Coleco Chameleon .... hardware speculations?

[Raticon]

First post to this site, thanks to someone looking out for people on Facebook.

Welcome! As others have said earlier this thread is quite unique and doesnt reflect the entire forum at all. We do so much more here than rave on the RVGS.

 

Glad to have you aboard nonetheless.

[Flojomojo]

My guess is that it's holding the lid on, for quick access to the super sensitive plagiarized contents within, so they don't need to use a screwdriver to open it up. It's a shame nobody was there in person to grab this and call out the truth.

[Flojomojo]

Their Facebook page continues to infuriate. Lots of questions answered about the bundle, all answered in the usual dodgy fashion. Lots of "everything will be revealed on the Kickstarter, just wait."

 

I see someone just posted a link to the CUPodcast, which I hope some of the would-be suckers will see before it is removed. That was a worthwhile rant and I'm glad they have a lot of viewers.

 

I know RVGS's deletion of criticism makes it look like everyone loves the project, but there's still some "what do you mean it won't necessarily have composite video" questions up there. There's a person saying "I guess I'll stop following you since I don't have an HDMI TV," to which Mike essentially responds that they can't please everyone. I'd love to be a fly on the wall "behind the scenes," as Mike says.

 

It's going to be great fun to see all the questions and answers on their Kickstarter, which is supposed to tell all!

 

"Retro Video Game Systems, Inc.

Don't forget about the early bird special pricing of $135 that includes a pack-in game cartridge. More games are coming and will be disclosed on the Kickstarter page when launched. Please understand there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes at the moment and still being finalized prior to the Kickstarter launch. It's not that we don't want to disclose everything now, it's a matter of having things locked in prior. Thank you again for your support. We look forward to having you as a backer."

[ROFLcade]

It looks like they covered the entire front face in the controller area with tape, to hide the Atari logo and port labels left over from the Jaguar, with holes cut into the tape for the controller ports. The horizontal strip of tape along the bottom (looks like it's about a quarter of an inch thick) is probably sticking out like that because the console shell is too curved in the area below the ports for the tape to hold, and it just peeled off on its own. The old roll of electrical tape that Mike bought from the convenience store across the street from Toy Fair probably wasn't quite sticky enough.

 

[galax]

(I wonder if that shell was actually molded in black plastic, or if it's a white shell that was painted black. It almost looks as if the white plastic on the inside is showing through a bit, or maybe it's just a bright light reflecting back.)

 

It's a Jaguar shell, from a real Jaguar, with an Atari logo and a back panel. Not from Mike's molds, which have the Atari logo and port identifiers almost completely removed, and have no back panel- photos of my translucent Mike-made shell below.

[mickcris]

he posted a video stamping the logo on the black shell. It appears to be a little higher resolution than the toy fair videos. It doesn't look like it its painted black to me, but cant really tell for sure.

https://www.facebook.com/RETROVGS/videos/933719050030699/

 

that video was posted a month ago and says "Preparing the prototype system shells for the upcoming board installation." So it looks like it took a month for that electrical tape work.

Edited February 18, 2016 by mickcris

[galax]

Can't tell either way from that video. But I think it's more likely that a Jaguar shell was painted than a run of black shells was done.

[+5-11under]

It's a Jaguar shell, from a real Jaguar, with an Atari logo and a back panel. Not from Mike's molds, which have the Atari logo and port identifiers almost completely removed, and have no back panel- photos of my translucent Mike-made shell below. He hasn't even manufactured the shell that he is demoing. He picked up a can of black spray paint at the hardware store along with the electrical tape.

 

If that's true, it's funny, sad, and strange all at the same time.

Or was this done because the new shells are missing some parts?

[Osgeld]

[rob_ocelot]

It's going to be a long slog of days until the Kickstarter starts, isn't it?

