Tavi

He certainly did very well for himself, almost 200$ for a Intellivision II with a decent box and a few loose games. He did have quite a lot of interesting items listed, I personally was watching the Suncom Joy-sensor controllers; but like was mentioned everything seemed to go for a premium for some reason.

I have a lot more confidence the Amico is going to be released essentially as what is it being promoted as; as compared to the 'Atari Box' (It's not a console anymore, apparently). The Amico, if you pardon my French here, is the one that seems to have it's sh*t together of the two. Tommy has stated the console is basically finished; with multiple games specifically for the unit being worked on and demoed, and that there will be a playable model set up at E3 (which I suspect is also what they are holding back Skiing for?). Then there is the 'Atari Box'. No unique games, hardware still being worked on, and the only functionality shown so far is the ability with some additional customization and cost to function as a PC; running Windows 10 and Steam/Antstream. I would love to support Atari, or have some confidence it will not be a complete failure but ....

A bit of an older press release now (over a year ago!) but 'Beauty and the Beast' is on the list of games they plan to release for the Amico. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/intellivision-reveals-initial-details-for-the-upcoming-amico-home-video-game-console-300734998.html

Well The FE is starting in the afternoon on a Monday, which I expect will limit the initial rush to the die-hard fans; I expect the real rush will start that evening. But it is only 2600 units so I expect such a limited quantity will still go fast. So I will say 5 hours 40 minutes.

Holy Forking Shirtballs, this was an amazing watch! This is exactly what sells me on the Amico. Classic games I know and love but with updated graphics, music, multi-player and sounds; but still remaining true to the original gameplay. These updates would also I expect make it a bit easier to coax the nieces and nephews into giving them a try. *fun observation* At about 1:50 Yellow ducks out of the way and Cyan takes the hit from a robot shooting at Yellow. That there is gameplay right up one of my nephews alley; 'it is not of you win or lose, but if you can get someone else killed in the process' The only real complaint I have after watching this video is I think my chances of my successfully getting in on the FE just dropped a few percentage points, as it really sells the Amico console and showcases the quality of games it will have available to it. I am quite impressed, and am looking very much forward to the upcoming demo videos.

I believe it was mentioned that there will be an e-mail sent out to those on the official mailing list (of which you sign up for on the official website) informing everyone when the FE pre-order is open.

Looks scrumptious! ... if perhaps a bit light on the sriracha for my liking I think?

I would imagine if it was an honest discussion, or even just poking a bit of fun at it or Tommy; then it would not be a problem. Howling 'FE is a scam! FE is a scam!' over and over in forum because you do not like it is not expressing or discussing a viewpoint, and mods finally telling you to dial the rage back is also not censorship. This is coming from someone who always had been mainly Atari. I grew up with a 2600. Played it in emulators and bought several Flashbacks (until I got tired of them becoming obsolete every 6 months anyways), and still play my modded 2600 after work and on weekends. But given the choice between these two upcoming retro consoles (or one console and one 'box'), I would go with 'the one which shall not be named'. Why? Because the VCS II has basically been a mix of a blowout dumpster fire and Keystone Kops since their campaign ended. It is not fanboi'ing to be excited about a console that looks like it will actually be a console offering some unique games, as compared to a system looking like a half-built PC offering absolutely nothing original. It is eye-rollingly inane to suggest that Tommy bought off the forum in some kind of secret payment, in exchange for preferential treatment. He has been staying in his own lane (RE: his own dedicated forum thread) since he said he would stay out of other topics to avoid this very controversy. I am not sure how you get this is somehow special treatment? I was made clear that this was going to be a verboten topic here, for both supporters and detractors. Getting upset because you tried to slide a sly dig or two in anyways and got caught out at it is not really a case for righteous indignation.

They have promised March several times already. 'Weeks, not months' and including Arzt's interview just a few days ago ('March has 31 days'). So I think it is a bit late now to back pedal and say 'there is no firm date'. Saying that, I also can see no possible way they can meet their March deadline. If the boards were in production now it would already be and uncomfortably tight delivery window taking into account the New Year shutdown and shipping time from China. That they are still fiddling with the board design right now means there is no chance the design will be finalized, produced, units assembled and shipped all inside of 8 weeks. The only real question here is when Atari is going to finally bite that bullet and announce yet another delay to their backers.

This was the part of this interview/infomercial that truly irked me. His constantly referring to it as 'the box' and even pointedly stating 'It is not a console'. Except that is exactly what it is supposed to be. It was promoted as a console with additional PC capabilities. Which is a far cry from being a half-finished PC (A Windows licence and additional larger drive need to be bought and installed; and potentially memory) which just happens to be set in an Atari themed shell. If I were a backer I would be furious at this. The only system capabilities which have been displayed so far are ones that can be easily replicated by any PC or laptop made in the last 5 years. With only moderate modification it can run Steam, AND Antstream. Be still my beating heart! I have to say I can completely underwhelmed by what I have seen so far.

