Intellivision Amico’s trademark changed to ‘abandoned’

[roots.genoa]

1 hour ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Though, there are still some who are in absolute denial and will defend this console until the end, which I find absolutely sad and I have no sympathy or respect for these people.  We aren't talking children or teens here, but full grown adults with this attitude.

I guess you're specifically talking about the guy we call "four names guy". 😉

[+GoldLeader]

4 hours ago, SteveTheColecoDude said:

 

Did he really upload that on his own channel? It's more like a compilation someone else would upload to point out what a jerk this guy is. Mocking people who lost money, calling them "c*nts" and saying they need a smack. Ok guy, very family friendly of you...

Yeah,  This guy's real annoying!

 

If I'd lost money on this fiasco, Especially after being told my money was refundable at any point in time,  I'd not be quiet about it.   I'd call his ass out the way I'd be calling out IE and TT.

[+frankodragon]

Sounds like James Rolfe 30 years later as the Old Angry Video Game Nerd.

[jerseystyle]

1 hour ago, frankodragon said:

Sounds like James Rolfe 30 years later as the Old Angry Video Game Nerd.

Haha, yeah if James Rolfe never got more than .001% of the total viewers he has now. This guy should be a cautionary tale for all of us. 

[Tommy2D]

Can a moderator please add "/ Gene Wilder Gif-o-Rama" to the title of this thread? 

 

In other Amico news: I finally started to play "Children of Morta" (CoM) and it's great.  It's especially great if you have a soft spot for the visual style of the original "Monkey Island" / "Space Quest", etc.  I've only played around, a little bit, but it seems like if you put Monkey Island and "The Secret of Mana", in a blender, you would get CoM.  The gameplay is smooth and quick but I think that the character animations are deliberately slower than 60fps, to give you a little flavor of the old Sierra/LucasArts titles. 

 

I'm mentioning it because CoM came up as a possible substitute for Amico "Cloudy Mountain".  In fairness, it gives me much more of a nostalgic feeling for 386-era gaming than early consoles but why split hairs: it's fun, visually impressive and it exists. 

 

I wonder how far along they made it with Cloudy Mountain?  Night Stalker seemed complete, based on that long demo, but maybe they were more ambitious with Cloudy Mountain in terms of quests, etc.  Maybe it's only "freshly dead" and could be easily revived, even if they swap out the trademarked Amico Running Guys. 

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by Tommy2D

[MrBeefy]

36 minutes ago, Tommy2D said:

Can a moderator please add "/ Gene Wilder Gif-o-Rama" to the title of this thread? 

 

In other Amico news: I finally started to play "Children of Morta" (CoM) and it's great.  It's especially great if you have a soft spot for the visual style of the original "Monkey Island" / "Space Quest", etc.  I've only played around, a little bit, but it seems like if you put Monkey Island and "The Secret of Mana", in a blender, you would get CoM.  The gameplay is smooth and quick but I think that the character animations are deliberately slower than 60fps, to give you a little flavor of the old Sierra/LucasArts titles. 

 

I'm mentioning it because CoM came up as a possible substitute for Amico "Cloudy Mountain".  In fairness, it gives me much more of a nostalgic feeling for 386-era gaming than early consoles but why split hairs: it's fun, visually impressive and it exists. 

 

I wonder how far along they made it with Cloudy Mountain?  Night Stalker seemed complete, based on that long demo, but maybe they were more ambitious with Cloudy Mountain in terms of quests, etc.  Maybe it's only "freshly dead" and could be easily revived, even if they swap out the trademarked Amico Running Guys. 

 

Children of Morta was great. I think you will continue to like it. The family members play differently enough to mix things up if battle gets stale.

3 hours ago, GoldLeader said:

Yeah,  This guy's real annoying!

 

If I'd lost money on this fiasco, Especially after being told my money was refundable at any point in time,  I'd not be quiet about it.   I'd call his ass out the way I'd be calling out IE and TT.

One of the others (Geeks with Cash I think) said they aren't asking questions of IE so they can get work done and get YOU your refund that you've been waiting on. 🤣

 

By that same line of reasoning they and Tommy are the reason that no one has an Amico. Only now, when the truth isn't as easily dismissed, is talking to IE a bad thing. They wanted the attention when they thought they were so special with their heads so far up Tommy's butt. (Wonder if that's why he was holding onto two craps?) 

 

 New merchandise in the Amico store!

[Tommy2D]

19 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Children of Morta was great. I think you will continue to like it. The family members play differently enough to mix things up if battle gets stale.

