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Intellivision Entertainment launching a NEW Intellivision console


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I'm not thrilled on seeing updated version of old games. Keep them all the same, but add options for an expanded world or more levels. Think Sea-Battle with a new map! Or Triple Action's bi-plane battle with an aerial refueling challenge stage.

 

As far as controllers go. I'd like to see a touchpad done modern-style, like an iPhone. This would allow for awesome on-demand overlays being sent to the controller. And it wouldn't cost much to replace the crappy old firebuttons and disc with versions made from modern materials and engineering. Something to increase reliability and tactile response.

 

Best of old school and new school!

I agree about the touch screen. I posted this idea on you tube and a Few people didn't like because they thought it would be to expensive. Nintendo did it with the Wii u and that didn't make the console more expensive. It would be Great not to have to deal with overlays getting damaged or bent. I just hope they make the controllers look like the originals. Edited by jim1174
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One source said that launch date may not be until 2020. Anything hinted about that?

 

In an earlier interview with Tommy, he said it won't be available this Xmas. Or next Xmas. Which means 2020 at the earliest.

 

This is both good and bad: good, because they can take the time to get it RIGHT. Bad, because these projects seem to inevitably suffer when they have months upon months of pre-release hype and the inevitable non-stop changes. Realistically, the hardware *should* be able to be locked down, now (computing hardware basically is static these days, at least at this price point and capability). Spend 18 months getting the games perfected...

 

We'll see. It's possible someone can pull off an Ouya, but successfully. I'm just not sure exactly how. I'd be rich if I was :P

 

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I heard talk about an SD card slot, but they also mentioned they don't want people to be able to illegally download roms and put them on the system, This would imply that it will be a closed system and the only way to put games on it would be via their website after purchase. So that would imply you would have to buy all the games again! That's not something I'm prepared to do at this point. In the meantime, I'll be happy enough with my Ultimate Intellivision Flashback where I can put all the games on it along with homebrews! :)

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"... will bring the concept of SIMPLE, AFFORDABLE, FAMILY & FUN"

 

So I take "family" to mean that there will be no support for Space C**t

 

 

 

They have a quality control approval process and games will be family friendly. Thus, it is all but confirmed that there will be no Space C**t for this system.

 

Hardware add-ons will be possible via the USB port but will also require quality control approval. Thus, there will likely be no Space C**t related hardware add-ons.

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All joking aside, I think Intellivision Entertainment has the right focus on this console. They have paid attention to what works and what has failed in the industry and are aiming at an underserved market segment. I am excited for this, even if we have to wait a while for it to come out.

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I heard talk about an SD card slot, but they also mentioned they don't want people to be able to illegally download roms and put them on the system, This would imply that it will be a closed system and the only way to put games on it would be via their website after purchase. So that would imply you would have to buy all the games again! That's not something I'm prepared to do at this point. In the meantime, I'll be happy enough with my Ultimate Intellivision Flashback where I can put all the games on it along with homebrews! :)

 

The problem with blocking illegally downloaded ROMs is that it also blocks legal ROMs. Such as homebrews, or ROMs from the Intellivision Lives/Rocks CD-ROMs.

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I think I'm the only one who's never wanted a cartridge port. This hobby's expensive enough without a bunch of newcomers jacking up the price of Shark Shark on eBay.

 

Perhaps you are the only one. I prefer the cartridge port so that I can play the games in the same way I used to when I was a child.

 

This is the same reason why I released my first game with a gate-fold box, glossy overlays, and large format, full-colour, high-quality manual: to relive the experience of opening a new game and playing it with the real console, with a real hand-controller, like when I was a kid in the 80s.

 

(I also put the overlays on the hand-controller, even if I don't need them. :))

 

That, to me, is the Intellivision experience. Your mileage may vary, of course. ;)

 

The Intellivision Flashback comes close to this by recreating the experience with hand-controllers that feel like the real thing, and emulating most of the games correctly. (I still put the overlays on it, too!) However, it does not include all titles, and it won't even let me play my very own home-brew game.

 

 

 

I heard talk about an SD card slot, but they also mentioned they don't want people to be able to illegally download roms and put them on the system, This would imply that it will be a closed system and the only way to put games on it would be via their website after purchase. So that would imply you would have to buy all the games again! That's not something I'm prepared to do at this point. In the meantime, I'll be happy enough with my Ultimate Intellivision Flashback where I can put all the games on it along with homebrews! :)

 

The Ultimate Intellivision Flashback is the kind of thing that people were asking for. It's merely a regular Flashback with a USB slot to change or expand the set of games. It does not have a cartridge port, but it provides an outlet to play all your classic ROMs, including any newly released home-brewed games -- and all that using some very nice hand-controllers, just like back in the day!

