Intellivision Amico’s trademark changed to ‘abandoned’

[MrBeefy]

50 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

The 6K preorders tells me they aren't.   

You are correct that a lower price won't guarantee success, but it sure wouldn't hurt.   No matter what side of the fence you sit on with the Amico, nobody can say with a straight face that it will be successful at a $300 - $339 price point.  Not with what Amico offers.  Millenial Parents are not ignorant about video games like our Parents were.  They are aware of all the brands out there as they grew up with them. It's very hard to convince people to try out a new brand. You literally have to market your arse off to do that and I.E. simply does not have the resources to make that happen. 

It is a value proposition. The Amico doesn't have it, nor the games for the casual crowd. The higher price just makes their situation worse as people do care about what they buy.

 

That is the point of how my wife made the decision for a Switch. She had seen everything Amico was offering and it had nothing at a lower price. She at least had seen a fun looking casual game she would enjoy. She would rather spend a little more on a product that shows quality. The Amico didn't do that at all. 

 

The talking points of IE literally rely on you being an idiot of the industry. It also assumes that moms and families are dumb and do no research when making big purchases. If you are a normal family you will weigh those options.

 

The wife said she has yet to come across any porn on the Switch in case anyone is wondering. 🤣

29 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Found the video that I know you were waiting for.
 

Please leave...

 

 

🤣 No not really. I'm not some asshole that would really ask something like that.

23 minutes ago, MattPilz said:

It's much more extreme than that:

 

Nick Richards (Investment Pitch): "Our addressable market is greater than $50 billion... Over the lifecycle [7-8 years], we've projected around 9 million units to be sold. This is pretty conservative in the realm of video game consoles... If we take a look at the lifecycle of the product in sales, this would put us at approximately $1 BILLION in sales in year four."

 

This coupled with tossing around unsubstantiated stories of $150M line of credit, $10M marketing budget etc. including from the chief financial officer to investors doesn't seem grounded in reality, especially as they'd already seen the rate of pre-order sales and that it wasn't exactly flying off the virtual shelves in pre-orders.

I think they had the line of credit. It was based on that "locked in $25 million of revenue and 100,000 of presold units". They couldn't actually show that was guaranteed and lost it. I think that is why they lost that money at Ark and went elsewhere.

 

I bet they told Ark they had the 100,000. Started the process and dropped that million on the first step of setting up manufacturing. Then when it came to the step of proving they had those locked in, they didn't. They probably asked Ark to make like 20-30k and couldn't show those "presold numbers" because that was wishcasting. Ark probably saw they had less than 20k in orders and told them to kick rocks and they weren't going to give them that line of credit. In essence IE couldn't keep their end of the agreement up and forfeited that money.

 

The lack of grounding in the real world just makes it seem like they were trying to find some idiot to buy them out. Worse thing to happen to them is not being bought out before they reached a reasonable time frame that they should have produced them themselves.

 

I will be excited to see the next bit of information that gets leaked.

[Cebus Capucinis]

I like the "$195 and $235 makes no difference" argument when, over the past years of this story, many, many actual consumers here on THIS VERY WEBSITE had REPEATEDLY stated precisely that if it was under $200 they'd buy it, but if it was over $200 .... they'd just get a Switch. I know I said that repeatedly, I know @MrBeefy said that repeatedly.....

 

so yes, in fact, it has been definitely stated REPEATEDLY by consumers that there is a WIDE GULF of difference between $195 and $229, $249. Consumers on this very website drew a line in the sand at $200, and I don't think we are outside the realm of representation of the average consumers overall.

 

I believe the response was, and still is...."It's not FOR YOU ™️"

[MrTrust]

4 hours ago, mr_me said:

If someone wants what Nintendo is offering, an Amico at $199 isn't going to change their mind.  Either people are interested in what Amico offers, e.g. the controllers, the curated game library, or they aren't.  A price of $199 vs $229 or $249 isn't going to make much difference.

 

The library is "curated" like this bedroom is "cozy".

 

 

 

[mr_me]

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

I think they had the line of credit. It was based on that "locked in $25 million of revenue and 100,000 of presold units". They couldn't actually show that was guaranteed and lost it. I think that is why they lost that money at Ark and went elsewhere.

