Jump to content
IGNORED

Coleco Chameleon .... hardware speculations?


phoenixdownita

Recommended Posts

On a marginal note, on the first round (Retro VGS) they had at least one hardware guy (well 2 until kevtris saw thru the fog) and their only product being a new console was at least (allegedly) designed in house, the second time around Coleco hires them so they do the console and they (RVGS Inc) hire an outside company so that company (Mr Lee's company) does the console.

 

To RVGS Inc, completely outsourcing your only product is not a good move, and I don' talk manufacturing, here aside the dreaded Jag shells, everything else is apparently done elsewhere .... design and spec included (and no, "should run system A games and System B games..." does NOT make for a spec, as there are so many systems that do that already, did Mike say "Dear Mr Lee, make it run what RentroN 5 runs but use FPGA if you can, now go!?").

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like how official sounding with bringing in a "team of inspectors", as if there was suspicion of WMDs in some country. Do they drive up in a black Suburban, and all look like secret service agents?

Okay, now if Chris has this happen, and it appears on YouTube, I would definitely share the hell out of that. I mean, come on. That would definitely up the "cool" factor for Coleco but seriously, it would not add anything to the actual proceedings. Still would be cool.

 

Anyhow, those that think we are on a witch hunt covering this saga, if things go too far then it does become one. Right now is the time to step back and let Coleco Holdings/Riverwest Brands conclude their investigation (I believe time runs out on the 9th). This becomes a witch hunt if pokes and prods continue in the direction of Coleco Holdings, at least for the time being. Right now, Chris Cardillo is being a stand up guy- he is standing up on ColecoVisions Podcast and stating "I f'ed up." He is not saying some guy in the legal department did it, he is not saying there is someone else that we don't know about, maybe a Mr. Wong or something (I apologize if that comes off as racist or whatever), that we know nothing about that made this deal. No, Mr. Cardillo is owning up and taking responsibility from his side of this situation. I take it is him that is instigating the various steps that we are seeing right now (investigation, time limit, etc). For that, I have to say, thank you.

 

Would it have been nice if those on the Coleco side saw the writing on the wall a little sooner? Sure. That is the past though. They are not denying there was a mistake made on their end of this and they are owning up to it and doing what they can from a professional standpoint to fix it. We cannot really ask for any more than that at this time.

 

For now, we have to wait.

 

Does anyone know how good cell service is in the desert?

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sure, he sounds like a "decent guy," but so does Mike Kennedy. I think "nice guy" comes standard. Personally, I would aim higher than "not obvious evil psychopath."

True, but it's hard to be a successful scam artist without being able to come across like a "nice guy." (That's a reference to Mike Kennedy, by the way, not Chris Cardillo.)

 

It seems that the Mike Reality Distortion Field (MRDF) is even more powerful than we thought. I knew that it compelled the Facebook cheerleaders to "keep holding out hope" (aren't their arms getting tired?) even after all the revelations about Mike's shenanigans came to light, but it apparently caused business partners to unconditionally trust him as well. I think Bill was spot on in his Facebook post: a little due diligence would have gone a long way with everyone involved. (That, and enough willpower to resist the MRDF.)

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This, right here, is fantastic. I don't think any of us here ever wanted to see the Coleco name go the way of other revived brands. It is a huge step in the right direction that these 'higher ups' of the company are listening to the community. I think majority, myself included, would love to see the Coleco table top arcades come back in some form. I'd like to see Coleco think about doing their own controllers that work with both the at-games clone and the original console. I would love to see them bring the hulking beast of the Colecovision back to the media by maybe making a certain add-on an official licensed product. All these revived brands seem to focus on making cheap knock offs of their legacy counter parts, why not give the legacy some love for once?

 

 

But "Coleco" doesn't actually make anything. They don't have any engineers or manufacturing capabilities. They're basically "Two Dudes and a Name". In fact, unless they own a trademark on "little miniature arcade cabinets", there is no reason for say Namco or Konami or Sega or Nintendo to bother working with them. The original mini-arcades were designed and manufactured by Coleco (the real company). This "Coleco" is just a name. They can't themselves make controllers or mini-consoles. Either Namco would have to do it themselves or find another company to make it (like AtGames). So what does Coleco contribute in this scenario? While some people may be nostalgic for the name, they weren't the only game (pun intended) in town for those mini-arcade machines. Would you really say "no" to a perfect little Pac-Man cabinet just because it didn't have a sticker that says "Coleco" on it (a problem that can be remedied with an ink jet printer)? The Flashback needed Coleco to get the name and look of the Colecovision, but I imagine most of the game licenses AtGames had to track down themselves.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

All it takes is a little investigating to unravel this too.