 

Apparently, Intellivision Entertainment were not paying close attention to the fans, blinded by delusions of entering a more mainstream market (crippled modern-ish games, really?); because an Intellivision Flashback II with the features of the Ultimate Intellivision Flashback seems a lot more practical, cost-effective, and even desirable.

 

Again, your mileage may vary. ;)

 

-dZ.

Edited by DZ-Jay
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Perhaps you are the only one. I prefer the cartridge port so that I can play the games in the same way I used to when I was a child.

 

This is the same reason why I released my first game with a gate-fold box, glossy overlays, and large format, full-colour, high-quality manual: to relive the experience of opening a new game and playing it with the real console, with a real hand-controller, like when I was a kid in the 80s.

 

(I also put the overlays on the hand-controller, even if I don't need them. :))

 

That, to me, is the Intellivision experience. Your mileage may vary, of course. ;)

 

The Intellivision Flashback comes close to this by recreating the experience with hand-controllers that feel like the real thing, and emulating most of the games correctly. (I still put the overlays on it, too!) However, it does not include all titles, and it won't even let me play my very own home-brew game.

 

 

 

 

The Ultimate Intellivision Flashback is the kind of thing that people were asking for. It's merely a regular Flashback with a USB slot to change or expand the set of games. Its not a cartridge port, but it provides an outlet to play all your classic ROMs, including any newly released home-brewed games -- and all that using some very nice hand-controllers, just like back in the day!

 

Apparently, Intellivision Entertainment were not paying close attention to the fans, blinded by delusions of entering a more mainstream market; because an Intellivision Flashback II with the features of the Ultimate Intellivision Flashback seems a lot more practical, cost-effective, and even desirable.

 

Again, your mileage may vary. ;)

 

-dZ.

With an added cartridge slot... ;)

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With an added cartridge slot... ;)

 

Well, yeah. The problem with the cartridge slot is that, if you are using emulation, it implies a modern architecture. Therefore, it becomes non-trivial to interface it with it. You could avoid using emulation and design a SoC using FPGA or something to simulate the Intellivision, and then the interface with the cartridge becomes much more practical (said the software guy with no hardware experience) -- but then that requires a lot more systems design, R&D, and engineering, than merely compiling jzIntv for a Raspberry-Pi.

 

I would love a cartridge port, but I can understand that it can be impractical. That's why I would at least wish for a console that replicates the playing experience, if not the full, end-to-end experience. The Flashback hand-controllers do that in spades!

 

-dZ.

Edited by DZ-Jay
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Perhaps you are the only one. I prefer the cartridge port so that I can play the games in the same way I used to when I was a child.

 

This is the same reason why I released my first game with a gate-fold box, glossy overlays, and large format, full-colour, high-quality manual: to relive the experience of opening a new game and playing it with the real console, with a real hand-controller, like when I was a kid in the 80s.

 

(I also put the overlays on the hand-controller, even if I don't need them. :))

 

That, to me, is the Intellivision experience. Your mileage may vary, of course. ;)

 

(...)

 

-dZ.

YES! I totally agree. Also to me, the Intellivision experience has to be 100% "tactile", as I've already said some time ago (http://atariage.com/forums/topic/237255-princess-quest-awesome/?p=3944328)

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Well, yeah. The problem with the cartridge slot is that, if you are using emulation, it implies a modern architecture. Therefore, it becomes non-trivial to interface it with it. You could avoid using emulation and design a SoC using FPGA or something to simulate the Intellivision, and then the interface with the cartridge becomes much more practical -- but then that requires a lot more systems design, R&D, and engineering that merely compiling jzIntv for a Raspberry-Pi.

 

I would love a cartridge port, but I can understand that it can be impractical. That's why I would at least wish for a console that replicates the playing experience, if not the full, end-to-end experience. The Flashback hand-controllers do that in spades!

 

-dZ.

 

YES! I totally agree. Also to me, the Intellivision experience has to be 100% "tactile", as I've already said some time ago (http://atariage.com/forums/topic/237255-princess-quest-awesome/?p=3944328)

I agree as well , that's is/was a huge part of the intellivision experience... Hopefully they hear..

