Intellivision Amico - Tommy Tallarico introduction + Q&A

[Rev]

15 hours ago, SanicSpeed said:

I'm definitely not a furry, but the Fox game looked cool.

I think you ARE a furry. Just sayin’

[woobman]

1 hour ago, Jenny Davis said:

Well lease intellivison amico had event but AtariVcs they not show any event.  That one for intellivison amico and AtariVcs zero who winner now score is 1_0 

Here's the thing.  If we compare the two consoles - We've seen a total of one new(ish) game (maybe) running on the Atari hardware. Tempest 4000. Keeping in mind, the creator of the game said he never made a Linux build. 

 

Everything else has been, most likely,  emulation from the Atari Flashback games. I don't recall even seeing that on the hardware. Just the announcement. Most of which you can get on other platforms. 

 

Apart from the few "mobile" games that we've seen on the Amico. Everything has been brand new versions, or brand new games. Including seeing things run on actual hardware.  Plus way more interviews with Tommy. More videos. More fun all around.

 

The Atari team does have the Amico team beat in two key areas: 1)Hotel announcements. and 2)Crypto currency announcements.

 

Maybe Atari has something up their sleeve? the "one more thing" moment. I just don't see it. As I've always said. Atari has a place in my heart. I want both consoles to succeed. It looks like at least one has a fighting chance.

[mr_me]

1 hour ago, Swami said:

It was the Analogue Pocket with Gorilla Glass (although I am meh on FPGA). Mr me says the amico screen is acrylic (lucite). I thought Tommy was holding the screen in the special event and said it was polycarbonate, but maybe he was holding something else. I have to rewatch the video, I guess. 

It could be a polycarbonate touchscreen underneath an acrylic layer.  Or maybe they did change from acrylic to polycarbonate.

 

edit:

The multiple posts were my fault.  My phone wasn't reacting to the submit button, so I pressed it a bunch of times.

Edited August 7, 2020 by mr_me

[+Intellivision Master]

 

[+Intellivision Master]

What's going on mr_me?  Your same comment keeps getting posted.  There's 7 identical posts now.

[jaybird3rd]

8 minutes ago, Intellivision Master said:

What's going on mr_me?  Your same comment keeps getting posted.  There's 7 identical posts now.

Fixed.  Probably just an echo in the server room. 

[+Swami]

56 minutes ago, mr_me said:

It could be a polycarbonate touchscreen underneath an acrylic layer.  Or maybe they did change from acrylic to polycarbonate.

 

edit:

The multiple posts were my fault.  My phone wasn't reacting to the submit button, so I pressed it a bunch of times.

I’d say the former or vice versa would be best. 

[+Intellivision Master]

1 hour ago, mr_me said:

edit:

The multiple posts were my fault.  My phone wasn't reacting to the submit button, so I pressed it a bunch of times.

That's okay, I figured it had to be a glitch or something.  Gotta love technology.  Lol.

[+Intellivision Master]

If the Disney license falls through, maybe we can get a re-imagined Aladdin on Amico.  Like a Genesis port but with added features & updated visuals.  Or perhaps a re-imagined Lion King as well.

[atarifan88]

13 hours ago, supahwally said:

I don't understand why so many people don't understand the Amico. 

 

The very idea of it seems to be rubbing a portion of the gaming industry and gaming public the wrong way.  Are modern gamers who isolate themselves for hours to play harboring some kind of guilt about it?  If not, what's with the defensive and irrational reaction by so many to a simple system that people MUST be in the same room to play against (or cooperatively with) one another?   The Amico is not your Mom telling you to take off the headphones and come down for dinner, it's not your wife standing in the doorway waiting for you to finish your game and take care of the kids, it's not your fat, depressed dog who hasn't been exercised in a week because you have a level to beat.  It's just a console, stop projecting!

 

The people who write about the gaming industry appear to think it's current state is the only possible way it will ever be, and challenging that notion confuses them.   'Baffling' in the title, CNET? Seriously?  Then, a questioning subtitle implying the public at large will be as puzzled as the 'experts'?  Really?  With the team Tommy has assembled, the international game developers on board, the worldwide distribution network, exclusive editions for different retailers, not to mention controllers with a form factor never seen before...I think the word you are looking for is 'unprecedented'. 

