1001lives

Superficially, they can both be seen as consoles emulating a retro appeal. I could see where there is some potential for Tommy to face competition if the VCS both launches and has a compelling lineup of classic games that actually run properly and are set at an affordable price. There is potential for some overlap in customers who are looking for a fun game machine that can let them play classics with their family/parents again. In that respect, Atari VCS is keeping things original without re-imagining, so someone who played a lot in the 70s and 80s can literally just play again without even "relearning" what he or she is looking at, especially with the same retro VCS control stick. Of course, this is way too idealistic. In reality, there's probably not a chance in hell someone who used to play the 2600 is going to go out and search for the VCS and pick it up and start playing VCS games. They would have funded the indiegogo or they'll probably have it ordered online anyway. The VCS does have potential to drum up marketing and hype for other retro console potentials, though, like the Amico, and competitors in the smaller realm of retro machines like this aren't a bad thing. More talk is good for everyone. Ultimately, I believe it boils down to marketing. If (in this incredibly surreal and not realistic situation) grandpa looks at the Atari VCS and Amico on a shelf, sees reimagined Centipede vs classic Centipede, he may just go with the classic because it's what he knows. But again, none of this is going to happen. Amico is going to be on store shelves, in more aisles, (maybe even toy aisles) and VCS, if it even comes out, will just be mistaken as a flashback console. The VCS lacks it's own original identity. Amico actually looks like the next step if you gradually proceed from Intellivision, Intellivision 2, Intellivision 3 (if it had come out, Tommy probably has a prototype though), etc. The VCS just looks like a small plastic box that has no real reason to be designed that way.

Which is why starting manufacturing in March/April and shipping for stores in October makes sense

It would be interesting to see Amico use some media apps that you can control with the touch screen on the pad or maybe some functionality with the touch screen (showing videos). But nothing beyond Netflix or Youtube.

Pretty passionless. There isn't much care or concern from the guy who is speaking (didn't pay attention to his name) and, whether he intended to or not, he successfully sold that it's going to be a boring, under powered computer. When he said "4k 60fps" I laughed, because he showed Borderlands 2 running moments later, which is nearly 10 years old now right? Maybe he is hoping for the Nintendo phone apps ...? That would be interesting at least. But it sounds like he means hacking the box and adding emulation. Stupid thing to say in an interview... At any rate - they are shooting for a very different market than Amico and I don't know how well this is going to sell as it does seem to be attempting to enter the same space as "The Big 3"

Were we supposed to get any info on Monday or Tuesday this week? Or was it just stuff on Friday?

The Atari VCS isn't doing anything new, like the Analogue Pocket and Polymega, so I would argue that they should ALL not be on that poll haha

Tommy - just watched you describe some of the Amico colors. The "oilspill" aspect of the Galaxy Purple you were describing is called pearlescent I believe - good term to use in future interviews. Sounds fancy too (maybe lol) 😎

Don't RFID chips have really limited capacity? Or is it kind of like a USB with an RFID chip to read the data?

The market for Atari 2600, Intellivision, ColecoVision, Magnavox Odyssey 2, seems much more limited compared to things like NES, Sega... That era of gaming, the second generation, has been consumed by the cultural milieu of the mid 80s with Nintendo and beyond. A lot of gamers believe it is the simplistic, limited, or lack of "complexity" in the games (some are very hard but not complex), but I think it is due to the simplified pixel graphics. It seems like there is a line of complexity when it comes to pixel graphics (the character sprites in particular, not backgrounds, objects, etc), where someone dismisses it as just blocks, vs when someone recognizes it as a true mascot/character. This isn't a scientific thought, just some opinions. Third Generation was able to give us systems that gave us realized characters as opposed to what amounted to perhaps 3 core colors in a square shape. We also have to consider character recognition and identity. It's harder to identify with the tank in Space Invaders, the explorer in Jungle Hunt, and the cursor ship in Asteroids than it is with Mario or even something like Pac-Man. I don't think it is even possible to identify with the adventurer in ... Adventure. The box art doesn't even really give us a character depiction. Despite the fact this is part of the dawn of Action Adventure (even a bit of Action RPG?) and the birthplace of things like Zelda today, Adventure is never really talked about. This is also one of the games I'm most interested in seeing reimagined. We're seeing a revitalization of older IPs into modern graphics (Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, etc.) and perhaps if something similar is done with the early 2600/Intellivision/Coleco games it'll attract more attention. I'm sure this has been discussed to death already but there was a clear turn after Nintendo showed up when it comes to marketability and household penetration/sales. Not blaming it all on graphics/character recognition, but it is one of the keys.