 

I bet they told Ark they had the 100,000. Started the process and dropped that million on the first step of setting up manufacturing. Then when it came to the step of proving they had those locked in, they didn't. They probably asked Ark to make like 20-30k and couldn't show those "presold numbers" because that was wishcasting. Ark probably saw they had less than 20k in orders and told them to kick rocks and they weren't going to give them that line of credit. In essence IE couldn't keep their end of the agreement up and forfeited that money.

 

The lack of grounding in the real world just makes it seem like they were trying to find some idiot to buy them out. Worse thing to happen to them is not being bought out before they reached a reasonable time frame that they should have produced them themselves.

 

I will be excited to see the next bit of information that gets leaked.

 

Retail purchase orders are not "locked in".  They can be cancelled, product even returned if not sold.  Their payment terms are typically longer than whatever terms the manufacturer provides if any.  A manufacturing contractor isn't going to depend on product sales to get paid.  There has to be short term financing.

 

[rayik]

19 minutes ago, mr_me said:

 

Retail purchase orders are not "locked in".  They can be cancelled, product even returned if not sold.  Their payment terms are typically longer than whatever terms the manufacturer provides if any.  A manufacturing contractor isn't going to depend on product sales to get paid.  There has to be short term financing.

 

 

 

The point MrBeefy was making was that Ark was providing the "short term financing" (a/k/a line of credit).  When IE could not show guarenteed sales Ark's financing disappeared and they did not have the funds to make 20k - 30k units  

 

Unless of course MrBeefy was saying something different.  

[mr_me]

Ark is not a bank.  Another scenario is they had an agreement that IE backed out of because they postponed release.  The manufacturer is holding parts as damages against losses from IE postponing/cancelling.  They weren't ready to go to manufacturing, they were the ones that cancelled, it wouldn't have been the manufacturer that stopped it.

Edited August 21, 2022 by mr_me

[Cebus Capucinis]

Say anything critical of Tommy?

Well the target market's Mommy!

O-ONLY ON AMIIIIICO!™️

 

Whether mom or gamer, yes it's true

That this console's NOT FOR YOU!

O-ONLY ON AMIIIIICO!™️

 

If you thought you caught us sleeping

Well that's just RACIST GATEKEEPING

O-ONLY ON AMIIIIICO!™️

 

Making a console is our task

BUT NO QUESTIONS MAY YOU ASK

O-ONLY ON AMIIIIICO!™️

 

If you don't let us release it "later"

Then by God you're sure a HATER

O-ONLY ON AMIIIIICO!™️

[jerseystyle]

58 minutes ago, MrTrust said:

 

The library is "curated" like this bedroom is "cozy".

 

 

 

I think an Amico bedroom would look more like:

 

[roots.genoa]

1 hour ago, MrTrust said:

The library is "curated" like this bedroom is "cozy".

Oh come on, at least you would never fall off the bed in that room. 😤

[Cebus Capucinis]

There. Marketing is now off the LAUNCHPAD. YOU'RE WELCOME, IE. I don't even need any royalties for use of my jingles, you're totally free to use them.

[roots.genoa]

Losing your deposit must sting

Wouldn't that be something™️

O-ONLY ON AMIIIIICO!™️

 

So many great games I like to tease

Ask yourself why that is™️

O-ONLY ON AMIIIIICO!™️

 

Self awareness is a thing

You're just a racist gatekeeping™️

O-ONLY ON AMIIIIICO!™️

[Cebus Capucinis]

1 minute ago, roots.genoa said:

You're just a racist gatekeeping™️

Hahahahaha just edited mine to include one with that witty turn of phrase. Great minds!

[Pink]

Can we unbuckle yet? 🤣🤣🤣

 

- "The curly haired one predicted we will only sell 5,000 unites. Will enjoy all the meme's of that a year from now." - https://i.imgur.com/Z4RXyfL.png

- "Pat said the thinks MAYBE the machine will sell 5,000 units. That comment will come back to haunt him. I promise you " - https://i.imgur.com/HnrDh9Z.png

- "The sales ARE going to be great. Amico will NOT be a failure or fail commercially. And yes... to millions of people." - https://i.imgur.com/9ifJzsA.png

- "They are extremely jealous of my past, present and future success. Sorry fellas, you picked the wrong guy to want to fail. Sucks for you" - https://i.imgur.com/uT359e5.png

- "I'm sure their idiotic theories will continue to get bigger and more ridiculous and we continue to win" - https://i.imgur.com/y6HWLRY.png

[MarioMan88]

25 minutes ago, Pink said:

continue to win

Shew, sure hate to see what losing looks like in TT’s Wonka Book 😉

 

See what I did there 😁

[Cebus Capucinis]

I love how well documented this absolute dumpster fire is. It's amazing.

