Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

10 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

Tommy,

Maybe we can have this on Amico.

 

I've been binge watching this on Hulu.  It's been decades since I've watched it.  Good show!

This too.. lol..but I'm biased...hahaha.

Is this new? Why have I not seen this before, but it's pretty amazing what the OG Intellivision could do.

https://web.archive.org/web/20031207084119/http://www.atari-explorer.com/Panther-Spec.htm

Intellivision can do multidirectional scrolling.  So 1980/90s scrolling games are possible just in lower resolution.

https://youtu.be/zhE6Quy1Ki0

This is a video from Snestastic.  Jump to 59:27 where he starts talking about Amico.

On 9/27/2020 at 10:46 PM, Starpaddler said:

On 9/27/2020 at 6:11 AM, Urlu Berlu said:

 

I couldnt help but notice that 36650 high score you got. I think that's the best one I've seen so far.

 

Thanks, haven't been able to replicate it again (get close) but I’ve been shooting for time, not score lately. 

Finally got the time I’ve been shooting for. Anyone able to get it done in 350?

Back to for-score play. Cant wait to be able to play this in its entirety. 

12 hours ago, atarifan88 said:

I've been binge watching this on Hulu.  It's been decades since I've watched it.  Good show!

 

The Lost in Space remake on Netflix is really good as well.  

24 minutes ago, Starpaddler said:

Finally got the time I’ve been shooting for. Anyone able to get it done in 350?

 

Back to for-score play. Cant wait to be able to play this in its entirety. 

I got 351 as well

55 minutes ago, Starpaddler said:

The Lost in Space remake on Netflix is really good as well.  

I've watched it and couldn't get into it.  Nothing will be as good as the original...

On 9/28/2020 at 6:20 PM, Jake67 said:

New article on the Amico. Coverage outside of us retro fans.

 

https://www.romper.com/p/amico-a-new-video-gaming-console-wants-to-host-your-familys-next-game-night-34994601

 

Hopefully the Amico team can circle back closer to release for a more in-depth article to remind readers about the console.

 

Great “grabber” quote: "Amico offers a fantastic gaming experience that’s first and foremost about creating fun, enjoyable shared experiences… we just happen to also leave out all the things that concern parents about gaming while we’re at it," Acker explains. (Highlight mine.)

Pretty good article; they only got the controller orientation wrong.

10 hours ago, vongruetz said:

Is this new? Why have I not seen this before, but it's pretty amazing what the OG Intellivision could do.

10 hours ago, mr_me said:

Intellivision can do multidirectional scrolling.  So 1980/90s scrolling games are possible just in lower resolution.

I had put the wrong link.  This is the one intended.

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/296524-megaman-2-work-in-progress-rough-demo

Go! Go! Kokopolo DX - A cute "scratch 'em up" that was expected to come to the Switch, but seems to have fallen off the radar:

https://nintendoeverything.com/go-go-kokopolo-dx-super-scratch-cat-fever-announced-for-switch/

In fact, the developer himself seems to be MIA as well. But perhaps, it's worth a search, if the game can be switched over to Amico? I know the Kokopolo series has gained somewhat of a cult following, most likely because the developer worked as a designer on Crash Bandicoot and Super Monkey Ball games.

(And I rather enjoyed the 3DS version, if I'm honest!)

Here's some trailer of the previous games in the series, which make some pretty decent use of dual-screen gameplay:

4 hours ago, atarifan88 said:

 

I've watched it and couldn't get into it.  Nothing will be as good as the original...

4 hours ago, mr_me said:

Pretty good article; they only got the controller orientation wrong.

 

More like restricted the orientation. I imagine some games will be more horizontal friendly and others vertical friendly. Some are also likely to be interchangeable based on if you want a OG Intellivision experience or NES/SNES pad experience.

Was very pleasantly surprised to see the Amico up for pre-order on the UK Amazon and Argos sites this morning.  Don't know how long they have been there, but placed an Amazon order straight away

I was briefly tempted by the Xbox Series S, but the Amico has at least a dozen games coming out for it that I'm looking forward to compared to maybe only a couple (Fifa, Forza) on the Xbox.   I guess as a 1980's gamer I'm more into fun games that don't require too much learning or tutorials and the Amico looks like it will hit that sweetspot.  

