Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

15 minutes ago, IntelliMission said:

So here is something that is a big issue for the PS5 ans Xbox Series X that I'm curious what the answer to it will be. I was talking to the owner of a pawn shop this weekend, and he said 30 year old guys were always buying NES and PlayStation 1's. You can buy both for under $50 and you can buy the games 2 for $5. So this is a lot cheaper than the PS5 and Xbox Series X, and even though the games are old most of them are new to them. And a lot of people have these consoles and just buy the games. What is the advantage of these guys buying a PS5 or Xbox Series X over older consoles with more classic games that also don't feature DLC or have to worry about them downloading mature games? These pawn shops have tons of these games to choose from at the same price point. To me this is where graphics don't matter because why not just play older simpler cheaper consoles?

Those systems as stated by Tommy and you guys are for hardcore Gamers. They want the newest and the best. Amico is for the non gamer or casual. We tend to make our video game purchases at second hand shops because we want to spend our money on outdoor activities.

25 minutes ago, Juice said:

Those systems as stated by Tommy and you guys are for hardcore Gamers. They want the newest and the best. Amico is for the non gamer or casual. We tend to make our video game purchases at second hand shops because we want to spend our money on outdoor activities.

I can chime in on this topic.  The sad state of affairs is that all electronics have a shelf life because of the one common component - the solder.  Eventually the solder will break down based on humidity and heating/cooling cycles.  The Intellivision, at 40 years, is pushing it.  Why not get newer game play and enhanced graphics on these older titles?  Before the original cartridges start failing, one might want to refresh their library with the Amico games.  Even DVD and BluRay will eventually break dow, so PlayStation and X Box are not immune.

1 hour ago, Juice said:

So here is something that is a big issue for amico that I'm curious what the answer to it will be. I was talking to the owner of a pawn shop this weekend, and he said parents are always buying Wii's and PlayStation 3's for their young kids. You can buy both for under $50 and you can buy the games 2 for $5. So this is a lot cheaper than the amico, and even though the games are old they are new to a 4/5 year old. And z lot of people have these consoles and just buy the games. What is the advantage of these parents buying an Amico over older consoles with more in depth games that also don't feature DLC or have to worry about them downloading mature games? These pawn shops have tons of these games to choose from at the same price point. To me this is where graphics do matter because why not just play older simpler cheaper consoles?

It's a fair question for sure. 

The answer is that most people who are shopping at pawn shops are not typical folks and are doing so for a reason.  Average folks and the majority of the population are shopping at Walmart, Costco, Target & Amazon.  Pawn shop and video games on Ebay are not the majority or your average shopping experience.  There is a reason there is a big difference between the average pawn shop being in a seedy strip mall as opposed to the biggest company on the planet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_companies_by_revenue

Even beating out energy, oil and health provider companies!

But that is only a small part of it.

A typical mom isn't thinking... "I'm going to buy a used PlayStation 3 for Christmas this year".  It's just not how we're wired.  And can mom play with the PlayStation 3 controller?   No.

In regards to the Wii.  We find that MANY people who are in our target market DO still have and play Wii.  But they want something new.  Something that uses new technology, a new look and feel, new games, new marketing, new and unique experiences, etc.  At some point... over 15 years of the Wii... those folks have their 2 or 3 games they go to... but nothing new will ever come out.  And as I'm sure you may be aware, Nintendo shut down the Wii servers earlier this year... so you can't even connect online anymore.

The old adage "you get what you pay for" works perfectly here.  Sure, you can get a 10 - 15 year old used video game system for under $100.  But that isn't what people really want or are looking for.  It may be in your household... but it's not the norm.  I could also buy a TON of music on CD's for super cheap if I wanted to.  But the norm is not to.  The idea behind something being fresh and new and unique and easy to play and in real stores now and seeing ads and the buzz and hype is very powerful.

There are other reasons and differences as well... but these two are the biggest in my opinion.

2 minutes ago, Intellivision collector said:

I can chime in on this topic.  The sad state of affairs is that all electronics have a shelf life because of the one common component - the solder.  Eventually the solder will break down based on humidity and heating/cooling cycles.  The Intellivision, at 40 years, is pushing it.  Why not get newer game play and enhanced graphics on these older titles?  Before the original cartridges start failing, one might want to refresh their library with the Amico games.  Even DVD and BluRay will eventually break dow, so PlayStation and X Box are not immune.

