore, to me, it doesn't matter if it flops or not but so far, most people I know have not even heard of this system.

We haven't started advertising.  And we won't until next year.

The folks who read IGN really aren't our target market.  We didn't even reach out to them for the event.  They've done stories on us in the past and will continue to do so when the time is right.

On 8/6/2020 at 8:56 AM, xucaen said:

Is there any truth to the rumors that they are delaying release until April 2021? 

Yes.

On 8/6/2020 at 9:08 AM, atarifan88 said:

I was hoping they fixed the camera from zooming in and out during gameplay.  IMO, this makes it annoying to play a game.  I thought I read a while ago they were going to fix that?

Yep!  Already fixed.  That was older footage.  Camera angles are a lot "tighter" (i.e. up close) as well.  But we wanted to show the environments around the tracks for this demo.  LOTS of graphics, lighting, extras and visual effects still to be added for this one.

On 8/6/2020 at 9:26 AM, Intellivision Master said:

https://youtu.be/DcctypmgKME

 

This is from Snestastic.  It's his reaction of the Amico event.

Love it!

On 8/6/2020 at 9:42 AM, bigdaddygamestudio said:

cnet , im not to crazy about the title and by line..

 

https://www.cnet.com/news/intellivision-amico-vs-atari-vcs-comparing-two-baffling-retro-consoles/

Yep.  This is what happens when they give the story to the snarky hardcore gamer instead of a casual or non-gamer or family person.  Amico is clearly isn't targeted to the author and that's ok. 

Lots of incorrect info in the article.  But that's okay as well.  We have a really cool CNET video feature coming up that won't be authored by hipsters.   

At least he got the family gaming portion correct.

On 8/6/2020 at 9:50 AM, cmart604 said:

My 15 year old son watched it with me and he thought it was great. 

@Yarzzz is confused by your comment because it didn't match the narrative he has decided upon.  If you don't agree with Yarzzz... it's confusing to him.

And they call me the narcissist?

On 8/6/2020 at 10:18 AM, bigdaddygamestudio said:

Missile command to me looks like they are trying to do too much. Play area is really confined. Cities are too big as are the launchers.  There shouldnt be large missiles flying in a rectangle that already has too little area. The whole game is just way way too busy.

  I am a HUGE missile command fan, one of my favs back in the day.  The beauty of the game was the cool expanding explosions set off by your rockets.  The missiles coming in were at least somewhat proportional in that you really couldnt see the missile itself.  The greatest  part of that game was in the presentation and in the almost zen quality of the explosions ( and the neat part if even if your targeting was off, the explosion still might make up for your miss )  Again, this is just my opinion, but I think they are missing what made this game great to begin with. 

Fair comments... especially considering we were showing off the multiplayer aspects throughout.  I think you'll definitely love the single player mode though.  Much different vibe (and insanity) than what we've shown.  The first 10 levels are pretty chill (but in a hectic way).  Not til you start getting to LEVEL 15 does it start to get hectic. 

If you're a fan of Missile Command I think you're really gonna love what we've done with it.

On 8/6/2020 at 10:21 AM, bigdaddygamestudio said:

this one is interesting, I want to take a look at it again, with another pass in smoothing out the animation, and adding Shadowing ( this is a must) this game may look a whole lot better with just a few tweaks

Yep!  We are in the early stages of this one and lots more to do!  That's why we didn't show too much of it.  Lots more to come!

On 8/6/2020 at 10:25 AM, cmart604 said:

Lol. We watch tons of nerd stuff together. He’s a good kid. 

Good parenting as well I suspect!