The Moon Patrol app challenge combined with Retro Rich & walking for a good cause:

Go go game, er Google gam, er Go Game Go interview with Tommy

2 hours ago, GrudgeQ said:

Go go game, er Google gam, er Go Game Go interview with Tommy

 

Has anyone went to check on @OEB_Pete after @Tommy Tallarico talked about the 6th pack in then said maybe a 7th or 8th ...then that health crisis moment of joyfulness  maybe 9 games. He stopped before he could potentially say 10.   Hope you are ok pete

Hi Folks!,

Lots of catching up to do as the past few weeks have been focused on putting out a lot of cool stuff for the upcoming 10/10 date! 

Definitely going to be some cool surprises!

I saw that someone posted the Romper.com article.  They are HUGE for family/moms/kids, etc.  MILLIONS of folks paying close attention and really invested into the content on that site. 

When we launch in April... you'll be seeing things like this times 1000... all over the world. 

Now imagine things like a partnership, advertising, special offers/deals, influencers, etc. with a website like that.... or a HUNDRED websites like that!  Even though we are 7 months from launch... we are starting to get non-gamers and families knowing about us.  Dad 2.0 starts today... like Mom 2.0, we have a booth (virtual) are doing talks & roundtables, focus group testing, meeting with big influencers and sponsors in that space, etc.

Here are 2 separate articles that just came out on Moms.com

Looking forward to sharing a LOT more articles like this in the future.

I'm hoping some folks here will start to understand our strategy at this point.  TIMING for this kind of stuff is very important and sometimes crucial.  We didn't want to start down this path in the summer (when we were going to with a 10/10 launch)... because at that time (as you're all aware) we were still uncertain if we were going to be able to launch in October.  As you all know (and which I always said since February) that we wouldn't be able to really make that decision until the middle or end of summer.  Now that we're back on track, we have even more time to ensure our target audience is aware of us and get them excited about the possibilities.  

Isn't it great and interesting that GoGramGo (live podcast from last night with @gogamego's mom) doesn't mind the $249 price point because all of the games are $9.99 or less? 

Read the moms.com articles as well.  2 controllers, ability to hook up to 8, no violence/bad language/sexual content, all games $9.99 or less, comes with at least 6 free games, no internet required, easy set-up, super easy to understand controls, no microtransactions, no online play.  THOSE are the things that real people are talking about.  THOSE are the things that NO OTHER video game console is currently doing.  Did any of those articles talk about "graphics"?  Did any of them say "these look like flash games from newgrounds".  Did any of them say... "Who is this for?".  Did any of them say... "Why buy this when you can get a Nintendo Switch instead?".   Was there any talk of "But for $50 more I'll be able to get a Series S."

Of course the answer is no.

And for those non-believers... maybe it's time to start waking up and realizing that maybe the world doesn't revolve around you or your tastes or your opinions. 

We still MUST deliver a great product and fun games.  That doesn't change and will never change.  That is all 100% on us.  If it's not fun to play... then we fail and we can only blame ourselves.  And I can tell you that the data we have (and every person who have ever played it) absolutely loves it.  So things are looking very good in that category. 

Time will tell... but I'm loving our chances.

🏆🥰🚀

On 9/23/2020 at 6:48 AM, timbofry1 said:

Here's my contribution to the giraffe pics, from a trip to South Africa last year.  I'll raise you a few more animal pics...just an amazing trip.

WOW!!!!!!!!!    Great shots!!

Thank you for sharing!

