Coleco Chameleon .... hardware speculations?

[mikey.shake]

[galax]

I think it'll take me a lot longer to forget about that than the people who were just lazy news regurgitators.

 

Lazy news regurgitation is a huge problem- news outlets are basically just bloggers who repost press releases now. Will Engadged ever retract this nonsense? Probably not. http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/18/coleco-chameleon-atari-2600/

Wouldn't say fake as some people posted

Olimex RK3188-SOM-EVB

Lattice Semiconductor ispMACH 4256ZE

which could make something original

 

Just a lot of people doubt their effort in creating the Original

 

You can actually do stuff with that beside capture Video

 

Sounds like you are referring to my post here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/235430-how-has-this-not-been-posted-yet-retro-vgs/page-141?do=findComment&comment=3335358

 

Yes those are real development boards, but to load someone else's software onto an off the shelf board and claim it as a prototype is to fake a prototype. All 3 RVGS/CC prototypes were fakes.

[jaybird3rd]

Wouldn't say fake as some people posted

I think we need to clarify the meaning of "fake". Nobody doubted at the time that the development boards that Carlsen was using were real or that they actually worked. What made his "prototype" a "fake" was that, as far as we could tell, it was purely off-the-shelf components running off-the-shelf software, with little evidence of any engineering work that was original or unique to the RVGS project. That isn't enough to qualify as a "prototype".

 

Of course, Mike Kennedy's later "prototypes" were just old junk in a Jag shell, which made them even more "fake" than the first one.

[G-type]

We're going to need a name for this saga. Colecogate?

 

nah, too many syllables... how about Colgate?

[Keatah]

Junk in a Jag, ding-ding.

Junk in a Jag, ding-ding!

Hi-Ho, The Merry-O, Junk in a Jag ding ding..

[+Random Terrain]

A lot of people are reading this thread, but you could have stopped. Your lack of self-control is disappointing. You can't look away, can you? You disgust me.

Yes, I'm talking to you. Yes, specifically you. No one but you . . . you butt.

 

[StopDrop&Retro]

And we pass the first 24 hours. I'm sure it feels like 24 years to Mike.

 

Mike Watch: Day 1 -- Mike nowhere to be found

[Keatah]

A lot of people are reading this thread, but you could have stopped. Your lack of self-control is disappointing. You can't look away, can you? You disgust me.

 

 

Yes, I'm talking to you. Yes, specifically you. No one but you . . . you butt.

 

 

It's like an LMN show! Can't look away..

[marksball]

And we pass the first 24 hours. I'm sure it feels like 24 years to Mike.

 

Mike Watch: Day 1 -- Mike nowhere to be found

Quick, get his face on a milk carton!

[enoofu]

I think we need to clarify the meaning of "fake". Nobody doubted at the time that the development boards that Carlsen was using were real or that they actually worked. What made his "prototype" a "fake" was that, as far as we could tell, it was purely off-the-shelf components running off-the-shelf software, with little evidence of any engineering work that was original or unique to the RVGS project. That isn't enough to qualify as a "prototype".

 

Of course, Mike Kennedy's later "prototypes" were just old junk in a Jag shell, which made them even more "fake" than the first one.

 

Yeah sad that it went from Real Hardware that could of been re-purposed property and I do agree probably had no in house developed software, to one that didn't have any Software or Hardware that could run any games

[PlaysWithWolves]

It's not a "witch hunt" to call Gamester81 out for shilling hardcore for Mike during RVGS --which wasn't that long ago. I don't know what he's done since other than covering his tracks by deleting videos.

 

Gamester81 was like a huckster selling Dr. Mike's Magic Oil and using every tactic in the book to put down detractors. "Toxic." "Haters." "It's frustrating because I see the behind-the-scenes and they don't (paraphrased)". Suggesting that detractors may be doing it for money. All of these were in the podcast I posted earlier. Now we're saying that it's okay because we found out Dr. Mike's formula was just Kool-Aid?

 

Forgiving is fine--and indeed he may have been more cautious this time around; but his erasing videos suggests he wants you to forget too.

[keepdreamin]

You may not be aware but CollectorVision was around for a long time before John joined JF and Toby, the name is a play on ColecoVision as they have been producing ColecoVision homebrews for a long time. Some people like to collect physical things, but people seem to want to drag anyone remotely connected to the RetroChamelon saga thru the mud like they had direct involvement in the "conspiracy." No one can fault software developers like Piko and CollectVision for keeping their options open for new markets...

I'm not saying he was directly responsible for Mike Kennedy's decisions or was out to scam anyone. But to stand by as a train wreck is unfolding and just fold your arms and just look up at the sky whistling still makes you complicit to a degree. We hold people accountable in our society all the time for turning a blind eye to abuse. I don't believe that for one second he didn't smell the BS on the wall. I would have respected a simple -I'm washing my hands of this- and walking away response. But he's quietly censoring and deleting history. That's not respectable.

[enoofu]

Sounds like the only reason Collectorvision and Piko agreed to promote Retro VGS was because of Free promotion of their products

[muramasa]

I would like to introduce the new Super Coleco CD!

