Intellivision Game Subscription Service Idea

[First Spear]

It was cool to get new stuff for my Apple ][ machine in the 1980s with Softdisk. I think something similar for the Inty would be great in 2019 and beyond, now that we have the LTO Flash spreading around the world. I can imagine a monthly or bi-monthly release of decent games, they dont have to be Sydney Hunter-sized epics, just something fun enough to carry things until the next issue. Maybe something like 6 games a year for $120 billed up-front would be a good balance between pricing and quality. I am imagining a couple of games from Mars Minis enhanced, or a special timed version of the first 1-2 levels of Space Patrol, or a mega-compilation of great music compositions, or a 4-level version of Match 5, or an animation construction set, etc. you get the idea. If it was priced properly and marketed, it would make the publisher fairly passive revenue and also drive LTO Flash sales.

 

OK, make it so.

 

 

[+intellivotion]

Interesting idea. Though, I wonder how many subscribers it would need to survive in this niche? 50? 100?

The Collectorvision Intelligent Club might give us some clues

[Bamse]

Very nice idea.

I wonder how many LTO Flashcarts have been sold to date?

[+BBWW]

It might work better if tied to something like the LTO cart purchase. The first subscription comes with the LTO.

[+eebuckeye]

I like it! I thought I heard around 500 LTOs were sold?

[First Spear]

Having enough games in the pipeline would be a challenge at first, but if I think that there are enough unreleased games (or underreleased games) to set up a year's worth of issues. Maybe to sweeten the initial deal a full-length commercial title like Old School (just an example not asking for Old School) comes with the subscripion on day 1. Then the publisher starts with games that exist, giving programmers time to prep the next ste of game issues for the following year. Overlays are special order, no box and no paper manual, keep inventory low.

 

There were many games in the IntyBASIC programming contest that would work well in this model.

 

Maybe even special releases at times like late December with a special 3-level version of timed Christmas Carol.

 

 

 

I can't turn my brain off with this stuff.

[+JasonlikesINTV]

Maybe special holiday themed ROMs. Christmas, Halloween, April Fool's Day, Thanksgiving, Valentine's/Singles Day. Embrace the seasons!

[Swami]

Also love the idea of an upgraded Meteor Storm.

[intvnut]

I like it! I thought I heard around 500 LTOs were sold?

 

I'm nearing 600, and sales are actually still somewhat steady, amazingly.

 

Right now I actually need to manufacture more carts to fill upcoming orders. I have the boards, but they need to go in shells, and the shells need to go in boxes. If sales remain steady, I'll need to manufacture more boards.

[MrBeefy]

I've debated getting an LTO since i have very few games.

 

The only problem I see with this idea is not getting behind on games. What happens when something is delayed?

[+BBWW]

NO! You discontinue it and come out with LTO Flash II! Sell 500 more.

 

I'm nearing 600, and sales are actually still somewhat steady, amazingly.

 

Right now I actually need to manufacture more carts to fill upcoming orders. I have the boards, but they need to go in shells, and the shells need to go in boxes. If sales remain steady, I'll need to manufacture more boards.

[intvnut]

NO! You discontinue it and come out with LTO Flash II! Sell 500 more.

 

I won't be doing an LTO Flash II! at all.

 

I might, however, do an "Ultimate Homebrew Development System" some form that just happens to be handy for playing games as well.

[CharonPDX]

LTO Flash Online? Wi-Fi equipped, so it can directly download ROMs for the subscription service? (Or just allow for loading of ROMs on the local network, rather than having to plug in a USB...)

[Intymike]

LTO Flash Online? Wi-Fi equipped, so it can directly download ROMs for the subscription service? (Or just allow for loading of ROMs on the local network, rather than having to plug in a USB...)

 

 

Let's do a streaming service. Coming full circle with the Playcable.

[First Spear]

Interesting... What do you mean by "what happens when something is delayed?", do you mean what happens if the package due for April is not released in April? If so, that could be mitigated by having enough stuff in the release queue ahead of time, which is why I suggested to start there would be a year+ of stuff ready to go at launch time, which would give contributing developers a year+ to have something ready. If the releases are lightweight, taking an unskilled developer 3-6 months to do (but a guru like Óscar 1 month) would not impact the schedule. With current Continuous Deployment tech and patterns, every subscriber could have their own directory for the life of their subscription plus one year, that contains all releases keyed to their LTO Flash. I think that would even account for occasions when a bug is found in a release, a fresh ROM gets re-generated and an email goes to the subscriber.

 

I think developers could be incented to create content by paying them on the date of their scheduled release (if they meet the deadline), with the money pro-rated based on an estimate of total subscribers one year from release; for example if my game is due on 2019-Nov and there are 200 Subscribers on that date, and the publisher believes the number will be 260 on 2020-Nov, I get paid based on the 260 subscribers. The developer gets motivated to make the first game because they get paid up front, and also gets motivated to publicize the service overall to push up the numbers for their nth game.

