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Coleco Chameleon .... hardware speculations?


phoenixdownita

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12 minutes ago, Pipercub said:

 

Consider this; throughout the months long escapade there were countless videos of people sitting in front of their cameras with their collection behind them as they pontificated on nothing. Posts in this very forum by those in the know of what was really going on were seemingly unread as the random speculation flooded page after page. And quite a few times those posts or interviews revealing the truth were followed by posts saying in essence "too long didn't read". What if there really was 600 pages worth of research, not fluff, that was left behind by this disaster? What if the Chameleon fakes were only the tip of the iceburg and UKMike has the whole iceburg, and its just as dirty as the tip? I have read this thing and having lived through it first hand as a defrauded investor, the original hardware designer, a magazine contributor, and a former close friend of Socal's I can assure you there is only one credible source of the whole back story and that is this book.

 

http://www.colecochameleon.org/kickstarter

 

Did you guys ever consider legal action? I'm guessing you where out a lot more than just friendship from what you have mentioned on this topic over the years.

 

I would think getting the names VGS (even better RetroVGS if possible) and Chameleon would help with the kickstarter and awareness of what the book is about. I think it needs to be in the title somehow. Coleco can't be used by name but some of it's other handles could be maybe?

 

EDIT: Not having a decently priced option for a physical copy of the book might hurt your campaign. I'd give you 5 quid for a digital copy but not 10. Yes, I'm cheap but so are a lot of people.

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12 minutes ago, Shawn said:

 

Did you guys ever consider legal action? I'm guessing you where out a lot more than just friendship from what you have mentioned on this topic over the years.

 

I would think getting the names VGS (even better RetroVGS if possible) and Chameleon would help with the kickstarter and awareness of what the book is about. I think it needs to be in the title somehow. Coleco can't be used by name but some of it's other handles could be maybe?

Ah the perfect opportunity to say "READ ALL ABOUT IT IN THE BOOK!"

 

Seriously, yes. I had litigation prepared had the kickstarter funded but it didn't so spending money to shut down nothing was pointless. Others will have to speak for themselves. UkMike covered this in his book.

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12 minutes ago, Pipercub said:

Ah the perfect opportunity to say "READ ALL ABOUT IT IN THE BOOK!"

 

Seriously, yes. I had litigation prepared had the kickstarter funded but it didn't so spending money to shut down nothing was pointless. Others will have to speak for themselves. UkMike covered this in his book.

 

Gotcha. Thanks for responding.

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43 minutes ago, Shawn said:

 

I would think getting the names VGS (even better RetroVGS if possible) and Chameleon would help with the kickstarter and awareness of what the book is about. I think it needs to be in the title somehow. Coleco can't be used by name but some of it's other handles could be maybe?

 

EDIT: Not having a decently priced option for a physical copy of the book might hurt your campaign. I'd give you 5 quid for a digital copy but not 10. Yes, I'm cheap but so are a lot of people.

Fair point and I played around with many titles but decided against examples like the ones above because that also may limit the appeal to the gaming community and I wanted a broader appeal. This isn't just a tome about a couple of vaporware consoles, there is so much more to it. There is a very human story behind it all and you will see from some of Mike's early ventures that patterns of behaviour started to emerge and the reader goes on Mike's journey with him.

 

The Foreword may explain that a little better.

http://colecochameleon.org/foreword/

 

My initial idea was for a physical release first, I naturally want my own physical copy of course, but I literally have no idea of how many to print, and short runs of a large book are very costly, hence only the top tier having one. The Kickstarter response will give me a much better idea of how much interest there still is in the story and I have had a lot of requests for physical books, so it will happen but I'd like it to be when I can take boxes of them to an expo to sign and sell.

 

31 minutes ago, Pipercub said:

Ah the perfect opportunity to say "READ ALL ABOUT IT IN THE BOOK!"

Amen.

 

The book captures and lays out so much information that a post here really doesn't capture or do it justice.

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1 hour ago, UKMike said:

Fair point and I played around with many titles but decided against examples like the ones above because that also may limit the appeal to the gaming community and I wanted a broader appeal. This isn't just a tome about a couple of vaporware consoles, there is so much more to it. There is a very human story behind it all and you will see from some of Mike's early ventures that patterns of behaviour started to emerge and the reader goes on Mike's journey with him.

 

The Foreword may explain that a little better.

http://colecochameleon.org/foreword/

 

My initial idea was for a physical release first, I naturally want my own physical copy of course, but I literally have no idea of how many to print, and short runs of a large book are very costly, hence only the top tier having one. The Kickstarter response will give me a much better idea of how much interest there still is in the story and I have had a lot of requests for physical books, so it will happen but I'd like it to be when I can take boxes of them to an expo to sign and sell.

 

Amen.

 

The book captures and lays out so much information that a post here really doesn't capture or do it justice.