There is evidence mounting that CDs and DVDs will fare worse than the old pcb cartridges. N64 collectors may have the last laugh, at least amongst those that open their games. 

Since the Intellivision was known for being innovative, I’m so happy to see that the Amico is carrying on the tradition with the interactive lighting display on the console and the controller.  Other than a holographic display or smell-o-vision (which may have been tried at some point) can anyone think of any new innovations to push the gaming experience further into the future? 
 

Is Amico still planning to use raised stick on buttons and D-pad that can be placed anywhere on the touch screen?  I haven’t seen it talked about much.  And, if so, will it be included with the console? 

52 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

 

I just wanted to throw in my vote for an Amico t-shirt with a stylized picture of the console or at least some sort of slogan that describes what Amico is (maybe something like "Family Friendly Gaming"). The reason is that Amico isn't a known brand yet and it would be good to start linking those two things together. People may ask 'hey what is that thing on your shirt' or start associating the word Amico with family & gaming. At least it sounds like a good idea to me. At worse you would get two sales, me & Pete, so it wouldn't be a complete loss .

32 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

It's a fair question for sure. 

The answer is that most people who are shopping at pawn shops are not typical folks and are doing so for a reason.  Average folks and the majority of the population are shopping at Walmart, Costco, Target & Amazon.  Pawn shop and video games on Ebay are not the majority or your average shopping experience.  There is a reason there is a big difference between the average pawn shop being in a seedy strip mall as opposed to the biggest company on the planet.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_companies_by_revenue

 

Even beating out energy, oil and health provider companies!

But that is only a small part of it.

 

A typical mom isn't thinking... "I'm going to buy a used PlayStation 3 for Christmas this year".  It's just not how we're wired.  And can mom play with the PlayStation 3 controller?   No.

In regards to the Wii.  We find that MANY people who are in our target market DO still have and play Wii.  But they want something new.  Something that uses new technology, a new look and feel, new games, new marketing, new and unique experiences, etc.  At some point... over 15 years of the Wii... those folks have their 2 or 3 games they go to... but nothing new will ever come out.  And as I'm sure you may be aware, Nintendo shut down the Wii servers earlier this year... so you can't even connect online anymore.

The old adage "you get what you pay for" works perfectly here.  Sure, you can get a 10 - 15 year old used video game system for under $100.  But that isn't what people really want or are looking for.  It may be in your household... but it's not the norm.  I could also buy a TON of music on CD's for super cheap if I wanted to.  But the norm is not to.  The idea behind something being fresh and new and unique and easy to play and in real stores now and seeing ads and the buzz and hype is very powerful.

There are other reasons and differences as well... but these two are the biggest in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

It's a fair answer,  I can just go by my own perspective as someone who doesn't spend time in video game stores or the video game section of Walmart but I do find myself in thrift stores and buy and sell shops, my last video game purchase was a GameCube at a thrift store. This is my reality but I can't argue with Walmart it would be foolish for me to say people don't spend a significant amount of time there.

I think I brought up the topic about having a picture of the Amico console on a T-Shirt a few months ago.

41 minutes ago, Intellivision collector said:

Since the Intellivision was known for being innovative, I’m so happy to see that the Amico is carrying on the tradition with the interactive lighting display on the console and the controller.  Other than a holographic display or smell-o-vision (which may have been tried at some point) can anyone think of any new innovations to push the gaming experience further into the future? 
 

Is Amico still planning to use raised stick on buttons and D-pad that can be placed anywhere on the touch screen?  I haven’t seen it talked about much.  And, if so, will it be included with the console? 

Currently the big push in innovation is probably VR/AR but it still seems to early for VR & AR, although personally I am a fan. Processors need to get even smaller & faster to really drive it properly.

If the Amico supports the Hot Wheels ID line of cars in Sideswipers that will be a really early example of non specifically made RFID products working in a game. Obviously Amiibos are built for the purpose so the innovation would be a cross brand synergy of products.

18 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

I think I brought up the topic about having a picture of the Amico console on a T-Shirt a few months ago.

Glad you reminded me, I was pretty sure it had been bounced around before but couldn't remember by whom.