On 9/23/2020 at 7:10 AM, timbofry1 said:

I truly despise the whole shift to micro-transactions, and I find it so refreshing that the Amico is going back to the way things used to be.  I do not consider myself a hardcore gamer, but I have an XB1 and a PS4 now, and have had many of the "current" consoles over the years.  I'm in my mid-50's and the Intellivision was my first console, and I've always been partial to sports games.  I am a big sports fan and really don't play myself anymore, so it's great to be able to play virtually.  At my age, I love the old-timers and legends, so I got into the "ultimate team" aspect of the sports games...I find it fun to play with old players and build my team and so on.  But, year after year, the focus of these sports games (especially NBA 2K, in my opinion) is more toward getting you to spend more and more money on micro-transactions, more so than making a good game, and I find that sickening.  I am interested more in the game-play and playing basketball, or football or baseball, and so on...and that isn't the primary aspect of these games anymore, which is unfortunate.  Playing video games has always been a social thing for me, playing with friends, talking some trash...great fun.  So looking forward to the Amico bringing this aspect back to the forefront.  My wife is not a fan of video games at all, but even she got into the Wii, and her parents and my parents and children of all ages.  That is what I look forward to most with the Wii, getting back to the way video games used to be, and maybe my wife will even play...

So true!  And yes... I hope to see pics of you and your wife and your parents and your kids all playing together!

Wouldn't That Be Something?™

On 9/23/2020 at 7:59 AM, vongruetz said:

I'm just scared that these companies' use of applied psychology is going to be really subtle, unnoticed by man, and evil. It's the manipulation of the end-users' behavior without them realizing it. They're designing an addiction by using methods that keep players hooked. Is that why we play games? If the game is fun, why do you need to trick people into playing them more?

On another note, @Tommy Tallarico, when are we going to get news of the sixth free pack-in game? Any clues as to what it might be?

I can tell you that this is EXACTLY what the big mobile game companies do.  They literally have weekly design meetings about it.  How can we get people to spend MORE money?

The 6th game won't be announced til closer to launch.  It's such a fun and unique concept/idea that we don't want any copycats out there before we launch. 

On 9/23/2020 at 8:08 AM, Loafer said:

Well... some sense of personal responsibility needs to be placed on the person/gamer too though right?  I get what you are saying but I Can’t see anything like that as dark or evil.  People need to just not buy DLC, not play X amount of hours to unlock Y.  

 

If we are going to look at this via psychology, fine I’m cool with that, but then I’d say there are a lot of people who feel rather empty inside and they seek to replace that emptiness with whatever they spend their money on that gives them some temporary fulfillment.   

 

I’m probably barking up the wrong tree and I don’t mean to belittle addiction because it’s real, but if we are going to throw around terms like “evil” to describe this, then it’s a loonnnng list that falls under that and it’s closer to home then all of you will like 

You definitely make fair points!  At the end of the day... it's the individual that decides to take the bait and has the ability to STOP at any point.  But if folks are happy to spend money on video games that make them happy... that's totally okay.  I can definitely see both sides.  It just sucks that most hyper-casual games are designed to either cheat or to dangle carrots in order to make more money.

I'll give you a good example...

I LOVE backgammon.  I have played it almost daily for about 45 years.  Took personal lessons for almost a year from the #1 backgammon player in the world (Nack Ballard), and at one point (about 10 years ago) I was nationally ranked in the U.S.  So I know backgammon.  

I have literally played tens of thousands of backgammon games online... especially mobile.  One of the traits I've been seeing over the past few years with mobile is that if you don't spend money... you'll start to see the most ridiculous rolls go against you (presumably from folks who are paying to play).  And it's NOT subtle either.  They want to drain your coins (even if you're a great player) so that you'll buy coins instead of having to wait and earn them.  They are literally cheating the dice for someone who is paying over someone who is not.

So that's where I feel some of these companies cross the line.

But again... I can totally see both sides.

On 9/23/2020 at 8:42 AM, IntelliMission said:

If I was the CEO of a company, I would name all my products with very similar names, so people who usually don't know what the fork they are doing (which, let's be honest here, are most people) buy one when they wanted to buy another and there will never be shortages.

 

Ouch! Sorry, that has already happened: It looks like Xbox One X sales are up 700% this week. Spoilers: people were trying to preorder Xbox Series X instead.

 

You read it first in this topic. We all knew the name was not a good idea.

Wow!  Maybe Microsoft is smarter with their name convention than we thought!

Maybe we'll just change our name and call it the Intellivision Switch.