Is the Amico dead?

[mr_me]

37 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

That isn't the only reason. Software and console firmware has not been ready and may still not be ready. Costs is an issue but not the sole reason as dictated by fundable and SEC. To strictly blame this on pandemic, shortages, or costs isn't accurate. If that was the reason they would be 100% on firmware, and pack in software, and backend. Which they haven't been well after the pandemic. 

A lot can happen if they have a manufacturing deadline in place.  Until they have console production set to go, they can keep working on the software all they want.  From interviews the CEO said they are working to reduce the footprint of the firmware to support future/larger games.  So it should be fine for the launch library.  The firmware is 100% in their control, can't say the same about manufacturing.

 

37 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

 ... the Switch has since outsold the Wii.

If you want to make comparisons you'd have to combine Wii and DS numbers since the Switch is both a console and a handheld.  It doesn't matter how successful the Switch is, it doesn't mean a competitor can't find a place in the market nor does it mean they shouldn't try.

 

All three of the mainstream consoles have inexpensive family games with simple controls.  Yet there are still a significant number of households, including families, that's avoiding them, and it's not because they don't like games.

[number6]

@thread

 

I am unfamiliar with the following company. Is this a legitimate offering?

 

Zatu Games

 

#6

Edited April 2, 2022 by number6
Bad link

[SegaSnatcher]

14 minutes ago, mr_me said:

Yet there are still a significant number of households, including families, that's avoiding them, and it's not because they don't like games.

Those people you are talking about are casual mobile gamers and they are content with playing games on their phones and tablets.  I do not believe that a market exists in 2022 of families who want to play video games together and aren't interested in what one of the big three offers, especially the Switch. I would be willing to look at data that proves these people actually exist. 

Again, we are talking about millennial parents here who cut their teeth on Nintendo consoles and handhelds.  

[Rev]

Im going to be captain obvious here, and probably be labeled as a hater, even though i wanted Amico to be successful and still do. I am a life long Intellivision fan as many here are, NOT a “hater”. 
 

We are just about 18 months past the original launch date, which means about 2 years past when the system, Operating System, launch window games, and online store etc should of been done. 
 

Why is the OS backend/online stuff still being talked about, when the console delay was always do to a few key parts. 
 

Team Intellivision Entertainment if you are reading this, and im 100% sure you are, please give peoples refunds back that they have requested, some are over 3 weeks. You guys are giving the “haters” ammunition to keep calling this out as a scam. 

Edited April 2, 2022 by Rev

[MrBeefy]

36 minutes ago, Rev said:

Im going to be captain obvious here, and probably be labeled as a hater, even though i wanted Amico to be successful and still do. I am a life long Intellivision fan as many here are, NOT a “hater”. 
 

We are just about 18 months past the original launch date, which means about 2 years past when the system, Operating System, launch window games, and online store etc should of been done. 
 

Why is the OS backend/online stuff still being talked about, when the console delay was always do to a few key parts. 
 

Team Intellivision Entertainment if you are reading this, and im 100% sure you are, please give peoples refunds back that they have requested, some are over 3 weeks. You guys are giving the “haters” ammunition to keep calling this out as a scam. 

Because they weren't ready and still aren't. Yes they can continue to work on it but that is not the same as 100% done and ready for retail. They have never stated anything beyond the board was 100% ready to go. Fundable and SEC back that up too. The difference between taking the word of the salesman and the SEC is that the salesman can lie and embellish to you. They can do that to the SEC without issues. So if you want accurate information just remember. Per fundable and SEC it is not ready nor was it ever ready for 2020 or 2021.

[roadrunner]

Good thread  

---


Intellivision Amico Moon Patrol Game Card In Box Atari New Sealed WATA Ready



WATA ready


https://www.ebay.com/itm/234489506390

 

[Rev]

13 minutes ago, roadrunner said:

Good thread  

---


Intellivision Amico Moon Patrol Game Card In Box Atari New Sealed WATA Ready



WATA ready


https://www.ebay.com/itm/234489506390

 

Now that Im thinking about it, cant these boxes be purchased on the official site right now?  

