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Interesting interview with Tommy on VGC

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/fea ... ion-amico/

Hound wrote:Interesting interview with Tommy on VGC

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/fea ... ion-amico/

Yeah, that sure is a good interview, Hound. Tallarico plays well on camera and in interviews - he has an engaging personality even if some folk are not quite so sure about his dreams. For me, I find the positivity to be a bright point in current times, though.

Hi Jawa, long-time reader first-time poster. Love the thread and the positive vibes it mostly channels. I actually want the Amico to succeed as well: I probably won’t buy one, but I think competition is generally good (when it’s not Google trying to push us all towards a streaming-only future) and many of the ideas behind it are sound.

I read that interview a few days back and I really struggled with it. It’s not just the Doug TenNapel answer, which I found really gross: Tommy talks around the actual problem with TenNapel without addressing it. More, he says that it won’t matter to his audience with the implication that therefore, it’s not a problem. It’s the entire vibe of the piece. The man’s there to talk up his console, sure; but it all felt too smooth, too slippery, in the vein of the TenNapel answer in fact. ‘Born salesman’? Yep, it felt like reading an estate agent talk up a machine.

I don’t know how much of that is Scullion’s subtitle. I don’t know how much of that is Tallarico specifically saying his machine isn’t aimed at me and my monkey brain going ‘stuff you too then’. I don’t know how much of this is fair! I’m wondering if anybody else got that feel from it, and if Jawa (who has I guess had more dealings with Tallarico than the rest of us), who I’m assuming didn’t, can see where I’m coming from or whether I’m going mad.

Balladeer wrote:Hi Jawa, long-time reader first-time poster...

...I read that interview a few days back and I really struggled with it...

...I don’t know how much of that is Tallarico specifically saying his machine isn’t aimed at me and my monkey brain going ‘stuff you too then’. I don’t know how much of this is fair! I’m wondering if anybody else got that feel from it, and if Jawa (who has I guess had more dealings with Tallarico than the rest of us), who I’m assuming didn’t, can see where I’m coming from or whether I’m going mad.

Hey, Balla. Tallarico is definitely a good salesman; he is engaging and has a knack of talking to folk in a way that encourages discussion. He has a bit of the "showman" about him; probably not unexpected as he's a musician who plays on stage to large audiences - and is a cousin of legendary rocker Steven Tyler (I hadn't known that!). Some folk may not warm to his style but I find him to be an entertaining and enthusiastic guy.

The thing is, the Amico just isn't necessarily going to appeal to many core gamers; i.e. the kind of folk that many of us are here on GRcade. And there's nothing wrong with that from either perspective! The Amico is for groups of people to play together on the sofa; quickfire gaming with simple controls. Arcade action, board games, card games... yes, even bowling. The kinda games that, in some cases, even attract your mum, your uncle and your visiting friends. There won't be any 150-hour epic RPGs on Amico. Equally, there won't be two-hour control-learning opening sections.

As with any new initiative, it's pretty easy to highlight challenges, issues and faults (not that I'm saying you are, Balla!). I think Tallarico is trying to get people to look at the possibilities; could it not be a great thing that there is gonna be a new family-focussed console on the market that offers downloadable games priced under £12 each and that uses new controllers with some cool features? No loot boxes, no violence, just simple, engaging and fun games. It won't appeal to everyone who enjoys gaming on, say, PC, PlayStation or Xbox... but it doesn't have to as there is a far bigger pool of people out there with a huge range of different tastes and preferences. As an example, my Dad and some of my pals are never gonna play games using a DualShock 4 - they're just not interested in the complexity - but show them a controller that they can swing around, play Texas Hold 'Em and then record their voice for a party game... yeah, they'll try that.

It's something different. In my eyes it's very much an updated Wii-type of approach and some folk say that market isn't there any more. But... why can't it be? What has replaced it? Mobile phones? Possibly, but they're generally pretty solitary. People still like to play games together and Amico is trying to make that experience accessible to more people than perhaps other current options do.

But it's okay not to like it :-).

jawa2 wrote:The kinda games that, in some cases, even attract your mum

Woah now Balla was only asking you a question there's no need for this

OrangeRKN wrote:
jawa2 wrote:The kinda games that, in some cases, even attract your mum

Woah now Balla was only asking you a question there's no need for this

Dang! It was late and I neglected to check for "no context" issues :lol:

. Although... maybe this section would have been usable, too:

jawa2 wrote:attract your mum, your uncle and your visiting friends

.

Oh sure, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with aiming a machine at somebody that isn’t 20-39-year-old white blokes, and I appreciate that! I was just wondering whether that mention, and the way he says it, put the defensive impulsive side of my brain ‘on guard’ and turned me against the rest of the interview.