One of the others (Geeks with Cash I think) said they aren't asking questions of IE so they can get work done and get YOU your refund that you've been waiting on. 🤣

 

Yeah, it seems really promising.  I'm also noodling around with "Jotun: Valhalla Edition". It's another overhead exploration game with impressive visuals.  This one is a bit more like being inside of an 80s animated film.  I snagged it, as a freebie, from Epic Games but it can be picked it up for sub-latte pricing on Steam. 

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/323580/Jotun_Valhalla_Edition/

 

 

[Matt_B]

All three of the Thunder Lotus games are on sale on Steam at the moment. I'd particularly recommend Spiritfarer, but Jotun and Severed are pretty good and very cheap.

 

Despite having similar art styles they all play very differently, so maybe go with the one(s) that fit closest with your taste.

[MrBeefy]

33 minutes ago, Matt_B said:

All three of the Thunder Lotus games are on sale on Steam at the moment. I'd particularly recommend Spiritfarer, but Jotun and Severed are pretty good and very cheap.

 

Despite having similar art styles they all play very differently, so maybe go with the one(s) that fit closest with your taste.

 

1 hour ago, Tommy2D said:

Yeah, it seems really promising.  I'm also noodling around with "Jotun: Valhalla Edition". It's another overhead exploration game with impressive visuals.  This one is a bit more like being inside of an 80s animated film.  I snagged it, as a freebie, from Epic Games but it can be picked it up for sub-latte pricing on Steam. 

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/323580/Jotun_Valhalla_Edition/

When looking at suggestions like these it is pretty obvious to see how dumb of an idea their controller and requirement to shoehorn in it's use was. They should have just made a simplistic controller and direct port as many quality games. Direct ports wouldn't need extra dev time and you could give the devs a bigger cut to offset the "affordable" price range.

 

Then if you want to have a multiplarer focus do that with your in house titles. Not to mention that games like Children of Morta does have multiplayer.

Edited October 11, 2022 by MrBeefy

[Tommy2D]

 

1 hour ago, Matt_B said:

All three of the Thunder Lotus games are on sale on Steam at the moment. I'd particularly recommend Spiritfarer, but Jotun and Severed are pretty good and very cheap.

 

Despite having similar art styles they all play very differently, so maybe go with the one(s) that fit closest with your taste.

Thanks for the heads up.  It's always a good reminder to check to see what else a developer has put out. 

 

"Sundered" looks really good. 

 

41 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

 

When looking at suggestions like these it is pretty obvious to see how dumb of an idea their controller and requirement to shoehorn in it's use was. They should have just made a simplistic controller and direct port as many quality games. Direct ports wouldn't need extra dev time and you could give the devs a bigger cut to offset the "affordable" price range.

 

Then if you want to have a multiplarer focus do that with your in house titles. Not to mention that games like Children of Morta does have multiplayer.

Yeah, the affordable part is tough.  There is such a backlog of quality games that doesn't go away.  In the 80-90s, you would have to hunt around in bargain bins to find 5 year old titles.  If you were lucky, maybe you could order an older PC game from a company's catalogue.   Now, that bargain bin sends out engraved invitations and you don't even have to wait in line. It's really an embarrassment of riches.    

Edited October 11, 2022 by Tommy2D

[MrBeefy]

Anyone see Amico in the stores yesterday?

[Razzie.P]

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

Anyone see Amico in the stores yesterday?

Yeah, I saw one.  We've been friends a while.  I intentionally avoided him though with hopes he wouldn't see me  because I had crap to do and wasn't in the mood to stop for small talk 

[MrBeefy]

2 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

Yeah, I saw one.  We've been friends a while.  I intentionally avoided him though with hopes he wouldn't see me  because I had crap to do and wasn't in the mood to stop for small talk 

I don't think Amico is in the mood to talk either.

[Tommy2D]

It's really easy to dunk on many aspects of the Amico saga but as a wise human once said: "It's all about the games". 

 

If we look back at the E3 video, of all of the games that appeared, which ones would you be genuinely interested in playing and which ones looked truly forgettable? 

 

I thought that: Biplanes, Skiing, Cloudy Mountain, Night Stalker and Astrosmash all looked reasonably good, for updated classic games.  Flash style graphics...sure but that doesn't bother me if the overall aesthetic is cohesive. 

 

Conversely, their version of Missile Command looked awful.  Maybe those cities were just "placeholders" but they honestly looked like low quality jpgs of real cities. On top of that the missile launchers just looked strange and distracting. 

 

[jerseystyle]

10 minutes ago, Tommy2D said:

It's really easy to dunk on many aspects of the Amico saga but as a wise human once said: "It's all about the games". 

 

If we look back at the E3 video, of all of the games that appeared, which ones would you be genuinely interested in playing and which ones looked truly forgettable? 

