Intellivisionaries: Questions For Keith Robinson

[Rev]

Ask if there are any other intv things happening other than the flashback during 2014, since this is the 35th anniversary.

Edited May 2, 2014 by revolutionika

[+nurmix]

Ask if he likes my Flashback page I made to help promote it.

 

http://intellivisionrevolution.com/intellivision-flashback

 

(now was is a stealth spam!)

 

Nice find, Rev! An actual picture of it - available for pre-order on the Toys 'R' Us website no less.

 

EDIT: I was behind on the Intellivision Flashback thread, so this was the first time I'd seen the pictures. Looks good!

Edited May 2, 2014 by nurmix

[+Rick Reynolds]

I understand that there are newly created controllers on the way (they're in the flashback units). Will they be selling them as replacement parts? How about controller circuit matrix mylar thingies to repair existing controllers? Or maybe just make replacement controllers cheap enough to not worry about parts for the controllers themselves. (??).

 

Also, since intvdave found the picture I was referring to, any interest in looking into another form factor for aftermarket controllers: e.g.

 

 

[fabulous_Muller]

Hello Folks , sorry to stay away again but I'm doing nothing than working hard and that's killing me (now it just metaphoric but if didn't relax a little bit I'll turn it to literal soon) . I have 2 question to Keith :

 

1- If he received my letter (from Brazil) and if we have the possibility of one book about Intellevision in the Platform Studies series (http://www.platformstudies.com/) , it will be very cool...

 

2- Any chance to make any tool or game open source ?

[+DZ-Jay]

Hello Folks , sorry to stay away again but I'm doing nothing than working hard and that's killing me (now it just metaphoric but if didn't relax a little bit I'll turn it to literal soon) . I have 2 question to Keith :

 

1- If he received my letter (from Brazil) and if we have the possibility of one book about Intellevision in the Platform Studies series (http://www.platformstudies.com/) , it will be very cool...

 

2- Any chance to make any tool or game open source ?

 

By the way, are you talking about the Mattel/Intv Inc. games? Because there are some modern tools and games already open source.

[fabulous_Muller]

 

By the way, are you talking about the Mattel/Intv Inc. games? Because there are some modern tools and games already open source.

 

you are right Dz , you guys are doing a terrific job. If you don't mind and is not against it, I would like to have my 2nd question removed and I'd like complement yours :

 

would be very interested in hearing Keith Robinson talk about the development tools and to describe the development process back in the early days of Mattel Electronics, if he knows about the actual dev tools built and maintained by some community members, and if there is a possibility to have any of the original development tools(and some mattel games) released under some open source license (GPL,MPL,etc..) ?

Edited May 4, 2014 by fabulous_Muller

[dcasa]

When do you plan to release the new version of Intellivision Lives! for the PC/Mac? How about selling it through Steam to reach a wider audience? Also, considering the work done with the upcoming Flashback unit, is there any chance of seeing the same controller with USB/Bluetooth connectivity for PC/Mac users?

[IntyPod Burgertime]

Aside from the possibility of having a demo Flashback unit at CGE, could there be anything announced that weekend?

If asked, would Keith be interested in doing box artwork for a homebrew game?

 

Specifically about the Flashback:

Are there any titles we haven't seen previously in a collection being included?

Who made the overlays?

[+intvsteve]

When do you plan to release the new version of Intellivision Lives! for the PC/Mac? How about selling it through Steam to reach a wider audience? Also, considering the work done with the upcoming Flashback unit, is there any chance of seeing the same controller with USB/Bluetooth connectivity for PC/Mac users?

The Ultimate PC interface will give you USB connectivity, presuming these controllers use a DB9 style connector. At worst, you'd have to come up w/ a connector to map the pins from the Flashback controller to the Ultimate PC Interface. I just picked one up either in 2012 or 2013 and have used it in Windows xp, 7, and 8 w/o trouble. (Well, that's another story...)

 

That being said, I'm not sure if Lives/Rocks supports those. I thought it supported a couple of the older peripherals, mainly due to the origins of the emulator they use. I'm sure Carl, William, or intvnut know those details better.

Edited May 6, 2014 by intvsteve

[dcasa]

The Ultimate PC interface will give you USB connectivity, presuming these controllers use a DB9 style connector. At worst, you'd have to come up w/ a connector to map the pins from the Flashback controller to the Ultimate PC Interface. I just picked one up either in 2012 or 2013 and have used it in Windows xp, 7, and 8 w/o trouble. (Well, that's another story...)

 

That being said, I'm not sure if Lives/Rocks supports those. I thought it supported a couple of the older peripherals, mainly due to the origins of the emulator they use. I'm sure Carl, William, or intvnut know those details better.

 

Thanks, I'm aware of that kit but it's just too expensive (about $70) especially considering the Flashback will be around $40, the fact that most controllers are not detachable is another issue and I don't think everyone is willing to tear apart a perfectly functioning console for this purpose. Separate controllers with direct USB connection would be great to those solely interested in PC/Mac emulation... Bluetooth support, even better of course. By the way, the Rocks (and Lives, I suppose) emulator begs for an update, in my PC the colors and sounds are messed up, I get way better results with the unofficial software (Nostalgia and jzIntv), current/future status of the official emulator could be another question to Keith.