 

Also, since I do this for a living, WTF is "SEC A+ approval?" (That's a rhetorical question, see "I do this for a living," please don't try to "answer that," i.e. handwave, *COUGHCOUGH YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE*) They got a no-action letter for Regulation A+ (candidly, I doubt that for reasons I won't get into)?

 

LMAO oh wow, that's meaningful and implies WATCH OUT GUYS, CASH TRAIN INCOMING CHOO CHOO.....

 

(LEGALESE BELOW ALERT. I AM A LAWYER BUT I AM NOT YOUR LAWYER. THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE AND IF YOU WANT TO INVEST IN THE DUMPSTER FIRE PLEASE SEEK INDEPENDENT COUNSEL OF YOUR OWN. ALSO PERSONAL OPINION AND NOT PROFESSIONAL, DON'T INVEST IN THE DUMPSTER FIRE.)

 

That just means your investment offering falls under an exception to the '33 Act requirements to publicly list and file a disclosure statement and gain approval for a securities offering. A+ is for "small offerings" too, no less. People fall under SEC carveouts for publication of a disclosure statement and the expensive approval process all the time, that means absolutely nothing for the success, accuracy, or truthfulness of disclosures in connection therewith. For those keeping score, that also has very little impact whatsoever on the viability of securities fraud investigation or claims down the road....if anything, Reg A+ is RISKIER because it typically involves unsophisticated investors.

 

Sure, they MAY have written a letter to the SEC asking "pretty please bless this exception," and received a short letter saying "Based upon what you've provided (that first part is a qualifier and is VERY IMPORTANT LATER if enforcement action is contemplated or taken) we'll likely (another qualifier) take no action," i.e. a no-action letter, but those don't mean everything is fully copacetic.

 

Just because they didn't have to jump through massive hoops for a full offering doesn't mean the offering is worth more than the Sears pages in an 1800s outhouse. It helps when hoopleheads lose money then claim you TOTALLY LIED and WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK, as it shows that you actually put forward effort, but it definitely isn't a guarantee of anything. (It doesn't help in the slightest if you, y'know, ACTUALLY LIED rising to the level of fraud in the first place, but I am explicitly not opining on that here.)

 

In fact, the fact they were trying to shotgun exceptions to disclosures is usually an indication that they DON'T have funding (hindsight is 20/20 and was proven given their recent disclosure) because everyone and their dog that has a more viable investment offering just uses solely the Reg D and accredited investor exceptions.

 

Those aren't "more rigorous legal standards" in the slightest (in fact, the use of that very specific language raises huge red flags in my mind). It's a different analysis, sure, but it's not scrutinized any more closely than Reg D and, in fact, is likely less scrutinized because it's similar to CROWDFUNDING. (OH NO A FILTHY WORD!). The investment stake is low enough that the SEC doesn't prioritize it. It's actually likely LESS rigorous of a standard to meet because Reg A+ doesn't require any significant investment due diligence and an accredited investor questionnaire.

 

Using that language (from what I suspect is a paid IE shill/employee sock puppet no less, which activity in and of itself raises eyebrows regarding statements made in connection with an investment offering) intended to create the impression that the investment is "better" or more secure or somehow "more likely to succeed" is disingenuous in and of itself, because only securities lawyers will understand it (and why it's wrong).

 

If IE had general counsel (not sure if they did) I suspect that GC was having migraines daily.

 

[jerseystyle]

1 hour ago, roots.genoa said:

Oh come on, at least you would never fall off the bed in that room. 😤

If TT designed it, you’d totally fall right out that window but at least there’d be racing stripes on the way down. 

[Cebus Capucinis]

26 minutes ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

 

 

8 minutes ago, jerseystyle said:

If TT designed it, you’d totally fall right out that window but at least there’d be racing stripes on the way down. 

Don't forget the relaxing footbath you'd fall into!

 

Were investors left in the cold

By a CEO with the mind of a 9-year-old?

O-ONLY ON AMIIIIICO!™️

[+CurlyQ]

A sneak-peek into Tommy's Wonka Book, circa 2020.

