lucifershalo Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 (sorry if it has already posted) http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/12/the_retro_vgs_is_reborn_as_the_coleco_chameleon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Oh no 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPR Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Here is the official press release. If it plays ColecoVision carts I can see this being a cool thing, if it doesn't? Useless. Video-game industry pioneer COLECO re-enters the market, partnering with Retro Video Game Systems, Inc., to introduce a new, modern-day video-game system called the COLECO Chameleon. COLECO Chameleon is a versatile new video-game system that serves as a modern day take on the classic game console and will accurately play classic games from the past. The COLECO Chameleon also has the ability play brand-new games in the 8-, 16- and 32-bit styles, a growing and popular genre in today's game scape.Chris Cardillo, a partner in COLECO said, "Mark [Thomann] and I are excited to work hand-in-hand with Retro Video Game Systems, Inc. in the launch of the COLECO Chameleon. It's ironic that a new 'retro' video-game system would actually revolutionize and revitalize the COLECO brand."And, for the first time in nearly 20 years, the COLECO Chameleon will once again play brand new games on long-lasting, durable cartridges that can be played, traded, and collected for a lifetime. And all game cartridges will include high quality, plastic clamshell cases with illustrated instruction manuals and game developer liner notes.Retro Video Game Systems, Inc. President Mike Kennedy adds, "The COLECO Chameleon is a love-letter to all the classic cartridge based gaming systems that came before it and we love the fact it will succeed COLECO's successful Telstar and Colecovision product lines. It will take gamers and their families back to a simpler time where games were all about great gameplay and fun factor."The COLECO Chameleon will launch in early 2016 and will also be demonstrated at Toy Fair New York 2016, February 13-16. I also don't understand why they wouldn't just stick with the "ColecoVision" name as in the "ColecoVision Chameleon" as that is a name that people can recognize as a game system. I'm hoping some tweaks will be made before it's actually released. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikrananka Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Funny, I just checked the RetroVGS website yesterday and again today and it hasn't even been updated to reflect this change. If they're going to do a press release then at least update the website and provide sufficient details as to what classic systems it will emulate to try and stoke interest. Otherwise the same negativity about the system will prevail - as seems to be the case now - just review the comments on the nintendolife site below the press release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I would rather want to see River West Brands to team up with someone here (say 5-11under) and make a brand new ColecoVision replacement motherboard with moderns ports and brand new controllers Also, I'm not against they're using the Atari Jaguar mold, but it feel weird to have the Coleco branding on a Atari product But, maybe that's just me 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPR Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Otherwise the same negativity about the system will prevail - as seems to be the case now - just review the comments on the nintendolife site below the press release. If this is just the RetroVGS with the Coleco brand name on it, it's destined to fail. People didn't back the crowdfunding campaign not because they don't want retro games, but because they didn't see this as a viable platform for them. I'm really hoping Coleco understand this and sees that the RetroVGS DOES have potential and will take it and tweak it to turn it into something people might want to buy. If not, the same people who didn't back the campaign are also not going to buy the system. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 .... People didn't back the crowdfunding campaign not because they don't want retro games, but because they didn't see this as a viable platform for them. Well, that's mostly because of: - They had no working prototype and actual gameplay - price of the console itself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Well, that's mostly because of: - They had no working prototype and actual gameplay - price of the console itself Their team also made a lot of public statements that were found to be totally bogus, and I think this hurt them most of all. To see the Coleco name associated to that recent trainwreck leaves me shaking my head. But hey, if the Coleco Chameleon doesn't work out for them any better than the previous iteration, I don't think this will tarnish the reputation of our beloved ColecoVision all that much. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 If this is just the RetroVGS with the Coleco brand name on it, it's destined to fail. People didn't back the crowdfunding campaign not because they don't want retro games, but because they didn't see this as a viable platform for them. I'm really hoping Coleco understand this and sees that the RetroVGS DOES have potential and will take it and tweak it to turn it into something people might want to buy. If not, the same people who didn't back the campaign are also not going to buy the system. The Coleco brand holders license out their zombie license to anyone who will pay for it. Well, that's mostly because of: - They had no working prototype and actual gameplay - price of the console itself They also showed themselves to be remarkably inept at conveying a vision for their product, or even a reason for it to exist. The RetroVGS IndieGogo isn't the only failed attempt at crowd funding. The developers of the Vectrex emulator on iOS tried a ColecoVision Kickstarter, which failed almost as miserably. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rantmediagames/colecovision "Coleco Chameleon" (rolls eyes) combines these two things that no one wants into an ugly toilet-shaped package! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPR Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 But hey, if the Coleco Chameleon doesn't work out for them any better than the previous iteration, I don't think this will tarnish the reputation of our beloved ColecoVision all that much. Or if anything might help the community! It was because of the CV Flashback not being what I hoped it would be that helped me find this group and re-discover the world of collecting CV again, so maybe if this new system doesn't work it will turn into more customers for the Homebrew developers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannacek Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 If this is just the RetroVGS with the Coleco brand name on it, it's destined to fail. People didn't back the crowdfunding campaign not because they don't want retro games, but because they didn't see this as a viable platform for them. I'm really hoping Coleco understand this and sees that the RetroVGS DOES have potential and will take it and tweak it to turn it into something people might want to buy. If not, the same people who didn't back the campaign are also not going to buy the system. This is just the RetroVGS with the Coleco brand name. Coleco doesn't exist. The name is owned by a holding company who paid as little as they could to get the name, and wants to make as much money as they can off the name. They have no reservations about putting the Coleco name on shitty products and risking tarnishing the Coleco name, because they don't see any value in the brand that needs to be preserved. For the most part they don't have any creative control, and they don't want creative control. They just sell the brand name and logo. The Retro VGS failed because it was way too ambitious, and would have cost (if it did everything they said it would do) a lot more than the $2 million dollars they asked for in crowdfunding. So they decide to scale the project way back to make it a lot cheaper, so they can raise the necessary money, and they also decided to add the Coleco name to get attention for the crowdfunding campaign, and they also want to get support from fans of the ColecoVision. But this project will fail for the same reasons the first project failed. And trying to get support from fans of the ColecoVision won't get them anywhere. The Coleco History book only asked for a few thousand dollars, and it got more than it asked. That project worked because it was on something Colecovision fans actually cared about, and the amount of money they asked for was very little. The NewRetroVGS will ask for way too much money, and have almost nothing to do with Coleco or the ColecoVision. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Their team also made a lot of public statements that were found to be totally bogus, and I think this hurt them most of all. You're absolutely right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 (edited) The Coleco History book only asked for a few thousand dollars, and it got more than it asked. That project worked because it was on something Colecovision fans actually cared about, and the amount of money they asked for was very little. Surprisingly considering the book is about Coleco first and foremost We're very happy on how the campaign ended, and with all the supports we received, including this very Colecovision community! Edited December 17, 2015 by retroillucid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I'll state the obvious...the controller has no keypad so I doubt it will play ColecoVision games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+5-11under Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I'll state the obvious...the controller has no keypad so I doubt it will play ColecoVision games. This thread is in the wrong category. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I'll state the obvious...the controller has no keypad so I doubt it will play ColecoVision games. Controller ports are USB Would be easy to make an adapter (wich seems to be their plan) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sega_SHARK Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Controller ports are USB Would be easy to make an adapter (wich seems to be their plan) Wasn't Collectorvision going to publish games for the Retro VGS? Are you guys even in the loop on this new Coleco Chameleon thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 This is just the RetroVGS with the Coleco brand name. Coleco doesn't exist. Which is why this marketing drivel bothered me: "Video-game industry pioneer COLECO re-enters the market, partnering with Retro Video Game Systems, Inc., to introduce a new, modern-day video-game system called the COLECO Chameleon." "Pioneer" .....they fail to link their Bloomberg profile: "River West Brands LLC, a brand acquisition and enterprise development company, engages in identifying, acquiring, redeveloping, and monetizing iconic brand intellectual properties that are significantly distressed. It directly owns the full trademark rights of various brands, or holds through its subsidiary or affiliate. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Chicago, Illinois" They are located in my hometown Chicago where I used to work on Lasalle drive (business district) in a suite up in one of the buildings. I know exactly where they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Wasn't Collectorvision going to publish games for the Retro VGS? Are you guys even in the loop on this new Coleco Chameleon thing? Yes we still are, although things are bit different Had a meeting with Mike last month about this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Which is why this marketing drivel bothered me: "Video-game industry pioneer COLECO re-enters the market, partnering with Retro Video Game Systems, Inc., to introduce a new, modern-day video-game system called the COLECO Chameleon." "Pioneer" .....they fail to link their Bloomberg profile: "River West Brands LLC, a brand acquisition and enterprise development company, engages in identifying, acquiring, redeveloping, and monetizing iconic brand intellectual properties that are significantly distressed. It directly owns the full trademark rights of various brands, or holds through its subsidiary or affiliate. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Chicago, Illinois" They are located in my hometown Chicago where I used to work on Lasalle drive (business district) in a suite up in one of the buildings. I know exactly where they are. Exactly Same goes for Opcode when Eduardo got the liscence to use the Coleco & ColecoVision name/logo Coleco didn't re-enter the market, River West simply agreed to let Opcode use the names and logos Opcode probably have to pay royalties to River West Brands The same will be true for the ''RetroVGS'' team, wich apprently have the rights to use the Coleco & ColecoVision names and logos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 But its not a Colecovision! I suppose this trend of watering down brands is accepted business. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Coleco didn't re-enter the market, River West simply agreed to let Opcode use the names and logos It's basic run of the mill tacky marketing. Something I never wanted to get into but oh so powerful. Like in the other thread, look at this front page nonsense: The creators of the ColecoVision are back with a new cartridge-based console http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/17/10428976/coleco-chameleon-console-game-cartridges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannacek Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 It would be one thing to make the console look like something people remember fondly, like an NES or the Atari 2600. But why make it look like the Jaguar, or more correctly be the actual Jaguar molds? Its a console people remember only ever seeing as a store display, or that one friend you knew who had it, and it was awful. Or people only know it from things like the AVGN's review of the Jaguar.I know they are doing it because the molds were available and cheap. But, people won't want to buy something that looks bad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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