 

The CNET article title, subtitle, AND those critical lead in paragraphs were all loaded with negativity and derision.  He calls it a 'Bizarro' console.  The controller is described as a 'weird, knock-off iPod'.  'Bizarro and Weird' put in the reader's mind that the controller is hard to understand, and 'knock off' implies...cheap.  Any attempt at a compliment has a caveat-'the controllers look interesting IF you're a lover of paddle games'...huh? The caption under the Earthworm Jim rendering asks if anyone even remembers the first 3.  He says the Amico 'supports 8 player multiplayer, if you buy more controllers', which is a flat-out lie.  No mention of the smartphone app that allows your phone to be a controller?  The smartphone-as-controller thing is HUGE.  Massive.  Never done before, groundbreaking, and this guy not only doesn't mention it, but implies you need to spend more money to use this with more than 2 people-one of the major selling points.  Pathetic.  Deliberately misleading or unprofessionally lazy?  Base on the tone of the article, I'm picking the former.

 

Sure, he talks about the games, but includes little digs all the way through.  Calling it bean-bag toss, not Cornhole, like it's a little kids game.  No mention of the reasons for the 2021 delay, no mention of the experience level of the Amico team, no mention of the international developers and sales teams, no mention of retailer exclusives, no mention of the number of consoles that have already been pre-ordered.  Just the 'Coolier Than Thou' tone of the hardcore gamer, with a bit of implied eye-roll in the direction of these clowns who think there is a market for...whatever it is they are trying to do.  Insular is the word that keeps coming to mind.  Did the Wii even exist to these people?  The idea that the market is being fully served is absurd. 

 

If my coworker, who knows little about the Amico (but is casually interested, he's 40, played video games all his life and has 2 kids in early teen years) found that CNET article, I am quite certain he'd lose interest.  That article was absolutely a hit piece-consciously or not-and fits exactly what I said at the beginning:  The Amico triggers some personal response in 'gamers' that makes them immediately, irrationally defensive.  

 

OK that's my rant.  I'll be back the next time something pisses me off.

 

 

 

YOU SIR HAVE WON BEST POST IN A WHILE ON THIS THREAD!

Edited August 7, 2020 by atarifan88

[+Intellivision Master]

There's a new Samurai Jack game coming to PS4 & Switch later this month.  It would be cool if we got a Samurai Jack game on Amico in 2D or 2.5D.

[Oldfool]

Being an Oldfool, I don't usually link these newfangled technologies. I want to try to share the fireworks show that happened last Saturday night on our Animal Crossing island. Pay special attention to the first one after the clock strikes 11:00. The second one has an amico tie in also. The rest are just villagers.

 

 

[Alpha82]

8 minutes ago, Oldfool said:

Being an Oldfool, I don't usually link these newfangled technologies. I want to try to share the fireworks show that happened last Saturday night on our Animal Crossing island. Pay special attention to the first one after the clock strikes 11:00. The second one has an amico tie in also. The rest are just villagers.

 

 

Very cool!!!

[Jenny Davis]

3 hours ago, woobman said:

Here's the thing.  If we compare the two consoles - We've seen a total of one new(ish) game (maybe) running on the Atari hardware. Tempest 4000. Keeping in mind, the creator of the game said he never made a Linux build. 

 

Everything else has been, most likely,  emulation from the Atari Flashback games. I don't recall even seeing that on the hardware. Just the announcement. Most of which you can get on other platforms. 

 

Apart from the few "mobile" games that we've seen on the Amico. Everything has been brand new versions, or brand new games. Including seeing things run on actual hardware.  Plus way more interviews with Tommy. More videos. More fun all around.

 

The Atari team does have the Amico team beat in two key areas: 1)Hotel announcements. and 2)Crypto currency announcements.

 

Maybe Atari has something up their sleeve? the "one more thing" moment. I just don't see it. As I've always said. Atari has a place in my heart. I want both consoles to succeed. It looks like at least one has a fighting chance.

I had one too because they cheaper. 

[vprette]

15 hours ago, Cranker said:

I agree that missile command looks very  very busy and  in the updated astrosmash demo, things seemed very large, almost too big for the screen , but I’m sure when I play both games I will change my mind. I liked the look of the  original astrosmash demo better. But again , I have not played either of these games so I will trust that the developers will get it right !

astrosmash is one of my favourites, but you see the point: those asteroids are giants! no good for the gameplay, too messy

[vprette]

14 hours ago, First Spear said:

TT, can we challenge you to add a game like Bard’s Tale/Wizardry/Wasteland, something that would be an RPG-style game with 2-4 co-op players, each character could have stats and abilities on the controller, and playable by the group from start to finish in a couple of hours?