 

[MrBeefy]

37 minutes ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

I like the "$195 and $235 makes no difference" argument when, over the past years of this story, many, many actual consumers here on THIS VERY WEBSITE had REPEATEDLY stated precisely that if it was under $200 they'd buy it, but if it was over $200 .... they'd just get a Switch. I know I said that repeatedly, I know @MrBeefy said that repeatedly.....

 

so yes, in fact, it has been definitely stated REPEATEDLY by consumers that there is a WIDE GULF of difference between $195 and $229, $249. Consumers on this very website drew a line in the sand at $200, and I don't think we are outside the realm of representation of the average consumers overall.

 

I believe the response was, and still is...."It's not FOR YOU ™️"

Exactly. If it was $150 I think fewer people would have issue with how the games look and them being "bite size".

 

Many of the Amico diehards want to ignore that bite size games currently exist on consoles that currently exist, AND they can get higher quality games from those same consoles. When Amico reaches a similar or close price to them there is no reason for a family to go with a lesser quality product for the same price. Not to mention that IE has zero history in producing or keeping that type of product/backend running.

3 minutes ago, MrTrust said:

The library is "curated" like this bedroom is "cozy".

 

 

 

Pretty spot on. The game line up seems what they could grab. Them showing footage of Bomb Squad yet knowing the hardware was unable to handle it correctly showed there is no "curation". Much like anything else they've done is throw out anything to give the impression they are more competent than they are.

 

Games like Emoji Charades, EK, Ridged Force, Brain Duel, and FF are all ports. That makes roughly 25% of their launch titles available elsewhere. So that makes them less appealing as a buy in if you have those devices they are on.

 

It appears they pissed away a lot of money on "curation". Didn't they say they spent like $100,000 to add a lawn dart mode and make the character look slimmer in EK? If that is accurate they would need to sell 5000 copies of EK to break even, and that is ignoring that those physical editions cost more than $0 to make. It also ignores the possibility that the normal digital version will probably cost less than $20. They also only have around 6000 preorders too........

[MrBeefy]

2 hours ago, rayik said:

The point MrBeefy was making was that Ark was providing the "short term financing" (a/k/a line of credit).  When IE could not show guarenteed sales Ark's financing disappeared and they did not have the funds to make 20k - 30k units  

 

Unless of course MrBeefy was saying something different.  

That's basically it. They shot themselves in the foot with all that bragging. 

 

They couldn't keep up their end of the deal with Ark. That's why the money is gone (both the credit and 1 million they gave them) and they aren't using them anymore.

 

Which all goes back to this statement and how it is misleading to people who invested.

 

1 hour ago, Pink said:

Can we unbuckle yet? 🤣🤣🤣

 

- "The curly haired one predicted we will only sell 5,000 unites. Will enjoy all the meme's of that a year from now." - https://i.imgur.com/Z4RXyfL.png

- "Pat said the thinks MAYBE the machine will sell 5,000 units. That comment will come back to haunt him. I promise you " - https://i.imgur.com/HnrDh9Z.png

- "The sales ARE going to be great. Amico will NOT be a failure or fail commercially. And yes... to millions of people." - https://i.imgur.com/9ifJzsA.png

- "They are extremely jealous of my past, present and future success. Sorry fellas, you picked the wrong guy to want to fail. Sucks for you" - https://i.imgur.com/uT359e5.png

- "I'm sure their idiotic theories will continue to get bigger and more ridiculous and we continue to win" - https://i.imgur.com/y6HWLRY.png

I think he didn't get why people found it interesting. It wasn't because of their successes. 🤣

 

I'm waiting for all the piss in my Cheerios or whatever it was he said to me. 🤪

[Matt_B]

25 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

I'm waiting for all the piss in my Cheerios or whatever it was he said to me. 🤪

That sounds to me like he was already planning his next move into the fad diet industry. 😄

[SegaSnatcher]

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

Exactly. If it was $150 I think fewer people would have issue with how the games look and them being "bite size".

 

Many of the Amico diehards want to ignore that bite size games currently exist on consoles that currently exist, AND they can get higher quality games from those same consoles. When Amico reaches a similar or close price to them there is no reason for a family to go with a lesser quality product for the same price. Not to mention that IE has zero history in producing or keeping that type of product/backend running.

Pretty spot on. The game line up seems what they could grab. Them showing footage of Bomb Squad yet knowing the hardware was unable to handle it correctly showed there is no "curation". Much like anything else they've done is throw out anything to give the impression they are more competent than they are.