From the sounds of it, you won't be getting plain boxes.

Another question to add - Sim games. Not just Utopia and that "Let Them Trade" game. Any Tycoon games? Potential city builders? Theme Park games? Sim Theme Park? (Maybe Rollercoaster Tycoon type game)? 👻 If no - could see some cool potential with integrated maps/plots of land on the controller, using the touchscreen to zoom in on coordinates on the city map, etc. Maybe tap to place buildings.

Also, is the Amico going to show up at at the New York Toy Fair? May be worth a visit 😎

I will admit , I am a pretty hardcore Nintendo fan. Have been for 25 years. But I also own an Xbox and Playstation, and think that new hardware is exciting if it's not OUYA... I used to think Amico was crowdfunded and was something like that Coleco Chameleon but I was willing to research. I learned in college people hate research... But worse than hating it, most people don't even do research to begin with. Everyone seems to think any new hardware now is OUYA or Chameleon... and it's like OUYA has cursed everyone who attempts to make new hardware. OUYA has left lasting damage on the industry on many levels and so did the Chameleon for Retro gamers. It's really a shame. Without those two I wonder what Amico would look like to people? It's very hard to have an open mind because of these what I would call "blights" on the startup industry. As if it wasn't hard enough dealing with the perception only "The Big 3" can make game systems or gaming toys/hardware. People have decided that games are a certain way and can only be made by certain people , experience has conditioned them to see things one way, rather than being open to the idea that things could be different. From anyone, not just Amico. That is CUPodcasts biggest problem, next to just wanting to be negative for no reason. They would have said many of the same things about NES launching in 1985 if they had their CUPodcast then, I bet.

I definitely didn't think about the fact Atari needs to prove there are actual guts in the machine. I feel bad for the backers of that product. They are still wishing for ports of old Atari games on the Indiegogo page and still hoping it comes in March.

That is exactly what all the websites I went to said. It is scary that people repeat the same things like robots sometimes. I did not once see "Maybe it can succeed. Curious to find out." just "not, not, not, can't, can't, can't." It is a wonder new things are ever made in any existing markets let alone new markets lol... I don't think any of them are business majors but I could be wrong.

That guy on Youtube said the controller is like a Dreamcast VMU... I could see that. But VMU wasn't really utilized properly IMO...

I want to see the final console design ! What timestamp?

I hope that's the case! Would make sense.

Just going to be honest... This is hideous. https://wccftech.com/crystal-clear-atari-vcs-spotted-at-ces-2020-with-memory-by-kingston/ What were they thinking ? The top ridges do not do any favors for the clear plastic... Usually old translucent consoles were smoky, not totally transparent like this. "Please do not touch" is that there so the motherboard doesn't rattle around...? 🤡

Tommy - Checking out twitter. Looks like Earthworm Jim 3 really has people's attention like you mentioned previously. Funny how Earthworm Jim alone seems like free marketing to that "crowd." I wonder if Ecco or Toejam or other classics may also turn heads like this? Wasn't Earthworm Jim in Clayfighter? What's Interplay doing with it I wonder... Maybe Intellivision can take a look...

Tommy! Looks absolutely fantastic - one note if this is a work in progress, Jim always looked serious/stern when running! He seems to be a little too happy! Keep up the great work !