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I agree as well , that's is/was a huge part of the intellivision experience... Hopefully they hear..

 

Well, the problem I see is that it's focus seems to be on modern(ish) games, and the Intellivision aspect is merely to ride on the nostalgia wave and brand recognition. It almost seems as if playing the classic games was a mere after-thought.

 

-dZ.

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Well, the problem I see is that it's focus seems to be on modern(ish) games, and the Intellivision aspect is merely to ride on the nostalgia wave and brand recognition. It almost seems as if playing the classic games was a mere after-thought.

 

-dZ.

You may be right, all we can do know is let our voices be heard.

Really besides us older folks most of the younger generation have not even heard of the Brand Intellivision.

 

And who really wants to repurchase their classic intellivision games to play on a modern console. 80 games at 10 dollars a game adds up.. If that's their price point.. Not to mention that you cant play 45 or so of the licenced ones on it..

 

Please hear our voice.. ;) Shout Shout let it all out...

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I simply don't get it. No cart slot? Like the Atari VCS, what market will this thing have? Casuals game on tablets now, they don't want consoles. Like the Atari, a prerequisite is that you must first have heard of the Intellivision, and second, want this. How can you run a business venture on that? For all the flack the Retro VGS got, even if MK had produced actual working prototypes, still had the BIG issue re: who will buy it??? They couldn't even sell the INTV/COL flashbacks.

 

As for INTV fans wanting an updated system, great. But again, you can't operate a business on that, not without charging $200-$300 to cover your costs, because those fans just aren't numerous enough.

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Considering Retropie covers all of this and more, you can stick a RP3 in almost anything and have a card slot available to add more...or use WiFi... aside from new versions of old games, I don't see how waiting till 2020 for this to be available to purchase is going to generate the sales or interest in the product.

 

Seems like a good idea, but systems like this tend to only appeal to a small range of users, and nostalgia seekers. I do agree that modern console games offer very little to no family options other than a what the Switch offers, but that's what kids are all about now. Closed doors, head sets and online gaming.

 

I'm sure I'll be on board and buy one, but I don't see this being what my expectations might be dreaming up. I covered all my 80s gaming nostalgia with my modded Sears SVA Retrocade I built, so I don't need that. What I'd like to see is a fun system like the Wii was when it came out. Family sport games, family game night... fun competition. Much like the original games from the 80s were.

 

A modern LV Poker & Blackjack would be great too. Lol.

 

At any rate, time will tell if this unit or even the ridiculously mysterious Atari VCS ever even hit the mainstream market, but I'm not holding my breath for it.

 

JR

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We all know about vapor(hardware), cancelled crowdfunding campaigns, and other deceptive gadgets. But let's be positive and enthusiastic. I have to confess that I haven't heard about Mr. Tallarico before, and well, I want to believe he has good views on what have to be done in this tricky market.

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Exciting News !! Congratulations to all involved.

 

Wow after 40 years who would of thought.

 

Cheers

 

I signed up to be one of the first 100K. And as for 40 years later, I do remember as a kid hearing about Mattel when they dropped the Intellivision that they said they would not make another console game till "the year 2000". So maybe a small part of me believed a console would be made again related to Intellivision.

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Adding cartridge support to a software emulator is essentially adding a cartridge dumper and playing the rom from computer ram. Since they say it's difficult to dump some Intellivision homebrew cartridges it wouldn't be 100% compatible like Keetah says.

 

Since folks are concerned about the lack of a cartridge port, I'll highlight what mr_me previously mentioned.

 

Also, in the Live Q&A, Intellivision Entertainment talked about the possibility of a cartridge port via the USB port as a 3rd party add-on. They currently are not expecting there to be a large enough of a market that such an add-on will be built, but they are open to being proven wrong (as long as licensing issues are addressed as well).

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Since this doesn't appear to be an exercise in marketing BS and brand whoring, I remain interested in what they propose to do.

I'm not sure they are thinking about this, but they do pose an interesting notion that I would love to see capitalized on.

 

1. Release a quality retro/toy system (on something better than an ARM) with a library of canned retro titles.

 

Then to make it relevant....

 

2. Include a suite of easy to use, GUI based game development tools to make a variety of gaming styles from the heyday of video gaming.

