Coleco Chameleon .... hardware speculations?

[btbfilms76]

 

http://www.sc3videogames.com/highlights/2015_11_07.php

Nov 7th 2015 SC3 Backyard blowout

You can see my green vest in the second picture.

 

In fact you can see the computers I was talking about, and they say Shawn's Apple 2 set up. Like I said... Small world.

[Schizophretard]

After it was learned that we essentially had a SNES duck taped in my console shell I decided to delay the Kickstarter because it was always my intention to show off the prototype completely in the campaign video, open it up and show it running and playing games from at least two different systems. Then once I saw the clear unit was also a fake I made the decision to withdraw from a Kickstarter campaign altogether and reevaluate this venture.

So, he already knew he had an SNES electrical taped in his console shell when he posted this:

 

 

Therefore, even if it is true that he didn't know the pictures he shown with that post were fake, we know by his own words that he was still showing the clear version pictures for deceptive purposes to make us think that is what was in the console shown at the Toy Fair by the part that states,"There has also been a whirlwind of interest, speculation and curiosity regarding the insides of the Chameleon. We are delighted by this and happy to confirm that we will be releasing photographs of the system now on our Facebook page, and we'll focus on turning our prototype into a production-ready product."

 

In other words, the Facebook post above was posted before he "discovered" that the clear version was fake but after he already "discovered" that the Toy Fair version was an SNES and therefore was making the clear version a fake/false representation anyway by making it out to be what was in the version at the Toy Fair.

 

Instead of ,"We're delaying the Kickstarter for the Coleco Chameleon because our hardware guy turned out to be conning us by putting an SNES in our console!" He tells us it is to make it better and then uses images of a different board to make us think that is what was in the console at the Toy Fair while knowing it was an SNES. So, by his own admission, even if there is some truth about being conned by Sean, the timeline was something like this:

 

1. Mike was conned by Sean to think he had a real prototype at the Toy Fair.

 

2. Mike discovered that it was an SNES at the Toy Fair and then decided to delay the Kickstarter.

 

3. Mike was conned by Sean again to think he had a real prototype in the clear version pictures.

 

4. Mike cons us when he announces his decision to delay the Kickstarter by trying to make it seem like what was in the clear version pictures was the same board in the Toy Fair version while knowing that it was really an SNES and while knowing that he is lying to us with all this positive spin that the delay is only to make it better.

 

So, I don't really see how any of this is suppose to help Mike's reputation when he is essentially saying,"I may be a con man and have conned all of you but I was conned too. So, we are all even." He has made it abundantly clear by his actions already that if Coleco didn't demand to see a prototype that he would continue to portray the clear version as real even after "discovering" it is fake because he has already done the same with the SNES version. The only reasons he is trying to save his reputation is because he got caught and because the bad reputation he has earned for himself is true which he is now trying to con us into thinking is false by introducing another con artist as a distraction that he can spin to make him look like less of a con artist than he actually is.

[jaybird3rd]

Fresh from Game Escape ... the final chapter of the Nostalgia SH-IT saga!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6pH9bO_7aU

 

"With his reputation all but worthless, and his company in dire straits, Cladley returned to the AtariAge Forums in order to beg his former compatriots for forgiveness ... with a post so long, so logically flawed, and so patently disingenuous, that it read like a male enhancement ad."

(Even though this is a parody, it really shows that a compelling documentary about the RVGS/Chameleon could and should be made. There's already plenty of material, and we just keep getting more!)

Will Cladley is also starting a new podcast, Critical Strike. The first episode was posted earlier this week and is already getting good reviews!

[Mord]

The only reasons he is trying to save his reputation is because he got caught and because the bad reputation he has earned for himself is true which he is now trying to con us into thinking is false by introducing another con artist as a distraction that he can spin to make him look like less of a con artist than he actually is.

 

Not really sure why he'd bother with it either - after all this, no matter what he says I don't see myself buying in to whatever he dreams up next until I see it for sale in a store... although even then I'd probably wait for reviews to come out after that. (Reviews coming out -before- it's in the stores would just be ignored.)

 

In short: His reputation is already pretty much gone.

 

Also, while I wasn't likely to jump on board with either of these things day 1, I lost complete interest the first time he started deleting critics/questions. And I never regained interest - for me his rep was gone in that instant.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Mord

[bretthorror]

 

"And in his final words, I found an ace that I could keep".

[Inky]

Again I have no connection to Mike Kennedy and I have no idea what he did or didn't know in this situation. Some people here are giving Sean Robinson way too much credit. He is not a hardware engineer at all. He is a con man. He knows what to tell people to convince them to give him money that's all. He is great at passing off other people's work as his own. I am very surprised he was able to snow Clay and Steve over several phone conversations in to thinking this was a project he could do. He has basic soldering skills at best. So believe whatever you want about Mike but please don't think that Mike is throwing a skilled engineer under the bus. Sean is neither skilled nor an engineer of any kind besides BS.

It still doesn't excuse MK's poor decision making, or his naivete.