Getting "likes" on Facebook is easy and cheap. You can set up a promotion through Facebook to "Boost" your page, then under demographics you only have it targeted to countries like Turkey, India, SE Asia, etc. You will get SHITLOADS of likes. They're all bullshit, but if you just want numbers so that you look more credible, then that's all you've gonna do. There's a channel on YouTube called "Veritasium" (maybe not be spelled correctly) where he goes into detail about it. Of course, he's doing it from the point-of-view that Facebook boosting is a scam since they are not meaningful followers, but if you're just looking to boost your numbers to make yourself look popular, then it works great.

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Remember also that RVGS had a lot of "likes" leading up to the IndieGoGo campaign, and look how much good that did them. Only a small fraction of those "likes" (assuming they were even real) translated to backers on the first day, and their numbers went almost completely flat after that.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

But "Coleco" doesn't actually make anything. They don't have any engineers or manufacturing capabilities. They're basically "Two Dudes and a Name". In fact, unless they own a trademark on "little miniature arcade cabinets", there is no reason for say Namco or Konami or Sega or Nintendo to bother working with them. The original mini-arcades were designed and manufactured by Coleco (the real company). This "Coleco" is just a name. They can't themselves make controllers or mini-consoles. Either Namco would have to do it themselves or find another company to make it (like AtGames). So what does Coleco contribute in this scenario? While some people may be nostalgic for the name, they weren't the only game (pun intended) in town for those mini-arcade machines. Would you really say "no" to a perfect little Pac-Man cabinet just because it didn't have a sticker that says "Coleco" on it (a problem that can be remedied with an ink jet printer)? The Flashback needed Coleco to get the name and look of the Colecovision, but I imagine most of the game licenses AtGames had to track down themselves.

I'm well aware that Coleco is a brand. I'd like to see the brand branch out and do more with other companies like AtGames. There are mini-cabs out right now, as we speak, with LCD screens and RPis in them. Apple made an Ipad / phone arcade case for their products. I'd like to see the coleco name BRANDED on new products that aren't garbage. I'd like to see them actually use the name on good products and not crap like Commodore and Kodak have experienced.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For anyone interested in seeing the top 20 countries that have people that like the RETRO Video Game Systems Facebook page, it is here:

https://www.facebook.com/search/str/countries%2Bof%2Bpeople%2Bwho%2Blike%2Bretro%2Bvideo%2Bgame%2Bsystems/keywords_places

 

Languages of their fans:

https://www.facebook.com/search/language/pages/783316545070951/likers/languages/intersect

 

 

That's fun. Definitely looks like a little payola happening.

 

There are familiar faces in the "people" list, though. https://www.facebook.com/search/783316545070951/likers

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm well aware that Coleco is a brand. I'd like to see the brand branch out and do more with other companies like AtGames. There are mini-cabs out right now, as we speak, with LCD screens and RPis in them. Apple made an Ipad / phone arcade case for their products. I'd like to see the coleco name BRANDED on new products that aren't garbage. I'd like to see them actually use the name on good products and not crap like Commodore and Kodak have experienced.

 

The ColecoVision Flashback didn't sell well enough, so I don't expect AtGames to make any more Coleco branded products.

 

The mini- arcade units with a Raspberry Pi and lcd screen are a great idea. The only problem is that a Raspberry pi is way too expensive for manufacturing and distributing and then making a profit. To get a Raspberry Pi with a power supply costs more than the entire ColecoVision Flashback.

 

AtGames (or some other company) couldn't use a Raspberry Pi, they would need to make there own board in China for a fraction of the $35 cost of a Pi. And given the lackluster sales of the ColecoVision Flashback, they will probably decide not to make any more Coleco products.

 

However, for someone on Atariage to sell mini-acrade Raspberry Pi units is a great idea. They could either be finished units, or kits you make yourself. You could print out a Coleco logo, or a Pac Man logo, or whatever you wanted. Its technically copyright infringement to do that, but you would never be sued over such a home made kit.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

The ColecoVision Flashback didn't sell well enough, so I don't expect AtGames to make any more Coleco branded products.

 

The mini- arcade units with a Raspberry Pi and lcd screen are a great idea. The only problem is that a Raspberry pi is way too expensive for manufacturing and distributing and then making a profit. To get a Raspberry Pi with a power supply costs more than the entire ColecoVision Flashback.

 

AtGames (or some other company) couldn't use a Raspberry Pi, they would need to make there own board in China for a fraction of the $35 cost of a Pi. And given the lackluster sales of the ColecoVision Flashback, they will probably decide not to make any more Coleco products.