 

I thought that: Biplanes, Skiing, Cloudy Mountain, Night Stalker and Astrosmash all looked reasonably good, for updated classic games.  Flash style graphics...sure but that doesn't bother me if the overall aesthetic is cohesive. 

 

Conversely, their version of Missile Command looked awful.  Maybe those cities were just "placeholders" but they honestly looked like low quality jpgs of real cities. On top of that the missile launchers just looked strange and distracting. 

 

I liked the look of skiing, night stalker, and Cloudy Mountain. I thought Cornhole looked good until they destroyed it. Also I agree on Missile Command- that looked like garbage, as did Tanks and Shark Shark.

[Rowsdower70]

I'm still here saying that if Cloudy and Night Stalker are complete games, I'll buy them on Steam or whatever.   There seemed to be some legitimate interest in those, so I have to assume they just weren't complete or beyond the hardware's capabilities.  If it is the latter, then there should be no problem releasing them digitally to generate some funds. 

[Tommy2D]

30 minutes ago, Rowsdower70 said:

I'm still here saying that if Cloudy and Night Stalker are complete games, I'll buy them on Steam or whatever.   There seemed to be some legitimate interest in those, so I have to assume they just weren't complete or beyond the hardware's capabilities.  If it is the latter, then there should be no problem releasing them digitally to generate some funds. 

Yup.  I'm in the same camp.  Unless it's a game like Bomb Squad, you would think any Dual-Shock clone controller would be more than sufficient. 

 

 

[Matt_B]

I never bought the argument that more than a handful of games might need the touch screen in the controller. We had an entire generation of that with the Wii U, but it didn't stop most of its big hitters being ported to Switch and playable on the TV with a pro controller. Anything where you do need your own screen could probably be re-worked as a peer-to-peer game for phones/tablets/handhelds too.

 

Anyway, I'm always game for a good retro remake and that aspect of the Amico was what most interested me. I figured that the system probably wouldn't be enough of a success to keep its exclusives for long (and yeah, the reality was far worse than that) so it'd just be a matter of time before they were ported to something more appropriate.

[roots.genoa]

Funnily, I think Shark, Shark looks OK, like a Dreamworks-licensed video game for the Wii or something. The art style is nice although derivative. I really don't like Cloudy Mountain, though; the art direction lacks consistency imho (pixelart characters but "realistic" backgrounds).

 

Night Stalker, Breakout, and Skiing look like good indie games that could be released on Steam and consoles, I think. Especially Night Stalker has a Rez-like kind of vibe that could make it an indie darling, at least if the gameplay doesn't suck.

 

I agree that Missile Command looks terrible. And Finnigan Fox is an insult to Henk Nieborg's original pixelart. It's the video game equivalent of the infamous Christ painting restoration to me.

[Rowsdower70]

2 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

 I really don't like Cloudy Mountain, though; the art direction lacks consistency imho (pixelart characters but "realistic" backgrounds).

 

 

My exact problem with Shark Shark, no consistency.  It just looks like a bunch of random assets tossed into a kiddie pool.   No art "style" whatsoever, just random crap under water.

[digdugnate]

[atarifan88]

23 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

Anyone see Amico in the stores yesterday?

No, but I'm sure the Great Pumpkin will bring me one this year! 😃🤡

[Bill Loguidice]

2 hours ago, Rowsdower70 said:

My exact problem with Shark Shark, no consistency.  It just looks like a bunch of random assets tossed into a kiddie pool.   No art "style" whatsoever, just random crap under water.

I think that's a problem with many games from small shops. With the right mind/skillset, it's relatively easy to work in an engine, create core mechanics, gameplay, etc., these days, but it's obviously something else entirely and/or too expensive to come up with a consistent and premium feeling art style. That of course applies to the animation as well, which, when not done a certain way, can also have a cheap feel to it. Ultimately, I wouldn't care as long as a game is fun to play - which is all I was expecting here - but the art thing was definitely always noticeable and where you can generally see the difference between smaller and larger studios.

[atarifan88]

Since we are talking about games I will say there was too much going on for multiplayers of Missile Command.  The racing games had way too much movement zooming in and out.  It's enough to give you motion sickness and make you puke! 🤮

 

On the other hand if Night Stalker, Cloudy Mountain, or Astrosmash ever get released for the Switch, I'll buy them as they look interesting enough to play.  I do hope they come out at some point.

[MrBeefy]

12 hours ago, digdugnate said:

I don't care if it ever comes out = I want to sweep it under the rug

 

As far as the games go, I think they look fine for budget titles. They do not look worth the price of admission that you would have to pay to then play them. If they came to Switch I'd maybe buy a few if they were below $5.