Coleco Chameleon .... hardware speculations?

[Albert]

33 users browsing the forum now. The rush has worn off! I still need my infotainment hit though.

 

I'm seeing 129 users (39 members, 89 guests, 1 anonymous user). Which is still pretty high for an individual thread, but not crazy like it was anytime there was big news.

 

..Al

[Hannacek]

After Coleco pulled the licensing, it killed the Chameleon. The only thing different between the RETRO VGS and the Chameleon was the licensing, which is now gone. So people are leaving the forum because there is no point in beating a dead horse.

It's saying a lot that Coleco pulled the licensing. Coleco is a zombie company. It's two guys who collect a check for doing nothing. For them to pull the licensing says that they would rather take a chance that down the road someone else might pay them money for doing nothing, rather than the 0% chance that the Chameleon will ever exist to make them money for doing nothing.

[Cav]

 

you just can't beat their awesome database of pre-filled information.

Can't go into much detail, but I'll just say "thanks!"

[goodtofufriday]

This was a fun ride through and through. Maybe one day we will have a console that could play anything via add-on boards. It would be very cool if nothing else.

 

Maybe MK will launch the MVGS - Modern video game system. Plays all modern games regardless even 50 years into the future!

[some_canuck]

the rvgs twitter account is still active, i'm sticking around for a while still... (popcorn)

[Keatah]

The mainstream gaming press, tech blogs, YouTube gaming channels lapped up the marketing. Do a quick Google News search for "Coleco Chameleon" from before the DVR card discovery if you don't believe me. Like the average Facebook user, and unlike most people around here, they weren't skeptical or critical about the project at all, at least not until we had found definite proof of the fakery.

 

Well.. Naturally.. They're bloggers with monster-sized advertising budgets and few (if any) do any journalism. What else would you expect? Real critical and accurate reviews? Ohh no, no sir! That could jeopardize ad revenue. Because ad revenue only flows when things are peachy keen!

 

These gaming review sites are full of hyperactives darting from one topic to the next - like a teen discovering texting. Bloggers trying to find a way to increase clickage. And those youtubers even more. Don't ever forget, it's about the almighty click first and formost! And it's a sweatshop. Push anything and everything out. How can we generate income as opposed to how can we report accurately.

[pxlsicle]

I would have liked to have put this in the Coleco Chameleon Epilogue thread that was suggested earlier. If one one happens I may copy this post over to there if that sort of thing one time doesn't ruffle feathers

Pat and I recorded our last bits on this whole mess last night. They should be up sometime today. I have to admit I'm really happy the announcement of Coleco Holdings dropping the Chameleon came when it it did, it couldn't have come at a better time both in terms of recording and my general interest and patience. We've covered this since the RVGS announcement. It's been an often amusing, always bizarre ride that became infuriating and then increasingly tiresome. We both broke recording schedules to signal boost info when we could, sorted through the big bursts of info and followed the quiet days or weeks after waiting for an interview or more evidence. Don't get me wrong, we weren't all star reporters sleeping at our desks eating cold bagels and drinking stale coffee but I have a full time job, Pat has plenty of full time projects and it was honestly sort of obsessing us =D After almost a year on the same topic it was really nice to put a bow on it and push it out the door. We do a basic round-up, talk a bit about the drop, and Pat responds to some criticism that I managed to mostly avoid due to absence, I couldn't be in that video because of work.

We did as much of our own research and conclusion making as we could but it would be absolutely insane and totally unfair to not give the Atari Age forum a massive amount of credit. we put together a bunch of stone tile flooring with massive gaps and every single damn time you all came and puttied it over, filled the cracks, and sent us in new directions. Lots of times I felt we were being a megaphone. All of us together, I think, are responsible for how this rode out.

In short: I owe a lot of fuckin' beers to you out there. If you don't drink I'll provide the Martinelli's sparkling apple juice. That's good shit. Come say hey if you're at a convention I'm at. Would love to shake hands.

Shout outs to Brian from Jag Bar, Eli from Piko, Kevtris, Retro Gaming Round-up, and a whole bunch of others I promise I'm not ommiting because I'm an asshole I just have really bad short term memory. Great info that really pushed the story along. Shout out to my cat, Spike.

Edited March 9, 2016 by pxlsicle

[cybercylon]

 

I am agreeing so hard here. The best alternative is to go micro-niche, like interest groups such as AtariAge. But I don't think this was set up as a way to make money.

 

33 users browsing the forum now. The rush has worn off! I still need my infotainment hit though.

 

I am sure there will be another saga soon enough to get your infotainment fix.

[Keatah]

Edit: Oh yeah, almost forgot the "headshots" (as in publicity photos, not as in firearms). I guess that's because they've been completely silent. I can't even look up their names anymore since the site is down, but I'm sure someone has saved a copy. What were they thinking, and would they give an interview to Triverse Carl?

 

You talking about the contacts and executive officer portraits page?

