Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

2 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

And I agree 100% with you in regards to more balance for kids including outside play time, reading, using their imaginations, etc.

 

But to be fair, we're not talking about how other CEO's personally feel.  We're specifically talking about saying it publicly.  I wonder how the Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft stockholders would feel if any of their CEO's came out and was willing to say what I do about kids and video games?

So again... if this is your "space" then I should think that me publicly saying what I do would be very welcoming to you.  Instead (and please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) its coming across like you think it's nothing special.

I (and others) believe it is.

 

That's all I'm saying.

 

I'm sure people at Monsanto don't let their kids eat the poison they make and I'm sure the CEO of cigarette companies don't let their teenagers smoke either. 

 

But that isn't really what the discussion is about.

Governments who impose warning laws on things like alcohol, cigarettes, porn, etc. are different than the folks in charge publicly discouraging against it.  Sad that there are very little to NONE for the food industry unfortunately... mostly because of lobbyists... but no politically talk here so I'll leave it at that.

 

 

 

Well I did pre order a founder's edition for a reason, yes it is welcoming to me. Having said that I would just say we are more focused than others on this, instead of we are the only ones who do it. That's all I'm saying

1 minute ago, Juice said:

I just think it's a slippery slope saying you're the only one who does it. "Only one" will always get called out because it diminishes others.

In your mind it seems to diminish others.

So instead of giving me credit and acknowledgment for standing up and publicly saying it (for something that is your "space" and you seem to be passionate about) you'd prefer to diminish the statement.

That's fine.  Your choice to do so.

Lets move on.

1 minute ago, Juice said:

Well I did pre order a founder's edition for a reason, yes it is welcoming to me. Having said that I would just say we are more focused than others on this, instead of we are the only ones who do it. That's all I'm saying

Fair point.  Well taken.

Although like I said... I've never seen another video game hardware CEO say this. 

Sometimes the best way to create change is by saying and doing extreme things and bringing attention to it.

Would love to see other hardware CEO's and big mobile game companies talk about how important it is to limit kids playing time. 

And again, I could be wrong here... maybe others have said this... but I haven't seen it and I follow this stuff pretty closely. 

I'm completely okay to stand corrected if I'm not aware of a certain quote.  I'm just saying that I'm the only one I've ever heard say it.

Tommy,

This guy Chris is a game designer.  Perhaps you could reach out to him to make something for Amico.

21 minutes ago, vongruetz said:

I don't think a CEO would ever come out and say that, but the Wii constantly shoved down the "Take a break from the game" message down your throat.

 

This was the only point I was trying to make. 

I've personally never seen or heard a hardware CEO saying that kids shouldn't be playing video games all the time.

1 hour ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Thanks for the kind words!

I wasn't a super huge RATT fan but liked a lot of their tunes.  Van Halen was more my jam and still my favorite.  I personally love both DLR & Hagar eras, both are great for different reasons.  DLR for the rawness and Hagar for the melodies. 

 

Some others I like and appreciate from that 80's metal/glam era are Poison, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Guns N Roses, Whitesnake & Great White.

 

I gotta ask...you don’t dig Permanent Vacation????? I’ll never forgot I traded a Motley tape for this 80’s Aerosmith gem.

So many huge radio hits, as a kid of the 80’s it’s one of my faves!

4 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Fair point.  Well taken.

 

Although like I said... I've never seen another video game hardware CEO say this. 

Sometimes the best way to create change is by saying and doing extreme things and bringing attention to it.

 

Would love to see other hardware CEO's and big mobile game companies talk about how important it is to limit kids playing time. 

And again, I could be wrong here... maybe others have said this... but I haven't seen it and I follow this stuff pretty closely. 

I'm completely okay to stand corrected if I'm not aware of a certain quote.  I'm just saying that I'm the only one I've ever heard say it.

 

 

 

 

Yes I think we can end it there, good way to sum it up. Happy conclusion

5 minutes ago, MarioMan88 said:

I gotta ask...you don’t dig Permanent Vacation????? I’ll never forgot I traded a Motley tape for this 80’s Aerosmith gem.

 

So many huge radio hits, as a kid of the 80’s it’s one of my faves!