1 hour ago, Juice said:

Those systems as stated by Tommy and you guys are for hardcore Gamers. They want the newest and the best. Amico is for the non gamer or casual. We tend to make our video game purchases at second hand shops because we want to spend our money on outdoor activities.

I can chime in on this as well, not as a parent but as a non-hardcore gamer.

I would likely still be using my old PS2 as my main living room console if it had not finally died on me after only 20 years or so of use. Perhaps I should complain to Sony?

What did I replace it with? A PS3 with backwards compatibility so I can keep playing my old PS2 games. I won't lie, I did pick up Dragon's Dogma, Last Of Us, Final Fantasy XIII and a bag of other PS3 games as like it was mentioned pawn shops and second hand store are almost giving these games away at this point. They look gorgeous and I am sure I will enjoy them.

But it is the older PS2 titles I keep going back too usually. They are certainly not top end graphically anymore, but for myself the gameplay of these titles is still unrivalled by anything on offer by newer consoles. The Prince of Persia, Final Fantasy and Resident Evil titles, Galactic Battlegrounds and Battlestar Galactica. I could spend all day listing PS2 titles and franchises that I love not for their cutting edge graphics but the rock solid enjoyability of playing them.

Which is also why I jumped on the chance to get in on a FE for the Amico. I don't care if new GPU XXX offers unprecedented rendering in 4K of a main characters nostril hairs with independent lighting and movement for each hair. What I care about is 'Will I have fun playing this?'. Looking at Amico titles the answer seems to be a resounding yes. This fun factor and replayability is something I find sadly lacking from most newer titles and systems.

So I tend to keep to the older systems and titles for the most part.

On 2/24/2020 at 3:25 PM, Intellivision Master said:

Tommy,

 

Another suggestion for the shop could be a T-Shirt and hoodie with the Amico console pictured on it.  

2 hours ago, mr_me said:

Most parents don't buy used video game consoles for their children.

So true, the vast majority of normal people want something currently being sold & supported. If the dog chews up your Amico/PSx/XBox/Switch controller, just go out an buy another one not hope you can find one being resold. Kids want something new to play, new games are coming out all the time & are advertised and are easy to get online or at a Target/Best Buy/Walmart/Amazon. No searching eBay, thrift stores or yard sales and hoping to find what you want. Want to hook up that Wii? Well it has composite output - you hope you got a cable & know how to plug it in Grams. New stuff comes in a new box, with no greasy dirt marks on the controllers and tested to be working & with a warranty. Not so much on that XBox 360 or GameCube.

Now some people ARE going to stay a generation or two behind for the games or the cost or nostalgia or whatever else reason, good on them. Older systems need to be appreciated & loved - but by far that will not be the majority.

30 minutes ago, Juice said:

It's a fair answer,  I can just go by my own perspective as someone who doesn't spend time in video game stores or the video game section of Walmart but I do find myself in thrift stores and buy and sell shops, my last video game purchase was a GameCube at a thrift store. This is my reality but I can't argue with Walmart it would be foolish for me to say people don't spend a significant amount of time there.

The problem with a lot of old systems these days is also in the I/O with the TV. The way I could get my Wii to look great on a modern TV was through a component cable adaptor that makes it look really good. Currently I'm in the market for a new TV, and the one thing I noticed was that component inputs are now no longer a thing in TVs (at least not in the price range I'm looking). Composite is fine for older consoles, but not ideal. I think Amico will look really sharp with natural HDMI built in. 

Controllers will also be a big deal as well as far as simplicity goes. Wii had an easy to understand controller, but it could also be very frustrating from inaccuracies at pointing on the screen (and the pain of the sensor bar needing to be adjusted just so). I'm really excited about the Amico controller and how it uses its built in display to make gameplay and navigation easier.

speaking of that same store I was in it's funny there was an older lady probably in her 70s she was buying a PlayStation 4 she was asking the employee if they had any puzzle games like the witness. the employee also being an older woman didn't know and she was helping her try to find one. she suggested how about the Nintendo DS? and the lady was like no I want to be able to play on the TV screen. and then I stepped in and I said yeah it looks like there's mostly just war games and then I asked do you have the internet? she said yes and I told her how she can probably download some cheaper puzzle games. I think the Amico would have been good for her because she had no problem with downloading games from the internet but the in store selection was lacking. I don't know if she would pay $250 but she was willing to spend $200 just for some puzzle games on her big screen.

