Intellivision Amico!

[Justin]

14 minutes ago, Sabertooth said:

Looks like a collector's coin and 3d card. 

 

7 minutes ago, Sabertooth said:

From the Amico/IE site:

"Our Collector's Boxed Edition Complete Bundle includes Evel Knievel, Dynablaster, Missile Command, Rigid Force Redux Enhanced, Moon Patrol, Finnigan Fox, Biplanes, and Brain Duel. Each boxed edition comes with a 3-D lenticular card, premium metal coin, and an RFID game card that will automatically activate once each title is available in our Game Shop. Quantities are limited - don't miss your chance to own a piece of gaming history!"

The eight game bundle is $149. They are also available in 4 game bundles for $79 each.

 

There it is! You were right on it @Sabertooth 🙌

[TrekMD]

They've posted a video explaining...

 

[btbfilms76]

You know you can just get these games, or similar games on the Apple store, right?
Like for a few bucks each.

Play it off your Apple TV and call it a day.

Why isn’t there an INTV compilation ready to go right now, that has all the OG games and brand new re-skin options with all the bells and whistles?

That compilation should be available on every gaming system that’s out now, and I’d pay 50 bucks for it no problem. Think about that revenue stream, instead of what ever the hell is going on now. 

Enjoy your memberberries boys 

[Atari 5200 Guy]

As excited as I was to see this come out, it sounds like the games are being sold to help finance something more.  I may be wrong but, let's face it, last year has not been kind to any company trying to sell anything electronic while there has been a chip shortage. 

I agree with BTB...something is not sounding right.

[btbfilms76]

10 hours ago, Atari 5200 Guy said:

As excited as I was to see this come out, it sounds like the games are being sold to help finance something more.  I may be wrong but, let's face it, last year has not been kind to any company trying to sell anything electronic while there has been a chip shortage. 

I agree with BTB...something is not sounding right.

So correct me if I’m wrong but they printed 50,000 in total? Out of the 8 titles that’s a little over 6000 copies of each?

And how many of them are actually INTV titles? Biplanes? That’s the only original game - not even Triple Action but ONE game from that title - Biplanes? 
 

Weird

[Justin]

It would've worked to their benefit to take as much time as they need to develop their product line quietly -- and then go ahead and make a big splash when it's ready to launch. 

When Atari released the 2600, and when Nintendo released of the NES, there wasn't four years of talk leading up to their release, they just showed up one day. Most of the public hadn't heard anything about them until they were on store shelves. Their products, the games, they all spoke for themselves. People liked them and they caught on. Nintendo didn't have a US spokesperson hyping up the NES nationally leading up to Christmas 1985, and for as much as a showman as he was, Nolan wasn't doing 2600 publicity for four years leading up to its launch. They worked tirelessly to get their systems and launch titles out by their target dates, and then all the publicity began.

I think it would've helped Intellivision to take this approach. Work quietly and diligently, make something great, and once its being shipped to store shelves you can hype it up.

When people come out and spend a lot of time dropping "wouldn't it be cool if..." hypotheticals, making promises, building anticipation and telling you what they're going to do rather than doing it first and then telling you what they have done -- people tend to take a step back. I think people in general would be far less skeptical of these projects if they simply waited until they were ready to hype them up. And honestly announcing products prematurely only serves to put a project under a constant deep anal exam from the public. The more time that passes, the more opportunity for misunderstandings, haters, and bad PR.

I'd like to see projects completed in their entirety first before the public gets a chance to become polarized.

[Justin]

21 hours ago, TrekMD said:

They've posted a video explaining...

 

I like John Alvarado's Astrosmash shirt 

[Justin]

21 hours ago, btbfilms76 said:

You know you can just get these games, or similar games on the Apple store, right?
Like for a few bucks each.

Play it off your Apple TV and call it a day.

Why isn’t there an INTV compilation ready to go right now, that has all the OG games and brand new re-skin options with all the bells and whistles?

That compilation should be available on every gaming system that’s out now, and I’d pay 50 bucks for it no problem. Think about that revenue stream, instead of what ever the hell is going on now. 

Enjoy your memberberries boys 

 

There's an opportunity here for Intellivision to become a quality, bespoke, 3rd party publisher and release these Intellivision games on other "family friendly" platforms such as Nintendo Switch. Modern interpretations of simple "OG" Intellivision games like Astrosmash and Shark! Shark! would shine on iOS!  Intellivision could develop deep, rich games around their existing IP as well as newly acquired licenses, for example creating an incredible version of Earthworm Jim for Nintendo Switch, which already has a massive user base ready to buy and a digital store ready to go. It's been said the new Amico games "need a special Intellivision controller which provides unique gameplay" -- this could be done on Nintendo Switch the same way they’re doing with Genesis and Nintendo 64, with the release of an Intellivision controller for Switch. These are all potential revenue streams beyond the moonshot task of developing, producing, and getting sales distribution for your own original video game system. I wish Intellivision the very best and hope to see them succeed in the long term.

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I miss the days when store browsing was the only way to know when new games arrived.  It generated so much more excitement.  At least to me it did.

[TrekMD]

The "physical media" has become quite the hot topic.  Jenovi has been quite critical, among others.