[flynnz]

1 hour ago, mr_me said:

A lot can happen if they have a manufacturing deadline in place.  Until they have console production set to go, they can keep working on the software all they want.  From interviews the CEO said they are working to reduce the footprint of the firmware to support future/larger games.  So it should be fine for the launch library.  The firmware is 100% in their control, can't say the same about manufacturing.

Taking advantage of the time to improve software or add features is great, but the core functionality should have been ready well over a year ago. (as in can boot to frontend, download/install games, can manage those games, manage game saves, general device options/settings and of course, play the games). We are just now starting to see some, not all, of that functionality. There is no production pipeline that would allow this to go this long without having its core functions 100% working after all this time. No way to spin this, this is a management issue, period. 

 

[roadrunner]

4 minutes ago, Rev said:

Now that Im thinking about it, cant these boxes be purchased on the official site right now?  

Yeah, they have a 4 pack for $80 


Boxed Edition Bundle - Volume 2 (Pack of 4)
Regular price
$79.99 USD



https://intellivisionamico.myshopify.com/products/collectors-boxed-edition-bundle-volume-2
 

[number6]

1 hour ago, number6 said:

@thread

 

I am unfamiliar with the following company. Is this a legitimate offering?

 

Zatu Games

 

#6

In addition I see:

New date or was this always the case?

 

#6

[Agillig]

1 hour ago, Rev said:

Im going to be captain obvious here, and probably be labeled as a hater, even though i wanted Amico to be successful and still do. I am a life long Intellivision fan as many here are, NOT a “hater”. 
 

We are just about 18 months past the original launch date, which means about 2 years past when the system, Operating System, launch window games, and online store etc should of been done. 
 

Why is the OS backend/online stuff still being talked about, when the console delay was always do to a few key parts. 
 

Team Intellivision Entertainment if you are reading this, and im 100% sure you are, please give peoples refunds back that they have requested, some are over 3 weeks. You guys are giving the “haters” ammunition to keep calling this out as a scam. 

It doesn't matter what ammo they give anyone.   The Smart Engine campaign was a last ditch effort.  They were aiming for 5 million dollars.  They got around 50K.  There just isn't the volume of supporters necessary to get this thing off the ground, and support it.  There's no angel investor.  If you had 5 million dollars to invest, would you sink it into the Amico after seeing that SEC report, and how little public support there was for the SE campaign?

 

If Intellivision is smart...they focus on getting the controllers working well, and then bundle them with games and release them as a package for existing consoles.  That's the way forward.  Maybe they can additional games in bundles as DLC packs in the future.  The Amico in its current format is a non-starter.

[youxia]

 

2 hours ago, mr_me said:

All three of the mainstream consoles have inexpensive family games with simple controls.  Yet there are still a significant number of households, including families, that's avoiding them, and it's not because they don't like games.

I'm curious what do you base this assumption on. Market research, perhaps?

[mr_me]

1 hour ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Those people you are talking about are casual mobile gamers and they are content with playing games on their phones and tablets.  I do not believe that a market exists in 2022 of families who want to play video games together and aren't interested in what one of the big three offers, especially the Switch. I would be willing to look at data that proves these people actually exist. 

Again, we are talking about millennial parents here who cut their teeth on Nintendo consoles and handhelds.  

That's what we're talking about, people that want to play with their families, or friends, parties, etc.  Mobile isn't the answer.  Some already have a console that isn't working with their friends, if that's a Playstation then a Switch wouldn't be much different. An Amico would be a second system in those cases.  There are new parents that have reservations about current video game systems.  These people exist, are there enough of them is the question.

 

You can believe whatever you want and you might be right.  But the people at Intellivision Entertainment think otherwise, and there are several people there that backed that up with a lot of their own money.

