Intellivision Amico’s trademark changed to ‘abandoned’

[Rowsdower70]

3 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

I agree with the old collectors.

 

I do think Intellivision will be known more as mud to the wider audience. I totally see it replacing Chameleon as the go to discussion of scam consoles.

That's a sad fact, and one of the things that anger me the most.   Intellivision as a legacy system didn't deserve this crap.  

[MrBeefy]

53 minutes ago, Rowsdower70 said:

That's a sad fact, and one of the things that anger me the most.   Intellivision as a legacy system didn't deserve this crap.  

Doesn't deserve it, but that is the price of nostalgia. There will always be someone to exploit that feeling.

 

The main takeaway should be focus on the product and not the name. If people keep forking over money based on a name, people will continue to exploit nostalgia.

 

[MarioMan88]

The deception continues…they aren’t winding down the refund que.

[MrBeefy]

2 hours ago, MarioMan88 said:

The deception continues…they aren’t winding down the refund que.

Well they are so busy "building things". Maybe that's why @Tommy Tallarico is auctioning his stuff off? He is tired of PayPal sending him nasty grams.

 

So it is almost two years since the initial launch date. What have they built exactly? I'm still waiting for all that piss in my Cheerios, and I'm worried about someone holding their two craps for over a year waiting for me to say something positive. Which I kind of hard when they can't seem to build anything...

Edited September 27, 2022 by MrBeefy

[Matt_B]

I'm wondering who is left at Intellivision these days. We know that they laid a bunch of people off at the time they closed their offices and some of the big names like Mike Dietz and Hans Ippisch are confirmed to have new positions elsewhere.

 

It's not like we've heard a peep out of anyone else and, while that might just come down to a sudden realization that their shilling was doing more harm than good, it might also be that there's nobody left on the payroll to do it.

 

So, my theory would be that the company is now basically just Phil, who is busy selling off their IP for whatever he can get, and John, who is trying to cobble together some working consoles from whatever spares they've got lying around.

[MrBeefy]

1 hour ago, Matt_B said:

I'm wondering who is left at Intellivision these days. We know that they laid a bunch of people off at the time they closed their offices and some of the big names like Mike Dietz and Hans Ippisch are confirmed to have new positions elsewhere.

 

It's not like we've heard a peep out of anyone else and, while that might just come down to a sudden realization that their shilling was doing more harm than good, it might also be that there's nobody left on the payroll to do it.

 

So, my theory would be that the company is now basically just Phil, who is busy selling off their IP for whatever he can get, and John, who is trying to cobble together some working consoles from whatever spares they've got lying around.

I doubt there is much of anyone left. The marketing line was that marketing hadn't started yet. So what did the marketing team do for years while earning a paycheck? It was pretty obvious that the modus operandi was to show there was big hype and no negativity about Amico. They wanted to sell or get more money. So have the marketing team do some fluffing in various places to make it seem "organic".

[jerseystyle]

So the Intellivision Amico Reddit has a post up talking about my conversation with Tommy when I told him to stop worrying so much about Pat and Ian. It’s a “full circle” moment for me as that was nearly 3 years ago. He didn’t take my advice then and now look where Amico is. It’s almost like there were lots of people along the way that could’ve helped if he swallowed his pride once in a while…

 

 

[roots.genoa]

1 hour ago, jerseystyle said:

nearly 3 years ago

Please, October 2020 was nearly 2 years ago, not 3. I already feel too old enough. 🙂

[Tommy2D]

Hey Folks, 

 

I've been snagging more of the "Amico Style" games, that have been on my PC wishlist, for a little while. 

 

I've played a bit of "Asteroids: Recharged" and an Asteroids style game, with greater complexity, called "Nova Drift". I'm enjoying both titles.  I know that Atari didn't set the world on fire but I really like Asteroids and Centipede, from the Recharged series.  They both have really nice music, too.   

 

I've beaten this drum, for a while, but it's another reminder that modern takes on score attack / simple mechanics games already existed.

 

I would still check out some of the Amico games, if they ever make it to standard platforms. 