 

However, for someone on Atariage to sell mini-acrade Raspberry Pi units is a great idea. They could either be finished units, or kits you make yourself. You could print out a Coleco logo, or a Pac Man logo, or whatever you wanted. Its technically copyright infringement to do that, but you would never be sued over such a home made kit.

 

 

Atgames released the CV flashback too expensive.

 

MSRP should have been 29.99 tops 34.99. Then they would have sold out.

 

They didn't sell well because Atgames doesn't really know much about games (thus why they hire 3rd party consultants). So they thought it would sell as good as the Genesis ones.

Edited by PikoInteractive
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Atgames released the CV flashback too expensive.

 

MSRP should have been 29.99 tops 34.99. Then they would have sold out.

 

They didn't sell well because Atgames doesn't really know much about games (thus why they hire 3rd party consultants). So they thought it would sell as good as the Genesis ones.

Agreed. I bought one ColecoVision Flashback (for $45, I seem to recall) as a gift for someone else; if they were cheaper, I would also have bought one for myself. I think the less-than-perfect sound emulation also hurt their sales.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agreed. I bought one ColecoVision Flashback (for $45, I seem to recall), but I would have been much happier if they'd been cheaper. I think the less-than-perfect sound emulation also hurt their sales.

They could really come back at it this year, fixing issues, adding more games and I would suggest to make a new controller model. Same functionality, better design.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

The ColecoVision Flashback didn't sell well enough, so I don't expect AtGames to make any more Coleco branded products.

 

The mini- arcade units with a Raspberry Pi and lcd screen are a great idea. The only problem is that a Raspberry pi is way too expensive for manufacturing and distributing and then making a profit. To get a Raspberry Pi with a power supply costs more than the entire ColecoVision Flashback.

 

AtGames (or some other company) couldn't use a Raspberry Pi, they would need to make there own board in China for a fraction of the $35 cost of a Pi. And given the lackluster sales of the ColecoVision Flashback, they will probably decide not to make any more Coleco products.

 

However, for someone on Atariage to sell mini-acrade Raspberry Pi units is a great idea. They could either be finished units, or kits you make yourself. You could print out a Coleco logo, or a Pac Man logo, or whatever you wanted. Its technically copyright infringement to do that, but you would never be sued over such a home made kit.

 

Well, I think AtGames are using the Atari 2600 waaaay too much. Let's hope that the next FB would not sell well so that they can look for a new system to base their consoles on.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Atgames released the CV flashback too expensive.

 

MSRP should have been 29.99 tops 34.99. Then they would have sold out.

 

They didn't sell well because Atgames doesn't really know much about games (thus why they hire 3rd party consultants). So they thought it would sell as good as the Genesis ones.

 

I waited until after Christmas, and got it for under $30 shipped.

 

The problem may have been that they made too many of them, and had truckloads of unsold units. A company like AtGames probably has minimums they need to make, and they can't just make less to ensure they sell out.

 

It also hurt them that they didn't have the money to buy Donkey Kong and BurgerTime, and other huge games that would have increased sales. (Nintendo is probably the only company that refused to sell there games. All the other companies would have sold the games if they were offered more money).

 

They got one game from Universal, one game from Sega, one game from Exidy, ect. That way they could have a few big name games and try to keep everyone happy, but there will still many essential games that were missing.

 

Edited by Hannacek
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps River West can work out a deal with AtGames to include some of Coleco's titles for the Atari 2600 in one of the new Atari Flashback consoles, assuming they own any of the rights. It probably wouldn't be as lucrative as having an entire console with nothing but Coleco properties, but it would still be worth something to them, and it would give AtGames more of a variety of games to choose from.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps River West can work out a deal with AtGames to include some of Coleco's titles for the Atari 2600 in one of the new Atari Flashback consoles. It probably wouldn't be as lucrative as having an entire console with nothing but Coleco properties, but it would still be worth something to them, and it would give AtGames more of a variety of games to choose from.

Coleco did have some fun games on the 2600, not a bad idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I told Chris that we (Piko) would be able to release plug and plays for Coleco. I've been slowly working on a Genesis one for us, unless Atgames picks our games up (don't know if they would have interest in our games).

 

I also told Albert we can do an Atari one.

 

We wouldn't have the distribution volume as Atgames, but we can sell a lot direct to retail.

 

As I mentioned before, I have contact with the same factory that does the Atgames consoles.

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They could really come back at it this year, fixing issues, adding more games and I would suggest to make a new controller model. Same functionality, better design.

 

They could come back later this year but any chance of success in the console market would be diminished by the approaching Nintendo NX. They already lost their chance to make a quick grab for that Kickstarter cash. The timing was very important here. At this point no company (even with a good public image) would ever want to release a console this year.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...