[Justin]

@nosweargamer had an intriguing livestream last night with Ben Silver from "The Pong Show" discussing the craziness surrounding the Amico controller lag, events and more. Interesting conversation for those who have thoughts on the Amico:

 

[Sabertooth]

The Amico forum on AA has been removed.  This is an interesting development as AA has been one of the primary platforms on which IE has been engaging with the community since the Amico was first announced. 

[RickR]

4 hours ago, Sabertooth said:

The Amico forum on AA has been removed.  This is an interesting development as AA has been one of the primary platforms on which IE has been engaging with the community since the Amico was first announced. 

I think when every post for the system turns into a shouting match with name calling, it's probably wise to just shut it down.  I think AtariAge did the right thing, as there doesn't seem to be any way to get everyone to calm down and at least be respectful.  It's sad to me because they had participation from the guy running the company and project.  And now that avenue is closed. 

I think the best thing to do now is wait for the Amico to be released and make a choice at that point.  Some honest and fair reviews would be most appreciated. 

 

[TrekMD]

Yep.  I think he hid it as he said he will consider restoring it when the system is in owner's hands.  That may require some waiting.  😉

[intellicolecovisonary]

It is beyond me as to why the Intellivision Amico generates so much division and conflict. It seems like a gaming culture civil war. And why all the hate for Tommy? Personally, I could never hate Tommy. Do they hate the Electric Playground and Victor Lucas too? A worldwide pandemic might have a little to do with the Amico delays and the misdirected anger of the haters. The drama surrounding the Amico is not going to help sales as it's apparent people are deciding against the Amico before it really gets a chance which could doom it..

[Justin]

I've had a number of "lurker" members PM me requesting that Atari I/O develop dedicated Forums and Sub Forums for the Intellivision Amico and New Atari "VCS". I'm not outright opposed to the idea - in time - once those systems' popularity have proven themselves in the Forums with enough individual topics to warrant the creation of their own new, dedicated Forum. That's been our usual procedure in growing out the site - adding new Forums as enough topics are created to justify the growth.

We've taken great care to help create and foster a gaming community where all outside drama etc. is left at the gate and not "tracked into the house". All perspectives and opinions on these systems are welcome here, as we welcome conversations with opposing viewpoints and I know we have a mature and courteous community who can discuss these topics without resorting to personal attacks or false information. @nosweargamer's livestream that I posted above a few days ago is a good example of this. 

I feel very fortunate that we have not encountered the level of animosity surrounding some of these hot topics as have been experienced in the YouTube comment section, Twitter and elsewhere online.

[nosweargamer]

Doing a little detective work has lead me to believe that Intellivision will miss their Q1 goal, but plan to ship Founders in Q2.

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by nosweargamer

[nosweargamer]

Wow. The new CEO just hinted that the price of Amico could go up!

[RickR]

1 hour ago, nosweargamer said:

Wow. The new CEO just hinted that the price of Amico could go up!

That would go over like a turd in a punchbowl. 

 

[Justin]

1 hour ago, nosweargamer said:

Wow. The new CEO just hinted that the price of Amico could go up!

Intellivision Amico would sell like hotcakes if it was priced competitively ($79) at Costco and Sam's Club with some games included. If I were in their position I would be looking at methods to reduce cost, i.e. simplified touch screens, unnecessary lighting effects, etc.

They never should have announced a "target price point" to begin with. Build it first, then they will come.

[nosweargamer]

12 hours ago, Justin said:

Intellivision Amico would sell like hotcakes if it was priced competitively ($79) at Costco and Sam's Club with some games included. If I were in their position I would be looking at methods to reduce cost, i.e. simplified touch screens, unnecessary lighting effects, etc.

They never should have announced a "target price point" to begin with. Build it first, then they will come.

Agreed. I was all in at $149 with the 7 re-imagined games plus a majority of the original games with many retro franchises promised to make a return.

If you look at the original trailers versus today, it's almost like two different systems.

I'm not sure if they simply pulled numbers out of the air for the original announcement, or if the overhead got too bloated and had to be shoved into the price, but whatever the reason, I think they jumped the shark when they went above $199.

I want the system to come out for my friends who pre-ordered it and are excited for it, but I don't think the market for it is large enough to support it for a long time after release.

 

[RickR]

This is the problem with the pre-design-stage hype.  They got boxed into a corner.  I imagine they wish they'd gone with traditional controllers right about now. 

 

[RickR]

What's so interesting is that with Sony and Microsoft systems being so costly and scarce, and the Switch going for over $300, the low-end market is wide open for something simple and elegant to get some attention and sales.  Their $150 price point would have been perfect.  A shame. 

 

[CrossBow]

This says quite a lot right here:

https://www.ign.com/articles/intellivision-ceo-tommy-tallarico-steps-down?fbclid=IwAR08bWduz5K2Gp80pQKhXbdZC4e08sRg74laY4JWwxaysdiPgth7tCV-IgM

NM. I see that this was already known but I just found out about it so my apologies.

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by CrossBow

[nosweargamer]

FYI, they just dropped a new "Family" Trailer that is also an "Investor" Trailer in disguise, as it links their new, fourth crowdfunding campaign.