I figured I would seem TOTALLY BIASED if I mentioned Aerosmith.  But yes... to say they were a HUGE influence would be a bit of an understatement.

@Tommy Tallarico

Thank you for taking the time to address my questions and concerns thoughtfully and adequately. My limited experience on this forum has been… a mixed bag, with at least one commenter named @Relicgamer insinuating that my concerns were disingenuous or presented in bad faith. This had made my time on this forum less than inviting, which is why I don’t care to continue posting here. 

As you likely know, buying a device like the Amico for a family with tech concerns typically requires providing information that keeps the parents for immediately dismissing the technology due to their immediate concerns. What you have provided here goes a good way in supplying this sort of information. Subsequent convincing of my nieces’ parents to get this console will likely depend on the quality of the “kinetic” sorts of games (like the bean bag toss) and electronic versions of popular board games. I will check the Intellivision youtube channel periodically for updates on these sorts of games.

On 9/6/2020 at 1:08 AM, Tommy Tallarico said:

On 9/4/2020 at 2:16 PM, Intellivision Master said:

The PS2 US launch had 28 games.  But again, having a 30 game library on launch is really something.  According to this website, the Wii U had 34 launch titles. 

 

https://gamicus.gamepedia.com/List_of_video_game_console_launch_games

 

34 eh?  Is that the record?

 

If so... I'll do 35 at launch then.

 

 

(Couldn't find anything but the whole scene on youtube... )

38 39 whatever it took

25 minutes ago, woobman said:

 

(Couldn't find anything but the whole scene on youtube... )

38 39 whatever it took

 

 

 

 

Lol! My favorite is the earlier scene "So are you going to do the whole thing 220?"  "Yeah... 220,221... whatever it takes."  Such a good movie.

2 hours ago, Tarzilla said:

The only problem with that plan is @cmart604 never plays his games, he is too busy Scrooge McDucking in his Inty-Dungeon.

Like this, but with Intellivision games and manuals

 

I can confirm this.  However, unlike Scrooge McDuck, he does it without a bathing suit.

Got another one for you @Tommy Tallarico

My wife is an avid Splatoon 2 player - which I'd classify as "soft 1st person shooter" style game. Unfortunately there's no way she and I could play together without buying a 2nd Switch and a 2nd TV for that matter.

Is there such game genre in the works coming to Amico?, and if so will there be a way to choose between versus and co-op modes?

8 hours ago, vongruetz said:

When I saw this, the first thing I thought was that this looks EXPENSIVE! First you have to buy a Switch, $300. Then you have to buy the set, ~$125. Then if you want to play two player, it's another ~$125. That's ~$250 just to play one game with two players. Then you have to have all this space in your house to lay out the track. I admit that it does look cool, but from a practical standpoint, I just don't get it. It's like a really expensive proof of concept that I don't really think would be much more fun than just playing the original game on your TV.

yeah i already stated that it would be expensive.
Im waiting for it to be hacked, so i can pilot it on my racing sim. The connection between the kart and switch wont be encrypted. I have no kids, and lots of space to make a track, others i know are keen also. Can get really creative with things like this. Me being a maker, this sort of thing is right up our alley. 3d print all sorts of things. You may not get it, but we do.

12 hours ago, MarioMan88 said:

14 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Thanks for the kind words!

I wasn't a super huge RATT fan but liked a lot of their tunes.  Van Halen was more my jam and still my favorite.  I personally love both DLR & Hagar eras, both are great for different reasons.  DLR for the rawness and Hagar for the melodies. 

 

Some others I like and appreciate from that 80's metal/glam era are Poison, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Guns N Roses, Whitesnake & Great White.

 

I gotta ask...you don’t dig Permanent Vacation????? I’ll never forgot I traded a Motley tape for this 80’s Aerosmith gem.

 

So many huge radio hits, as a kid of the 80’s it’s one of my faves!

Glad there is another who loves both DLR and Hagar eras. I have always said even though I love the first run of DLR stuff, the forced change to Sammy allowed VH to have double the successful albums, as the new direction brought new energy. (Don’t mention that Gary Cherone happened). 
 