 

Side note: the cover art for Asteroids Recharged reminds me of the menu screen art, for Amico Astrosmash, which was reminiscent of "The Last Starfighter".  

  

Nova Drift is on sale, for 50%, on Steam.   

 

[jerseystyle]

5 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

Please, October 2020 was nearly 2 years ago, not 3. I already feel too old enough. 🙂

I think I lost a year in there somewhere 😉

Edited September 28, 2022 by jerseystyle

[atarifan88]

12 hours ago, Matt_B said:

I'm wondering who is left at Intellivision these days. We know that they laid a bunch of people off at the time they closed their offices and some of the big names like Mike Dietz and Hans Ippisch are confirmed to have new positions elsewhere.

Does anyone know what happened to John Alvarado?

Edited September 28, 2022 by atarifan88

[SteveTheColecoDude]

9 hours ago, jerseystyle said:

So the Intellivision Amico Reddit has a post up talking about my conversation with Tommy when I told him to stop worrying so much about Pat and Ian. It’s a “full circle” moment for me as that was nearly 3 years ago. He didn’t take my advice then and now look where Amico is. It’s almost like there were lots of people along the way that could’ve helped if he swallowed his pride once in a while…

 

 

 

That is absolutely nuts. Like genuine insanity level stuff. Was everyone really buying all that stuff he said? I mean, obviously it wasn't everyone, but it seems like most of the thread regulars thought he was acting in a totally normal and honest way. I only joined here to see for myself after most of the stuff had already happened, but it seems amazing to me that Tommy could behave in the way he did for so long without the red flags being visible to literally everyone after just seeing a handful of his posts/interviews.

 

What was it about Tommy that had so many people fooled? His delusion about himself is one thing, but for others to buy into it, too. I just don't get it at all.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

1 hour ago, SteveTheColecoDude said:

What was it about Tommy that had so many people fooled? His delusion about himself is one thing, but for others to buy into it, too. I just don't get it at all.

I've followed the Amico drama off and on, so I haven't seen everything Tommy said, but I saw him in person at PRGE and his enthusiasm for the Amico seemed very genuine. I was a little skeptical, but at the time I thought if he could team up with people who knew what they were doing and not get in their way, it might have a chance.

 

Enthusiasm can be infectious and ignoring red flags seems to be becoming our new national pasttime. Whether it's the Amico, the VCS or non-video game stuff, there are a lot of people out there willing to latch onto something and hold on for dear life no matter what.

[+GoldLeader]

2 hours ago, SteveTheColecoDude said:

 

That is absolutely nuts. Like genuine insanity level stuff. Was everyone really buying all that stuff he said? I mean, obviously it wasn't everyone, but it seems like most of the thread regulars thought he was acting in a totally normal and honest way. I only joined here to see for myself after most of the stuff had already happened, but it seems amazing to me that Tommy could behave in the way he did for so long without the red flags being visible to literally everyone after just seeing a handful of his posts/interviews.

 

What was it about Tommy that had so many people fooled? His delusion about himself is one thing, but for others to buy into it, too. I just don't get it at all.

Bolded for effect.

 

I think In Hindsight it's easy to see...Really what isn't with said benefit?

 

And not everyone has the time to vet everyone on the internet to see if they're telling the truth.  Back when it happened,  Tommy was an industry veteran with some accomplishments under his belt.  I'd say many of the red flags came later, or after additional scrutiny...

[MrBeefy]

11 hours ago, jerseystyle said:

So the Intellivision Amico Reddit has a post up talking about my conversation with Tommy when I told him to stop worrying so much about Pat and Ian. It’s a “full circle” moment for me as that was nearly 3 years ago. He didn’t take my advice then and now look where Amico is. It’s almost like there were lots of people along the way that could’ve helped if he swallowed his pride once in a while…

 

This is why I think the goal was a big hype train and hope to sell sell sell! The fear seems to me to be not wanting a buyer to see anything that might make them question the project before buying it.