[godslabrat]

If Mike was conned, it's because Sean told him what he wanted to hear. Apparently what Mike wanted to hear was "I'll make you a console and you never have to know anything about it." So right there, you have the lead of this project conspicuously absent from the planning and design stages. Even if Mike isn't a "hardware guy" he should WANT to know what's going on in HIS project. But man, Mike knew all about those low serial numbers and fancy colors, didn't he?

 

Not only would it be horrible carelessness, but remember all the sizzle from both iterations of the project--- play anything from Atari 2600 to PS1? Gee... If there was no hardware to speak of, how would that actually be a valid selling point? For as much as that matched reality, you might as well add Xbox One and SNES CD compatibility to the list of amazing things it could do.

 

Sean may be a scammer, but it seems like he fit in well.

Edited April 7, 2016 by godslabrat

[enoofu]

From what I understand it's probably the same reason Kevtris and Clay both left the project, as Mike didn't want to pay them, and was promising a project publicly before it was developed.

So, basically they evened up with Sean.....But were probably hoping that Kick-starter money would allow them to hire a hardware guy.

[galax]

For anyone who hasn't yet had the pleasure of meeting Sean Robinson, there are photos of him on these articles from 5 years ago so you know who to look out for:

• http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/aug/28/champions-of-commodore-computer-clubs-founder-find/(click right arrow for second photo)
• http://www.oregonlive.com/clark-county/index.ssf/2010/10/on_101010_computer_club_celebrates_nerd_holiday.html

Those photos were a lapse in security for a man who operates his businesses from UPS Stores:

• http://washington.intercreditreport.com/company/robinson-creative-solutions-sean-robinson-602879690
  http://www.whois.com/whois/robinsoncreativesolutions.net
  Robinson Creative Solutions, 6715 NE 63rd St # 481, Vancouver, WA 98661
• http://www.findusabusiness.com/c/b/sean-robinson/5750059
  Robinson Sean (Principle), almightyarcade@bigfoot.com
  3337 W. Florida Ave. Pmb 239, Riverside, Hemet, CA, 92544

15 years ago he had already built up quite a reputation for upsetting people as 'almightyarcade':

• https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/rec.games.video.arcade.collecting/almightyarcade

[galax]

Thanks!

 

Yeah that's how I got it too big in the first place...But before that it seemed too small. I'm just not sure what I did, but I didn't want to lose all that I had written. After that, I closed Internet Explorer and reopened it and then everything was fine. Go figure.

When you run into that sort of problem use the lightswitch button on the top left to delete all of the pesky and tags in "BBCode Mode":

 

[+Random Terrain]

(click right arrow for second photo)

People who don't allow JavaScript to run on strange web sites don't see an arrow, so you can post a direct link to the image.

[+Random Terrain]

When you run into that sort of problem use the lightswitch button on the top left to delete all of the pesky and tags in "BBCode Mode"

 

They could also highlight the text and click on Remove Format.

 

 

 

 

 

[galax]

(sorry, double post)

[galax]

When you run into that sort of problem use the lightswitch button on the top left to delete all of the pesky and tags in "BBCode Mode":

They could also highlight the text and click on Remove Format.

 

True but they might want to keep the bold, italic, underline, etc.- both ways are very useful.

 

BBCode mode is also handy for nested quotes (see above), if there's a way to do this without editing the BBCode I haven't found it.

[Bryan]

I've been thinking (uh oh..) and I think if a name like Coleco had been behind the OUYA, it might have garnered more community support.

 

Personally, still I think a retro branded console based on decent ARM hardware, running Linux, with community driven firmware and game development could find a niche. It would need the right balance of features (including wifi) and price, and have something really innovative and fun available at launch.

[toiletunes]

What was Kennedy thinking??

 

 

Translation: I am so brilliant, my mind is like a racetrack! Even though you keep laughing at me, I tried to share my ideas- my brains. Then you turned it around, turned it into a weapon, to use against me. I'm trying to remain unemotional, but remember- I'm giving you far more than what you give me.

 

(I have no idea what 'fish finger for later' means, maybe he's saying we're making a big stink about this and won't let it go, but that's just a guess.)

[galax]

People who don't allow JavaScript to run on strange web sites don't see an arrow, so you can post a direct link to the image.

 

I found another photo of Sean Robinson after the Mysterious Hardware Guy Lee was unmasked:

 

[enoofu]

I've been thinking (uh oh..) and I think if a name like Coleco had been behind the OUYA, it might have garnered more community support.

 

Personally, still I think a retro branded console based on decent ARM hardware, running Linux, with community driven firmware and game development could find a niche. It would need the right balance of features (including wifi) and price, and have something really innovative and fun available at launch.

Not many people had coleco video game products and the real company been dead since the 80's, so don't think it would helped OUYA

 

Supposedly the Nintendo NX may be ARM based and Android (Linux)

[Keatah]

With respect.. ALL THAT HAS BEEN DONE ALREADY!! ..IS BEING DONE NOW!!