 

This could really be a cross market appeal to pull in older retro gamers as well as kids and families since it would also be a learning/STEM toy that everyone can create with. Something similar to sploder or Gamemaker studio, but dumbed down to blocks and sprites and canned sets of behaviors to choose from. I see something like Mario Maker but with themes for 70's, 80's, and possibly 90's era games in multiple genres. (i.e. platformer, scrolling shooter, space shooter, flight sim, maze, graphic adventure, adventure etc.). Ya know, tools to make your own versions of classic type games with lego building block type stuff and no programming required. They could allow community theme and asset contributions to allow the platform to be expandable, and give younger folks an approachable way to appreciate the old style games where working with limited colors and resolutions was the norm.

 

I've often wanted something like that to tinker with, but never the patience or time to get into the game development applications. It needs to be tailored to casual exploration, creation and sharing with others. Mario Maker was good but a little too boxed into a single theme. Maybe going a little lower tech with the sprites would make it easier to accommodate more styles. I remember a customize feature in an old scrolling space shooter on the TRS-80 where you could draw your own mountains and place ground missiles and stuff to your liking then play what you made. It was simple but fun.

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I have lot of doubts after reading all the info.

100k users sound a lot, but perhaps is reasonable from now to 2020... 2020? long time before the launch sounds to me that the projects is still more an idea and I would prefer to see it going trough a kickstarter process to believe...

no cartridges? I guess 90% of intv fans are unhappy about that, but it's not at all surprising if we think about costs and distribution...

control over contents? 2D only games? I agree with that but it's not easy to control the developers... and will developers want to work on original intv contents to run via emulation or use potential of the new hardware?...

 

the point is: think about you being the one rich man willing to make a sequel of the beloved intellivision: how would you make the system? I believe you will come to similar solution even if you want something more close to original: you want cartridges and 80s feeling games but you will decide for sd card and downloads, you would like a custom chip evolved from the original but you'll be forced to use a pc board....

this is not an easy project..

Edited by vprette
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I have lot of doubts after reading all the info.

100k users sound a lot, but perhaps is reasonable from now to 2020... 2020? long time before the launch sounds to me that the projects is still more an idea and I would prefer to see it going trough a kickstarter process to believe...

no cartridges? I guess 90% of intv fans are unhappy about that, but it's not at all surprising if we think about costs and distribution...

control over contents? 2D only games? I agree with that but it's not easy to control the developers... and will developers want to work on original intv contents to run via emulation or use potential of the new hardware?...

 

the point is: think about you being the one rich man willing to make a sequel of the beloved intellivision: how would you make the system? I believe you will come to similar solution even if you want something more close to original: you want cartridges and 80s feeling games but you will decide for sd card and downloads, you would like a custom chip evolved from the original but you'll be forced to use a pc board....

 

this is not an easy project..

I disagree. This seems less of a project for Intellivision enthusiasts and more like an attempt to come up with a recurring (rent) business model.

 

The problem is that the Intellivision is a niche within a niche (seriously, the Atari VCS outsold it almost 10:1 back in the day). Since they obviously can't make a living as a publisher making games for the Intellivision, then they are aiming for the mainstream audience with modern games. It's a "franken-console" that is neither fish nor fowl -- it falls right through the cracks of various potentially overlapping markets.

 

As others have pointed out already, that space is over-crowded and controlled by a few giants. The brand alone may not be sufficient. That's why I said that "first 100K" ("first," as in expecting many more) was ambitious.

 

Well, good luck with that. That path is littered with the carcasses of many other similar projects.

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I simply don't get it. No cart slot? Like the Atari VCS, what market will this thing have? Casuals game on tablets now, they don't want consoles. Like the Atari, a prerequisite is that you must first have heard of the Intellivision, and second, want this. How can you run a business venture on that? For all the flack the Retro VGS got, even if MK had produced actual working prototypes, still had the BIG issue re: who will buy it??? They couldn't even sell the INTV/COL flashbacks.

 

As for INTV fans wanting an updated system, great. But again, you can't operate a business on that, not without charging $200-$300 to cover your costs, because those fans just aren't numerous enough.

 

The Atari VCS essentially started the "cartridge craze". But it was a product of its time. Had some other solution for changing the stored program in a fixed-function computer been available that was more user-friendly and durable, I'm sure it would have been used.

 

90% or more of the people buying videogames these days are indeed casuals. So, that's right, they don't want consoles, OR cartridges.

 

They want the benefits SoC provides, and not grandpa's game paraphernalia.

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