 

Even his talk about the thumbs up vs thumbs down on YT videos was superficial. It was a facade to show off to potential buyers. It seems like they never really planned on making them and never actually made a plan to do so. We are nearing the second year of delay and they can't give anyone a reasonable plan on how to manufacture.

4 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

Bolded for effect.

 

I think In Hindsight it's easy to see...Really what isn't with said benefit?

 

And not everyone has the time to vet everyone on the internet to see if they're telling the truth.  Back when it happened,  Tommy was an industry veteran with some accomplishments under his belt.  I'd say many of the red flags came later, or after additional scrutiny...

I think there were plenty signs in 2020 showing they didn't know what they were doing. People just wanted to ignore it. It also doesn't help when anyone remotely trying to have honest discussions were dogpiled or banned. 🤪

 

Covid ate my homework excuse also helped them. I will say that hindsight shows that one was a fabricated excuse as they should have had a plan by now.

 

Unless they are really that dumb. Which I'm not ruling out.

[Greg2600]

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

 

I think there were plenty signs in 2020 showing they didn't know what they were doing. People just wanted to ignore it. It also doesn't help when anyone remotely trying to have honest discussions were dogpiled or banned. 🤪

 

Covid ate my homework excuse also helped them. I will say that hindsight shows that one was a fabricated excuse as they should have had a plan by now.

 

Unless they are really that dumb. Which I'm not ruling out

The only way to do a project like this is to keep the gaming community mostly in the dark.  There's far too many trolls and bad actors who revel in the opportunities to flame 🔥 these products.  They are vocal, far more than legitimate supporters.  

 

I actually praise Atari VCS for this, while it has been lambasted plenty, they were able to manage their delivery to market on their own terms.  

 

The catch-22 here is when you NEED money from the community to get to market or even beforehand.  This has been nothing but trouble.  There are just not many positive examples when this has worked out well.  There's homebrew creators who have been roasted for delays when NOT accepting preorders or crowd sourcing!  It's simply not a very forgiving crowd.  

 

Again not absolving countless mistakes or misguided dreams on behalf of AMICO but I knew even before COVID when there seemed to be little progress that this thing was going to be a massive meltdown.  Video gaming fandom trolls are just too well prepared, and since they often operate independently they answer to no one.  Which is great in one respect but few of any possess any journalist training and even less reserve.  Again not absolving Amico one bit, but I legit knew this would end this way unless the roll out was done close to flawlessly given the near constant circling of vultures.  Why anyone would continue to think community involvement on retail gaming product development makes any sense I truly pity them.

[Rowsdower70]

4 hours ago, SteveTheColecoDude said:

 

That is absolutely nuts. Like genuine insanity level stuff. Was everyone really buying all that stuff he said? I mean, obviously it wasn't everyone, but it seems like most of the thread regulars thought he was acting in a totally normal and honest way. I only joined here to see for myself after most of the stuff had already happened, but it seems amazing to me that Tommy could behave in the way he did for so long without the red flags being visible to literally everyone after just seeing a handful of his posts/interviews.

 

What was it about Tommy that had so many people fooled? His delusion about himself is one thing, but for others to buy into it, too. I just don't get it at all.

There were plenty of people who were asking tough questions, but most of them were getting banned for it.  

[SteveTheColecoDude]

13 minutes ago, Rowsdower70 said:

There were plenty of people who were asking tough questions, but most of them were getting banned for it.  

 

The bannings seemed bizarre.

 

Actually the reason I started reading the thread and signed up myself if because someone I know from another forum was banned. Someone in the thread asked why a poster used the phrase "gaming racists" and he (the person from the other forum I know) posted a screenshot of Tommy's own post where he called people gaming racists. As far as I know he simply posted the image to give context and nothing else. Posting a screenshot of Tommy's post was enough to get him banned apparently.

Edited September 28, 2022 by SteveTheColecoDude

[roots.genoa]

11 minutes ago, SteveTheColecoDude said:

The bannings seemed bizarre.

Beefy was banned for posting the Fig campaign link (and probably for ignoring Tommy, too 😅).

ColecoJoe was banned for using a laughing (or confused) emoji to a post (at least that's the last thing he did, since he wasn't posting anymore at that point).

