Independent Amico Discussion Thread

[Spriggy]

On 2/22/2020 at 7:29 AM, jaybird3rd said:

I think it's time for "m-crew" to take a break from this thread.

 

Phew ... and I was about to get another wrap over the knuckles, from you, for posting another *yawn* gif.  Luckily I'm just catching up after few days afk. 😎

 

 

 

So, @MrBeefy,  any recent news?

[MrBeefy]

38 minutes ago, Spriggy said:

 

Phew ... and I was about to get another wrap over the knuckles, from you, for posting another *yawn* gif.  Luckily I'm just catching up after few days afk. 😎

 

 

 

So, @MrBeefy,  any recent news?

Just that I like bacon and bananas. Think next big news will be E3. If you want some Intelly merch there's a 25% off code for their website. ATARIAGE25 should work. The hoodies look cool. No speaker hats though.🤪 😇

 

❤🌈🦄🐇

 

🥓🌮🍌🥓🌮🍌

[spoonman]

22 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

I actually asked Tommy about this game. Here you go:

 

 

Interesting, thanks. I thought the Amico wasn't going to have ports from other consoles. Only brand new games designed for the Amico. Maybe I've misheard. No that I would mind. There are tons of great games out there which the Amico could benefit from having on their system. Perhaps even Cuphead or Blazing Chrome could find their way onto the Amico. They are both very impressive classic run & gun style games.

 

I also wonder if R-Type is going to be based on R-Type Dimensions EX. 

 

[Steven Pendleton]

46 minutes ago, spoonman said:

Interesting, thanks. I thought the Amico wasn't going to have ports from other consoles. Only brand new games designed for the Amico. Maybe I've misheard. No that I would mind. There are tons of great games out there which the Amico could benefit from having on their system. Perhaps even Cuphead or Blazing Chrome could find their way onto the Amico. They are both very impressive classic run & gun style games.

 

I also wonder if R-Type is going to be based on R-Type Dimensions EX. 

 

I asked about that, too. He says they have the code for it.

 

 

[mr_me]

They can port code if they want, but every Amico game should be an exclusive.  So they have to add enough to differentiate it from previous editions 

[atarifan88]

On 2/21/2020 at 1:51 PM, Papy said:

I believe the intent of this thread was to avoid fanboyism and, to some degree, censorship (I might, of course, be wrong). Having said that, it's clear there are people posting here who have a personal agenda.

 

We know very little about the console and the games on it, so judgments are mostly a reflection of what people want to believe.

 

In my case, I'm not a fan of what video games have become. I still buy a few games. During the Christmas holiday I bought Opus Magnum and Elite Dangerous. However, overall, there is nothing that interests me much anymore. I feel left out. Because of this feeling of being left out, I want to believe Amico will take the market by storm and change the scene. Even if I don't know what I will be getting, I have nothing to lose. Therefore I have a bias to defend and, to some degree, an agenda to promote the console.

 

I'm guessing that people who are satisfied with the current consoles do not want a change of paradigm. If Amico is successful, and if they don't like it, those people have a justified fear of being left out. Because of this, they are trying to attack the console by any means necessary. No one wants to be left out.

[spoonman]

2 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

I asked about that, too. He says they have the code for it.

 

 

"We have the code for R-Type Dimensions" . It sounds as if Tommy and crew are doing the porting themselves?

 

Quote

"Adding co-op to that would be awesome!"

He may not be familiar with R-Type Dimensions EX. Tozai has already added co-op play with 2 ships on screen at once. In addition they've added much more since both the original and DX versions. There was the original R-Type Dimensions on the Xbox 360, R-Type Dimensions DX for the PS3, and now, R-Type EX for PS4 and Switch.

 

Here is the full description of R-Type EX from PSN (new features since the original are bolded:

The coin-op classics, R-Type & R-Type II, are together on PS4™! Fight through all 14 Bydo-infested stages in retro 2D graphics or shiny 3D graphics - and swap back and forth with the touch of a button 'on-the-fly'. The new 3D graphics are accompanied by fully reimagined arrangements of the timeless R-Type music tracks! The classic game-play remains untouched while the new Infinite game mode allows continuous progression from game start to final boss... the Bydo will not evade you this time! Both game modes can be played as single player or local multiplayer. R-Type Dimensions EX introduces three new features: Full Power-Up Mode, allowing players to power their ships to maximum weapon in Infinite Mode Fast Forward, the ability to speed up the game in any mode and crystal-clear 1080p resolution. So pull yourself together, save the earth and strike down the Evil Bydo Empire!!

 

1 hour ago, mr_me said:

They can port code if they want, but every Amico game should be an exclusive.  So they have to add enough to differentiate it from previous editions 

 

Based on the constraints in which Intellivision has placed upon the Amico it sounds as if they might have to reduce some things instead of adding more.

