Coleco Chameleon .... hardware speculations?

[cybercylon]

Wonder if this needs to become like the Knight Rider thread.... who is the first to post in the New Year to bump it up? We can have a contest to see if someone can be the first to post in some of these threads in the New Year. Surely, the AtariBox and Polymega threads will reach that status. Winner of 4/5 of bumping these thread to usher in the new year gets... a patch. Let me set up an Indiegogo campaign to support the design of that patch. Need to make those 3D renders and get the adhesive first. Those have to be the hardest part.

Edited December 31, 2018 by cybercylon

[Shawn]

If Soulja Boy is selling scam retroconsoles, maybe Mike Kennedy should consider taking up rap.

 

How quickly you have forgotten all the number one hip hop hits from Mike's partner in ColecoCrime© Chris Cardillo.

[Inky]

Wonder if this needs to become like the Knight Rider thread.... who is the first to post in the New Year to bump it up? We can have a contest to see if someone can be the first to post in some of these threads in the New Year. Surely, the AtariBox and Polymega threads will reach that status. Winner of 4/5 of bumping these thread to usher in the new year gets... a patch. Let me set up an Indiegogo campaign to support the design of that patch. Need to make those 3D renders and get the adhesive first. Those have to be the hardest part.

I thought a different date was settled upon to bump this thread?

[Flojomojo]

I thought a different date was settled upon to bump this thread?

I vote for February 31st.

[cybercylon]

I vote for February 31st.

 

Only if that day falls on the second Tuesday of the week during a solar and lunar eclipse.... Patch to be delivered by an African swallow.

[maiki]

https://colecochameleon.org/

[Flojomojo]

https://colecochameleon.org/

 

Huh

 

It's going to take a very good writer to sum up this story in an interesting way. Mike K talked a lot but a huge amount of it was utter bullshit. I have trouble believing that there's enough real material to fill a whole book, especially something sold for money, but I'd love to be proven wrong.

[jaybird3rd]

https://colecochameleon.org/

Outstanding! I can only reiterate what I said back in early 2017:

 

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!

 

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.

[+5-11under]

A few years ago I would have never wanted to buy a book about this.

Now, with the right writer (seems alright so far), I'd consider it.

[boxpressed]

I would hope that the book goes beyond the conman, fraudster story. That's the hill that it will have to climb for me. There's a point where the outrage tank runs dry, especially after a period of years. Not defending MK or what he did, but when's a good time to move on? What's more interesting to me than the con is the reason why the community still needs this story to endure.

[Bill Loguidice]

 

Huh

 

It's going to take a very good writer to sum up this story in an interesting way. Mike K talked a lot but a huge amount of it was utter bullshit. I have trouble believing that there's enough real material to fill a whole book, especially something sold for money, but I'd love to be proven wrong.

 

It certainly could prove quite interesting. Arguably, the right person is writing the book, an insider, although I don't believe he was in on all the nitty gritty details after a point since Mike cut certain investors/friends out. I do hope he gets it vetted through legal counsel first, though, as I'd want to be extra careful of slander/libel.

[godslabrat]

I'd be interested in interviewing this author on my podcast.

[Punisher5.0]

1.1 million views.......wow. AA record?

[carlsson]

Kevtris' thread about a FPGA based videogame system currently has about 50K more views than this thread, but both are impressive ... eh ... in their own ways.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/242970-fpga-based-videogame-system/

[Pipercub]

On 5/20/2019 at 11:59 AM, Bill Loguidice said:

 

It certainly could prove quite interesting. Arguably, the right person is writing the book, an insider, although I don't believe he was in on all the nitty gritty details after a point since Mike cut certain investors/friends out. I do hope he gets it vetted through legal counsel first, though, as I'd want to be extra careful of slander/libel.

Hi Bill! I have read the book a few times over now and WOW are people in store for the whole story! The whole pageant of bogus press releases and rampant speculation that was what the public digested was very different from what was going on behind the scenes. You pretty much hit home on where the book sits now, the thing is written and a HUGE portion of it is based on the perpetrator's own words. What he forgot, or had the hubris to ignore, was the army of people he had crossed, and all of those people did a document dump of the communications that were intended to be internal to the RVGS/CC entity and "partners" It is pretty hard to talk about slander/libel when your printing the actual email/transcript/tweet etc. of the person in question. The sticky bit though that needs legal review is what you can and can't use, and in what context. There is a huge web of legalities, and once that is sorted through the goal is to come out with nothing redacted or removed. That is where the project is now, if only UKMike could just hit print and ship them today he would!

[dj_convoy]

Salivating for this.

[pacman000]

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

Choosing the title first would be like ... starting a game console with the shell!

Hey! Choosing the title first always worked for AIP! (Except for The Beast With a Million Eyes, but that was technically their predecessor, ARC.)

[Flojomojo]

Just tell me there will be an ebook, because I don’t want any physical evidence of my interest in le shitshow 

[Kid Cubicle]

Not sure if any of you guys are interested, but I too was writing a book on the Chameleon. Just like Mike I'm going to fail to deliver. However it was very fun going back and researching on this huge mess of a project. I look forward to reading UKMike's book.

Edited June 21, 2019 by Kid Cubicle
Added images

[Flojomojo]

4 hours ago, Kid Cubicle said:

Not sure if any of you guys are interested, but I too was writing a book on the Chameleon. Just like Mike I'm going to fail to deliver. However it was very fun going back and researching on this huge mess of a project. I look forward to reading UKMike's book.

I hope it’s on waterproof acid-free paper so it can be enjoyed by many many future generations. Will there be multiple covers and colors to collect? Did you instruct the printer to make it without any errors? What if a printing error is discovered? 

[PlaysWithWolves]

A dream ad video for @UKMike's book would be @btbfilms76 either using or aping the Chameleon script. Maybe even get @Pipercub's fake Chameleon console involved, if it's still around.

 

 

[Shamus]

With a title like "Smoke and Mirrors", they need to get Derren Brown to promote it. 

[UKMike]

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.

 

Please check it out and help to make it a reality.

 

I had hoped to launch with a physical release that could be signed and sold at Expos but that isn't happening any time soon.

Here for your enjoyment, and to set the record straight, is an electronic release, hopefully to be followed by a physical release, though I can't guarantee low serial numbers or gold editions.

 

Visit the Smoke And Mirrors website: http://www.colecochameleon.org
Back the Kickstarter: http://www.colecochameleon.org/kickstarter
Grab the Press Kit: http://www.colecochameleon.org/files/PressKit.zip

 

[TPR]

I gotta be honest here... I think a book telling the story about what happened is a very interesting idea and something I would enjoy... However I'm not sure I need a 600-page digital recap of that.  I can hardly get through 475 pages of this thread!  😂

[Pipercub]

15 hours ago, TPR said:

I gotta be honest here... I think a book telling the story about what happened is a very interesting idea and something I would enjoy... However I'm not sure I need a 600-page recap of that.  I can hardly get through 475 pages of this thread!  😂

 

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

Edited October 7, 2020 by Pipercub