 

Kind of a weird first post but I can't help my self I have to join in!

[NintendoTwizer]

This thread needs to go on a hall of fame, just crazy. I spent an hour reading this all unfold. Really fascinating.

[Gamester81]

Hey Guys,

 

First off I sincerely apologize for any troubles or ill fillings that I have caused with any of you. I was asked by Mike and his team awhile ago if we'd be interested in porting some of our games over the the Chameleon. We still haven't signed anything yet officially, and at the time when they had reached out to us, it wouldn't have cost us any more work to port our games over. It made sense at the time to get involved. I've read things about some people thinking that I'm involved with the lies and deception regarding the system. I can assure you guys that I have nothing to do with the hardware side of things, and I certainly wouldn't have got involved had I known more. I've been ignorant and wrong, and I feel bad for what happened. I have been involved publicly in the gaming community since 2008, and for those who know me, they know that I pride myself of my integrity and respect in what I do and get involved with. I'm upset about this situation, and I truly hope that you guys will accept my apology. The gaming community is very important to me.

Now in regards to the deletion of my old interview with Mike talking about the RETRO VGS. That video had been "unlisted" for months now actually, and I decided to delete the video because it covers the RETRO VGS which as you guys know is no longer relevant. I don't see the point of reliving the past and dragging up things that are over. I certainly didn't mean to come across as calling you guys "haters", and I do apologize for ever alluding to that. That was wrong of me, and again ignorant and stupid for me to say.

I realize that at this point it will take time to win back my trust for some of you. I am sincerely sorry for anything I may have done or said to upset any of you guys. The honest truth is that we were asked to port a game over to the Coleco Chameleon, and that we were not in the loop to the hardware side of things. I am humbled by this experience and have learned a valuable lesson the hard way.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

I contributed to your thread, so I hope that helps.

 

Hey, btw, what happened to those fanboys employees that were on here saying how much we'd all regret not ordering a Coleco Chameleon because it was going to be the best thing to ever happen to gaming? Ello? Guy with avatar with two hands doing crude gestures? Anyone? No?

Who? You mean this guy er, gal?

http://atariage.com/forums/user/43766-janus/

 

I think some people only come to eat the popcorn and drink the RVGS/Chameleon koolaid. 25 posts since 25-Sept 2015 and only two threads posted in:

http://atariage.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=user_activity&mid=43766

 

Janus, if you're reading this, feel free to check out the rest of the AA forums. There is a lot more to offer here than Chameleon speculation.

[Keatah]

In order to port a game, you'd need to know the hardware specifications and development environment.

[enoofu]

Possible he believe it was running a FGPA core of a SNES or a Software emulator of SNES

[PikoInteractive]

Sounds like the only reason Collectorvision and Piko agreed to promote Retro VGS was because of Free promotion of their products

 

We never promoted the console.

 

And we never got promotion back (no back links on articles, nor tags on fb posts).

 

I was planning to post some sort of promotion on our website and social media site, the day I saw a video of it running at least 2+ different platforms in a single cut video.

 

 

Also, it bothers me a bit that people seem to be throwing around the word 'porting' as if there was something to port. I asked 20 times what was going the CC run naively. SDK? Tools? Language? Anything?

 

The console was going to play different classic platforms and market the games as their own (mainly to monopolize the cartridge sales). There is nothing wrong with that, each company has their own marketing strategies;

 

But please stop saying 'porting' when there was never anything to port to.

Edited March 2, 2016 by PikoInteractive

[bretthorror]

I think we can calm down on the witch hunt here, it's easy to sit here on a forum talking about strangers and saying what we'd do rather than insinuating someone is guilty by association to a friend or even acquaintance. Real life is a lot more complicated. Especially for small companies like Piko and Collectorvision who are just trying to get their stuff out there. Piko has been absolutely nothing but co-operative through this whole ordeal, I don't know how anyone could insinuate they're guilty of anything is crazy. Collectorvision remained silent, but it's not like they have anything to gain by condemning Mike.

 

Gamester81... a little weirder having deleted that interview with Mike, but let us all remember the context of the video he did was during the IGG where at the very least to my recollection they weren't out there showing off prototypes and whatnot. So if Mike fed him a line and he believed, or as the plastic collector so to speak he is, then at least remember what he did was way before the Toy Fair embarrassment and this blatant bullshit. The RVGS was showing great incompetence at that point, but they were far from being labeled as outright deceitful. To distance himself from this, even by deleting a video, isn't the biggest red flag in the world. I know if I played a small role in this bullshit with good intentions, I wouldn't want to have to deal with it any more than I have to. Even if the guy is somewhat in cahoots with Mike behind the scenes, he's just trying to get his game out there. If he has information that would "ruin" Mike, it's also likely he doesn't have the heart nor wants to be involved in the shit any more than he has to. I could be totally wrong, but unless he told Mike to put a weird board under a shell and deceive people, his hands are pretty much clean. Kevtris came out and said it was a shady project before the IGG and that was more than enough, so those who aren't so brazen could stay out of it. AA as a whole with all the detective work made sure of that. Very few who were interested in this system aren't informed at this point.