 

 

you mean treasure of tarmin 2

[Keatah]

After watching the release video I think I decided on which 2 next gen consoles are worth getting.

 

I also stayed away from the youtubers so as not to cloud my judgment or sway my fragile opinion.

[Bloodfire]

Another game idea, since Intellivision is doing Evel Knievel, maybe a named Skateboard game would be in order.  Everyone knows Tony Hawk games, but maybe do a lesser known 'famous' skateboarder.  For example, bought this skateboard years ago for my son's room, and just pulled it out of the box to finally get it up on one of his walls.  Christian Hosoi was well known years ago like Lance Mountain.  If curious my son is 3  🙂

[+Intellivision Master]

What do you all want to see for the next Meet Amico video?  I'm hoping to see Lode Runner or Snafoo.  Maybe they could show an Imagic game.

[+Intellivision Master]

With the Amico being delayed, it would be nice if we got a new game demo each month while we wait.

[bigdaddygamestudio]

12 hours ago, theswede said:

I dont think they are running the company/project based on the feedback on AtariAge,

See i dont get this. I actually have a small core sample of high end users of our software and we do round tables with them because THEY ARE exactly the people we are looking for with ideas on how to improve the product.

 

You keep looking for some magical demographic that you may or may not ultimately be a core demographic for you, you miss the actual slam dunk demographic staring you right in the face. 

[bigdaddygamestudio]

2 hours ago, Intellivision Master said:

If the Disney license falls through, maybe we can get a re-imagined Aladdin on Amico.  Like a Genesis port but with added features & updated visuals.  Or perhaps a re-imagined Lion King as well.

pretty sure that still requires a Disney licensing agreement.

[+Intellivision Master]

3 minutes ago, bigdaddygamestudio said:

pretty sure that still requires a Disney licensing agreement.

You're probably right.  

[bigdaddygamestudio]

15 hours ago, Jake67 said:

I think the reality is that a lot (I mean, really, A LOT!) of people simply aren’t going to get the Amico until they’ve played it or see it being played. That would have been a huge benefit to a live E3 this year.

new tech or products need to get in the hands of the early adopters and they become your default sales team. I suspect it will be the same with the Amico, it will be once people experience it or see it in person that it will click. The goal of course is to get the Wii like widespread appeal and get it to become more of a mainstream product.  Wiyth aamico low B/E even if it doesnt catch fire, I think it will still do quite well with the grandparent/original gamer market.

[+GrudgeQ]

There was a ton of stuff mentioned by Tommy in this roundtable. I am only about halfway though typing up notes but here is the first half of what I got:

 

 

- The announcement one day delay was driven by Earthworm Jim licensor

- The Amico dashboard/menu was a placeholder that has been around for a year and half because they are holding back the new dashboard

- Earthworm Jim was NOT a cinematic, that is actual game play from the engine

- Sideswipers is the basis of the new Hot Wheels game: "Hot Wheels Colossal Crash" (based on the IRL Hot Wheels game of the same name)

- Hot Wheels ID are Hot Wheels cars with RFID chips in them - got a "wouldn't that be something" on they could be integrated into the new Hot Wheels game

- A lot of multiplayer Sesame Street games mostly for 3 to 5 year olds and will be sold in packs (because they are fairly simple games). They will look like cartoons.

- Spades was shown with cell phone controllers because it is the perfect type of game where you don't need the official controllers

- Missile Command plays smooth "like butter" says Tommy. The yellow 'tokens' are extra missiles you can gather during game play.

- Trivia: Scott Barrett in the space station scene shows his 'clone' who is missing a leg. Scott really did lose a leg in an accident filming a train

- They are working on Warlords

- The camera on Nitro Derby (race car game) has been changed since the the footage used in the presentation

- Earthworm Jim will have different play modes and "wouldn't it be something" if some different developers do some of these special modes

- Evel Knievel is getting physics changes, added some additional challenges like adding the SkyCycle (with motion controls), multiplayer, character models, audio changes, etc.

- Tommy is doing or helping to redo music for Astro Smash, Night Stalker & Finnigan Fox (which is getting real instrument sampling with the original composer)

- Finnigan Fox is being done by Bonus Level Gaming (who are also doing Shark! Shark!). It is a successor to Fox 'n Forest but the game play is streamlined, added levels, added multiplayer, going to update the graphics towards the concept art (cartoon style)

- They are considering a pixel art game BUT more like 24 bit/Saturn (i.e. better than 16 bit) style graphics

- Maybe a Rock 'em Sock 'em robots game?