This was just painful to watch. I honestly feel sorry for the backers at this point. I could not help but note he kept referring it to it as 'the box' throughout the interview, at one point clarifying after he accidentally said 'console' something like 'We do not call it a console because it is an open platform; it will be whatever the users make of it'. Then started talking about installing Windows and Linux, running Steam, streaming... So basically it is a half-finished PC (Users will need to buy and install a larger drive, and then buy and install an operating system for it) for the living room in a admittedly snazzy Atari-themed case. The joysticks do not look half bad, though having the paddle built into the main joystick seems an odd choice as you would expect it to constantly spin a bit during use as a joystick and is a small grip/knob for use as a paddle. It seems an interesting idea, but I suspect in actual use it is going to under-perform at both. I am also still waiting for them to announce another delay. As he pointed out in the interview it is basically Chinese New Year; and every factory in China shuts down for 4-6 weeks. As the board design is still being finalized for production, there is no way they will meet their already previously delayed March shipping date. My final note is despite it being pointed out to them a week and some ago, they still have 'Asteroid' and 'Yar's Revenge' in their demo. One would think they would have corrected these embarrassing typos of flagship Atari products by now. I am starting to wonder if I will be playing my Amico before the Atari indiegogo backers recieve their VCS II's? As the only thing we have seen the VCS II actually do so far is run Windows and Steam, I imagine many campaign backers are going to be disappointed if and when they receive their 'Atari Box' (as that seems to be what is is being called again?).

Thais has been brought up multiple times before, but it bears yet another mention: Chinese New Year. Every year at this time every factory in China shuts down for a month, and absolutely nothing is being worked on or produced over this time. https://insight-quality.com/chinese-new-year-factory-shutdown-2020/ If they are still 'finalizing manufacturing details' in China it is pretty much a given that nothing production-wise is going to happen now for 4 to 6 weeks. As you pointed out, this is also before the potentially lengthy shipping time from China. Even if the VCS II is basically ready to go into production right now, it will still be months before any backer would receive one. It is impressive to see their demo/prototype unit actually showing some functionality; but they are still a long way yet from having a finished product I think. I just wonder when they are going to bite the bullet and announce yet another delay?

As the only supposed functionality we have seen so far on the VCS II was it booting Windows 10 and then loading up Fortnite through Steam; and in view it is supposed to be released in just a few months, I think it is a safe bet to say this unit is going to be essentially a PC and not the advertised console with additional PC capabilities. .. that is, if the VCS II actually makes it to production. Which is something I still question as by their own metrics they are still in the 'prototype' stage of development. I also believe there are still no signs of a functional custom OS, or for that matter any hint of developer interest or console-specific games. Those are some rather large issues. It certainly does not look very promising for backers currently, in my opinion.

Not that I am by any stretch of the imagination an expert on troubleshooting a 2600; but it might also be a problem the RF converter box?

Even giving Atari the full benefit of doubt, and accepting everything shown in these videos of an operational VCS II is truth, what do you have? It has no custom operating system, games, or GUI of it's own. It boots into Windows 10, and then loads/plays a PC game. So, it is a PC. Not only a PC, but one as it is now that will require additional work and cost from its users (buying a Windows licence and HDD, time spent installing said drive, OS and games) to achieve the level of functionality displayed. If this is what I was getting for 250$, I certainly would not be in any way ecstatic about what I just watched. It does however bring to mind a half-remembered joke from when I was a kid; I believe a Wizard of Id strip? They were all trying to put together a horribly complex machine, after a lot of work they switch it on it starts shaking, and noise and sounds start coming out of it. One of them says to the other 'Is it supposed to be doing this?' to which another replies 'Who cares? At least it is doing something'. Which is all the current backer excitement in a nutshell. Happy just to see a VCS II finally doing something, even if it is not much more then a unfinished PC.

Nailed it in one. I had the 2600, my cousin had the Intellivsion. So which console was being used depended on who's house we were at. Both consoles were a lot of fun, but Astrosmash/Astroblast stands out in my memory as a game available for both consoles that we both enjoyed playing (Intellivision absolutely had the better version though).