[+intvsteve]

I think there's where you run into an economies of scale problem. Bluetooth has significantly more cost due to licensing, IIRC, than USB. In either case, though, I think there just isn't enough volume to justify nicer 'dual purpose' versions. That said, we don't really know what kind of interface the Flashback units have. Generally, I think you've got two almost mutually exclusive problems:

• Make the Flashback controllers work with original hardware
• Make the Flashback controllers work with modern hardware

If these controllers are actually compatible with original hardware, they're passive devices and there's some hardware and software in the box to change it into whatever signals the Flashback would need to recognize the inputs. (e.g. 16 bits of digital input and some kind of serial port.) It could even be USB internally, for all we know, but integrated into the unit in a ... non-user-extractable manner, let's say. If it's hackable, well, that would be awesome! I'm not skilled enough w/ electronics to know what sorts of designs here would be cost effective enough for a unit such as this.

Edited May 6, 2014 by intvsteve

[+Gemintronic]

For years I've been trying to contact Blue Sky Rangers / Intellivision Productions, Inc. about using the Aquarius character set in games. I'd like to ask them permission or if they know who to ask permission for Aquarius related assets.

 

I've already asked the most active people in the Aquarius scene (jaybird3rd) and looked up trademark owners for Radofin to no avail. I'd really like to promote the Aquarius by using its character set in other games. It'd be a great help to me and future homebrew developers if we knew who to ask for permission.

[dcasa]

I think there's where you run into an economies of scale problem. Bluetooth has significantly more cost due to licensing, IIRC, than USB. In either case, though, I think there just isn't enough volume to justify nicer 'dual purpose' versions.

 

Yeah, there's probably not enough market to justify a separate controller, on second thought, I think the Flashback unit promises to be a good substitute of the Intellivision Lives! product. Getting some actual hardware plus two real controllers (with overlays to boot) for just twice the price of the CD is quite a deal, I just hope the emulation is accurate enough without the several bugs that have plagued other official products.

[+grips03]

Ask him if APh or Mattel had schematics for Intellivision with composite video or s-video or any type of enhance video. If they did, does he have copies that he would release to public domain?

[+JasonlikesINTV]

Bump for myself. I just started listening to the newest episode of Intellivisionaries (sea battle).

[+cmart604]

EP9, where are you?

[Rev]

Car 54. Where are you?

 

 

Ask Keith if he knows where car 54 is.........

[IntellivisionDude]

I understand that there are newly created controllers on the way (they're in the flashback units). Will they be selling them as replacement parts? How about controller circuit matrix mylar thingies to repair existing controllers? Or maybe just make replacement controllers cheap enough to not worry about parts for the controllers themselves. (??).

 

Also, since intvdave found the picture I was referring to, any interest in looking into another form factor for aftermarket controllers: e.g.

 

 

 

That Intellivision/Genesis controller looks awesome. But i do wonder about it's design. It would work great for games where the keypad is not used much, but it does looks like it could be uncomfortable to reach half way across the controller for games that do like Night Stalker, Tron Deadly Discs, and some of the sports games.

 

But that would be awesome for playing Burgertime.

 

I think the problem with a design like that is you can't have they keypad and the fire buttons in a comfortable position. Only one or the other.

[+nurmix]

Ep 9 arrived yesterday, Cmart.

 

And OK, Rev. I will ask him about Car 54 in the next session (you know I will)...

[JoeM_Intellivision]

Awesome can't wait to dig in:-)

[Games For Your Intellivision]

On the podcast, Keith didn't really give a clear answer if the MTE test cart was something that could be made for people to test their machines.

 

At least I couldn't tell if it was a yes or a no.

[+nurmix]

On the podcast, Keith didn't really give a clear answer if the MTE test cart was something that could be made for people to test their machines.

 

At least I couldn't tell if it was a yes or a no.

He said he would look into it. I don't imagine it would be a high demand item - although I'd buy one.

[+grips03]

I would buy a MTE-201 too.

 

Its not really about sales its about releasing it to the public domain so that others could put it on a cart. The cart would cost money, but the mte201 rom would be free / public domain.

[Games For Your Intellivision]

I would buy a MTE-201 too.

 

Its not really about sales its about releasing it to the public domain so that others could put it on a cart. The cart would cost money, but the mte201 rom would be free / public domain.

 

That is what I meant. I don't expect Intellivision Productions to manufacture and sell them. It could be manufactured and sold at cost. I suspect about $23 US shipped.

[SoulBlazer]

Good thing that Keith loves to talk so much.

 

Great interview, guys. Loved hearing what he had to say about homebrews (he's 100 percent right, BTW, and I've been saying that for years!) and his original intentions vs what he's doing now with the company and striking the balance. Nice defense of the original handheld units also.