8 minutes ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

Happy to announce that the winner of our Moon Patrol high score contest is Susan Segers! And incredible score of 37,250! It was so cool to receive high scores from so many female players. Congrats to Susan!

 

We also had a runner up who submitted the same exact score right at the end of the competition. Randy Voss had the same score so we gave him runner up status and we'll be sending him something as well.

 

Thank you to everyone who played and submitted!

 

To paraphrase you... "the girl won!". 🤓

24 minutes ago, IntelliMission said:

To paraphrase you... "the girl won!". 🤓

I believe the winner is the wife of one the folks here.  I don't want to say in case they aren't comfortable bragging.

51 minutes ago, IntelliMission said:

To paraphrase you... "the girl won!". 🤓

Or more aptly put is that the best player won. God knows it certainly wasn't going to be me. Congrats to Susan and to everyone else who had fun playing the demo. I can't wait for the full version up on my TV.

1 hour ago, GrudgeQ said:

So true, the vast majority of normal people want something currently being sold & supported. If the dog chews up your Amico/PSx/XBox/Switch controller, just go out an buy another one not hope you can find one being resold. Kids want something new to play, new games are coming out all the time & are advertised and are easy to get online or at a Target/Best Buy/Walmart/Amazon. No searching eBay, thrift stores or yard sales and hoping to find what you want. Want to hook up that Wii? Well it has composite output - you hope you got a cable & know how to plug it in Grams. New stuff comes in a new box, with no greasy dirt marks on the controllers and tested to be working & with a warranty. Not so much on that XBox 360 or GameCube.

 

Now some people ARE going to stay a generation or two behind for the games or the cost or nostalgia or whatever else reason, good on them. Older systems need to be appreciated & loved - but by far that will not be the majority.

Of course, there are many financially strained people out there who will buy only used. If you browse through the 1-2 star ratings on Amazon you’ll sometimes find a parent who tried to buy a used older gen console for there kids for Christmas complaining about how the console listed as “acceptable” had a crack in it or the disk player had issues, not being a gamer and knowing “acceptable” generally means barely working. Obviously, people who shop at goodwill, whether broke college students or single income low wage are probably not going to buy a new anything console, although you may have the teenager saving up for six months working at McDonald’s buy a new PS5. 

4 minutes ago, Swami said:

the teenager saving up for six months working at McDonald’s buy a new PS5. 

I honestly think that's a drama. The only reason I bought a Game Boy and a PS1 in the 90s was because I didn't have the Internet to download thousands of games. I hope no teenagers are suffering to buy a machine these days like I did (I saved 6 months for the PS1!).

Hi all! New to the forum, super excited for the return to the roots of video gaming and every bit of news/updates on Amico!

To add my testimonial: I preordered the woodgrain VIP edition about a month ago but feared I may have missed an email from Intellivision about what to do next. I reached out via email and got a response that following business day from a friendly rep reassuring me I havent missed anything. Terrific customer service! Tommy, I am 100% here for the vision and integrity youve cultivated with Intellivision and I wish you and the company nothing but the best for the Amico launch! 

I did want to chime in and add that if it hasnt been discussed before...I know Dracula has been mentioned on the list of Imagic Intv. games to be reimagined for Amico. Had a cool thought...wouldn't it be something (TM) if the new game was done in a sort of storybook style, kind of like the cutscenes to the 16-bit Castlevania games? And to keep it E10+, maybe instead of biting people you drape your cloak over them and they become vampires themselves? Not to mention 4 player couch co-op turning each other into Vampires?? Lots of possibilities there.

It has probably been asked and answered already, but bear with me. Will we be able to preorder extra controllers prior to release of the console?  What color will the extra controllers be?  And have you given any thought to an additional 4 controller charging stand?  
Thanks for answering my questions, Tommy.  At my age the only ones who show interest in obtaining my business are funeral homes😬

Another question that has already been asked but I can't find the answer, is there going to be a bubble shooting game on Amico? Something like Bust-a-Move or Snood? Seems like they'd be a perfect fit for the controller.