- online co-op (which worked great is a shame that it would have to be removed)-

 - The size is over 2GB w/ update. I'm not sure if they've set a size limit.

- It's rated for ages 10+ due to some animated violence and gross humor. I think it needs to be restricted to [E] for Everyone.

 - Toejam & Earl BITG was a $20 game when released on PS4, Xbox One, and Steam. It's been reduced to $15. It is realistic to expect it to have more features added AND be sold much cheaper than the other online stores?

 

 

Also, if they do produce a physical copy of Toejam & Earl I HIGHLY recommend they go with the black grid style (like the old Genesis game). LRG only added it later on to the Best Buy retail version, and it left many fans upset. They expected LGR to use that style on the copies they sold.

Do they look very nice and nostalgic!

[mr_me]

An esrb of E10+ is fine for Amico.  Online multiplayer could be added in the future.  Nobody is saying Amico editions will have more features than other, only that it will have exclusive features.  And since other online stores have huge markups the Amico online store can sell for less.  

 

If they have access to the old code than porting it would be up to the developer.  I expect most will write their own, unless it's the same developer of the old code.  Tozai Games is listed as an Amico developer.

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by mr_me

[roots.genoa]

8 hours ago, spoonman said:

He may not be familiar with R-Type Dimensions EX. Tozai has already added co-op play with 2 ships on screen at once.

It puzzled me as well but he may have meant 4-player coop. Tozai is strongly involved in Amico actually, it was one of the first announced partner.

[Steven Pendleton]

3 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

It puzzled me as well but he may have meant 4-player coop. Tozai is strongly involved in Amico actually, it was one of the first announced partner.

There was an announcement of Spelunker in the reveal trailer, and I think Tozai either owns that or is the main dev for it right now. I am unsure though.

[+Swami]

3 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

There was an announcement of Spelunker in the reveal trailer, and I think Tozai either owns that or is the main dev for it right now. I am unsure though.

The Nintendo Wii and Wii U had pretty mundane "DVD-player" main consoles, but their controllers made up for it. 

[Steven Pendleton]

1 minute ago, Swami said:

The Nintendo Wii and Wii U had pretty mundane "DVD-player" main consoles, but their controllers made up for it. 

Lol I think you quoted me in the wrong thread, but I know what you're talking about! I think...

[+Swami]

1 minute ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Lol I think you quoted me in the wrong thread, but I know what you're talking about! I think...

Yeah, beat me to it before fixing it, lol.

[Steven Pendleton]

Just now, Swami said:

Yeah, beat me to it before fixing it, lol.

These things happen when I have nothing to do at work during the off-season when business is slow!

[MrBeefy]

Anyone notice that the gen2 Astrosmash and the Amico one have some of the same power ups? Thought that was interesting. Wonder if any of the gen2 Shark! Shark! Or Night Stalker ideas made it into the Amico games. I know Night Stalker had different mazes at least.

 

 

[Steven Pendleton]

10 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

It puzzled me as well but he may have meant 4-player coop. Tozai is strongly involved in Amico actually, it was one of the first announced partner.

I kind of forgot to reply to this before, but the thought of 4-player R-Type is quite interesting. I tried the 2-player mode in Dimensions EX maybe a year ago and I think R-Type is one of those games that is easier alone because you don't have to worry about sharing power ups. There are only 3 Bits in the entire game, you know! Obviously they would have to rebalance it to account for the increase in players.

[SegaSnatcher]

On 2/24/2020 at 3:51 AM, spoonman said:

Interesting, thanks. I thought the Amico wasn't going to have ports from other consoles. Only brand new games designed for the Amico. Maybe I've misheard. No that I would mind. There are tons of great games out there which the Amico could benefit from having on their system. Perhaps even Cuphead or Blazing Chrome could find their way onto the Amico. They are both very impressive classic run & gun style games.

 

I also wonder if R-Type is going to be based on R-Type Dimensions EX. 

 

Yeah, Tommy said the only ports he will accept are those that have exclusive features specifically for Amico.    

I'm also curious to find out if R-Type is a brand new game or just an Amico enhanced port of Dimensions EX.  Not that Dimensions EX is bad or anything, just something totally brand new would be much more appreciated.

[Steven Pendleton]

46 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Yeah, Tommy said the only ports he will accept are those that have exclusive features specifically for Amico.    

I'm also curious to find out if R-Type is a brand new game or just an Amico enhanced port of Dimensions EX.  Not that Dimensions EX is bad or anything, just something totally brand new would be much more appreciated.

Nothing we can do but wait, as it hasn't started development yet, but I definitely agree. Already have Dimensions EX on Switch and I don't really need it again on another system.