Your list of hair bands was like you broke into my old Roadrunner and stole the CD case. (Yes, aftermarket stereo installed, was the thing to do). I have seen all the bands live listed above, except Great White, of which I was still a fan. Yes, Aerosmith too. 
 

Maybe Journey Escape should be remade. I played the 2600 version when I was a kid. 

14 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Cool!  I will definitely keep that in mind. 

Yes... I did a bunch of extensive research on WWI planes as I wasn't too familiar with that era.  My knowledge is mostly based on WWII stuff as that is what my dad's passion was and we would always build WWII models when I was a kid.  You may have seen my Flying Tigers hat, watch or various shirts in some of the interviews I do.  The P-40 Warhawk (and the entire AVG Flying Tigers story) is my favorite plane.  Got to ride in one about 20 years ago!  A local plane museum turned a P-40 it into a 2 seater!!  I have many models and pics/posters/paintings around my studio.  I even recrafted the entire control panel of the plane from used parts I bought over Ebay over the years!! 

You'll be noticing lots of Flying Tiger stuff in many Amico games.  Kinda like my own personal easter egg to my dad (and I really love the logos/images).

 

Yes, the Dr.1 & Sopwith Camel are both in the game.  We definitely aren't going for accuracy in regards to size and color though so you may be disappointed in that regards.  They visually need to be more simple colors so that folks can easily tell them apart (as they don't appear very big on screen).  We also have the smoke trail the same color as the player, which works really cool.  Definitely more of an arcade style looking game.  Putting in great amounts of plane detail doesn't really translate well to the game (we've tried a few versions) as the planes end up being small and the loss of seeing all the intricate polys and colors are lost. 

We were going to feature Biplanes as one of the games during our Amico Special Event, but decided to hold it back a bit and include it in a future trailer.  I'm sure by the end of the year you'll be seeing it. 

 

Good to know I have an expert I can go to though!!  I'm sure I'll be hitting you up at some point!

 

Question:  What is your favorite plane from WWI and WWII? 

You know my WWII one and if you know the story of how Ferrari got its logo, you could probably guess my favorite WWI.

 

 

The real Italian Stallion... Count Francesco Baracca and his Spad VII.  Amazing pilot!

You're going to laugh at this one...  My Great Uncle Angelo was a Sargent in the USAAF during WWII.  He was assigned to a supply squadron in Burma China flying supplies and air drops in C-46 and C-47's for Chinese troops fighting the Japanese.  His assigned escort squadron were the Flying Tigers.  He was there from 1941 till 1944.  I was lucky enough to have him give me the insignia patch that he had from the war.  It looks fake, and I thought it was until I wore the jacket I sewed it on to at an Air Show at Republic Airport in Long Island.  I asked a few of the old-timers and they verified that it is authentic.  It looks so crappy because it was made by the Chinese at the time.  The AVG Tigers were not attached to any American unit, they were a "Chinese" squadron with American pilots. 

Favorite plane from WWI... tough one.  Has to be the Fokker D.VII... close second is the Albatros D.III.  World War II has to be the same as you... the P-40 Warhawk.  Although the F4U Corsair is a close second. 

Here's my Uncle....  visiting a temple in Burma.... and the patch sewn on to a fake Flying Tigers style jacket from The Cockpit.   The model you built with your father.  I remember it.  Somewhere I have a picture of it as I had the same one hanging in my room.  We had great childhoods didn't we.  All this cool stuff, building models, arcade machines, BMX bikes... I miss the 80's.

As for the Bi-Planes game.  You've definitely got the right idea on how to do it.  It's meant for an arcade style, then forgo the authenticity, it will only botch things up.  I can't wait to see it!

I forgot to mention... Check out this book if you have time.  It's amazing.  Tells the whole story and how good these guys were.  

