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RxScram

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Posts posted by RxScram

  3. Posted

    4 minutes ago, Swami said:

    Okay. Thanks. I placed one order for two t-shirts and got one golden ticket. Then e-mailed for a second, because I though I should get two tickets. So, they sent me a second ticket, but the e-mail says I have one entry. Is it one entry per item or per order...thanks!

    Email them back and ask for a second entry. The t-shirts were, I believe, per item.

    • Like 2

  6. Posted

    11 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

    I heard PS5 games and I assume Xbox Series X games will be $70?  Not sure it this is true but I wouldn't doubt it.  I was wondering if the game pricing would increase with next gen.  No surprise there.  Lol.  This just makes the Amico & it's cheap games all the more tempting.  The Amico can't arrive soon enough.  I wish it was 10/10 already.  

    You have good timing! Check out this article that talks about just this thing! Funny that the author seems to think it is a good thing, or at least gives it a pass because of inflation. 

     

    https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/07/will-nba-2k21s-70-price-set-a-new-next-gen-console-standard/

    • Like 8
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  8. Posted · Edited by RxScram

    10 minutes ago, BigDumer said:

    Me too, and I read this in the terms & conditions:

     

    “The following sweepstakes is intended for viewing, or as applicable, participation in the United States only and shall only be construed and evaluated according to United States law. Participation in this Sweepstakes is void where prohibited. Do not proceed in this sweepstakes if you are not a legal resident of the United States or if you are a legal resident of the United States and you do not fall within the eligibility requirements set forth in the official rules below.”
     

    It sounds like the contest for the 10 Amicos and other items is only open to US residents. But I’m no lawyer.  Seems odd since they sent Golden Tickets around the world.

     

    Some clarification would be appreciated.

     

    TLDR; My non-lawyer understanding is that if you bought a Golden Ticket, Intellivision will enter you into the sweepstakes unless prohibited by your local country.

     

    ---

    I wasn't involved in the creation of the sweepstakes, but from my reading of the terms and conditions the U.S. portion of it seems mostly related to the non-Golden Ticket entry methods. (The U.S. requires sweepstakes like this to have entry methods that don't require the purchase of merchandise... such as the hand-written or emailed entry method described in the T&C.) Towards the bottom of the T&C, it has the following: "For those purchasing items or entering from outside of the Sweepstakes geography as defined above, Intellivision will make an effort to adhere to local laws but if local law prohibits participation in the Sweepstakes as defined in these Official Terms and Conditions, then Intellivision reserves the right to disqualify entrant from Sweepstakes."

     

     

    • Like 5

  9. Posted

    7 minutes ago, vongruetz said:

    It says to hold the Golden Ticket next to your phone for a surprise.  How would one do this on an iPhone? Is there something special that needs to be done?

    Unfortunately, with apple products you have to install an NFC reader app to get your surprise. If you go to the app store and search for "NFC reader" pretty much any of them will work.

     

    • Like 5

  12. Posted

    20 minutes ago, Jenny Davis said:

    Have questions about game controller say ur friends have white controlled is ur then have white too they got mix up how know which game controlled is your

    When you set up your Amico the first time, you will give it a name. The controller remembers the name of the Amico it belongs to, so you can look at the controller menu and it will tell you.

    • Like 11

  14. Posted

    21 minutes ago, Jake67 said:

    Does anyone else feel a twinge of excitement when they notice Tommy hasn’t been around for a couple of days because it hopefully means he’s super busy and things are moving forward with big announcements coming soon?

     

    I mean, if he comes back and says he was sick in bed, arrested, or had lost his password to the forum... that would be disappointing. 

     

    I can promise that he's been active in all the company meetings, so no evidence of sick in bed or arrested. 😂

    • Like 9
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    • Haha 2

  15. Posted · Edited by RxScram

    2 hours ago, Stillagamer said:

    I think thats a very optimistic way of looking at it. Maybe im off the mark but i dont think outside of the IE or Atari fanbase anyone wanted remakes of these games. To people who didnt grow up with them, we all played some variation of them for free as flash games in the 90s and early 2000s, so thats what we get reminded of when we see asteroids or astrosmash. The retro reimagined titles could have been made 1 or 2 at a time instead of all at once. I dont know how long it took for them to be made, but its hard not to look at the games reel and think some of that energy could have gone to a new release as the showpiece. Im thinking a game that would get a high score with reviewers like earthworm jim 4. You need one of those out of the gate IMO or at least in the launch window. I would have liked ALL of those games to be games like that, and Skiing, Breakout and such to be the "We have the retro stuff too". Its what was missing from that. I want the high quality Disney feel I know the Amico can produce, because Tommys team literally made those amazing Disney games for the Genesis and Snes that shit on any Atari or Intellivision game, no offense lol. There are a lot of developers now who make games in that same spirit and really the Amico seems like a hand in glove fit. I think the retro games work best as a complimentary piece like the Virtual Console. Not the steak part of the dinner IMO. Tommy is wasting his genius on Astrosmash come on man thats not right! But i get why you and others here would be so excited for this because its so over the top and unnecessary for such simple games hahaha

    A few counterpoints to your comments. All opinions are my own, and I do not speak for Intellivision. 

     

    1. We're not doing these remakes because Intellivision / Atari fans want them. We're doing them because we have the licenses for them, and licenses are HUGE! We've got a large portfolio of games that we can remake without having to pay royalties to somebody else. The fact that we happen to have a small, built-in customer base because of these titles is just a huge bonus. And, just because they have the same title does not make them the same game at all. These are all local multiplayer (either co-op or versus), with a tremendous amount added to them. It's kind of like saying "Why did they just release a new Doom video game? They released that back in 1993."  (I was trying to think of another analogy, I realize Doom has been remade a bunch of times. Anybody have a better analogy for this?) 

     

    2. Games like Shark! Shark! might be a "retro" game to you... but they are brand new to a 10 year old girl or 40 year old non-gamer mom. And the gameplay is wonderful and addictive to them!

     

    3. Hmm, so you spent time playing some free games years ago, that were subpar remakes of the titles we're making? Those subpar remakes were kind of addicting, weren't they? That's why we make them! Now, imagine them being done properly! You know what would make them even more fun? How about playing them on your TV, with a bunch of friends playing with or against you? 

     

    4. We are barely touching the number of "retro reimagined" titles that we're going to make. But we're certainly not making them "all at once". Also, how would you propose putting all of that energy into doing a "showpiece"? We're working with dozens of small game studios all over the world to release a decent sized library on launch, and to keep the pipeline full for a good amount of time afterwards.  It's not like we can take all of these dozens of studios and put them all to work on a single show-stopper game. And, again, I think you are missing who our target market is. It's people who want simple, affordable, family type games. If all we had were big, complex games like EWJ4 then we would drive our initial target market away, not bring them in. 

     

    5. Wouldn't it be something (tm) if there were some really great games in the works that we couldn't show or tease yet because of contractual or legal reasons? Things that had that Disney feel? 

    • Like 15

  16. Posted

     

    2 minutes ago, Stillagamer said:

    In one of the interviews he said that initially people do use the sticky buttons for the touch screen but some take it off and prefer tapping on the screen because its faster. If people are playing a game using their phone its probably a simple party game not an arcade or sidescroller game. I just dont see why the option for a conventional controller is like a taboo subject

    Yep, you're right. I amended my initial statement to clarify.

     

     

    The reason a conventional controller is so reviled on here is because it drives our target demographic away. It's been covered in this topic probably a dozen times, so I won't rehash it too much, but it basically comes down (in my mind) to a few things:

     

    1. There is nothing simple or intuitive to a non-gamer about "conventional" controllers. Even the original NES controller scared my mom away when I was a kid. The Amico controller is designed to be friendly, intuitive, and accessible. The fact that we've had complete non-gamers pick up our controller and immediately understand what to do is HUGE for our market. 

     

    2. Many of the Amico games make great use of the private information that can be displayed on the screen. Conventional controllers don't have this option. 

     

    3. There are, literally, tens of millions of "conventional" controllers in the world today. Why not try something different? The console gamers in the world number about 200 million... we're after the several billion gamers who don't use conventional controllers.

     

    Thanks for your input, we appreciate the discourse!

    • Like 12

  17. Posted · Edited by RxScram

    1 hour ago, Stillagamer said:

    I would rather there be a controller with face buttons for those games than attachable sticky buttons. 

    So, the buttons are never required, but are just a really nice add-on to the controller. 