 

[Gentlegamer]

Thanks, Ian!

 

Hey Spike!

[galax]

 

 

 

Give them some credit, they did manage to get the word out far and wide, well in advance of when they were supposed to deliver.

This was popular specifically because of marketing failure.

 

The mainstream gaming press, tech blogs, YouTube gaming channels lapped up the marketing.

 

Well.. Naturally.. [...] What else would you expect?

 

I don't think that the press's incompetence is surprising, I was pointing out that they were cheering for Mike, not just covering the project because they saw it as a failure.

[Bill Loguidice]

I don't think that the press's incompetence is surprising, I was pointing out that they were cheering for Mike, not just covering the project because they saw it as a failure.

 

Yep. I think we can all agree that while some of us had ethical and other issues with certain aspects of the marketing strategy, it was effective in getting the word out/generating buzz even before the public deceptions were uncovered.

 

That's also partially why it's unfortunate there was nothing tangible behind the whole operation, because they did actually accomplish/achieve at least one of the litany of difficult things for a project like this to have a chance at success.

[+madman]

After Coleco pulled the licensing, it killed the Chameleon. The only thing different between the RETRO VGS and the Chameleon was the licensing, which is now gone.

To be fair, the Chameleon had 150% more electrical tape than the RVGS...

[+Random Terrain]

Uhrr,

 

"A real unit showed up at the New York Toy Fair, however, it seems as though the working prototype wasn't enough for Coleco Holdings."

 

Oh really?

 

..Al

 

For people who don't know, this is how you play the telephone game:

 

How to Play the Telephone Game

 

 

That's nice, but what if you don't have a group of friends who can stand in a row and whisper down the line? No problem. All you need is one reporter. That's right! Only one reporter! Here's how to play:

 

1. Give a reporter some facts without any whisperers between you and the reporter to mess it up. (Directly from your mouth to the ears of the reporter.)

 

2. Thanks to booze, drugs, or stupidity, the reporter's brain will be equal to a thousand whisperers.

 

3. Read the reporter's article and see how many glaring errors, omissions, and lies you can find.

 

4. Enjoy!

[PlaysWithWolves]

 

1. Give a reporter some facts without any whisperers between you and the reporter to mess it up. (Directly from your mouth to the ears of the reporter.)

 

2. Thanks to booze, drugs, or stupidity, the reporter's brain will be equal to a thousand whisperers.

 

3. Read the reporter's article and see how many glaring errors, omissions, and lies you can find.

 

4. Enjoy!

 

Ohhh, let me play.

Psst: Atari spoke to us about their library of three hundred 2600 games.

[Phillyman]

Speaking of consoles to never see the light, found an entry in EGM Issue 19 from February 1991 about the 16-Bit Atari Panther. Funny how years later a 16 bit console was put inside of a Atari shell

[Hannacek]

"It's True, all of it. Atari, Coleco, they are real. Your Childhood will not be ruined by Retro VGS Inc."

 

 

Edited March 9, 2016 by Hannacek

[StopDrop&Retro]

Speaking of consoles to never see the light, found an entry in EGM Issue 19 from February 1991 about the 16-Bit Atari Panther. Funny how years later a 16 bit console was put inside of a Atari shell

 

Panther Thumb.jpg

 

Panther was 32 bit, yo.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Panther

 

You can't believe everything you read online. Or hell, even in magazines back then.

[galax]

Speaking of consoles to never see the light, found an entry in EGM Issue 19 from February 1991 about the 16-Bit Atari Panther. Funny how years later a 16 bit console was put inside of a Atari shell

 

Panther Thumb.jpg

 

And people say the Jaguar shell is ugly, thank heavens they never released the Panther- looks like a fax machine.

 

[Phillyman]

 

Panther was 32 bit, yo.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Panther

 

You can't believe everything you read online. Or hell, even in magazines back then.

 

 

Mistakes in printed media? Unbelievable! Oh wait the Atari Panther is nothing like the Coleco Chameleon, as that system actually has prototypes that exist

[PlaysWithWolves]

Speaking of consoles to never see the light, found an entry in EGM Issue 19 from February 1991 about the 16-Bit Atari Panther. Funny how years later a 16 bit console was put inside of a Atari shell

 

Panther Thumb.jpg

 

Atari Panther prototype: Still more real than the Chameleon.

 

edit: Bah, Phillyman beat me to it!

Edited March 9, 2016 by PlaysWithWolves

[Keatah]

A pure child of the 90's. Rounded Melted Aero and Bubble was the design language of the day.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Keatah

[jaybird3rd]

Thanks, Ian! I know we're all looking forward to hearing your last segment on the RVGS/Chameleon. Let's hope that this really is the end of the saga!

