Independent Amico Discussion Thread

[MrBeefy]

7 hours ago, Papy said:

Night Stalker could even have a mode with a traitor like Shadow over Camelot or Battlestar Galactica. For example, at the start of a level, all players could see on their controller's screen on whose team they really are, and the one who is a traitor will try to fuck up the others without being discovered.

 

The potential is enormous. The question is : will developers be able to think out of the box?

 

I guess Tommy should force everyone to play modern board games to give them ideas.

The Resistence board game is an example of this.

 

 

Cool idea but seeing the entire screen doesn't help. It would have to be things specific to the small screen almost.

[Steven Pendleton]

Have any of the pack-in games been announced aside from Skiing? I have the weirdest feeling that I saw a list somewhere with 3 of them, with 2 TBD. I know Tommy said they have decided on all of the pack-in games, though.

 

I think I might have been dreaming, though, and I would believe it after I dreamed about TerraOnion making a really strange SNES flash cart thing a few weeks ago.

[mr_me]

Yes two others have been unofficially announced in either video interviews or the q&a thread and the final two have been hinted at.

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/288558-intellivision-amico-tommy-tallarico-introduction-qa/?do=findComment&comment=4432232

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/288558-intellivision-amico-tommy-tallarico-introduction-qa/?do=findComment&comment=4273943

Edited February 21, 2020 by mr_me

[Steven Pendleton]

6 minutes ago, mr_me said:

Yes two others have been unofficially announced in either video interviews or the q&a thread and the final two have been hinted at.

Thank you so much! I thought I was going crazy or had another really weird dream! I'll go look around in the other thread again.

[spoonman]

19 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

About 3 billion!  

 

Touch screen controls on mobile phones are perfect.... For messaging, playing solitaire, Bejeweled type games. However, they are not ideal for any twitch games which require precise controls. 

[m-crew]

15 minutes ago, spoonman said:

Touch screen controls on mobile phones are perfect.... For messaging, playing solitaire, Bejeweled type games. However, they are not ideal for any twitch games which require precise controls. 

Is this just your opinion because you have issues in being precise playing those games or do you have facts to back your point. Because I’m sure there’s would be a lot of people that have an opposite opinion of yours.  
 
 

[mr_me]

A touch-screen keyboard is far from perfect for messaging; a physical keyboard is better.  Emulating a physical input device on a touch-screen is never as good the real thing.  But games designed for touch-pad input work well.  Flappy Bird is a touch-screen twitch game that requires precise control and was very popular.

[spoonman]

Does the release of the Amico mean that Intellivision Entertainment will not consider releasing compilations of their INTV catalog to other game systems/mobile/Steam?

 

I'm still on the fence with the Amico, but I would definitely buy a compilation of older INTV games. Intellivision Lives! is an incredible collection. I love the extras even more than the games themselves. In addition to the 68 INTV games, which also have optional Intellivoice support, there is a plethora of historic bonuses on the DVD disc. I love watching the old commercials, as well as interviews with many of the game programmers. I wish all game compilations were like that! 

[Steven Pendleton]

8 minutes ago, spoonman said:

Does the release of the Amico mean that Intellivision Entertainment will not consider releasing compilations of their INTV catalog to other game systems/mobile/Steam?

 

I'm still on the fence with the Amico, but I would definitely buy a compilation of older INTV games. Intellivision Lives! is an incredible collection. I love the extras even more than the games themselves. In addition to the 68 INTV games, which also have optional Intellivoice support, there is a plethora of historic bonuses on the DVD disc. I love watching the old commercials, as well as interviews with many of the game programmers. I wish all game compilations were like that! 

Why? Do you perhaps want the old games but not the new ones? I think you should ask Tommy over in the QA thread if they are planning on releasing collections like this on other systems.

[spoonman]

12 minutes ago, m-crew said:

Is this just your opinion because you have issues in being precise playing those games or do you have facts to back your point. Because I’m sure there’s would be a lot of people that have an opposite opinion of yours.  
 
