Intellivision Amico!

[nosweargamer]

Here's my review of Shark! Shark! which was originally going to be on the Amico. It give you a taste of what the system would have offered.

[Justin]

2 hours ago, nosweargamer said:

Here's my review of Shark! Shark! which was originally going to be on the Amico. It give you a taste of what the system would have offered.

@nosweargamer Thank you for sharing some of your coverage of the Amico  In my opinion, you've had the best, most objective coverage of everything that's happened.

[nosweargamer]

Thank you. Despite trying to keep and open and objective mind, I never experienced anything like the reaction I got from covering the system. Before that things were generally civil, with just an oddball here and their. Then Amico opened the floodgates. Everything from praise to vicious name calling and accusations. It even lead me to spending less time online due to all the visceral. It does sadden me that some in the retro community can't have honest discussions and learn how to civilly disagree at time. I usually read all my comments, but sometimes with the Amico stuff, I just post my video and ignore the comments after awhile for my own mental health. So thanks again for the kind words.

[RickR]

I agree completely!  It seems to be the same with the 2600+ for some reason.  I don't get it.  Nerds love to argue, and they get vicious about it for some reason.

 

[TrekMD]

The internet makes it too easy for people to start arguments too.  You are not seeing the person face to face, so there's some anonymity with it.  I still don't understand why people feel they need to bad mouth stuff that they haven't actually seen or used.  If I don't like something that I see online, I simply say nothing.  I've also learned to ignore stupid comments.  Why give those people the attention they seek?  Not worth my time.

[Justin]

5 hours ago, nosweargamer said:

the retro community can't have honest discussions and learn how to civilly disagree at time

I've tried to shape Atari I/O into something different.

[Justin]

5 hours ago, RickR said:

It seems to be the same with the 2600+ for some reason.

What's the viscousness over the 2600+ about?

[RickR]

1 hour ago, Justin said:

What's the viciousness over the 2600+ about?

It's become common to see people call it "absolute trash" or "seriously flawed" (those are both actual quotes I saw on Facebook today).  You get the idea.  It's been labeled as "bad" or "dumb" before it's even released just because it does emulation.  This kind of goes back to the bad Jaguar youtube video thread.  NES/SNES classic both didn't use real hardware.  Did they get labeled as "trash" because of this?  No.  Atari gets attacked for no reason. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Justin]

10 minutes ago, RickR said:

It's become common to see people call it "absolute trash" or "seriously flawed" (those are both actual quotes I saw on Facebook today).  You get the idea.  It's been labeled as "bad" or "dumb" before it's even released just because it does emulation.  This kind of goes back to the bad Jaguar youtube video thread.  NES/SNES classic both didn't use real hardware.  Did they get labeled as "trash" because of this?  No.  Atari gets attacked for no reason. 

People need to chill. How great that Atari is making an effort. There are legitimate issues that can be discussed but people need to relax and act like adults.

[TrekMD]

4 hours ago, Justin said:

People need to chill. How great that Atari is making an effort. There are legitimate issues that can be discussed but people need to relax and act like adults.

Agreed but it's so easy to just attack it that that is what they do.  If they were giving constructive feedback, that'd be different but that's not what people do. 

[Justin]

14 minutes ago, TrekMD said:

Agreed but it's so easy to just attack it that that is what they do.  If they were giving constructive feedback, that'd be different but that's not what people do. 

Totally agree. I hope this perceived backlash doesn't discourage Atari from continuing to deliver hardware options compatible with legacy systems. Atari deserves credit for shipping actual products, which is unlikely to happen with Amico.

[RickR]

I also agree.  And I think the proof will be in the pudding.  Just like the "too expensive" XP games, this will sell out.  And then they'll b@tch about aftermarket prices being too high 🤣

[RickR]

On 9/29/2023 at 1:57 PM, nosweargamer said:

Here's my review of Shark! Shark! which was originally going to be on the Amico. It give you a taste of what the system would have offered.

It's been a few days now, so I think it's ok to post more detailed comments without spoiling it.  My favorite part of this review is that you returned the game!  That tells us everything!  Another A+ review by NSG.  Fair and honest.

 

[nosweargamer]

Steam was great about the return. Easy to request, processed in about 90 minutes, which is about how much time I played it. (You can return a Steam game within 2 weeks if you played it less than 2 hours)

Too bad Intellivision can't process refunds like that (I hear that some people are still waiting after many many months for the pre-order refunds they requested) 

[sramirez2008]

2 hours ago, nosweargamer said:

Too bad Intellivision can't process refunds like that (I hear that some people are still waiting after many many months for the pre-order refunds they requested) 

I have to admit that I received my refund within 24 hrs of my request. I stated so in the main AA thread, so as to capture that timeline and notify others that the refunds were in fact being honored at that time. 

