Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

On 8/11/2020 at 5:09 AM, N0mi said:

Totally agree that Cornhole and Skiing shine. Showing work in progress might be pleasing some folks, but it can also leave people disappointed and irritated (e.g. wondering if Amico isn't for them). Since that presentation seemed not to be aimed at Amico's target audience as far as I understand it, in this case I'd prefer as much content as available to be shown. It may help the games to become better and issues to be resolved. Certainly it often is a question of style or taste (pixel art or a camera zooming constantly in and out as examples) . Yeah, you can't have it both ways and you can't make it right for everyone. 

Totally fair comment and mirror's my previous post as well (can't please everyone).  A lot of gamers and retro fans really like the style of Skiing, Cloudy Mountain, Night Stalker, Breakout.  Some people LOVE the look of the new Earthworm Jim and others HATE it.  But it does come down to who are audience is.  You put the graphics of Fortnite or Call of Duty in front of a non-gaming or casual mom/dad/grandparent/family and then show them Candy Crush and ask them which one they prefer to PLAY.  Candy Crush will win every time.

Knowing and understanding your audience is vital to success when you are creating a product for the masses.  We know who are target market is and we know what they want.  So far, we are delivering all all fronts and for a wide range of demographics.  Ones who feel left behind and ignored by the other big 3 consoles and who are fed up with the solitary and money predatory nature of mobile.

And we have different styles for different folks/demographics.  Very simple concept.  I can guarantee you that our Sesame Street games will not look like Night Stalker.  

And like you mentioned... even after all of that... it is often a question of style and/or taste.

I completely respect and understand that because all anyone can do right now is SEE the games... that graphics will be judged.  Totally fair to do that (and to dislike them or have concerns based on that). 

But I do look forward to folks eventually playing the games and judging them based on gameplay and fun factor.  Because in the end... it's what matters the most.

Appreciate the dialogue and feedback.

On 8/11/2020 at 7:13 AM, Papa Pete said:

Tommy, have you considered packaging the original version of any "125" game with the modernized recreation in sort of the "Blast from the Past" special edition?  Like getting the original Astrosmash embedded within the new version?  (Maybe a better idea for non-pack-in titles, but you see what I mean)

There has been talk.  Maybe as some type of Easter Egg or part of the physical versions.

Nothing set in stone just yet but an idea we've kicked around more than once. 

On 8/11/2020 at 7:22 AM, Lord Thag said:

When they announced the Amico, the Switch didn't have anything like the multplayer/couch co op library it has now. A list stuff like Towerfall, Hive Jump, Heroes of Hammerwatch, Killer Queen Black etc. Some serious competition now.

Our target audience wouldn't play a single one of those games.  So not really competition in my view.  Board games, puzzles and a deck of cards is more our competition than Heroes of Hammerwatch. 

If we can be more compelling and offer a more unique and fun experience than a puzzle or deck of cards... we'll be golden.  

On 8/11/2020 at 8:12 AM, The_Analog_Kid said:

Tommy, one of the games that I loved as a kid on my Intellivision was B-17 Bomber.  A flight simulator/aerial dogfighter on a game console!  It was such a fun game!  Any plans to bring that one back in some form or another on the Amico?

 

P.S.  Just set you a private message on a separate topic.  Thx!

Yep!

Should be out sometime in 2021.

On 8/11/2020 at 9:42 AM, Scrundle said:

My khaki "Running Man" cap arrived today, don't think I'll be taking it off any time soon!

Cool!  What color did you get?

On 8/11/2020 at 10:08 AM, Relicgamer said:

The highlight for me was seeing all the developers. It put a himan face to all the games showcased also proves this isnt some scheme the haters continue to rant about.  

We'll be releasing separated out parts of the event over the next month or so (we started with Earthworm Jim) so folks can watch "bite-sized" versions (and for folks who never saw the original event). 

The Meet Amico - Developers will be going up today!

4 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Cool!  What color did you get?

 

 

Khaki 🤣

On 8/11/2020 at 10:36 AM, Zee said:

Thanks Tommy, someone else mentioned this as the potential reason too and it makes total sense.

 

While you're checking on messages can you comment on the status of certain Imagic games development if you know?  I'm personally wondering about Microsurgeon if it's under development and is slated for 2021?

Hi!,

Hoping to have Microsurgeon available in the later part of 2021.

Beauty & the Beast and Demon Attack are also on our schedule (but not started yet).

Safe Cracker will more than likely be the first Imagic title that is released.