 

I think it's most people's opinion. Unless I'm doing it wrong. To be clear here, I'm speaking of games that are really meant for physical controllers. 

I've tried the followinf with touch screen controls on both a tablet as as well as an iPhone: Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, CD (Christian Whitehead's incredible port/HD remasters), Metal Slug 3, Castle of Illusion HD,Pac-Man, Beat Hazard Ultra, AfterBurner Climax, TurboGrafX emulation (with several games). 

And my takeaway here was that it was not at all accurate or fun to any this way. Not only was it a chore to keep your finger on a "virtual D-pad"which is far from accurate, but the lack of feeling actual buttons when tapping the screen just felt all wrong. Especially Pac-Man and Metal Slug 3.. They were barely playable.

And again, I'm not talking about games designed for touch controls. Coin Dozer, Flick Golf, and 8-bit Ninja were all good. They use swipes, and the like. No on-screen virtual D-pad or anything. That's the big difference.

[Steven Pendleton]

7 minutes ago, spoonman said:

And again, I'm not talking about games designed for touch controls. Coin Dozer, Flick Golf, and 8-bit Ninja were all good. They use swipes, and the like. No on-screen virtual D-pad or anything. That's the big difference.

Amico games are designed for touch controls. It also has a physical "d-pad" in the form of the disc.

Edited February 21, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[spoonman]

3 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Why? Do you perhaps want the old games but not the new ones? I think you should ask Tommy over in the QA thread if they are planning on releasing collections like this on other systems.

I'm not saying I'm against remakes of the classics, but I know I love the originals. I grew up with them on an INTV, and I'd like to have them readily available on one of my existing systems, especially the Switch. They would be awesome on a portable system! The classics tend to look very nice on the smaller Switch LCD display.

 

I also love the history of INTV games. I love to see box art, commercials, developer interviews. (Devs really deserve to have their stories told!). Maybe get Mike Mila at Digital Eclipse involved. They did amazing work on the latest SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, as well as the Capcom Disney Afternoon, Mega Man, and Street Fighter, Disney's Aladdin/Lion King collections. They include hundreds of high resolution scanned flyers, game boxes, interviews, and they went a step further with the emulation, where you can not only reverse mistakes, but skip past parts of levels, or just watch other pro players and get tips. They really went all out on recent collections! 

[mr_me]

24 minutes ago, spoonman said:

Does the release of the Amico mean that Intellivision Entertainment will not consider releasing compilations of their INTV catalog to other game systems/mobile/Steam?

 

I'm still on the fence with the Amico, but I would definitely buy a compilation of older INTV games. Intellivision Lives! is an incredible collection. I love the extras even more than the games themselves. In addition to the 68 INTV games, which also have optional Intellivoice support, there is a plethora of historic bonuses on the DVD disc. I love watching the old commercials, as well as interviews with many of the game programmers. I wish all game compilations were like that! 

 

Is Intellivision Lives still available on the xbox store?

https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Intellivision-Lives/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802435607d6

 

An xbox or playstation style controller doesn't work well for some intellivision games.

Edited February 21, 2020 by mr_me

[spoonman]

5 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Amico games are designed for touch controls. It also has a physical "d-pad" in the form of the disc.

But that's what I'm talking about. It's a "virtual D-pad".

I thought that many Amico games will be remakes of original INTV games, as well as emulated INTV classics. Those using the virtual D-pad touch controls are not really the same as "designed for touch controls". They are "redesigned to use a virtual touch screen controller.

 

If people like those than that's great. I'm just saying that I've tried them and as a gamer who's played probably 10k games, I like to play using an actual physical controller with a dpad/joystick and buttons.

[Steven Pendleton]

4 minutes ago, spoonman said:

But that's what I'm talking about. It's a "virtual D-pad".

I thought that many Amico games will be remakes of original INTV games, as well as emulated INTV classics. Those using the virtual D-pad touch controls are not really the same as "designed for touch controls". They are "redesigned to use a virtual touch screen controller.