And if you're ever in Long Island...let me know.  The ride in the Fury still stands...and I'll take you to see these.  Let's just say they're someone's private collection, the Spitfire was in the battle of Dunkirk, but shot down over Calais.... and I have a close friend that part owns the hanger.  😁 

48 minutes ago, IMBerzerk said:

And if you're ever in Long Island...let me know.  The ride in the Fury still stands...and I'll take you to see these.  Let's just say they're someone's private collection, the Spitfire was in "Dunkirk" and I have a close friend that part owns the hanger.  😁 

 

I took a biplane ride on vacation in Arizona. I had a pocket full of hard candies from the vending machine. When I sat down into the passenger seat half the candies spilled out onto the floor. The pilot said "What the hell was that??!?". I told him what happened and he gave me a good verbal reaming about the possibility of those candies getting lodged into the controls of the plane. I felt like such a stupid ass. Fortunately we had a great plane ride without any incident.

15 hours ago, Urlu Berlu said:

Got another one for you @Tommy Tallarico

My wife is an avid Splatoon 2 player - which I'd classify as "soft 1st person shooter" style game. Unfortunately there's no way she and I could play together without buying a 2nd Switch and a 2nd TV for that matter.

Is there such game genre in the works coming to Amico?, and if so will there be a way to choose between versus and co-op modes?

We've been talking about something like Splatoon and yes... it should definitely have VS & Co-op!

8 hours ago, Oldfool said:

Glad there is another who loves both DLR and Hagar eras. I have always said even though I love the first run of DLR stuff, the forced change to Sammy allowed VH to have double the successful albums, as the new direction brought new energy. (Don’t mention that Gary Cherone happened). 
 

Your list of hair bands was like you broke into my old Roadrunner and stole the CD case. (Yes, aftermarket stereo installed, was the thing to do). I have seen all the bands live listed above, except Great White, of which I was still a fan. Yes, Aerosmith too. 
 

Maybe Journey Escape should be remade. I played the 2600 version when I was a kid. 

I'm not sure who or what you're talking about.  I believe I completely blocked a certain album completely out of my memory.  Kinda sounds familiar... but I'm not sure.

🤢🤮

(p.s.  Please NEVER bring that up again!)

Hahhahaa!

😛😋

8 hours ago, IMBerzerk said:

The real Italian Stallion... Count Francesco Baracca and his Spad VII.  Amazing pilot!

 

You're going to laugh at this one...  My Great Uncle Angelo was a Sargent in the USAAF during WWII.  He was assigned to a supply squadron in Burma China flying supplies and air drops in C-46 and C-47's for Chinese troops fighting the Japanese.  His assigned escort squadron were the Flying Tigers.  He was there from 1941 till 1944.  I was lucky enough to have him give me the insignia patch that he had from the war.  It looks fake, and I thought it was until I wore the jacket I sewed it on to at an Air Show at Republic Airport in Long Island.  I asked a few of the old-timers and they verified that it is authentic.  It looks so crappy because it was made by the Chinese at the time.  The AVG Tigers were not attached to any American unit, they were a "Chinese" squadron with American pilots. 

 

Favorite plane from WWI... tough one.  Has to be the Fokker D.VII... close second is the Albatros D.III.  World War II has to be the same as you... the P-40 Warhawk.  Although the F4U Corsair is a close second. 

 

Here's my Uncle....  visiting a temple in Burma.... and the patch sewn on to a fake Flying Tigers style jacket from The Cockpit.   The model you built with your father.  I remember it.  Somewhere I have a picture of it as I had the same one hanging in my room.  We had great childhoods didn't we.  All this cool stuff, building models, arcade machines, BMX bikes... I miss the 80's.

 

As for the Bi-Planes game.  You've definitely got the right idea on how to do it.  It's meant for an arcade style, then forgo the authenticity, it will only botch things up.  I can't wait to see it!

 

 

WOW!!!    Really LOVED this post!

Thank you so much for sharing your stories and pics.  That's AMAZING about your uncle!  So many people don't realize what the initial AVG (American Volunteer Group) did in 1940 - 1941 before the U.S. was even in the war yet.  True heroes.  And I believe their 17-1 ratio in air combat is still a record.  Especially impressive considering how nimble the Zero's were.  Chenault knew what he was doing!  Strategy was everything.

While touring my Video Games Live shows in China, I visited multiple Flying Tigers museums over there including the main one.  It's absolutely brilliant.  Folks may not realize how the Flying Tigers basically saved the entire country of China by protecting the Burma Road from the invading Japanese trying to cut off their final supply line.  99 planes & pilots and a small support team.  Really incredible.  I've read almost every book and seen every documentary and watched every YouTube video at this point I think. 