 

46 minutes ago, flynnz said:

Taking advantage of the time to improve software or add features is great, but the core functionality should have been ready well over a year ago. (as in can boot to frontend, download/install games, can manage those games, manage game saves, general device options/settings and of course, play the games). We are just now starting to see some, not all, of that functionality. There is no production pipeline that would allow this to go this long without having its core functions 100% working after all this time. No way to spin this, this is a management issue, period. 

 

They had it all working last year.  They started taking it to the public in April 2021.  When you see it and when it's working aren't necessarily the same thing.

 

12 minutes ago, youxia said:

 

I'm curious what do you base this assumption on. Market research, perhaps?

Basic statistics easily available; consoles sold; total number of households.

 

37 minutes ago, number6 said:

In addition I see:

New date or was this always the case?

 

#6

The date isn't from the manufacturer, the store makes up a date when they don't have one.

Edited April 2, 2022 by mr_me

[youxia]

5 minutes ago, mr_me said:

Basic statistics easily available; consoles sold; total number of households.

I was talking about your assumption that households/families are somehow avoiding the big three and yet might be open to buying a new console because they like games. This is a far-fetched conjecture, which you're absolutely allowed to make in a forum post, but nobody should base a serious business plan on.

 

[mr_me]

6 minutes ago, youxia said:

I was talking about your assumption that households/families are somehow avoiding the big three and yet might be open to buying a new console because they like games. This is a far-fetched conjecture, which you're absolutely allowed to make in a forum post, but nobody should base a serious business plan on.

 

I said there's a significant number avoiding the three mainstream consoles.  I didn't say there's a significant number looking to buy an alternative.  I already said that it is the question, are there enough of these households for Amico.  Some people say no, Intellivision Entertainment says yes.

[Razzie.P]

1 hour ago, Rev said:

Now that Im thinking about it, cant these boxes be purchased on the official site right now?  

Yep.  Better hurry, though, if you want 'em!   According to an email I got about 6 months ago, they were "going fast" and "nearly sold out."  

[SegaSnatcher]

9 minutes ago, youxia said:

I was talking about your assumption that households/families are somehow avoiding the big three and yet might be open to buying a new console because they like games. This is a far-fetched conjecture, which you're absolutely allowed to make in a forum post, but nobody should base a serious business plan on.

 

Indeed, I want to see this hard data that proves there are families clamoring to play video games together but don't want a Switch, Xbox or Playstation console.  If those families aren't going to spend money on those consoles then why would they invest in a console made by a company with zero track record and not a single noteworthy IP outside EWJ? 

If we are being completely honest at this point the Amico is only an answer to hardcore INTV fans who want to see reimagined versions of some of their favorite OG INTV games.  The thing is, if IE would have simply targeted OG INTV fans they could have made the Amico much cheaper. INTV fans would have been perfectly happy with a traditional controller and they could care less about an LED light show on the console. The Amico could have done better if it took the best elements of the Evercade and improved on it.  Evercade found a nice niche by pricing itself right and offering legit physical carts.  

[First Spear]

The Amico isn't "for" retro gamers or classic Intellivision fans, it's for that niche the Wii used to hold. It's not a Mattel Intellivision.

 

The content in this thread is disheartening, I think I recognize two people on this thread with any game publishing experience or professional development or marketing or investment/finance experience. Zero Amico experts or insiders. The discourse here is similar to online "debates" with no experts present posting about COVID-19 vaccinations and alternate medicines.

 

I ask @Albert to lock this thread and block Amico talk in the same space as the classic console.

 

Let's just #stayBlocky in this forum, if the Amico becomes a thing then maybe there could be space elsewhere for it, but not here.

 

[+Lathe26]

 

[roots.genoa]

48 minutes ago, First Spear said:

The content in this thread is disheartening, I think I recognize two people on this thread with any game publishing experience or professional development or marketing or investment/finance experience. Zero Amico experts or insiders.

So only professional journalists and developers are allowed to talk about video games on this forum? Also I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I sure know a lot about the Amico since I've followed (and documented) the whole venture for almost four years. ?