I don't know exactly why I was banned. I had a rant a few days before that was considered rather constructive, and closer to the fact I expressed my opinion against locking the VCS thread.

 

In any case, none of us broke any rules of the forums. We didn't get any warnings either. One morning we were just banned from the topic. 🤷‍♂️

[SteveTheColecoDude]

17 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

Beefy was banned for posting the Fig campaign link (and probably for ignoring Tommy, too 😅).

ColecoJoe was banned for using a laughing (or confused) emoji to a post (at least that's the last thing he did, since he wasn't posting anymore at that point).

I don't know exactly why I was banned. I had a rant a few days before that was considered rather constructive, and closer to the fact I expressed my opinion against locking the VCS thread.

 

In any case, none of us broke any rules of the forums. We didn't get any warnings either. One morning we were just banned from the topic. 🤷‍♂️

 

Crazy stuff.

 

A list of the banning and the reasons (or lack of) for them would be a interesting read.

[MrBeefy]

1 hour ago, Greg2600 said:

The only way to do a project like this is to keep the gaming community mostly in the dark.  There's far too many trolls and bad actors who revel in the opportunities to flame 🔥 these products.  They are vocal, far more than legitimate supporters.  

 

I actually praise Atari VCS for this, while it has been lambasted plenty, they were able to manage their delivery to market on their own terms.  

 

The catch-22 here is when you NEED money from the community to get to market or even beforehand.  This has been nothing but trouble.  There are just not many positive examples when this has worked out well.  There's homebrew creators who have been roasted for delays when NOT accepting preorders or crowd sourcing!  It's simply not a very forgiving crowd.  

 

Again not absolving countless mistakes or misguided dreams on behalf of AMICO but I knew even before COVID when there seemed to be little progress that this thing was going to be a massive meltdown.  Video gaming fandom trolls are just too well prepared, and since they often operate independently they answer to no one.  Which is great in one respect but few of any possess any journalist training and even less reserve.  Again not absolving Amico one bit, but I legit knew this would end this way unless the roll out was done close to flawlessly given the near constant circling of vultures.  Why anyone would continue to think community involvement on retail gaming product development makes any sense I truly pity them.

I by no means think Atari did great. However, Intellivision made them look like geniuses. So in hindsight Atari should be given a little more credit. They however only asked for funds once.

52 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

Beefy was banned for posting the Fig campaign link (and probably for ignoring Tommy, too 😅).

ColecoJoe was banned for using a laughing (or confused) emoji to a post (at least that's the last thing he did, since he wasn't posting anymore at that point).

I don't know exactly why I was banned. I had a rant a few days before that was considered rather constructive, and closer to the fact I expressed my opinion against locking the VCS thread.

 

In any case, none of us broke any rules of the forums. We didn't get any warnings either. One morning we were just banned from the topic. 🤷‍♂️

Oh hindsight suggests Tommy shit himself at my post because it pointed to crowdfunding. He also had not talked about Fig until after I posted that. He probably wanted it on the down low. Man it must have really irked him that I put him on mute. People would keep telling me that he was replying to me. It probably made him mad that I didn't care about his fake celeb status and wasn't star struck to want an interview with him too.

 

This post from Tommy didn't age well...

34 minutes ago, SteveTheColecoDude said:

 

Crazy stuff.

 

A list of the banning and the reasons (or lack of) for them would be a interesting read.

Here was my last post.

Here was someone else's post later for comparison. 

Like I said earlier, I sure Tommy was feeding people a lot of crap and others have said Tommy was sending them PMs about me saying weird stuff. I know Tommy told lies about other people and actively told others to stop being friends with people they had know for years.

 

Hey @godslabrat do you still have that ruse tracker up to date?

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by MrBeefy

[ColecoJoe]

1 hour ago, roots.genoa said:

Beefy was banned for posting the Fig campaign link (and probably for ignoring Tommy, too 😅).

ColecoJoe was banned for using a laughing (or confused) emoji to a post (at least that's the last thing he did, since he wasn't posting anymore at that point).

