Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

I guess I'll chime in with my unnecessary take on the event. Yeah, the delay sucks. I get it though. 2020 is a write off for humanity.

I like the look of most of the games so far, and the ones we've seen before are improving greatly. 

I like 'em all, except this one...

Can I choose to be a cat in this? 

I could not EVER, EVER, EVER lower myself to be a *are you kidding me?* Dog! 

49 minutes ago, Tavi said:

Like others have said, the delay does give developers a lot more time to work on their games for the system, which in turn I hope means more games being available at release.

Maybe Tommy can address this, but is there a rough number of how many games they’d max-out at in the store at launch that is different now that the launch is in April vs. when it was going to be October?

As much as we’d all probably want “as much as possible” at launch, from a business point of view is there a cutoff number where you say, “Yeah, we could make more games available with the extra window, but let’s cap it at ____ and not overwhelm people.” Or, “Games that we had planned to release right after launch need to be delayed so they get their week or two promotion on the home screen.” 

Or do you say, “Screw it! We’re celebrating this delayed release and anything that is 100% complete is going in the store!”  

6 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

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.

Thank you for your post.  You have our support.   Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.  

Hey Tommy,

Loved the presentation...so did my wife and daughter. One thing caught my eye for certain was that slick menu system/UI you had when you showed the skiing game load. I have to ask...is this an Electric Playground Easter egg or do floating robotic TV's haunt your dreams  CONFIRM or DENY?

    ====    ?????

Plus...Love the "10-20 min" on there (assuming its typical game time) that stat right there is solid GOLD for parents who may not play all that much.

Cheers,

The Wren

Hot off the press if it hasn't been mentioned yet. HALO INFINITE has been delayed till 2021. Hmm seems familiar.  Its becoming a trend 

3 hours ago, Swami said:

You have to check the checkpoint letter you reached. When you finish Z you are done. 

Ah, ok, so now I saw the letters, almost there then (U), thanks!

7 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

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.  

 

 

I'm going to need my own USB charger hub for all the controllers lol. 

I enjoyed the videos after some reflection.  At first I was struck by the thought that they looked like mobile games, but after thinking about the price, the audience, and especially the card games and casual games, I've turned around on it.  My kids don't care much about graphics, as long as it's not the pixelated style that they call old games.  The board and card social games I think will be pretty popular.  Being able to play the games without having to keep up with pieces or shuffle cards will make it easier to get into those games.  So the announcement of the new family and board games was maybe the best for me.

One thing I think is noticeably missing, or at least hasn't been shown yet, is a Mario Party type game.  That's my niece's favorite game to play with friends and with all the tech and inputs available on the Amico controllers it would be perfect I think.

9 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Still LOTS of work to go on this one.  You'll notice the 3 different times we've shown it, it's gotten better and more detailed.  And will keep getting better and better!  Especially, now that we have even more time to make it great.

And remember... a FREE pack-in that comes with EVERY Amico system.  Anyone who says this is a "Flash" game has clearly never really played a flash game.  I understand people may not like the art style, but they should get more accurate and better references to make their point. 

 

 

 

 

I really don’t understand the flak Astrosmash gets 🤔 The visuals look bright and immersive, physics look fun....like a pick up and play shooter type game should have. With months to go before launch I can’t wait to see what it looks like...and it’s a pack in game!

39 minutes ago, Relicgamer said:

Hot off the press if it hasn't been mentioned yet. HALO INFINITE has been delayed till 2021. Hmm seems familiar.  Its becoming a trend 

I’m shocked they are still launching the system in November...probably extremely limited quantities no doubt.

1 hour ago, Jake67 said:

Maybe Tommy can address this, but is there a rough number of how many games they’d max-out at in the store at launch that is different now that the launch is in April vs. when it was going to be October?

 

As much as we’d all probably want “as much as possible” at launch, from a business point of view is there a cutoff number where you say, “Yeah, we could make more games available with the extra window, but let’s cap it at ____ and not overwhelm people.” Or, “Games that we had planned to release right after launch need to be delayed so they get their week or two promotion on the home screen.” 

 

Or do you say, “Screw it! We’re celebrating this delayed release and anything that is 100% complete is going in the store!”  

I think they are looking to have around 30 in store and 20 or so ready for scheduled release 

9 minutes ago, Alpha82 said:

I think they are looking to have around 30 in store and 20 or so ready for scheduled release 

That's my point though... what you’re saying (if I’m clear) is scheduled release of 10/10. But now with a 6-month delay, that’s about 12 games (assuming two a month) that would have been released after launch until April. What happens with those games? Still the numbers you’re saying, or more because of the delay?

I guess a better way to phrase my question would be whether we’ll see those games that were expected to be new, bi-weekly releases between 10/10 and April 2021 all in the store on release day in April, or will we still just see the same amount of games in April that we would have seen in October?

I’m sure part of the answer is they don’t know because I’d be surprised if they have it mapped out now what games they’d be releasing for sure in December, January, February, etc. Some games slip because of development issues while others move along faster than expected. 

Not a huge deal because even with what was planned to be in-store in October would be plenty to keep all us a busy in April until the bi-weekly releases kick in. Just kind of wondered if there was a plan for more in-store games in April than we would have seen in October. 

50 minutes ago, Jake67 said:

That's my point though... what you’re saying (if I’m clear) is scheduled release of 10/10. But now with a 6-month delay, that’s about 12 games (assuming two a month) that would have been released after launch until April. What happens with those games? Still the numbers you’re saying, or more because of the delay?