[+Mockduck]

I still think the Intellivision crew will need to compromise on their all-exclusive, family friendly, less than $10 approach as the console (hopefully) gets its life cycle. For now, though, it makes sense I guess from a marketing and positioning perspective. I have been pleasantly proven wrong so far on IE's abilities to get games in the works for it. 

[MrBeefy]

7 hours ago, Mockduck said:

I still think the Intellivision crew will need to compromise on their all-exclusive, family friendly, less than $10 approach as the console (hopefully) gets its life cycle. For now, though, it makes sense I guess from a marketing and positioning perspective. I have been pleasantly proven wrong so far on IE's abilities to get games in the works for it. 

Well he did say the commandments were really just strong suggestions at one point.

 

The all exclusive is sort of misleading. Some games like Astrosmash will definitely be exclusive, but say Stardew Valley is ported. It isn't exclusive in the sense that it is only on Amico, but exclusive in a way that would use a feature of the controller that couldn't be replicated on another system.

 

People worry about the family friendly but I think that range is way more variable than people give it credit for. 

 

It is nice to see some of the gameplay. Hopefully we continue to see some more and hopefully we see one of the new games soon.

[Steven Pendleton]

Am I the only one who would like to see the Amico or its controllers have a 3.5mm headphone jack? I got really spoiled once I got my PS4 and Mega Sg and then even more when I got my Mega Drive. Having that huge volume slider on there is great since I don't have to open a menu to adjust the headphone volume. I imagine most people want headphone volume control in some sort of menu like PS4 and Mega Sg instead of a physical volume slider or a spinning thingy like the one on the Game Boy and PC Engine DUO, but that's okay, too.

 

Probably way too late to include this on the Amico now, but perhaps if there is an updated controller later or even a hypothetical Amico 2, I'd welcome this for sure.

[Utopia]

38 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Am I the only one who would like to see the Amico or its controllers have a 3.5mm headphone jack? I got really spoiled once I got my PS4 and Mega Sg and then even more when I got my Mega Drive. Having that huge volume slider on there is great since I don't have to open a menu to adjust the headphone volume. I imagine most people want headphone volume control in some sort of menu like PS4 and Mega Sg instead of a physical volume slider or a spinning thingy like the one on the Game Boy and PC Engine DUO, but that's okay, too.

 

Probably way too late to include this on the Amico now, but perhaps if there is an updated controller later or even a hypothetical Amico 2, I'd welcome this for sure.

But it will have Bluetooth right? Perhaps you could use a set of those cans.

[Steven Pendleton]

47 minutes ago, Utopia said:

But it will have Bluetooth right? Perhaps you could use a set of those cans.

Nope. Bluetooth is useless to me. I use professional studio monitor headphones from the 80s (Sony MDR-CD900ST).

 

Yes, I just realized that people are going to wonder why I use ancient-ass headphones from 1989, but they are very good and as a musician I needed something to plug into amps and stuff. They are also still in production, so it's not like mine are ACTUALLY from 1989. I'm not a pro, though, so I don't actually need super high-quality stuff, but they have never failed me since I got them in 2010~2011. Even after falling onto hard tile floors and even me sitting on them last month, they are still in great shape and I'd like to continue using them, especially since I have no reason to buy new ones.

 

I don't really use them for their intended purpose anymore since I almost never play music now, so they live connected to my PC through an adaptor thing. Still, I'd like to see a headphone jack on the Amico. PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, and Switch all have them either on the controllers or the console itself in the case of the Switch, so I'd like to see this. Still, I don't expect it will ever happen, but it would make me happy if it did.

Edited February 27, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[spoonman]

On 2/25/2020 at 9:31 AM, Steven Pendleton said:

Nothing we can do but wait, as it hasn't started development yet, but I definitely agree. Already have Dimensions EX on Switch and I don't really need it again on another system.

Same here. I just bought these limited physical copies, as well as digitally on sale. So I definitely wouldn't need it again.

 

Perhaps it'll be the new R-Type Final 2...is Granzella a developer on the Amico list?

It looks like a game better suited for a PS4/PS4 Pro. 

 

 

[Steven Pendleton]

3 minutes ago, spoonman said:

Same here. I just bought these limited physical copies, as well as digitally on sale. So I definitely wouldn't need it again.

 

Perhaps it'll be the new R-Type Final 2...is Granzella a developer on the Amico list?

It looks like a game better suited for a PS4/PS4 Pro. 

 

 

I didn't know the physical copies of Dimensions EX existed until last month. Super disappointed that I never found out about those.

 

Anyway, don't expect Final 2 for Amico. I asked Tommy about it and he said that it might be a little too much for the Amico, but might be possible if they used pre-rendered backgrounds.

Edited February 27, 2020 by Steven Pendleton