That said, I asked Scullion whether he got the same energy, and he agreed - ‘But ultimately, if the [used] car you buy from him ends up being a good one, you tend to forget the patter’. So it’s probably a genuine take or being influenced by the article writer rather than defensive monkey brain syndrome. Not the only take, obviously!

A speed-run of the console being built! The retail consoles will be built by machine but this footage demonstrating a hand-built version is pretty neat.

The purple edition is currently exclusive to GameStop in the US.

I think that Amazon Europe may have really dropped the ball with their pre-order sales. My pre-order from 24 December was cancelled and another guy says that his order from 1 December was cancelled. Now a chap over at Atari Age has said that his order from 30 September has been cancelled.

Naturally, we're not talking about millions of sales cancelled but it does feel like Amazon UK and Germany must have sold out within a few days of the console being available for pre-order; and then just let other people pre-order for six months without realising. It's an awkward situation in that Intellivision - in the current manufacturing environment - probably won't be able to ramp up production to any great degree and so the console may have effectively been sold out at Amazon - the main European retailer - for over a year prior to launch!

They should sell it in kit form.

rinks wrote:They should sell it in kit form.

Hee! It'd be like going back to the computer kits of the late 70s and early 80s :-D

.

I'm kinda hoping that somehow Amazon receive more stock prior to launch... keeping my fingers crossed.

Edit: Tommy Tallarico (Intellivision CEO) has just posted over at Atari Age:

...There was some confusion among European Amazon countries, UK Amazon etc. in regards to quantities and who was getting what.

It is being worked out as we speak.

Hopefully it'll soon be up for pre-order at Amazon again!

Tommy Tallarico, posting at Atari Age, wrote:...The Amazon thing in Europe is definitely getting sorted out. As soon as I get info I'll post it here.

I've got my fingers crossed that the console stock issue will soon be resolved and that we'll be able to put down console pre-orders at Amazon again.

In all the other excitement, we missed the Amico E3 presentation.

I’m not sure we did.

Savage

Things are pretty quiet on the Amico front right now; and maybe a bit tense. A rough summary of the current situation is:

> The official launch date is 10 October
> Intellivision has indicated that they are having difficulty sourcing some components (due to COVID impacts on production and the increased demand)
> The presentation at E3 did not mention a launch date
> It seems that July will be the crucial month for determining if the launch date can be met

Right now, my personal opinion is that the current October launch date is unlikely to be met; at least, not for general retail consoles. I'd guess that there is a chance that Founders Edition consoles and some pre-orders may be delivered.

I do wonder if Intellivision has the financial capability to weather a further delay. The Amico was originally due to launch in October 2020 and then April 2021; this October will be a full year's delay and, as a small company, it must be tough - especially as pricing points are under pressure with the rise of component costs.

But, love him or not, Tommy Tallarico certainly has drive and it does seem that the Intellivision team are working very hard to try and stay on track. We should hear more in the next few weeks.

jawaX wrote:Things are pretty quiet on the Amico front right now; and maybe a bit tense. A rough summary of the current situation is:

> The official launch date is 10 October
> Intellivision has indicated that they are having difficulty sourcing some components (due to COVID impacts on production and the increased demand)
> The presentation at E3 did not mention a launch date
> It seems that July will be the crucial month for determining if the launch date can be met

Right now, my personal opinion is that the current October launch date is unlikely to be met; at least, not for general retail consoles. I'd guess that there is a chance that Founders Edition consoles and some pre-orders may be delivered.

I do wonder if Intellivision has the financial capability to weather a further delay. The Amico was originally due to launch in October 2020 and then April 2021; this October will be a full year's delay and, as a small company, it must be tough - especially as pricing points are under pressure with the rise of component costs.

But, love him or not, Tommy Tallarico certainly has drive and it does seem that the Intellivision team are working very hard to try and stay on track. We should hear more in the next few weeks.

Glad to see you back Jawa. I'd honestly been missing the updates on this thing. :lol:

Cheeky Devlin wrote:

I love that! It's the little sound effect as "Never give up!!" appears that makes it :lol:

.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:...I'd honestly been missing the updates on this thing.

Tbh, even I'm a little unsure right now. I still love the passion and ideas for the console but, with the delays and costs, I am thinking that maybe I could put that dough towards a PS5 or an Xbox. I change my mind on this every day at the moment!

You'd have to think if it misses Christmas this year then it's dead in the water.

Now I'm not saying this is definitely the case for amico, but there's a certain element of getting a few years of high paid employment out of a project such as this. The classic face of the campaign, the promise of things to come if it does well, their PR is on a shoestring (the promo images are all photoshopped stock photos for example). If it doesn't come out, there's been a few years of living off the investment, if it does, they might make some money.

I'd like to think it's all genuine, but you never know.

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