[Gamester81]

In order to port a game, you'd need to know the hardware specifications and development environment.

 

Were were told that the Chameleon would run off an FPGA board and would be able to run SNES games. So since we are already working on the SNES port, it didn't require us to know any of the specifications since it would run similar. Similar to Piko porting their games over.

[keepdreamin]

Collectorvision and Piko Interactive have done everything they can to stay out of the middle of this whole thing. I have talked with them both and I can assure you they are staying as neutral as possible. They are up for any platform they can put their games on. They don't want to burn bridges and they want to get their games in front of as many people as possible. Don't drag them down with RVGS,

 

Bull. By even aligning yourself with a product to any degree is not "staying out of the middle". The only developer who remained truly neutral and deserves any modicum of our respect in this matter is Neo Dev Team. They saw the writing on the wall and quietly bailed. That's not staying in the middle. That's the appropriate response when a company you are looking to do business with turns out to be an obvious scam. You don't "hang around" for free advertising. That's deplorable behavior.

[PikoInteractive]

 

Were were told that the Chameleon would run off an FPGA board and would be able to run SNES games. So since we are already working on the SNES port, it didn't require us to know any of the specifications since it would run similar. Similar to Piko porting their games over.

 

see my post above. I think you are confused on the the term porting (in my understanding of the word)

[btbfilms76]

Here we go folks...

 

[MIKE KENNEDY LEAD-IN] Hi everyone, I’m Mike Kennedy and we are very excited to introduce you to the Coleco Chameleon. The Coleco Chameleon is a new cartridge based video gaming console that is designed to play both a variety of classic games from the 80’s and 90’s and also new retro inspired games coming from today’s homebrew, indie and mainstream developers. We have spent the last few months creating a working prototype as well as seeking out launch games that will scratch that retro itch in all of you. We hope you will consider backing our campaign and help to spread the word of our campaign to your gaming friends and family.

 

[sTUDIO SET KIDS PLAYING GAMES WITH FADE TO GAMEPLAY VIDEO MONTAGE-Montezuma’s Revenge, Pepper II, Astrosmash, Night Stalker]

 

Remember when video-games looked like video-games? When colorful, imaginative sprites popped off the screen and into your living room. When games were more than an impulsive download; they were highly prized, magical transports into a fantasy world all delivered inside plastic cartridges.

[GAMEPLAY VIDEO MONTAGE-Iron Commando, Dorke & YMP]

Remember when games were hard but you still couldn’t tear yourself away from playing? When they didn’t include lengthy tutorials or unlimited continues or saves? Remember when games came with instruction books that you actually wanted to read cover-to-cover?

[TRANSITION TO LIVING ROOM SET, KIDS ON COUCH PLAYING CHAMELEON]

Remember that feeling you had buying a game in the store and bringing it home and playing it for the first time with your friends and family, all in the same room? We want to bring those magical times back with the introduction of the COLECO Chameleon. The COLECO Chameleon is the first new home console in nearly 20 years that will play new games on cartridges and once again give today’s gamers something to buy, play, trade and collect for a lifetime.

[TRANSITION TO COLECO MONTAGE]

It also marks the return of the COLECO brand name, a brand synonymous with the history of electronic handheld games and video games. COLECO was a pioneer bringing some of the first PONG systems into the home in the 1970’s followed by the hugely successful Colecovision in the 1980’s, the first system to bring near arcade perfect graphics into over two million living rooms. And it was the company that made Nintendo a house-hold name when Donkey Kong was packed into every Colecovision retail box sold.

[TRANSITION TO CHAMELEON CONSOLE MANTAGE]

The COLECO Chameleon is designed to be the ultimate retro gaming system. It has the ability to accurately play a variety of your favorite classic video games, available as compilation cartridges, while also being an outlet for many all-new, classically inspired games being programmed by some of today’s best homebrew, indie and mainstream game developers. Now recognized as art form in of itself, retro gaming is once again a mainstay in today’s gaming landscape as developers are realizing classic graphics and gameplay mechanics are still entertaining even in this age of triple A, big budget cinematic titles. The COLECO Chameleon is the best way to experience this new wave of RETRO. Get ready to Play Again.

[MIKE KENNEDY CALL TO ACTION]

If you’re as excited as we are after viewing this, you have a chance to be one of the first gamers to have a Coleco Chameleon before it’s introduced commercially. Now, you can play the old games you loved when you were younger, help your friends and family make memories of their own, and enjoy the new games from our collection.

On behalf of my team at Retro Video Game Systems, Inc. and Coleco Holdings we ask for your consideration to help us bring the COLECO Chameleon into homes around the world. This is a product that needs grass roots support to grow as it is so completely opposite of where the video-game industry is heading. Help us change the future of gaming by bringing back the RETRO.

[TRANSITION TO FADE OUT OF LIVING ROOM. ADULTS 30’s NOW ON COUCH HAVING FUN PLAYING CHAMELEON]

[TRANSISTION FADE TO BLACK SCREEN. POP IN COLECO CHAMELEON LOGO + REMEMBER WHEN. PLAY AGAIN. TAGLINE]