Read your whole post but I am just quoting the end here. Thanks for the long and detailed reply. I won't go back to those sites, it was difficult to sift through the same and almost repeat responses as it was. I agree completely that these kinds of websites aren't the core audience for Amico. On the repeated comments, I thought it was very interesting to learn what these websites were saying and how frequently they crossed over one another like they all think the same no matter where they post. A week and a half ago I knew nothing about the Amico and if I was not the kind of person to look further into something I would probably be thinking what a lot of these people were thinking (not as brutally though) so it wasn't all completely worthless information. It does help show clear distinctions in mindsets and that these groups are probably a lost cause. Or potential lost marketing dollars $$$ anyways. You have targeted an existing market of non-hardcore gamers, but because people see "video games" they immediately assume it's an Xbox/PS/Nintendo thing, when it's not at all. Gamers weren't this type of hardcore isolationist gamer when Intellivision, Colecovision and Atari 2600 came out and you are focused on that original second gen experience on a modern system with modernized controls and modern features. Very interested to see where this leads and what new marketing does when it comes up in the summer.

How else will you be downloading and purchasing digital games?

I don't know how useful this will be or how much this will impact anyone's thinking. I wanted to add something more constructive than just negative posts. I learned about the Amico about two weeks ago and read some about it on Reddit. After looking at several outlets all across the internet I have come to a few conclusions. The first conclusion that seems to have been reached about the Amico, and I think the worst one, is that it is not a serious game console and just plays phone games. The overwhelming majority of comments on Youtube, Reddit, Resetera, Gamefaq, other message boards, even places like 4chan's Video Game board (never thought I'd see Amico there, never want to go back either), is that this is a system for phone games. Most people do not seem to understand the idea is to bring people together, to play games on their TV, and not on their phones alone in isolation. So maybe marketing will help clear that up - maybe even an "Intellivision Direct" that highlights a dozen games and their gameplay with couch co-op? Also showing off the controllers and their gameplay elements. The second conclusion that seems to have been reached (people love to see things fail) is that this is "OUYA 2" or something crowdfunded from the beginning. They all see new hardware and just immediately say "flop" or don't take the time to understand what makes it different. I don't know if this is a marketing issue or if this is just people loving the idea of things failing no matter what. They all did this with Nintendo Switch too. There were so many videos with claims of "Switch will fail." Some Youtubers even went back and deleted their "Switch fail" videos to save face. There is still a thread on resetera and it's pretty sad to read today how totally SURE the people are of themselves about Switch failing. Maybe some Amico marketing is planned to give a full walk through of the system and it's controllers by March? I think this is definitely needed to show people why this is absolutely nothing like Ouya, it really doesn't even have the same concept. Ouya has ruined things for everyone it seems. The third conclusion is about the games themselves. I see a lot of people who may be seriously considering the Amico if it's affordable and has remakes or re-imaginings of games - particularly Earthworm Jim. The more hardcore gamers really mention EJ3 a lot and I see "Big Blue" discussion or Ecco the Dolphin discussion. It definitely seems like Tommy has something there with the gaming audience, even if he is not planning to solely target hardcore gamers. Unfortunately, and in the interest of staying honest, - I also see people saying they want Amico to flop so "EJ3 will be ported to other systems." This was on 4chan and websites like gbatemp and other offshoot websites I found doing broad searches on Google. So that to me says the people are not convinced of the proposition that Amico may have a LOT of good games, all worthy of being exclusive on Amico, and all worthy of paying for an Amico. So I think if the games are shown off and people really start to understand that this is a system focused on 2D/2.5D gaming you can't find on phones or other systems, these people may get it. These are the same people who buy a Switch for Mario and also say they want Mario games on PS4/Xbox One from what I have seen, so their opinions don't mean a whole lot, but it's still misinformation/negativity I wanted to highlight. They mistakenly believe, for one reason or another, EJ3 will be the one "Real" game stuck on a system without "real" games. They haven't been convinced or told that this is a real console with a LOT of "real" games. Is the best way I can interpret it. The final point was that some people don't know what to think, at all. I believe that is just because there hasn't been a strong marketing push as production ramps up for March. A lot of these people aren't really enthusiasts and probably don't read Tommy's twitter or watch interviews. Once people are really told what this is and why they need it in commercialized information, they will probably be a lot more positive. I will definitely be supporting Amico when it launches and just wanted to try to give some thoughts based on a week and a half of deep dives into Google and about 15 different message boards. Hope to hear and see a lot more, perhaps E3 will be what's needed to help get an understanding out.