InnovaX5 Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 That's exactly why, really. Why use your own resources to even bother to re-work 90s technology? You have a guy who reversed engineered consoles for a living for the companies he worked for. Sony most likely had records of which devs had their dev kits, as to recall them. So, I doubt Sony called John Carlsen directly and said, 'Sup' dude? Yo, so, we want you to make a playstation in a controller for us, ok? Your skills are highly desired to us because we know who you are'? No, I imagine they reached out to companies who had done work for them with no dev kits. Find someone who was already familiar with simplifying their work and try to recruit those people to bring on board for a project. It seems easier to me than having to spread out their internal team and snare their current projects down, only to have to break down and simplify the very stuff that was already done in the 90s. I don't think JC was the only guy on the project, I think he was a little guy who was brought into it, hence 'senior staff' and not 'Lead'. His past experience of having to work on Iguana's dev kit because they couldn't afford one paid off. In his case, he hit the lottery job wise. I'm not arguing his Linkedin is padded. Honestly in the field he's in, it has to be. I just don't think he's bullshitting about being on a team that made a small playstation in 2010 for BRIC ~ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enoofu Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) Only hardware engineer in Sony's American PlayStation division "The typical Sony PlayStation Senior Staff Hardware Engineer salary is $144,862. Senior Staff Hardware Engineer salaries at Sony PlayStation can range from $138,975-$150,749. Thisestimate is based upon 1 Sony PlayStation Senior Staff Hardware Engineer salary reports provided by employee" https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Sony-PlayStation-Senior-Staff-Hardware-Engineer-Salaries-E117138_D_KO17,47.htm Odd that no one else has reported a salary to the position in the US, lol. --------------------- Also the PS idea seems to be SOC so it wasn't a real Playstation Edited March 7, 2016 by enoofu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thevnaguy Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) Any fixes to any issues with the Colecovision Flashback are going to have to be initiated by AtGames. I just got done listening to the Colecovisions podcast with Chris Cardillo. In addition to being not overly concerned with what was going down with the CC until after the Toy Fair was over (but he LOVED how much traffic it brought to their booth), he was completely unaware of any issues users had with the current Flashback. Wrong pinouts, too short controller sticks, buttons that pinch fingers, overlays not being interchangeable with real overlays? All news to him. And this is the guy whose job it is to steer the Coleco brand. He even invokes "I'm not a hardware guy. I'm not a software guy". His answer to "what happened with CC being a SNES Jr." is the most rambling, stuttering (I'm not making fun of a speech impediment, just noting he didn't stutter in the preceding half-hour of talking about Coleco) non-answer to a question I've heard in my life. At one point he even asks the listeners if anyone knows how to contact someone at Mattel about getting a Masters of the Universe license for a Colecovision prototype. Excuse me? Wouldn't that be YOUR job, Chris? It's not like Mattel is some unknown company that went out of business decades ago. Heck, there was Mattel booth full of Mattel contact people at the fair you were just at! Any hope I had for the Coleco brand has vanished. Chris was not on board when the original ColecoVision flashback was conceived and released. it was handled by River West Brands. Mark Thomann (CEO River West Brands) is well aware of the issues of the first flashback, I have discussed this with him back when we he was interviewed for the ColecoVisions Podcast. Being product released before Chris came on board, Chris most likely was not fully informed of the issues. everyone makes mistakes, Chris knows the issues now though. Granted the CC did generate traffic for the booth, but from what Chris told me there was quite a bit of interest in the mini arcades as well (Think those would be his best bet to bring back) Chris also is not well connected yet in our community as it is new for him, so he is asking for the communities help to assist with those connections so he can further the Coleco brand and get us product we would like. In the podcast he does ask for feedback from the community, so it appears he is very interested to hear from all of us. Edited March 7, 2016 by thevnaguy 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 The thread is slowing down and now we're debuffing a guy who may be only remotely affiliated with the Chameleon now. We need MK to do something to liven this place up. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnovaX5 Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 We need MK to do something to liven this place up. Here you go: youtube.com/watch?v=8uZpXcAMPfc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uZpXcAMPfc 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MagnaRyuu Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 The thread is slowing down and now we're debuffing a guy who may be only remotely affiliated with the Chameleon now. We need MK to do something to liven this place up. It will pick up again in about 3 days or so just watch 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willy-beamish Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltigro Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 I'm sure it'll get a boost whenever Pat and Ian put out a new CUPodcast about it and Gamester... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerosquare Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Regarding the reason why Eli from Piko Interactive (and others) did not see the red flags sooner, I believe Mike Kennedy has some kind of Reality Distortion Field, as Steve Jobs famously had. The only difference is that the range is extremely short, the effect wears off quickly, and it actually works backwards on anyone not involved. As to whether Mike Kennedy will be back, my guess is on "Retro VGS part III: now in 3D", like those bad movies during the 70s/80s. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RupanIII Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) Eh, on further thought. Carlsen prolly is telling the truth. PSN sales would get screwed up from a playstation one in a controller that could be hacked or have usb / sd card shoved into it with more games. They would have had to do something like the Nintendo IQ for it to work and that would have cost sony more money than it was worth, thus killing the project off. So, if Carlsen is telling us the truth and his CV checks out... I can probably say this. Over the years, i've seen John Carlsen's name attached to things and what he says mostly jibes with my memory. There are LOTS of people that cycle in and out of teams at these companies. John probably wishes he was at GE or TI in the 70's where you could have a job for life if you were Sr management, but, he's had to bounce around like anyone. I can't vouch for him but it mostly jibes with my memory. How's this, when I saw John Carlsen's name on the page the first time, I don't know who Mike Kennedy is from a heaping pile of turd, but, John's name got me interested, and same for Steve Woita, because he definitely handled one of my all time fav games, Kid Chameleon. They aren't some of the legends of the industry, but I certainly recognized them off the top of my head. Again, I like John, BUT THAT'S FRACKIN HILARIOUS!!! Edited March 7, 2016 by RupanIII 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Rather minor, but I found it interesting. The discussion under their seven-days-to-verify post turned to talk of "they are blocking us on Facebook". Colecovision's response: Colecovision: If you are referring the 'they' as Retro, this is unfortunate. If you are referring to Coleco, we have a write in box here and on the Web Page www.ColecoToys.comHOME PAGE REVOLUTIONCOLECOTOYS.COM 1 · Yesterday at 8:00am 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClassyGamer Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 After doing a search on Youtube for Coleco Chameleon videos, I find myself surprised by how much more content keeps coming up. None of it good for the Chameleon either. At this point I can't imagine Coleco doing anything other than cutting loose from RVGS Inc. I don't think at this point the negative press can be countered. I understand the concept of there being no such thing as bad press, and I believe Coleco can come out of this better than the name went in if the do things right in the next little bit. Though, as far as I can see for MK and his properties, I think there is such a thing as bad press this time. Anyhow, It is amazing how far this topic has taken off in the gaming community. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7800fan Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 also, the distinct lack of super nintendo video out ~ Any Nintendo cable will magically work with bits of electric tape. It worked on that SNES-in-Jag-shell protoa while back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enoofu Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 http://colecotoys.com/# Seem to be a very dishonest site, with full lies claiming they are the original Coleco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixdownita Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 ... Anyhow, It is amazing how far this topic has taken off in the gaming community. Why do you think that is? The impossible nature of the proposal? [cartridges in 2016] The fact that there are not prototypes yet? The Don Quixote nature of his main player? [that would be Mike] The Whatever-on-a-kitchen-table-under-a-Jag followed by a Snes-in-a-Jag followed by a CaptureCard-in-a-Jag hardware buildup? The fact that everyone wants to see a train wreck? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newsdee Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 http://colecotoys.com/# Seem to be a very dishonest site, with full lies claiming they are the original Coleco Business people can correct me if I'm wrong, but seems to me the whole point of buying/keeping a brand is to claim that historical association. Of course there's a danger of running the brand into oblvion, e.g. I don't think much happened out of the C64 brand in the end (latest attempt I remember was a series of high end gaming PC Alienware-style) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClassyGamer Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Why do you think that is? The impossible nature of the proposal? [cartridges in 2016] The fact that there are not prototypes yet? The Don Quixote nature of his main player? [that would be Mike] The Whatever-on-a-kitchen-table-under-a-Jag followed by a Snes-in-a-Jag followed by a CaptureCard-in-a-Jag hardware buildup? The fact that everyone wants to see a train wreck? Well, I think in part that the nature of classic gaming, there is very little that is really new. Sure new home brew games come out, some times some nice hardware kits. The retro gaming world has seen a series of plug and play type remakes, and new consoles like those retron systems, and then all the main stream classic inspired retro games. The chameleon is a product that kind of tried to bridge that gap. Its such an odd proposal and that's kind of what drew me into it originally. Though at this point I think a lot of the talking heads are on about it because, it is something to talk about. People are only going to watch reviews of the same classic games so many times and such and this kind of has given a fresh topic to explore for a lot of people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixdownita Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 What I still find extremely irritating is that the RVGS FB page basically took down almost everything about the toy fair with the exception of: "Eli From Piko Interactive stopped by with one of his boards, plugged in, running both Jim Power and Legend. We are running his games through our custom written SNES FPGA Core. He said they are playing flawlessly" I hate whoever wrote that sentence. It is obvious they are using Eli as a testimonial to confirm that their SNES FPGA core worked flawlessly. It could only be worse if there was the actual voice of Eli on a video stating he was impressed how good his games played and how good the FPGA core was performing. We all know what was under that particular Jag ..... but that portion of the FB page is still there ..... aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh. I often wonder what if Eli wouldn't have been there or didn't have his card with him? Would a screen of the SD2SNES game menu have been leaked eventually making matters collapse much more quickly? Or would it have been again a simple run of the mill, wait for the KS, you didn't see what you think you saw because if what you think you've seen is what was under the hood it would pretty much amount to admitting this whole thing for the fair is a fake and that's no good, especially not during the fair. Well things went pretty far and I believe now it's way worse. It would have been something to behold were they to open up the KS as planned ... not something with a happy ending mind you .... but really something else ... well .... act 2. [You can replace Eli with J-F, it would have been the same, it just so happened Eli was the one at the fair.] 