Seeing Moon Patrol coming up as a topic this morning reminded me of a question of my own. I was ecstatic to see Astrosmash was being remade for the Amico, as both my cousin and I logged hundreds of hours playing it. But the problem was at one point we were both so good the other would never get a chance to play, and it was only single player. Any chance there will be a multiplayer option for your Astrosmash? Perhaps something like for competitive play the ground being split into sections that each player has to defend from being hit (and then losing points) while still having full range of the entire play area with their laser for scoring purposes. Cooperative could be easier with just multiple lasers and a combined score? It would be a blast (literally and figuratively) to finally go head-to-head and see who is better after all these decades! But even if it is just single player, I am still looking forward to playing the Amico version. Also highly excited Cloudy Mountain is on the re-imagined/updated games list!

Hrm, I suppose I could have clarified my comment better? I would not expect any sort of refund once the item is shipped and in hand. That would be incredibly expensive and you know some would happily abuse such a policy (buy it, play the hell out of it for a week and then return it). What I was suggesting that by Tommy's comment it seems when they send you an e-mail 'Units ready to ship, please pay outstanding balance', you can look at the finished Amico and say 'This was not what I was expecting it to be when I pre-ordered' and they will cancel your order and fully refund the deposit. Which is certainly more then anything Atari is offering their backers. I know I would be spitting nails if I dropped around 250$ on what was promoted as a retro Atari console and it looked more and more like the end product was going to be a Linux PC in a custom Atari case.

I will jump on the bandwagon that comparing this to the Atari VCS II is a grossly unfair comparison. Atari collected 100% of the units cost up front though indiegogo. They so far has had a public VCS-related scandal where Rob Wyatt, the system architect for the VCS, walked off stating he had not been paid in six months by Atari. They have also missed multiple deadlines (Units were supposed to be shipping December, 2019; and they have yet to get out of the prototype stage January, 2020). Atari's main reveal for a year and a halfs work on the VCS is a few prototype shells, there is nothing known about the operating system, games, or who is developing for it. Then you have Amico. Tommy has stated that the pre-order cost is 30% (100$, give or take), and is fully refundable if the final product is not what you were expecting. There have been videos showcasing the work being done on the unit and controllers, as well as teasers of some of the games being released on it. I know looking at both consoles which one seems to be further ahead in development (hardware, software and games), knows what they are doing, and less likely to be released without being a budget Linux micro-PC dressed up in a snazzy shell. I also would be a lot more confident in putting a 100% refundable 100$ deposit on a Amico then dropping 249$ into pre-ordering a VCS II. Tommy is great at hyping his product, but he also has revealed there is a product in development; which is more then one can say for the VCS II.

Well, the timing of this is good; as I was just wondering where or even if I should post this (I did not want to spam the forums with 'Hey! Look at this auction' links). But this one might be right up your alley? From the looks of it I would say it is a Game Traders clearing out all their 2600/5200/7800/Odyssey 2/Intellivsion/Colecovision cartridges. You might be able to nab it for a good deal? Even though most of this is probably not shells you can use, it does look like there would be a fair bit of standard 2600 games in the lot (the 7800 ones might be of use as well?). https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Huge-Lot-of-Atari5200-2600-7800-odyssey2-colecovision-Games-Manuals-Inserts/124027969059?hash=item1ce0a49e23:g:tPUAAOSwsmdeCi-E *EDIT* I did a quick count and it looks like around 127 loose standard 2600 cartridges in the lot.

That is quite unusual. Looking at some of the images, It definitely says 'Alpha Stick 3' on the back of the controller board; but googling that brings up nothing relevant (Street Fighter controllers and hockey sticks). I would think it is perhaps someones own home creation? The joystick looks like a pretty standard console use design, but the connector certainly looks like it is intended to be installed inside something, and not readily removed/swapped. The base looks very much like a Wico command controller (They also had 'TOP' stamped into them), but I do not think they made a two button version? Perhaps someone had modified one to be a two button joystick? Certainly quite an interesting unit!

Frosty and Chimney Test both seem like fun seasonal games to give a try! I have not played Elf Bowling in years, I was surprised to see there was so many sequels and spinoffs to it. A very enjoyable video! After watching this, I am now feeling the need for some Elf Bowling and Jazz Jackrabbit Holiday Hare!

I did a bit of digging online, as I was interested in this as well. I found one similar here: https://gamevaluenow.com/atari-2600/pole-position-error-label?gameid=614 Which suggests the typo cartridge is a bit more valuable then a correct one, but not by a huge amount. However, both the cartridge error labels shown on this page, and the one on AtariProtos Label Variation Museum show a black label variant; I do not know if a orange label is a more rare variant of the variant, or not.

That is a toughie, 1982 perhaps? It was a 6-switch, and I remember my original games were Pac-man (which I did play quite a lot of; I was too young to know how badly it sucked compared to the arcade version), Haunted House and Stampede.

This is certainly quite intriguing! I love my Harmony cart, but I can see the attraction to having a personal high scores list available for all titles and also for online multiplayer gaming.