 

I agree that taking this project down was a collaborative effort, and I think that you and Pat deserve enormous credit for bringing every new development into the public eye in an entertaining way, always making clear for your audience (which is way bigger than ours!) what was going on and why it was important. I'm sure you've both had to take way too much criticism for it, but now that it's over, and now that any impartial observer can see this project as the scam that it was, I think it's clear that the stance that you and Pat have taken from the beginning was the right one all along.

[PikoInteractive]

I would have liked to have put this in the Coleco Chameleon Epilogue thread that was suggested earlier. If one one happens I may copy this post over to there if that sort of thing one time doesn't ruffle feathers

 

Pat and I recorded our last bits on this whole mess last night. They should be up sometime today. I have to admit I'm really happy the announcement of Coleco Holdings dropping the Chameleon came when it it did, it couldn't have come at a better time both in terms of recording and my general interest and patience. We've covered this since the RVGS announcement. It's been an often amusing, always bizarre ride that became infuriating and then increasingly tiresome. We both broke recording schedules to signal boost info when we could, sorted through the big bursts of info and followed the quiet days or weeks after waiting for an interview or more evidence. Don't get me wrong, we weren't all star reporters sleeping at our desks eating cold bagels and drinking stale coffee but I have a full time job, Pat has plenty of full time projects and it was honestly sort of obsessing us =D After almost a year on the same topic it was really nice to put a bow on it and push it out the door. We do a basic round-up, talk a bit about the drop, and Pat responds to some criticism that I managed to mostly avoid due to absence, I couldn't be in that video because of work.

 

We did as much of our own research and conclusion making as we could but it would be absolutely insane and totally unfair to not give the Atari Age forum a massive amount of credit. we put together a bunch of stone tile flooring with massive gaps and every single damn time you all came and puttied it over, filled the cracks, and sent us in new directions. Lots of times I felt we were being a megaphone. All of us together, I think, are responsible for how this rode out.

 

In short: I owe a lot of fuckin' beers to you out there. If you don't drink I'll provide the Martinelli's sparkling apple juice. That's good shit. Come say hey if you're at a convention I'm at. Would love to shake hands.

 

Shout outs to Brian from Jag Bar, Eli from Piko, Kevtris, Retro Gaming Round-up, and a whole bunch of others I promise I'm not ommiting because I'm an asshole I just have really bad short term memory. Great info that really pushed the story along. Shout out to my cat, Spike.

 

 

Holy Sh*t I got a shout out from Ian!

[Cybermario]

It Stayed at $25. This archived page lost the stylesheet but confirms that: https://web.archive.org/web/20120606212833/http://www.indiegogo.com/GameGavel

 

$25

Raised of $100,000 Goal

0 time left

 

Better looking archived page with 19 days left: https://web.archive.org/web/20120516074831/http://www.indiegogo.com/GameGavel?c=home

gamegavel.png

The pitch made no sense: "We gave lifetime memberships to 6,000 people for free, so you can pay $500 for the same thing". They claim to be "Helping gamers buy & sell since 2008 without the high fees of eBay" but eBay has never charged me a $7.99/month seller's fee? It was met with skepticism everywhere else that he posted about it:

 

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=234213

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/197499-gamegavel-reaches-out-to-its-crowd-with-indiegogo-campaign/

 

http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=3&threadid=69766

 

holy crap 100,000 usd?! IF GG was doing s well, wtf he neded that money for, an RV to travel the country or what...

 

 

When the site made the name change from CTCW to GG was when everything went to hell and MK thought he was gonna take on Ebay and Amazon. Even the lifetime free memebers had to add credit card information to their accounts? Why would he need my credit card info if I'm never giving him any money? That seemed pretty shady to me. It was that and MK's egotistical approach of GG not just being an alternative to ebay\amazon but it was going to take them head on that led to me personally no longer using CTCW\GG. It was clear to me back then that the man had more than a few screws loose in key locations of his noggin. That and he was entering sellers accounts and messing about without their knowledge. I can say that for a fact as he did so to my GG account and I caught him red handed doing it. He said sorry but the damage was done. I have no clue how many others he did the same to as I can only attest to my own account mistreating.

 

That is incredible shady and quite frankly horrible, cant imagine someone going into my account and who knows, maybe charging stuff to my card. Can tell us more about the changes he did to your account?

 

I really don't know. I can't imagine Mike coming back with something after this fiasco.

 

By reading that GG Indi Gogo campaign can say this, GG ws the first scam he tried to pull, RETROVGS7CC wont be the last scam he will attempt, even if isnt gaming related.

 

 

We concluded that Kevin Bow was real a few weeks back. It's tempting to be suspicious after Mark Kaminski was posting on here as Janus, but he probably is just a true believer.

 

Well, he liked Kelly's Express Carwash which is in stockton california, that can narrow the suspects?

 

LOL at this. As if retro gaming dies with this guy

 

gamester81.jpg

 

this image was made by one of the fanboys after John posted in his FB account about the lynch mob here, honestly disgusted by the fact he allowed people to go on with that, he IS not the retro gaming community.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Cybermario