[phoenixdownita]

Fresh from Game Escape ... the final chapter of the Nostalgia SH-IT saga!

 

.....

Does that mean, "No Mo SH-IT"?

 

I liked some of the ideas behind it but not the references to Isis or Kim Jong-un, not the same league, I understand it is a parody but I would have preferred references to some more lighthearted public shenanigans/scandals (dunno, he could have referenced that the money were coming from "The Bachelorette" or the weekly drug allowance of Keith Richards or some pop level stuff).

 

Anyway awaiting for the next revelations to puzzle together "unMagic Mike" great scheme ... wait .... he said he was "under the influence" of the "master manipulator" (after the RVGS fiasco that is) ... ok let's nickname the "master manipulator" as the "MASTULATOR" ... it has a flare to it, I think.

 

So the next chapter could be:

"unMagic Mike vs the Mastulator: fares please"

[+Random Terrain]

BBCode mode is also handy for nested quotes (see above), if there's a way to do this without editing the BBCode I haven't found it.

No, that's the only way. And sometimes you have to switch to that just to reply to one person since the forum software will randomly not give you a place to type your own text.

[jaybird3rd]

Does that mean, "No Mo SH-IT"?

 

I liked some of the ideas behind it but not the references to Isis or Kim Jong-un, not the same league, I understand it is a parody but I would have preferred references to some more lighthearted public shenanigans/scandals (dunno, he could have referenced that the money were coming from "The Bachelorette" or the weekly drug allowance of Keith Richards or some pop level stuff).

Eh, that didn't bother me so much. ISIS and Kim Jong-un deserve ridicule, too, albeit a lot more of it and for very different reasons.

 

Of course, my favorite part was the introduction of "The Mysterious Mister Lee" toward the end of the video. By now, I'm pretty certain that "Mister Lee" is really Sean Robinson, but as I've said before, the legend that's been built up around him is so much more fun than the real person, and it's one of my favorite things about this whole story. The idea of "Mister Lee" as this Moriarty-like character, a genius hardware mastermind lurking in the shadows and pulling Mike's strings, is one that I still find hysterically funny.

[StopDrop&Retro]

Eh, that didn't bother me so much. ISIS and Kim Jong-un deserve ridicule, too, albeit a lot more of it and for very different reasons.

 

Same. I've always said that guy has a talent for comedy. It's great how he deliberately blows things out of proportion but it still stays perfectly on track with how ridiculous Mike's retelling of the events are.

 

I'll be listening to his podcast later today. There have been so many talented people I've discovered thanks to this topic. To those who want to see this thread shut down- that is the good that's come out of this. It's great to see other people shine and succeed by reworking that heap of failure Mike tried to toss our way.

 

I'm suddenly in the mood for a milkshake for some reason....

 

[jaybird3rd]

I'll be listening to his podcast later today. There have been so many talented people I've discovered thanks to this topic. To those who want to see this thread shut down- that is the good that's come out of this. It's great to see other people shine and succeed by reworking that heap of failure Mike tried to toss our way.

Absolutely. In addition to Game Escape, I probably wouldn't have discovered the #CUPodcast if it wasn't for this story, and I've been enjoying both regularly since then.

[Raticon]

Wow. I go away for some 2 weeks and come back to this! It took me basically this whole evening to catch up.

First of all i am very happy to see that Al managed to get hold of the Jag equipment. I'm sure something good will come from that.
Secondly i am very thankful for all the insight the people around this project has given. Clay, pipercub and others. Thanks.
I guess i also could thank Mike for showing his face here again and explain things, even though most of the answers was just to lie some more and throw more dudes under the bus etc, but i do appreciate to read the words from the man himself nonetheless.

But i am absolutely baffled and deeply distraught at the decision to NOT open up the console and look it up at the hotel after the first day at the fair, even as the internet were exploding with evidence it was fake. By simply deciding not to take a peek and see what all the fuss was about and instead decide to continue the show, knowing it was a fake it is 100% knowingly comitting fraud from Mike from that point on. No excuses.

I am also quite shocked that Mike simply chose to ignore the good, solid advice from experienced people like Clay, Kevtris and (to some extent, at least) Carlsen, not paying them anything presumably because their real-world numbers (like the mentioned 70k$) were too expensive for Mikes dream, and instead actually deciding to listen to - and throw money at - some dude he didn't have any real info on whatsoever that promised him the same thing for basically 10% of the price.... I mean.... COME ON!

 

If a credible car salesman with a trusted showroom and all the papers in place shows you a nice car -but- with quite a hefty pricetag, and some very shady character in a dark alley in a bad part of town shows you a (visually) similar car with some real murky paperwork for a fraction of the cost, no questions asked...
...Who in a sane state of mind goes for the shady back-alley dudes car!?!? Seriously!?


Agh... There is so much more i want to ask, and so much more i want to rant about, but all has been said mostly by others now so there is no point especially with Mike having jumped out of the boat already.