I don't know exactly why I was banned. I had a rant a few days before that was considered rather constructive, and closer to the fact I expressed my opinion against locking the VCS thread.

 

In any case, none of us broke any rules of the forums. We didn't get any warnings either. One morning we were just banned from the topic. 🤷‍♂️

It all leads to somebody was in somebody's pocket or something like that ... ENOUGH!!!!

[Wayler]

1 hour ago, Greg2600 said:

The only way to do a project like this is to keep the gaming community mostly in the dark.  There's far too many trolls and bad actors who revel in the opportunities to flame 🔥 these products.  They are vocal, far more than legitimate supporters. 

I'm sorry but who are these droves of trolls, bad actors and vultures who lie in the shadows just for a chance to bash the dream of a hopeful creator-to-be? Yes, there are always going to be some shitty people related to every topic of human interaction but I just don't see this machination of evil you are claiming. It just sounds a bit too much like a certain CEO with his hater rhetoric. 

1 hour ago, Greg2600 said:

Again not absolving Amico one bit, but I legit knew this would end this way unless the roll out was done close to flawlessly given the near constant circling of vultures.

It kinda does sound like you are absolving them a little. And what does this "end this way" refer to? That people are rightly rejoicing the fact that all the lies have been exposed? It just sounds like you are giving blame to, ahem, haters. 

[jerseystyle]

2 hours ago, Greg2600 said:

The only way to do a project like this is to keep the gaming community mostly in the dark.  There's far too many trolls and bad actors who revel in the opportunities to flame 🔥 these products.  They are vocal, far more than legitimate supporters.  

 

I actually praise Atari VCS for this, while it has been lambasted plenty, they were able to manage their delivery to market on their own terms.  

 

The catch-22 here is when you NEED money from the community to get to market or even beforehand.  This has been nothing but trouble.  There are just not many positive examples when this has worked out well.  There's homebrew creators who have been roasted for delays when NOT accepting preorders or crowd sourcing!  It's simply not a very forgiving crowd.  

 

Again not absolving countless mistakes or misguided dreams on behalf of AMICO but I knew even before COVID when there seemed to be little progress that this thing was going to be a massive meltdown.  Video gaming fandom trolls are just too well prepared, and since they often operate independently they answer to no one.  Which is great in one respect but few of any possess any journalist training and even less reserve.  Again not absolving Amico one bit, but I legit knew this would end this way unless the roll out was done close to flawlessly given the near constant circling of vultures.  Why anyone would continue to think community involvement on retail gaming product development makes any sense I truly pity them.

The success of Playdate and Evercade disproves  everything you said. Stop making excuses for people who STOLE MONEY FROM MENTALLY CHALLENGED INDIVIDUALS. 

[digdugnate]

3 hours ago, Greg2600 said:

The only way to do a project like this is to keep the gaming community mostly in the dark.  There's far too many trolls and bad actors who revel in the opportunities to flame 🔥 these products.  They are vocal, far more than legitimate supporters.  

 

I actually praise Atari VCS for this, while it has been lambasted plenty, they were able to manage their delivery to market on their own terms.  

 

The catch-22 here is when you NEED money from the community to get to market or even beforehand.  This has been nothing but trouble.  There are just not many positive examples when this has worked out well.  There's homebrew creators who have been roasted for delays when NOT accepting preorders or crowd sourcing!  It's simply not a very forgiving crowd.  

 

Again not absolving countless mistakes or misguided dreams on behalf of AMICO but I knew even before COVID when there seemed to be little progress that this thing was going to be a massive meltdown.  Video gaming fandom trolls are just too well prepared, and since they often operate independently they answer to no one.  Which is great in one respect but few of any possess any journalist training and even less reserve.  Again not absolving Amico one bit, but I legit knew this would end this way unless the roll out was done close to flawlessly given the near constant circling of vultures.  Why anyone would continue to think community involvement on retail gaming product development makes any sense I truly pity them.

Lolll.  If the 'haters and trolls' single-handedly took the Amico down then the project didn't have a chance in the first place. 

 

Honk honk  🤡