On 8/11/2020 at 10:38 AM, LePionnier said:

I'm back from vacation. So it's a bit late to talk about my impressions, so I understand if no one is reading the following ! Lol

 

It was a good decision to talk very early about the postponement of the launch date so that we could then focus on the presentation.

I was slightly disappointed that I didn't see any ski cross gameplay.
Regarding all the other titles that we can not wait to see, it is normal that the majority has not finally been revealed (Burger time, Horse Racing, etc.)
since there are still 8 months of waiting and that Intelivision Entertainment must maintain interest during this period.

 

Here is what I really liked about the presentation :

 

The sound from Astrosmash (I was listening through headphones) was really great, and the music was epic.
Tommy, can you confirm that there will be music while we play or it will just be sound?
Hope the music used during the video will be part of the game !

 

 

CornHole: The physics of the bags looks really amazing. It seems that Amico takes into account several elements inside the bag.

Also very interesting the many boards and different location choices.

 

Very happy with the confirmation from Mattel and Sesame Streets. Now that it's official, we can try to guess other associations ! lol

 

I loved the energy of the guy from Choice Provisions! I understand why I loved the majority of their games, and very happy that they are the ones who designed Break Out !

Hope they manage to make a game as good as their Runner series with the Intellivision Running Man !?

 

I am happy with the evolution of Missile Command. Among other things to better see our guns.

 

The presentation for Bomb Squad was truly amazing. I really enjoyed the humor and the concept.

 

Then finally, I love EarthWorm Jim's graphics. I believe the majority of people who worried about it were reassured!

 

 

So it was my favorite, but I liked a lot of other things about this beautiful presentation.

Thank you to the entire Intellivision Entertainment team and everyone working with them.

 

By the way Tommy, did you get the Excel file I sent you about 2 or 3 weeks ago ? (The timing was obviously wrong with all the preparations you had to plan ! Lol)

 

Keep it up, and Tommy, while we're all a little disappointed with the postponement of the launch,
we all understand that it's the right thing to do, and that you've even almost managed to keep that important date !

We all forgive you, and I'm sure the first to approve this new date is your sister ... Rest in peace.

 

Martin Le Pionnier (and those who think like me).

 

 

Thanks!  Glad you enjoyed it and it's great to get a breakdown of what you liked the best.

No, I don't recall getting any kind of spreadsheet from you.  Sorry.

Please resend in PM if you could.

Thanks as always for your continued support!

On 8/11/2020 at 11:39 AM, mtamborra said:

so is the woodgrain one now impossible to get?

They are still available to get as a pre-order right here:
https://www.fig.co/campaigns/amico

On 8/11/2020 at 11:45 AM, GrudgeQ said:

It is still available on fig.co (https://www.fig.co/campaigns/amico ). It isn't the founders, hand number & signed one but does include a few bonuses:

 

$25 RFID Golden Ticket Gift Card

Autographed Exclusive Lenticular Card

25% Off Merchandise Store Promo Code

3 Digital Video Game Soundtrack Albums

What he said.

On 8/11/2020 at 11:46 AM, Intellivision Master said:

It would be cool to have a bonus stage or something in the full version of Moon Patrol where you enter an alien base.  While in the base you're on foot shooting aliens either in a top down view or as side scrolling.

Not running around... but there is a reason you get picked up and dropped off on a space ship.

On 8/11/2020 at 12:00 PM, Intellivision Master said:

To be honest, it looks the same in person.  Not that it's a bad thing.  I think the picture of the shirt really shows the detail.  You know how sometimes when you see something online, it doesn't always look the same or as good in person.  But with this item you can't go wrong.  Don't forget Tommy himself did the design.  Also, notice the Running Man icon on the castle.  I thought that was pretty cool.

Hahahha... thanks!  I was bored one night at 2am so decided to make it. 

I thought folks would appreciate the Running Man as a nice little touch.

On 8/11/2020 at 12:14 PM, Swami said:

I’m liking where this game is headed. I know this has a lot of work to go still. I’d like to see ground damage and debris from exploding tanks. 

Yep!  Absolutely!  It's already in there!

On 8/11/2020 at 12:28 PM, theswede said:

I like the game more than I thought, I’m starting to warm up to the controls, but I got stuck for a very long time on the place where you have three land mines and a “pointy” rock in the middle, today I finally made it past it for the first time, yeaaah!😅 I have no idea how much there is after that place to beat the level, anyone, am I close?