 

While I appreciate the effort of people looking into the technical and financial feasability of a SNES (or as Make calls is 'SNEZZ') FPGA I think it's probably not necessary given past performance. It's far more likely that it's Mike running off at the mouth spouting an impressive sounding acronym in an attempt to sound knowledgeable. A good con man already has a rehearsed counter to the most obvious questions -- "An FPGA is an emulator, right?", "I didn't know what FPGA actually meant", "What? <feigned surprise> I've been tricked again by my hardware guy?"

 

That Toyfair video is well on it's way to becoming the most scrutinized piece of footage since the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film though.

[mickcris]

Was just browsing through the comments on the Pat Punk video and noticed this:

 

 

Could that be the notorious Kevin Bow? If so, it looks like he might be coming around.

[phoenixdownita]

Kickstarter Reward #5 $210: BEAT-EM UP LOVERS RETAIL BUNDLE. Includes black Coleco Chameleon video game system, one Coleco Chameleon USB controller, HDMI cable, AC adapter + the pack-in game + your choice of either Piko Interactive's Iron Commando or LEGEND + one addition Coleco Chameleon USB controller -- Beat-em ups are best played with a friend.

 

+35US$ for an extra controller, because as they say "Beat-em ups are best played with a friend".

 

I wonder if non KS price of the ctrl is 50US$ ..... ROTFL .... I hardly stomach Microsoft and Sony for the outrageous charges on extra controllers, why does he think he can do the same? ..... Nevermind: "Remember When. Play again alone"

 

EDIT: a few posts in their FB

 

Edited February 18, 2016 by phoenixdownita

[Albert]

Was just browsing through the comments on the Pat Punk video and noticed this:

 

 

Could that be the notorious Kevin Bow? If so, it looks like he might be coming around.

 

Same person, from Kevin Bow's Facebook page:

 

https://www.facebook.com/kevin.bow.37/friends

 

[Bill Loguidice]

Kickstarter Reward #5 $210: BEAT-EM UP LOVERS RETAIL BUNDLE. Includes black Coleco Chameleon video game system, one Coleco Chameleon USB controller, HDMI cable, AC adapter + the pack-in game + your choice of either Piko Interactive's Iron Commando or LEGEND + one addition Coleco Chameleon USB controller -- Beat-em ups are best played with a friend.

 

+35US$ for an extra controller, because as they say "Beat-em ups are best played with a friend".

 

I wonder if non KS price of the ctrl is 50US$ ..... ROTFL .... I hardly stomach Microsoft and Sony for the outrageous charges on extra controllers, why does he think he can do the same? ..... Nevermind: "Remember When. Play again alone"

 

Of all the things to be critical of here, I don't think $50 controllers or $50 cartridge games are one of them. It's not like these are going to be produced in the hundreds of thousands, let alone millions (or even tens of thousands, unless they have "wildest dreams" type of success), so I'll certainly cut them some slack on the pricing, especially considering what we typically regularly pay for homebrew stuff of a certain quality. With that said, if this actually goes to production as they're envisioning, that in and of itself will be a minor miracle, so the target pricing for any and all of this is way down on the list of things to be concerned about.

[phoenixdownita]

 

Of all the things to be critical of here, I don't think $50 controllers or $50 cartridge games are one of them. It's not like these are going to be produced in the hundreds of thousands, let alone millions (or even tens of thousands, unless they have "wildest dreams" type of success), so I'll certainly cut them some slack on the pricing, especially considering what we typically regularly pay for homebrew stuff of a certain quality. With that said, if this actually goes to production as they're envisioning, that in and of itself will be a minor miracle, so the target pricing for any and all of this is way down on the list of things to be concerned about.

But it is when we know the ctrls are likely a dime a dozen, literally. Piko was "shocked" on the +35US$ on his games.

[iamnotagoomba]

It would be so ironic if the Kickstarter was actually funded from the additional Atari Age pledges made to the token tier ($1/5/10/whatever it is).

[Bill Loguidice]

But it is when we know the ctrls are likely a dime a dozen, literally. Piko was "shocked" on the +35US$ on his games.