 

If people like those than that's great. I'm just saying that I've tried them and as a gamer who's played probably 10k games, I like to play using an actual physical controller with a dpad/joystick and buttons.

I'm confused. The disc is an actual d-pad, and Tommy said it's basically got the same feel as the original INTV disc. It's also pressure sensitive, just like the buttons on the PS2/PS3 controllers.

 

Edit: Oh, you are talking about the original INTV games on the Amico controller. Wait until E3. Tommy will be showing something revolutionary for the controller screen then.

Edited February 21, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[mr_me]

51 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Why? Do you perhaps want the old games but not the new ones? I think you should ask Tommy over in the QA thread if they are planning on releasing collections like this on other systems.

I think it's already clear that the old Intellivision games are also exclusive to Amico going forward.  There will be an Atgames collectible but it's an exception.  Spoonman makes a good point that the intellivision lives CDs were as much a historical collection as a games collection and the old PC versions don't work on modern computers.  The intellivision emulator actually works but the rest of the CD doesn't.

 

Some of it is here but the websites never had as much information as the CD.  https://history.blueskyrangers.com

Edited February 21, 2020 by mr_me

[Steven Pendleton]

8 minutes ago, mr_me said:

I think it's already clear that the old Intellivision game are also exclusive to Amico going forward.  There will be an Atgames collectible but it's an exception.  Spoonman makes a good point that the intellivision lives CDs were as much a historical collection as a games collection and the old PC versions don't work on modern computers.  The emulator actually works but the rest of the CD doesn't.

Yeah, I think that there will be no releases of the old games on other systems either, but it's not my place to say a solid yes or no. Tommy can say for certain, though. He seems to place great value on the history of Intellivision, so I'm sure that he'll listen if we ask him for something to preserve that history on the Amico. In fact, I would be surprised if he wasn't already planning something for this.

Edited February 21, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[MrBeefy]

1 hour ago, mr_me said:

Yes two others have been unofficially announced in either video interviews or the q&a thread and the final two have been hinted at.

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/288558-intellivision-amico-tommy-tallarico-introduction-qa/?do=findComment&comment=4432232

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/288558-intellivision-amico-tommy-tallarico-introduction-qa/?do=findComment&comment=4273943

Thanks for mentioning that. Been meaning to add it to the first post. Done now.

[MrBeefy]

53 minutes ago, spoonman said:

Does the release of the Amico mean that Intellivision Entertainment will not consider releasing compilations of their INTV catalog to other game systems/mobile/Steam?

 

I'm still on the fence with the Amico, but I would definitely buy a compilation of older INTV games. Intellivision Lives! is an incredible collection. I love the extras even more than the games themselves. In addition to the 68 INTV games, which also have optional Intellivoice support, there is a plethora of historic bonuses on the DVD disc. I love watching the old commercials, as well as interviews with many of the game programmers. I wish all game compilations were like that! 

It will be interesting. Not sure what they would do but I don't see why they wouldn't release compilations. Amico isn't suppose to be a retro console.

 

Making the original games only available on the Amico might send the wrong signal. 🤷‍♂️

[MrBeefy]

38 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Amico games are designed for touch controls. It also has a physical "d-pad" in the form of the disc.

The original post and reply had nothing to do with Amico controllers. I would expect their touch screen games to function nicely as they are designed for it. 

[mr_me]

1 hour ago, spoonman said:

But that's what I'm talking about. It's a "virtual D-pad".

I thought that many Amico games will be remakes of original INTV games, as well as emulated INTV classics. Those using the virtual D-pad touch controls are not really the same as "designed for touch controls". They are "redesigned to use a virtual touch screen controller.

Do an internet search for images of the Amico controller so you can see the physical directional pad/disc.  Remakes will be designed for the Amico controller but emulated intellivision games will make do with a simulated keypad.  Lots of intellivision games don't really use the keypad and others like Treasure of Tarmin, Utopia, Sea Battle, Football, Golf for example, don't use the keypad for "twitch" action.

 

I think there will be people that are strictly looking for a way to play old Intellivision games and Amico might not be ideal for them.