I definitely be down for a physical copy down the road as well.

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17 hours ago, UKMike said:

Sorry, not sorry, but it's time to post in this thread again.

 

The Kickstarter for the book - Smoke And Mirrors: The Rise And Fall OF A Serial Antipreneur is now live.

Congratulations on finishing the book, @UKMike! I could scarcely believe it when I saw a flurry of posts in this crazy old thread. I hope there are lots of original artifacts in there. It was fun to follow the exploits of this doomed project from the outside, so I can only imagine the nonsense that didn't make it into print. 

 

This is the best part from a buyer's/backer's perspective:

Quote

Risks and challenges

There is no risk as the book is fully written and proof read. A lawyer has been chosen and fees negotiated. Once funded, the lawyer will confirm any edits needed and the final manuscript can be submitted for publication. A publisher has been chosen and fees negotiated. Everything is in place to bring this book to the general public.

I hope you hit your goals and I look forward to consuming this tome. 600 pages!

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8 minutes ago, Downland1983 said:

I definitely be down for a physical copy down the road as well.

I shall add you to the growing list. I'm getting lots of interest in physical so it could always be added as a stretch goal if we are lucky enough to get there.

 

6 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Congratulations on finishing the book, @UKMike! I could scarcely believe it when I saw a flurry of posts in this crazy old thread. I hope there are lots of original artifacts in there. It was fun to follow the exploits of this doomed project from the outside, so I can only imagine the nonsense that didn't make it into print. 

 

This is the best part from a buyer's/backer's perspective:

I hope you hit your goals and I look forward to consuming this tome. 600 pages!

There is a lot of previously unseen information and some surprising twists and turns.

Thanks for the good wishes.

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5 hours ago, UKMike said:

Fair point and I played around with many titles but decided against examples like the ones above because that also may limit the appeal to the gaming community and I wanted a broader appeal. This isn't just a tome about a couple of vaporware consoles, there is so much more to it. There is a very human story behind it all and you will see from some of Mike's early ventures that patterns of behaviour started to emerge and the reader goes on Mike's journey with him.

 

 

 

Let's be frank here, that is the audience this book is going to see and be sold to. I believe you are better to cater to your known audience and customer base versus any worry about alienating or not attracting those who are not.

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1 minute ago, Shawn said:

 

Let's be frank here, that is the audience this book is going to see and be sold to. I believe you are better to cater to your known audience and customer base versus any worry about alienating or not attracting those who are not.

You may well be right but by the same token, my known audience already know what the book is about so the title becomes somewhat irrelevant to them anyway.

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7 hours ago, Pipercub said:

 

Consider this; throughout the months long escapade there were countless videos of people sitting in front of their cameras with their collection behind them as they pontificated on nothing. Posts in this very forum by those in the know of what was really going on were seemingly unread as the random speculation flooded page after page. And quite a few times those posts or interviews revealing the truth were followed by posts saying in essence "too long didn't read". What if there really was 600 pages worth of research, not fluff, that was left behind by this disaster? What if the Chameleon fakes were only the tip of the iceburg and UKMike has the whole iceburg, and its just as dirty as the tip? I have read this thing and having lived through it first hand as a defrauded investor, the original hardware designer, a magazine contributor, and a former close friend of Socal's I can assure you there is only one credible source of the whole back story and that is this book.

 

http://www.colecochameleon.org/kickstarter

I have to agree that this story has a lot of twists and turns, and I can completely see how it could go on for 600 pages. It is an incredible story even for those who aren't into video games, and I am glad to see someone compiling the bits and pieces into one work. A few years back I told the story to a group of friends who aren't video game enthusiasts, with everyone focused on the story I was telling. When I was done, I could tell the room was filled with shock and awe, and I bet I barely scratched the surface of it all.

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35 minutes ago, UKMike said:

You may well be right but by the same token, my known audience already know what the book is about so the title becomes somewhat irrelevant to them anyway.

I will buy a digital copy just to support you Mike.  This thing pretty much crashed me listening to the RGR podcast, and I miss hearing you there.  Saying that - I will likely never read a digital copy.  I'd prefer a physical copy, and I would be willing to pay $30 or more to secure it.

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1 hour ago, Greg2600 said:

I think I could do 150 pages max on this topic, I just don't know if there's enough compelling there.  However, I think this project would have worked far better as a documentary or mockumentary.

If one hasn't read the hundreds of emails, texts, hours of phone calls, company documents, invoices, tax forms, state entity filings, invested a single dollar of their own money, been in the room as decisions were made, participated in the conference calls with the founders, ridden in the car as the magazine was formulated, slept in the spare bedroom as a guest and had the other person stay as a guest in your home etc. etc. etc. one might have 150 pages of speculation. UKMike's book is based on the gold standard of primary source information. Original documents and people directly involved. That is why it is as big as it is.