[Cebus Capucinis]

37 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

So only professional journalists and developers are allowed to talk about video games on this forum? Also I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I sure know a lot about the Amico since I've followed (and documented) the whole venture for almost four years. ?

You can just replace it with "only people who agree with me are allowed to talk about X" and it's what the statement really means. No matter the topic, no matter which side, that's always what it means.

[mr_me]

 

1 hour ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Indeed, I want to see this hard data that proves there are families clamoring to play video games together but don't want a Switch, Xbox or Playstation console.  If those families aren't going to spend money on those consoles then why would they invest in a console made by a company with zero track record and not a single noteworthy IP outside EWJ? 

If we are being completely honest at this point the Amico is only an answer to hardcore INTV fans who want to see reimagined versions of some of their favorite OG INTV games.  The thing is, if IE would have simply targeted OG INTV fans they could have made the Amico much cheaper. INTV fans would have been perfectly happy with a traditional controller and they could care less about an LED light show on the console. The Amico could have done better if it took the best elements of the Evercade and improved on it.  Evercade found a nice niche by pricing itself right and offering legit physical carts.  

If you're a potential investor looking to make a significant investment, maybe they'll show you all their data. 

 

Earthworm Jim might be noteworthy to Earthworm Jim fans but the reality is licenses that are really meaningful are likely too expensive at this stage of the console.  The licenses aren't as important as the game experiences.  They have to make good games, licenses don't matter.

 

There have been remakes of Intellivision games on modern systems before.  What's needed are replica Intellivision controllers e.g. an update of the 2014 Intellivision Flashback.  It's still a small market.  None of that means that what they are trying to do with Amico is wrong.  These are two completely different and unrelated discussions.

[SegaSnatcher]

1 hour ago, First Spear said:

The Amico isn't "for" retro gamers or classic Intellivision fans, it's for that niche the Wii used to hold. It's not a Mattel Intellivision.

 

The content in this thread is disheartening, I think I recognize two people on this thread with any game publishing experience or professional development or marketing or investment/finance experience. Zero Amico experts or insiders. The discourse here is similar to online "debates" with no experts present posting about COVID-19 vaccinations and alternate medicines.

 

Experts on Amico?  The thing hasn't even launched yet and still doesn't even appear to be completed on the software front.  Yeah, the people working on it know more about the behind the scenes situation, but surely you can't expect anyone working on the project to be totally transparent and non bias with their comments about Amico. This thread existing should not interfere with your normal AA activities. Just ignore it if its not a topic you want to talk about. 

However, I do agree that it wouldn't be a bad idea to move this thread to the modern gaming section. 

[+save2600]

1 hour ago, SegaSnatcher said:

However, I do agree that it wouldn't be a bad idea to move this thread to the modern gaming section same place that other thread went.

Fixed! ?

[Pink]

3 hours ago, First Spear said:

The Amico isn't "for" retro gamers or classic Intellivision fans, it's for that niche the Wii used to hold. It's not a Mattel Intellivision.

 

The content in this thread is disheartening, I think I recognize two people on this thread with any game publishing experience or professional development or marketing or investment/finance experience. Zero Amico experts or insiders. The discourse here is similar to online "debates" with no experts present posting about COVID-19 vaccinations and alternate medicines.

 

I ask @Albert to lock this thread and block Amico talk in the same space as the classic console.

 

Let's just #stayBlocky in this forum, if the Amico becomes a thing then maybe there could be space elsewhere for it, but not here.

 

 

26 minutes ago, save2600 said:

Fixed!  

Did you guys have any issues when people on AtariAge were discussing the Atari VCS and Coleco Chameleon critically years back and will you have any potential issues with any future consoles being discussed here on this website that may be announced in the future, or is it only the Amico specifically that you have an issue with and you don't want people critically discussing? Both of your accounts are old enough to where you both were here on the site back when that was going on.

 

There's been 20+ pages so far and for the most part all the regulars that have been frequenting this thread here have been respectful, civil and acting professional the entire time. There is an ignore the topic button as well which is super simple to use.

Edited April 2, 2022 by Pink