 

Games like Emoji Charades, EK, Ridged Force, Brain Duel, and FF are all ports. That makes roughly 25% of their launch titles available elsewhere. So that makes them less appealing as a buy in if you have those devices they are on.

 

It appears they pissed away a lot of money on "curation". Didn't they say they spent like $100,000 to add a lawn dart mode and make the character look slimmer in EK? If that is accurate they would need to sell 5000 copies of EK to break even, and that is ignoring that those physical editions cost more than $0 to make. It also ignores the possibility that the normal digital version will probably cost less than $20. They also only have around 6000 preorders too........

"Curation" for I.E. was literally what ever they could find to put on the Amico with the resources they were working with.  The whole thing with games needing to be a 7/10 rating to make the system was so ridiculous considering Tommy's history of reviewing video games in the past. If he had to review those games on another system I guarantee a lot of them would not get anywhere close to a 7/10 rating from him.  

[mr_me]

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

Exactly. If it was $150 I think fewer people would have issue with how the games look and them being "bite size".

 

Many of the Amico diehards want to ignore that bite size games currently exist on consoles that currently exist, AND they can get higher quality games from those same consoles. When Amico reaches a similar or close price to them there is no reason for a family to go with a lesser quality product for the same price. Not to mention that IE has zero history in producing or keeping that type of product/backend running.

Pretty spot on. The game line up seems what they could grab. Them showing footage of Bomb Squad yet knowing the hardware was unable to handle it correctly showed there is no "curation". Much like anything else they've done is throw out anything to give the impression they are more competent than they are.

 

Games like Emoji Charades, EK, Ridged Force, Brain Duel, and FF are all ports. That makes roughly 25% of their launch titles available elsewhere. So that makes them less appealing as a buy in if you have those devices they are on.

 

It appears they pissed away a lot of money on "curation". Didn't they say they spent like $100,000 to add a lawn dart mode and make the character look slimmer in EK? If that is accurate they would need to sell 5000 copies of EK to break even, and that is ignoring that those physical editions cost more than $0 to make. It also ignores the possibility that the normal digital version will probably cost less than $20. They also only have around 6000 preorders too........

If they couldn't deliver quality games then they would have failed, doesn't matter what the price of the console is. They have to deliver quality games, it's a must.  Not every game is going to work out. Even before their troubles they cancelled game projects that weren't meeting expectations.  More recently they were likely forced to scale back from the 40+ games because of money.  Might have been better off focusing their resources on fewer games.  For sure they have money invested in games whose development is paused.  

 

Seventy-five percent, even fifty percent exclusives is pretty good.  The multiplayer rocket game in Evel Knievel was more popular than the single player game.  It's likely a $10 game.  Their business model is based on an install base of hundreds of thousands.  If a $10 game sells 25k copies that's $250k.  If they have no plan beyond a few thousand consoles, it will fail.  It's probably a reason they haven't gone to manufacturing yet.

 

 

[SegaSnatcher]

40 minutes ago, mr_me said:

If they couldn't deliver quality games then they would have failed, doesn't matter what the price of the console is. They have to deliver quality games, it's a must.  Not every game is going to work out. Even before their troubles they cancelled game projects that weren't meeting expectations.  More recently they were likely forced to scale back from the 40+ games because of money.  Might have been better off focusing their resources on fewer games.  For sure they have money invested in games whose development is paused.  

 

Seventy-five percent, even fifty percent exclusives is pretty good.  The multiplayer rocket game in Evel Knievel was more popular than the single player game.  It's likely a $10 game.  Their business model is based on an install base of hundreds of thousands.  If a $10 game sells 25k copies that's $250k.  If they have no plan beyond a few thousand consoles, it will fail.  It's probably a reason they haven't gone to manufacturing yet.

 

 

Well, they can't even deliver a console at this point, let alone quality games.    Why won't they just admit defeat already and cancel the project?  There is no way they can salvage this project at this point given all the issues they have had.   Consoles are still not being manufactured, game development has slowed down it seems on many games, they are running on fumes in regards to resources.  Why keep this Zombie alive?

Edited August 22, 2022 by SegaSnatcher

[MarioMan88]

4 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Why keep this Zombie alive?

I’ve often honestly wondered this myself 🤔 Why not just send out the “goodbye & good fight” e-mail and be done with it? It’s clearly not getting off the ground.

 

At least bow out with some semblance of dignity. I mean we know these folks have no class…but geesh.