 

I guess a better way to phrase my question would be whether we’ll see those games that were expected to be new, bi-weekly releases between 10/10 and April 2021 all in the store on release day in April, or will we still just see the same amount of games in April that we would have seen in October?

 

I’m sure part of the answer is they don’t know because I’d be surprised if they have it mapped out now what games they’d be releasing for sure in December, January, February, etc. Some games slip because of development issues while others move along faster than expected. 

 

Not a huge deal because even with what was planned to be in-store in October would be plenty to keep all us a busy in April until the bi-weekly releases kick in. Just kind of wondered if there was a plan for more in-store games in April than we would have seen in October. 

I don’t think We would see more than 5 or 10 additional games than that, if that because every game gets time in the spotlight of the store the more we have to start with the more they have to back track later 

First we get covid, then Amico gets delayed and now college football is going down the tubes!

Please, please, please make this year go away. 😭 

3 hours ago, PeterPepper said:

I'm going to need my own USB charger hub for all the controllers lol. 

Get one of these,its awesome ! $60.

It has 6 USB charging ports in the back. From New Wave Toys.

I use it with my 4way cords from My Arcade to hook up 24 mini arcade machines at once.👍😊

4 hours ago, The Wren said:

Hey Tommy,

 

Loved the presentation...so did my wife and daughter. One thing caught my eye for certain was that slick menu system/UI you had when you showed the skiing game load. I have to ask...is this an Electric Playground Easter egg or do floating robotic TV's haunt your dreams  CONFIRM or DENY?

 

    ====    ?????

Plus...Love the "10-20 min" on there (assuming its typical game time) that stat right there is solid GOLD for parents who may not play all that much.

 

Cheers,

 

The Wren

 

 

I thought it looked like a cross between the 321 Penguins Ship:

And Mike TV from ReBoot.  Does anyone remember this show?

Not that it's a bad thing.. Can't wait to see more games and info!!!

On a side note----

We need a Bump in the night game:

And Filmore!

If you haven't seen this - It's made like a 70's Police show. The Safety Patrol are like the police officers of the school.

7 hours ago, Blarneo said:

I guess I'll chime in with my unnecessary take on the event. Yeah, the delay sucks. I get it though. 2020 is a write off for humanity.

 

I like the look of most of the games so far, and the ones we've seen before are improving greatly. 

I like 'em all, except this one...

 

 

Can I choose to be a cat in this? 

I could not EVER, EVER, EVER lower myself to be a *are you kidding me?* Dog! 

 

 

I'd like it to have more animals (cat, steer, penguin, what else?), even if it is limited to four players. Do they move around while your choosing or waiting, like the Wii or xbox avatars?

No resemblance between the two pigsy’s

3 hours ago, wolfy62 said:

Get one of these,its awesome ! $60.

It has 6 USB charging ports in the back. From New Wave Toys.

I use it with my 4way cords from My Arcade to hook up 24 mini arcade machines at once.👍😊

 

Only 24 at a time? That doesn't  sound like you. Get some more cables. 

24 minutes ago, Utopia said:

3 hours ago, wolfy62 said:

Only 24 at a time? That doesn't  sound like you. Get some more cables. 

I love my tempest from New Wave. I'm going to get Dragon's Lair as well. When they finally come out. Speaking of that...  Any chance of Dragon's Lair/Space Ace/ETC coming out on Amico? Not sure how you could Amico-fy it. But it never hurts to ask.

12 hours ago, wolfy62 said:

I have one in my store shopping cart.

Before I make the purchase,does it look even better in person than it does on the website?

You can make my final decision for me,no pressure !😄

Order larger then you think you’ll need if ordering for your wife. I ordered a large for my wife (she’s typically a medium) and it was way small. Gave it to my 13 year old niece (she loves it); Mine however fit perfect. 

20 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

The other big thing I believe some folks might be forgetting is the pricing.  Trying to compare a $7 Amico game to a normal $60 game is apples to oranges.  Even a $20 game!  Although no one has mentioned that a game like Rigid Force Redux sells for $20 on the Switch yet the Amico version will be half of that AND include multiplayer.

Hinting at the estimated price tag of the AMICO games and the gap compared to much higher priced games on the other systems for the best of reasons does not take into account that certain people will never stop complaining no matter what they paid for a game (even if they got it for free). There will always be the ones telling you how much that game sucked, how bad the sound and the ganeplay was and so on. 

9 hours ago, Alpha82 said:

I don’t think We would see more than 5 or 10 additional games than that, if that because every game gets time in the spotlight of the store the more we have to start with the more they have to back track later 

As of today the official Amico web site still says "Amico will launch with around 30 games".  So yes, I also expect that number to go up to at least forty but we'll see if they update the web site.

20 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Totally agree.

And again... what folks should find interesting is that Astrosmash, Battle Tanks & Cornhole (the 3 game screenshots shown) are all different from an art and style perspective.  Something for everyone.  Appealing to the non or casual gamer masses.  Not just retro folks and not just hardcores.  Much broader, much wider. 

Oh well, I was somehow hoping the AMICO games would have a certain look and feel. Back in the old days you could almost immediately tell from the looks if it was a Atari, Intellivision or ColecoVision game without seeing the actual console.
Even on the Genesis and SNES it was fairly easy to spot the difference on a lot of games as it was decades later on the Wii(U) compared to the other consoles around then.
But I do get the intention of using different artwork, styles, themes - the more variety, the more people attracted.
I'm just a little too oldschool on this one, I guess...is someone else here feeling this way?