Edited February 21, 2020 by mr_me

[Papy]

2 hours ago, spoonman said:

Touch screen controls on mobile phones are perfect.... For messaging, playing solitaire, Bejeweled type games. However, they are not ideal for any twitch games which require precise controls. 

It's a bit more complicated than that. During the 90s there was a "war" between IBM's pointing stick (which was a joystick) and the trackpad. The trackpad won over the joystick because it was faster and more precise.

 

I have Super Hexagon on my tablet. It's certainly a "twitch" game. Yet, it plays fine.

 

For playing a game like Breakout, a trackpad (and therefore Amico controller's touch screen) will be better than a joystick or a d-pad.

 

I also remember an "old" game called Arx Fatalis. In order to cast spells, we had to draw symbols with the mouse. This was not ideal. A trackpad would have been better for this than a mouse (and, of course, much better than a gamepad).

 

For an RTS, I would certainly choose a trackpad over a gamepad. I never tried to play an FPS with a trackpad, but my guess is that after a bit of time getting used to it, I would also choose the trackpad/keyboard over the gamepad. I believe I would even choose a trackball over a gamepad.

 

Analog sticks and d-pads are not the panacea that many console gamers imagine. They are not the "tried and true" controllers at all. For many games, gamepads clearly suck.

[Steven Pendleton]

10 minutes ago, Papy said:

It's a bit more complicated than that. During the 90s there was a "war" between IBM's pointing stick (which was a joystick) and the trackpad. The trackpad won over the joystick because it was faster and more precise.

 

I have Super Hexagon on my tablet. It's certainly a "twitch" game. Yet, it plays fine.

 

For playing a game like Breakout, a trackpad (and therefore Amico controller's touch screen) will be better than a joystick or a d-pad.

 

I also remember an "old" game called Arx Fatalis. In order to cast spells, we had to draw symbols with the mouse. This was not ideal. A trackpad would have been better for this than a mouse (and, of course, much better than a gamepad).

 

For an RTS, I would certainly choose a trackpad over a gamepad. I never tried to play an FPS with a trackpad, but my guess is that after a bit of time getting used to it, I would also choose the trackpad/keyboard over the gamepad. I believe I would even choose a trackball over a gamepad.

 

Analog sticks and d-pads are not the panacea that many console gamers imagine. They are not the "tried and true" controllers at all. For many games, gamepads clearly suck.

I grew up playing Doom and Dark Forces with this

I can get used to almost anything. Amico controller will be just fine.

[mr_me]

23 minutes ago, Papy said:

For playing a game like Breakout, a trackpad (and therefore Amico controller's touch screen) will be better than a joystick or a d-pad.

Breakout had a rotary controller.  Other ball and paddle games had levers.  I had a pong game that had slide controllers not unlike the touchpad action.  For me rotary controllers work best but a touchpad is better than a thumbstick or dpad.

 

23 minutes ago, Papy said:

It's a bit more complicated than that. During the 90s there was a "war" between IBM's pointing stick (which was a joystick) and the trackpad. The trackpad won over the joystick because it was faster and more precise.

In those days some laptop manufacturers had trackballs where the trackpad is now.  I was disappointed that went way but they said they got dirty, weren't reliable.  No doubt the touchpad is superior to the ibm thinkpad nub/stick but most people insist on having a mouse.

Edited February 21, 2020 by mr_me

[Steven Pendleton]

On 1/27/2020 at 11:23 PM, MrBeefy said:

Confirmed games being worked on: 

 

Armor Battle

Astrosmash

Auto Racing

Bi-Planes

Cloudy Mountain

Night Stalker

Shark! Shark!

Skiing

Snafoo (formerly SNAFU)

 

-Atari Games

Asteroids

Breakout

Missile Command

PONG

 

-Other Games

Earthworm Jim

Moon Patrol

Unnamed Dolphin Game (Ecco?)

BurgerTime

We have a B-17 Bomber remake also now confirmed to be in development and it might be shown at E3. ToeJam & Earl is also being worked on and will hopefully be ready by launch.