     

    I always thought of them as more of a thing to make playing with the mobile app more intuitive. The mobile app is still just a mobile phone with a giant screen and no tactile indication of where to press on the screen to make things happen. So... add the attachable buttons, and suddenly your phone becomes a lot more friendly to use. Certainly not required, but a nice "quality of life" addition.

    • Like 5
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  18. Posted

    9 hours ago, Craig Parker said:

    Yes, that’s the point I’m trying to get across. We are all used to having the Meet Amico videos drop every now and then and very frequent updates. Now that there hasn’t been anything really substantial in a while, I’m wondering why there hasn’t been. I guess I was expecting this to continue until launch. 

    The biggest, and really should be very obvious, reason... Covid-19 has prevented gatherings of people, and the office has been 90% shut down since March. When everybody is working from home, and social contact is frowned upon, it is very difficult to film videos! I can say that a tremendous amount of work has been happening, and the excitement and passion of the whole team is as high or higher than it's ever been. 

    • Like 14
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  21. Posted

    1 hour ago, Relicgamer said:

    It does make it less valid when you dont have facts. Amico is not from mattle it is a 16bit cpu. Having an opinion is fine but doesn't mean a lick of anything if you are off on the facts. Then you are just a misguided person just ranting and l you dont even know why. It just makes him look ignorant. 

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Instrument_CP1600

    I didn't watch the video, but I'm curious what you mean by "Amico is not from mattle(sp) it is a 16 bit cpu".

     

    Is this just a formatting error, or are you saying that Amico is a 16 bit CPU? If you are saying this, it's incorrect. It's 64 bit.

    • Like 3

  22. Posted

    12 hours ago, IntelliMission said:

    Question for Tommy:

     

    - Will the European and American versions of the Amico have exactly the same power connectors? I mean, will both versions be physically the same except for the cable and some stickers, etc.? Will European VIP/FE buyers be able to find a regular power cable in their shops to replace the American one?

     

    - All versions will have the same power connector on the back of the unit. Retail versions sold in each country (and online in each country) will have power supplies that plug in to their respective country's power outlets.

     

    - VIP/FE purchasers will either receive an adapter for their country, or (working on the arrangements now... nothing confirmed yet) they will actually receive a power brick made and certified for their country. I think there is an even chance of the 2nd happening.

     

    • Like 8
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  23. Posted

    11 minutes ago, Jake67 said:

    I’ve been all-in with the Amico since I first heard about and there’s no way I’m cancelling my pre-orders. I do have a couple of concerns still. Nothing major in any way, but being that there’s a worldwide pandemic going on and I’ve got a bit of spare time on my hands...

     

    1. Lack of game demos

    First off, Pete’s interview last night was great... lots of Q&A quick-hits. I’m still not clear on why demos won’t be a part of games. That’s not a deal killer for me because I’m sure YouTubers here and elsewhere will review them quickly, and we’ll probably get official videos with each release.

     

    But this idea that we can try games that our friends bring over seems to side-step the reason for demos. Especially starting out, the Amico won’t be in huge supply from what I’m gathering. It’s a nice thought that I’ll have friends upon Amico’s release who will be happy to be the gaming guinea pig and bring over games for me to try, but I don’t think it’s likely, especially in the early days. 

     

    I must have missed it, but is there a specific reason that demos aren’t going to be made? If it’s resources (the time it takes to add demo code to a game) I certainly get that. I just don’t feel “have a friend bring it over to play on your system” is a suitable replacement for a demo I can try out whenever I want, and having to hope I have a nearby friend who bought the game already. 

     

    Listen, the games are inexpensive, so this is not a huge deal at all. But I cringe a bit when I hear Tommy say that my “demo” experience can be a friend who will supposedly buy the game before I do so I can try it out. That’s certainly an option, but not as easy as being able to play a demo whenever I want without calling on a friend to rush over with his controller.

     

    2. Release schedule

    I think the release of new games has been stated as every 10-14 days. I do think it’s great that one game gets released at a time and gets the full attention of every gamer. But I would prefer to see a weekly release for two reasons. First, habits are important. If I know a new game is released every Friday before the weekend, I will quickly have that burned into my skull. That’s just me, though.