[nosweargamer]

On 10/2/2023 at 4:12 PM, sramirez2008 said:

I have to admit that I received my refund within 24 hrs of my request. I stated so in the main AA thread, so as to capture that timeline and notify others that the refunds were in fact being honored at that time. 

That's great! When was that. I've heard of several other getting the silent treatment.

[TrekMD]

I was going to ask for a refund but they I got busy and was not able to and now they are not even replying. 

[sramirez2008]

17 hours ago, nosweargamer said:

That's great! When was that. I've heard of several other getting the silent treatment.

IIRC, it was 6-8 months after I had placed the order.

[TrekMD]

Just read this on Endgadget:  Intellivision can't afford to make its long-delayed Amico retro console

[Sabertooth]

3 minutes ago, TrekMD said:

Just read this on Endgadget:  Intellivision can't afford to make its long-delayed Amico retro console

I downloaded the app(s) the other day out of a morbid sense of curiosity. It's absolutely terrible. You need at least two connected Android devices to run a single-player game. I'm not sure why these aren't stand alone Google Play applications. Why the Amico front end? It doesn't make any sense.

[RickR]

There are still apologists who accept this new broken app in good faith.  I'm just going to keep my mouth shut and try to ignore this latest silliness.

 

[Atari 5200 Guy]

Not that it matters but I just got an email from Intellivision. Sounds like more BS to me. 
 

There was a time when I had high hopes for the Amico. But I soon realized how much of a bullshitter Tommy was becoming. He was always dancing around questions investors were asking. Never a direct answer about how soon the Amico was to be ready for release. But he would answer questions about what games were coming to it. 
 

I do place some of the blame of it failing on the pandemic. With it shutting down damn near the whole world it would have made it difficult to obtain the parts required to make it. But that’s over now. 
 

I have lost all interest in it. I’m glad I didn’t invest in it. I’m good with the VCS.

[Justin]

2 hours ago, Atari 5200 Guy said:

I soon realized how much of a bullshitter Tommy was becoming. He was always dancing around questions investors were asking. Never a direct answer about how soon the Amico was to be ready for release.

I think @Video 61 would probably refer to that type of guy as "a Yo-Yo" or "a smooth talking sociopath" or something along those lines 😀

 

2 hours ago, Atari 5200 Guy said:

I do place some of the blame of it failing on the pandemic. With it shutting down damn near the whole world it would have made it difficult to obtain the parts required to make it. But that’s over now. 

A properly managed company with serious leadership wouldn't have hemorrhaged money on offices during covid and allowed a burn rate like that. I think everybody would've understood a little delay due to parts shortages. Even if they had been 18 months behind, and then shipped the products they had promoted, most all would've been forgiven. That's not what happened though. They burned through a tremendous amount of seed capital while asking "mom and pops" to invest $100 at a time, which in my view is at best unprofessional, and borderline evil.

 

2 hours ago, Atari 5200 Guy said:

But I soon realized how much of a bullshitter Tommy was becoming.

One thing I've noticed is how Tommy Tallarico became the "mascot" for the New Intellivision, while Wade Rosen has become the "mascot" for the New Atari. They've become lightning rods for discussion, in very different ways. Leadership is important, but we should also see beyond the heads and look at the competency of the entire teams as a whole, that make these products happen. The Intellvision team ended up being different from what was initially announced, and perceived by the public. We often think of "Nolan" or "Jack" and others as figureheads, almost like they are Mario and Sonic and Bonk. Decisions and contributions run deep and included more key players than just the big names we like to bring up. I think even with Tommy as the perceived figurehead for the Amico, he's not the only person working on it, and things could've gone much differently had there been a more competent team behind the scenes. 

[Atari 5200 Guy]

21 minutes ago, Justin said:

I think even with Tommy as the perceived figurehead for the Amico, he's not the only person working on it, and things could've gone much differently had there been a more competent team behind the scenes.

I understand he's not the only person working on it. But he did purchase the Intellivision brand at the beginning of the Amico. I don't know if he still owns it now or not. Since the Amico having trouble not coming to "life" I really haven't heard of him since. It's almost like he's disappeared. And while he might not have worked on it personally he was the spokesperson for the system. He knew what was going on.  He might have had big plans for the system as far as specs go but I often wonder if it came down to what he was after just really was way beyond what was available at the price point they were going to try to sell the Amico for.  

I've been out of the loop for a long time and I really haven't kept up with it. I'm not saying the product isn't cool because I thought the styling of the console was really neat. But it's been how long now?? And still nothing.  Just a bunch of words and showing of games.  I've not seen the hardware in a functioning form and if there is one it's probably the only one. I just don't see the Amico actually doing anything.  And if/when it does come out it's already going to be a retro console. I don't have any hopes for it. 

I also feel that this whole Amico thing has sort of killed the IntelliVision brand name.  I have got about 30 INTV games here without a console. I can't even get rid of them for a $1 a game.  I'm not sure if that is due to the Amico or not.  Most likely not...but that's what it seems like.