Even worked on a Flying Tigers game in the late 90's (for PC) that unfortunately never came out.  I believe the opening cinematic is on YouTube somewhere... I'll need to dig it up.  The name of the company was Flying Tiger Entertainment as well!  And for you Turbografx fans out there... you'll probably know who the president was.  Johnny Turbo!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tiger_Development

Did you ever play Shadow Over China on XBOX?  If so... thoughts?

That AVG patch is absolutely AMAZING!!  I had a chance to buy an original Flying Tigers jacket about 20 years ago.  They wanted $5,000 and I thought it was way too much at the time.  I still kick myself for not getting that!!  I still browse Ebay frequently for cool and authentic Flying Tiger stuff.  Did you see the new Hot Wheels limited edition 55 Bel Air they just did?  It's pretty cool:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-Wheels-Red-Line-Club-RLC-55-Chevy-Bel-Air-Gasser-Flying-Tigers/174426803945?hash=item289ca5cee9:g:23AAAOSwQF1fVtUx

Seeing if the price will drop before spending $200 on a 1/64 scale! 

8 hours ago, IMBerzerk said:

I forgot to mention... Check out this book if you have time.  It's amazing.  Tells the whole story and how good these guys were.  

 

And if you're ever in Long Island...let me know.  The ride in the Fury still stands...and I'll take you to see these.  Let's just say they're someone's private collection, the Spitfire was in the battle of Dunkirk, but shot down over Calais.... and I have a close friend that part owns the hanger.  😁 

 

 

Wow!  Yes!  Will definitely take you up on that offer!

I would say the F4U Corsair & Spitfire are my #2 & #3 favorites as well!

All the planes me & my dad made when I was growing up.  I still have them all and have since made others.  Seems like it's becoming a bit of a lost hobby for the newer and younger generations. 

Building in Roblox by yourself... not as cool as building model planes, ships, cars with your dad.  And you can't "sniff the glue" in Roblox!  

🤣

7 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Even worked on a Flying Tigers game in the late 90's (for PC) that unfortunately never came out.

Maybe you can get a Flying Tigers game on Amico.  Wouldn't that be interesting?

Did you all hear about the Xbox Series S announcement today?

https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-series-s-specs-leak-1440p-120fps-raytracing-512gb-ssd

$299, no physical media, no 4K, 512GB hard drive.

It looks like its focus will be on Microsofts Cloud Gaming platform (as 512 GB is only about 2 or 3 Xbox digital games).  This could be the final blow to Google Stadia as my understanding is the Microsoft cloud service is going to be much better.  Will be interesting to see how it all plays out and what the Microsoft monthly cloud gaming service fees will be.  They are definitely targeting a very specific crowd with this (who is pretty much for the most part the exact opposite of an Amico crowd).  I'm a little bit surprised that it will only be capable of doing 1440p in a world where it seems that the hardcores who would be interested in this would want 4K and people of that hardcore tech caliber are even starting to switch to 8K.  Yes, it upscales to 4K, but that' a big difference.  We (Intellivision) don't care or do 4K because our target audience doesn't care (and especially with the graphic style of our games), but I would think the folks interested in this would want 4K capabilities... especially over the next 7 years.  But who knows, I'm sure Microsoft has a ton of data and research as to why they made that decision.  My experience has been that cutting edge hardcore gamers expect and want the BEST quality gaming experiences.  I would think that they would wait to get the "big" Series X machine instead... but of course, without knowing more about their cloud gaming service, it would be hard to have a real opinion at this point. 

I wonder why they didn't go with a huge 4 terabyte hard drive?  And then make all the digital versions of the next gen games 30% - 50% less expensive.  That would be a good reason to pick one up.  Maybe they'll be doing that?

Going to be very interesting to see how it all plays out though!  I wish them big success... along with Sony & Nintendo.

What is everyone's thoughts?  Would you buy the Series S for Cloud Gaming over the more expensive and higher quality Series X (which they are saying will be somewhere around $399 - $499).