 

I have a hard time begrudging reasonable mark-up, particularly for a small-time operation like this (those third party Wii U controllers tend to sell for about $25 - $30 on Amazon and there's probably some additional customization that they're requesting from the factory). Again, to me, there are WAY bigger issues than that that have to be overcome.

[phoenixdownita]

 

I have a hard time begrudging reasonable mark-up, particularly for a small-time operation like this (those third party Wii U controllers tend to sell for about $25 - $30 on Amazon and there's probably some additional customization that they're requesting from the factory). Again, to me, there are WAY bigger issues than that that have to be overcome.

Amen to that, no question about it.

[Raticon]

I saw on their Facebook a comment asking if other USB controllers will be usable on the console and the hazy answer was the ordinary "we are looking into it"

 

Can you lock out certain USB controllers without having some kind of OS? I know that those generic USB NES controllers doesnt work in a Wii without a lot of fidging (if at all).

 

Again i will bet that it wont allow other controllers as with other carts because of sales. If people could just sidestep RVGS and get controllers from other sources it would undermine their sales and thus rob them of income.

[+GoldenWheels]

Man if I had realized this was going to be at ToyFair I'd have used my damn pass that i paid for and gone. The show is normally such a drag I said screw it this year about two days before the show.

[Flojomojo]

WHAT IF ... Mike is the patsy here.

 

I think Mike is definitely being handled/managed/mentored by someone. No more impulsive, defensive outbursts anywhere, especially not here on Atari Age.

 

Note the carefully scheduled announcements, deletion of critical comments on Facebook without any engagement, just "wait for the Kickstarter" and bland facts. I'm not certain the Facebook.com/retrovgs account is being managed by Mike, it doesn't seem like his writing style.

 

Someone needs to be working the camera for him at Toy Fair, making the edits, possibly feeding him lines.

 

 

WHAT IF ... "COLECO" is pulling the strings.

 

COLECO had the booth, it's their deadline. I don't think RVGS would have made it there on their own.

 

COLECO has the brand to pimp, they have the recent experience with the ColecoVision Flashback failing to make a big splash in stores. I'd say they have little if anything to lose, and showing that they're "back in the game" (ooh, wouldn't that be a better slogan than "remember when. play again.") could make them more attractive to other prospective licensees than the last official COLECO Kickstarter.

 

I just revisited our discussion thread on the topic and think it's worth a look if you haven't seen it. Lots of Atari Age agreement with the statement "I think the target audience would much prefer a new Coleco console (with real hardware) than yet another app," that asking $250K for software was too much, and some feelings about crowd funding in general. That was more than 2 years ago, but I suspect the sentiments remain the same, including "I already have an emulator!"

 

If nothing else, COLECO is getting some media attention. Gizmodo and CNet recently ran puff pieces that parroted the press release (and conveniently ignored the little controversy we see here).

 

*****

I remain "deeply depressed" about the state of commercial retro gaming. Nobody with any ability to deliver seems to want what I want. Thank goodness for emulation, and the retro-style indie scene.

[Retro Nick]

Been keeping up with this, even though I haven't been posting until now. I feel like I just lost the plot. What evidence is there that Mike spray painted the shell?

[mickcris]

Been keeping up with this, even though I haven't been posting until now. I feel like I just lost the plot. What evidence is there that Mike spray painted the shell?

there is no evidence of it. i personally dont think its painted cause it looks too good. they would have had to have someone professionally do it like a person that paints cars if it was painted.

[PikoInteractive]

Disappointed with the Reward tiers. Sigh...

Edited February 18, 2016 by PikoInteractive

[jaybird3rd]

Been keeping up with this, even though I haven't been posting until now. I feel like I just lost the plot. What evidence is there that Mike spray painted the shell?

None. It was just a possibility that I raised because the ventilation slots visible through the controller port holes seemed too bright to have been molded in black plastic. But the case is so glossy that it could very well have been reflected light from outside (a light positioned over the table, for instance).