     

    But the second reason is related to how often we’ll see a new game in a given genre. Let’s say I’m a parent with young kids and those educational games really appeal to me. How often will I see a game like that... every 5th release? In other words, is there a plan for rotating through the genres? I would think production schedules will be a huge factor... can’t release a game in a certain genre if none are currently ready. And obviously people will have all the launch titles to keep them busy, no matter what type of game they like. 

     

    This comes back, though, to a more frequent release schedule where, in theory, a game in a genre I like will come quicker on a weekly schedule than a 10-day or bi-weekly schedule.

     

    I also wonder what sort of backlog will be created when you have even more developers making games for the Amico. Is is possible that a finished game doesn’t get released for a year or longer because the pipeline is already filled with completed games? Or is that more managed because Amico is investing in each game and helping in its creation?

     

    I don’t bring either of these up thinking I have the insight and info the Amico team has. Decisions are made for various reasons and these two points won’t kill my enjoyment of the Amico. But I figured I’d bring them up for possible discussion... or have it pointed out that I should pick up another hobby while we wait for the planet to reboot.

     

    Final thing which isn’t a concern, but more a curiosity... how do older games get promoted? It occurred to me this morning that, as a developer, I’d be a bit torn on being an “early release” title vs. a title that gets released after the first year. I can see the pros and cons either way. If you’re an early release when there’s not many games available (relatively speaking), you have a great shot at a sale. But the installed base of Amicos a year or two after launch will be much higher. If I’m an “early” game, then a year from launch I’m not getting as many eyeballs on my game because it’s not getting promotion on the home screen. 

     

    One of the joys of getting an Amico on day one is more easily keeping up with each new release and few games, if any, slipping through the cracks. But later buyers won’t have that advantage. 

     

    I guess this points to how good the store will need to be to discover the older titles. This is such a crap experience on some platforms. I hope the Amico team can really nail this one.

     

    Again, I want to be very clear... these aren’t complaints, and I’m still 100% excited for the Amico... just thoughts that popped into my head as I’m waiting for our governor to say it’s safe to get a haircut from a professional without condemning the state’s population to certain death from infected combs.

    As always with my answers (unless I say otherwise), these aren't canon Intellivision policy answers, but things I've heard around the watercooler, in team meetings, and in various other discussions. (Plus wild assed guesses on my part, since I'm not involved in the game team meetings.) Possibly hypothetical, but nothing confidential to my knowledge. @Tommy Tallarico can squash me and tell me to shut up if necessary, but I am trying to be careful.

     

    Disclaimer over.

     

    1. Lack of game demos. I think this is for a couple of reasons. The first of which is that these games are by their nature, short and have limited development resources put into them. Second, is the way that we're going to be showing off and promoting the games in the Amico store. There are some really cool things that haven't been shown there, and I know I can't talk about, but that will alleviate a lot of concern I think.

     

    Third (and this is just a conjecture on my part... I'm not a console gamer (PC hardcore gamer to the extreme though)... what console or PC games have demos? None that I can recall on the PC, and my steam library has 150+ (301 actually!) games on it, not counting the free to play games.)

     

    2. Release schedule. This has been brought up a couple times, but easy to miss. Just because we are starting out at an every-other week or so release schedule doesn't force us to keep that schedule. As we get a larger install base, and more funding to pay more developers, there's nothing that says we can't move up to weekly releases. Also, the schedule will probably vary depending on the time of year. Start of the school year? Maybe release edutainment games on a slightly faster schedule. Christmas or other major holiday coming up (or maybe in the few weeks following Christmas?)... release games weekly! Slow, boring part of the retail year? Slow down releases to biweekly.

     

    In general though, even the super affordable games like Amico is offering cost a fair bit to develop. Let's say it's a hypothetical $75,000 per game that Intellivision has to pay to create a game, and it takes 4 months to develop a game. If we were doing weekly releases from the start, we'd need 4 months (~20 weeks) worth of games that we already paid for in the queue. At $75,000 per pop, that's $3,000,000 before any retail systems had sold. Not to mention having to feed games beyond that initial 4 month window. We're already going to have a pretty huge starting library, and 15-20 additional games in the queue, but at some point we have to try balance how much we've spent on games and actually starting to get some money back from those games.

     

    As far as promotion of older games... I don't think there is anything saying Intellivision can't go back and promote "old" games. Maybe in one of the doldrum weeks between biweekly releases there will be a promotion week for an older game. 

    • Like 7
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