 

Your onto something though with the documentary idea, if a filmmaker like Kevin Smith saw the RVGS CC events unfold and read the book it could make a killer documentary or docudrama and that is certainly what I hope that Uk might end up with. One of the things we were joking about was who would play who. My vote was Roan Atkinson for UKMike, WIll Sasso for Socal Mike, Mat Best to play me, Dave Bautista to play Mark, Andre Royo to play Steve Sawyer, Patton Oswalt to play Mr Lee,  and it went on.....

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31 minutes ago, Pipercub said:

If one hasn't read the hundreds of emails, texts, hours of phone calls, company documents, invoices, tax forms, state entity filings, invested a single dollar of their own money, been in the room as decisions were made, participated in the conference calls with the founders, ridden in the car as the magazine was formulated, slept in the spare bedroom as a guest and had the other person stay as a guest in your home etc. etc. etc. one might have 150 pages of speculation. UKMike's book is based on the gold standard of primary source information. Original documents and people directly involved. That is why it is as big as it is.

 

Your onto something though with the documentary idea, if a filmmaker like Kevin Smith saw the RVGS CC events unfold and read the book it could make a killer documentary or docudrama and that is certainly what I hope that Uk might end up with.

Yes!  I'd expressed similar thoughts in this very thread ...

 

On 1/12/2017 at 2:26 PM, jaybird3rd said:

I'm delighted that UKMike and Co. are working on a book! I agree that there needs to be a RVGS/Chameleon documentary film someday, but what a good documentary will need most is first-person testimony, and having it in book form will be a vital resource (and no doubt it will be a fun read in its own right).

 

I'd rather they think about choosing an appropriate title only after the book is done. Choosing the title first would be like ... starting a game console with the shell!

On 5/20/2019 at 10:16 AM, jaybird3rd said:

I'm glad to see that the book is in progress ... and I think it's a very appropriate title indeed! UKMike is a sharp and incisive writer, and from what I've seen so far, he is taking exactly the right approach with this, reaching beyond the retro gaming niche to tell a relatable human story.

 

Needless to say, I've been anticipating this one for a while, so I'm glad to have the chance to support the Kickstarter campaign.  I'm looking forward to reading it!

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Look, the world is rife with Mike Kennedy's.  Yeah sure, he was a punchline for a minute or two among classic gamers, but is it really worth an exhaustive book?  A video option of some sort I think would draw far more people in.  Maybe the book needs to come first.

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In the future, the pages of physical, paper-like books will be able to display animated images like these:

 

aa_crazy_happy_02.gif

aa_scared.gif

aa_coleco_chameleon_dead_horse.gif

MKNostalgia05.gif

aa_improved_popcorn_nommer.gif

aa_shame_on_you.gif

 

Related post:

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/219030-wasting-your-life-one-gif-at-a-time/?do=findComment&comment=4652533

38 minutes ago, Random Terrain said:

That's Mike "Coleco Chameleon" Kennedy's face on top of Mike Kennedy's face in the "Black Is Black" video. [The people dancing behind him are the Coleco Chameleon true believers. They dressed up in their special chameleon-green outfits to show their support.  :D]

 

youtu.be/8uZpXcAMPfc?t=134

 

 

youtu.be/OcEqQkMYVnA

 

 

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8 hours ago, Greg2600 said:

However, I think this project would have worked far better as a documentary or mockumentary.

 

2 hours ago, Greg2600 said:

A video option of some sort I think would draw far more people in.  Maybe the book needs to come first.

 

I think that's interesting. I had no idea about how much interest there was in the story, and the Kickstarter is showing there still is enough. It's almost funded as of this moment, but I don't think anybody would have invested the time, effort and finance into a good quality video project without that information. Now they have it.

 

Incidentally, I am also working on a screenplay version. It's an interesting creative process and gives you so many more options in telling the story i.e. chronologically with multiple story lines as Mike Kennedy projects overlapped a lot. The book is largely split into chapters on each project, where a video/film/documentary can show them all in parallel by cutting from scene to scene and would be a more accurate portrayal of how crazy things were on the inside.

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I'll be honest; I'm slightly disappointed by the Kickstarter page video. I was expecting the author showing his desk with the pencil and the typewriter he used to write the book, or the publisher showing a prototype of the book where it's clear it's actually Console Wars with a Smoke And Mirrors cover... ;)

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3 hours ago, carlsson said:

Why not go all the way and make a musical? Broadway premiere 2023.

I told UKMike this, but did he listen?

 

"All I  wanted was a prototype

A prototype

A prototype

But I'm all alone without my prototype

my prototype

my prototype

I'll just make my facsimile thereof

For my prototype

For my prototype

I'll take this shell and this board once used to record

I'll take this tape and this wall wort

And at the toyfair no one will know I came up short

For my prototype

my prototype

my prototype"

 

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