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RupanIII Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) http://colecovisionspodcast.blogspot.com/2016/03/minisode-2-q-and-with-chris-cardillo-of.html OMG... hahah. His Engineer responded to his question of if that picture of the clearcase prototype could have anything to do with playing games.... ". I ask my engineer is there anything that can conceivable be on this board, that could be pulled off this board, that could play games, he responds.. "Well Chris, if I say lets bake a cake, and I pull out a frying pan and spark plugs, your probably going to have concerns!'. So, yeah, NO!!! Chris was not on board when the original ColecoVision flashback was conceived and released. it was handled by River West Brands. Mark Thomann (CEO River West Brands) is well aware of the issues of the first flashback, I have discussed this with him back when we he was interviewed for the ColecoVisions Podcast. Being product released before Chris came on board, Chris most likely was not fully informed of the issues. everyone makes mistakes, Chris knows the issues now though. Granted the CC did generate traffic for the booth, but from what Chris told me there was quite a bit of interest in the mini arcades as well (Think those would be his best bet to bring back) Chris also is not well connected yet in our community as it is new for him, so he is asking for the communities help to assist with those connections so he can further the Coleco brand and get us product we would like. In the podcast he does ask for feedback from the community, so it appears he is very interested to hear from all of us. Edited March 7, 2016 by RupanIII 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atm94404 Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Chris was not on board when the original ColecoVision flashback was conceived and released. it was handled by River West Brands. Mark Thomann (CEO River West Brands) is well aware of the issues of the first flashback, I have discussed this with him back when we he was interviewed for the ColecoVisions Podcast. Being product released before Chris came on board, Chris most likely was not fully informed of the issues. everyone makes mistakes, Chris knows the issues now though. Granted the CC did generate traffic for the booth, but from what Chris told me there was quite a bit of interest in the mini arcades as well (Think those would be his best bet to bring back) Chris also is not well connected yet in our community as it is new for him, so he is asking for the communities help to assist with those connections so he can further the Coleco brand and get us product we would like. In the podcast he does ask for feedback from the community, so it appears he is very interested to hear from all of us. I'm not trying to be mean, but (besides the Flashback) were there any actual products shown in the Coleco booth? By that I mean any real, forthcoming products? They had Cabbage Patch kids but my understanding is those aren't River West Brands to license. They showed those mini arcades, but Coleco/RWB doesn't have the licenses for the arcade games either. Given history, the odds of any Nintendo products making it into those mini-arcades seems to be exactly zero. Other companies might be more willing, but given none of the big classic companies (Namco, Sega, Nintendo, etc.) participated in the Flashback (a product with a much broader appeal given those companies own plug-and-play products), getting them interested in mini-arcades seems like a longshot. Unless someone is clamoring for a Pepper II or Mousetrap mini-arcade, what was the point of the display other than to taunt us with what likely won't ever be again? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAZ Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 You want to liven this place up? Here ya go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGF5ROpjRAU 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RupanIII Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Okay everybody. Just toss sit back and relax, build something, heck, build a hammock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 I like a mini-arcade comeback, having owned a Coleco Pac-Man in my youth, but given the competition in this area, a rehash probably won't do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixdownita Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Chris was not on board when the original ColecoVision flashback was conceived and released. it was handled by River West Brands. Mark Thomann (CEO River West Brands) is well aware of the issues of the first flashback, I have discussed this with him back when we he was interviewed for the ColecoVisions Podcast. Being product released before Chris came on board, Chris most likely was not fully informed of the issues. everyone makes mistakes, Chris knows the issues now though. Granted the CC did generate traffic for the booth, but from what Chris told me there was quite a bit of interest in the mini arcades as well (Think those would be his best bet to bring back) Chris also is not well connected yet in our community as it is new for him, so he is asking for the communities help to assist with those connections so he can further the Coleco brand and get us product we would like. In the podcast he does ask for feedback from the community, so it appears he is very interested to hear from all of us. As already reported the quote from Chris: "Well Chris, if I say lets bake a cake, and I pull out a frying pan and spark plugs, you are probably going to have concerns" it's extremely good. I do not know how this story is going to end but the quote alone is just golden. Good job thenavguy. I am not sure I heard the exact words, would you mind correct them for me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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