There are 2 different ways to get by that part.  You can time it correctly and shoot the rock right before you jump (you'll get more points that way) or if timed correctly, you can just jump all three things. 

On 8/11/2020 at 2:07 PM, Tavi said:

With the PS5 reportedly having some major design problems, the Xbox Series X still being rather vague on when they are releasing, and of course Corona throwing a wrench into all manufacturing, it did look promising that Amico would have had the Christmas holiday release season to itself for new consoles.

I have it on pretty good authority that both Sony & Microsoft will DEFINITELY be out this Christmas.  Launching with them, during a holiday, when folks are still out of work and the economy hopefully just starting to record, with marketing & ad buys in general being crowded and 5x's more expensive... would have not been to our advantage.  Imagine the cost of a simple mall kiosk set up in Nov/Dec. versus early spring!  

The idea of having a season to ourselves is one of the reasons we (and our retailers, distributors and manufacturers) chose the new dates we did.

On 8/11/2020 at 2:08 PM, 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! 

 

Blarneo Cat coming soon!

On 8/11/2020 at 2:56 PM, 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!”  

We are mostly sticking to our original plan of having around 30 or so games at launch.  But that could change (i.e. we could do more). 

Yes... more games will now be "stock piled" for release... but if anything, we consider that a good thing and gives even more time to polish any games that would have been close to being done on 10.10.

On 8/11/2020 at 3:53 PM, 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 

The fact that there are a certain handful of folks out there still declaring that COVID had nothing to do with our delay shows how disturbed and unhinged from reality they truly are.

On 8/11/2020 at 3:57 PM, theswede said:

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

Did you ever make it to the end?

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

I worked on remake of Bard's Tale (2004).  Really fun game that I would suggest people checking out!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bard's_Tale_(2004_video_game)

 

I wrote a bunch of really funny lyric songs and hired my buddies from LucasArts who did all the great music in those games over the years.  Was a great collaboration... we had so much fun doing the songs for that one.

 

You can hear the entire soundtrack here:

 

 

This one had my lyrics in it.  
 

 

 

Can you tell I love Wonka?

 

 

That's fantastic, Tommy!  All of the games in the Bard's Tale series were so enjoyable...fun gameplay, epic music (!) and gut-busting humor! 

Lord bless Charlie Mops....!

On 8/11/2020 at 4:29 PM, BillyBruiser said:

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.

Thanks so much for joining the discussion and giving your thoughts.  I noticed this was your first post.  Hopefully not your last.

It's great that you understand our strategy and why we do what we do. 

Appreciate you taking the time to interact.

Very interesting comment about your kids NOT liking pixelated "old" games.  May I ask how old they are and if they are boys or girls? 
 

In our research we find that your situation is more of the norm as well.  Although there are definitely a good percentage of exceptions (probably due to hardcore retro gaming parents), but when put side by side... they mostly pick our cartoon style over pixels any day of the week.  Something that supposed "experts" can't seem to wrap their brains around.  They have fond memories of pixel art so they don't see it as blurry and blocky... they see it as "charming".  So I understand why they think the way they do.  It's the egotistical insistence that whatever THEY like that the rest of the world MUST like it, that is the ridiculous part.  A few of the hardcores out there continue to scoff at us and insisting that we are idiots because we are changing pixel graphic games to (what they refer to as) "flash" games.  Hmmm... I don't ever remember seeing real-time 3D lighting on "flash" games.  Anyone out there care to give me an example of a "flash" game that looks like Astrosmash?  I'll wait.  

Here's a small example of pixel vs. cartoon. 

You can see the character as they appeared in the original Fox n Forests game (left) and how they appear in our new and exclusive game (based in the world and around Fox 'n Forests) called Finnigan Fox.

Some may disagree... but I prefer the one on the right.  And so do non-gamers/casuals/kids, etc.

Hey Wolfy62,

Did you end up buying the Thunder Castle shirt?  I forgot to ask you about that.

On 8/11/2020 at 4:31 PM, MarioMan88 said:

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!

I agree.

Hot debate topic it seems.

I've asked a few folks what they want it to look like instead... but have yet to get an answer.

On 8/11/2020 at 7:40 PM, 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.👍😊

 

It's awesome!  I bought 2 (gave one to a close friend).  Quality is really great.  I also HIGHLY recommend their Tempest machine.  Super high quality and real metal!!

I own everything that company has done.  Looking forward to the Dragon's Lair mini!!!!!!!!!!