 

I think subscribers would want the service if they paid up-front once or maybe twice a year (using a cadence set in Paypal). Get games that don't require an extreme level of depth, just fun, and variety... And if once a year there is a large release (again they get it along with everything else in the subscription, no a-la-carte), that would sweeten the deal. I can imagine releasing something like Princess Quest this way in 2020, because years after the cartridge release it could just reach more consumers.

 

I estimate that the Inty Faithful here on the AA forums average spend about $150 a year to buy 2-3 full CIB games with a rich game experience, based on my passive viewing here. I estimate that publishers sell minimum 100 games at release time, with no more than 500 total, with the purchase rate dropping very quickly after the first month or so of sales. I wonder if the same people would pay maybe $120 a year to get 12 games throughout a year with one being "large". And I wonder if those not on Intellivision AA Forums (90% of the game buying community?) would pay that much for a year of new games.

 

I also wonder if the pending Amico release would impact this, since that console's ability to play classic games and its own app store changes the game.

 

Hmm...

 

 

 

I've debated getting an LTO since i have very few games.

The only problem I see with this idea is not getting behind on games. What happens when something is delayed?

[MrBeefy]

Interesting... What do you mean by "what happens when something is delayed?", do you mean what happens if the package due for April is not released in April? If so, that could be mitigated by having enough stuff in the release queue ahead of time, which is why I suggested to start there would be a year+ of stuff ready to go at launch time, which would give contributing developers a year+ to have something ready. If the releases are lightweight, taking an unskilled developer 3-6 months to do (but a guru like Óscar 1 month) would not impact the schedule. With current Continuous Deployment tech and patterns, every subscriber could have their own directory for the life of their subscription plus one year, that contains all releases keyed to their LTO Flash. I think that would even account for occasions when a bug is found in a release, a fresh ROM gets re-generated and an email goes to the subscriber.

 

I think developers could be incented to create content by paying them on the date of their scheduled release (if they meet the deadline), with the money pro-rated based on an estimate of total subscribers one year from release; for example if my game is due on 2019-Nov and there are 200 Subscribers on that date, and the publisher believes the number will be 260 on 2020-Nov, I get paid based on the 260 subscribers. The developer gets motivated to make the first game because they get paid up front, and also gets motivated to publicize the service overall to push up the numbers for their nth game.

 

I think subscribers would want the service if they paid up-front once or maybe twice a year (using a cadence set in Paypal). Get games that don't require an extreme level of depth, just fun, and variety... And if once a year there is a large release (again they get it along with everything else in the subscription, no a-la-carte), that would sweeten the deal. I can imagine releasing something like Princess Quest this way in 2020, because years after the cartridge release it could just reach more consumers.

 

I estimate that the Inty Faithful here on the AA forums average spend about $150 a year to buy 2-3 full CIB games with a rich game experience, based on my passive viewing here. I estimate that publishers sell minimum 100 games at release time, with no more than 500 total, with the purchase rate dropping very quickly after the first month or so of sales. I wonder if the same people would pay maybe $120 a year to get 12 games throughout a year with one being "large". And I wonder if those not on Intellivision AA Forums (90% of the game buying community?) would pay that much for a year of new games.

 

I also wonder if the pending Amico release would impact this, since that console's ability to play classic games and its own app store changes the game.

 

Hmm...

 

 

 

Yeah getting the line up would be hard. I'm not against the idea completely. I subscribe to a fighting game 'fight pass' in which every month I get cards in the mail. This however, requires programming and see the potential to have many delays. If you have so many slotted early you might as well just sell them as a package.

 

I do think it is an interesting idea. And I have considered a LTO which would help me maybe pull the trigger and get one.

[First Spear]

I think the disadvantage to selling a package is that the games won't get played overall. Plus people like to get new stuff on a schedule, from my view I see a lot of "of the month" things getting a lot of buys lately: smoothie of the month, bacon of the month, pie of the month, etc. Nobody wants to get 12 pies in a year and freeze them themselves, but getting a new one delivered each month is a nice thing to get. Maybe this won't work, but I think it would if the infrastructure and game pipeline was set.

 

But a heavyweight in the Intellivision publishing game would have to run it...

 

Yeah getting the line up would be hard. I'm not against the idea completely. I subscribe to a fighting game 'fight pass' in which every month I get cards in the mail. This however, requires programming and see the potential to have many delays. If you have so many slotted early you might as well just sell them as a package.

I do think it is an interesting idea. And I have considered a LTO which would help me maybe pull the trigger and get one.

[1980gamer]

 

I'm nearing 600, and sales are actually still somewhat steady, amazingly.

 

Right now I actually need to manufacture more carts to fill upcoming orders. I have the boards, but they need to go in shells, and the shells need to go in boxes. If sales remain steady, I'll need to manufacture more boards.

I got 1 early on.. but seem to have miss placed it. That is, my loving wife helped me clean...

Add me to the wish list. Maybe for 2 if possible. I have a friend that is interested in developing for intellivision. It would make a nice gift.