Intellivision Amico’s trademark changed to ‘abandoned’

[PlaysWithWolves]

31 minutes ago, Rev said:

Bomb Squad looked interesting I guess. 
 

You think it will be ported to Switch and Steam and how will the controls work?   Since it could only of worked on Amico…you know. 

 

Yeah, I've often thought it could've been a showcase game for the Amico.  It had potential to use all of the quirky, expensive and seemingly-unneeded aspects of the console like the LED lights and a controller screen used more than just a button.  Maybe even the 64-point controller disc, if they put enough thought into the game design.

But really, they needed more than just a single game showing off those features and it probably should've been a pack-in.  Imagine getting the NES Deluxe kit with the light gun and R.O.B. and having to buy Duck Hunt and Gyromite separately.

[Cebus Capucinis]

It certainly showcases all that "quirky" controller lag, that's for sure.

[MarioMan88]

We need a “showcase” showdown Price is Right style that pits the former CEO against the Republic/Fig investors…

 

Wouldn’t that be something 😉

Edited October 22, 2022 by MarioMan88

[MrBeefy]

On 10/21/2022 at 2:14 AM, roots.genoa said:

"It has outlived its purpose" 🧐

 

(which is actually kinda true based on its title)

Change it to they don't have the HDMI licensed.

On 10/21/2022 at 8:27 AM, digdugnate said:

What about any of this seems like the professional thing for Intellivision to do?

Dumb magical thinking with any reason being shut out from one's thought. If you have that it all makes sense.

On 10/21/2022 at 8:27 AM, Razzie.P said:

"It's the often imitated, never duplicated..."

 

Who imitates him?  I can't imagine there are many others out there going "I want 10s of views, too!  I gotta imitate this guy..."   But since it happens often, I'm kinda curious to what that looks like.

Ribbit

On 10/21/2022 at 8:34 AM, Razzie.P said:

I'm curious, since most people have determined its over n' done due to lack money - there's no way it's gonna be manufactured, etc etc... what do you think is their "plan," now?

 

They're still hanging in there, for some reason.  They sent these half baked units to youtube guys for some reason.  Doesn't seem like its "to keep a promise," since that requires more integrity than they're given credit for.  It can't be for any sort of marketing, like they're hoping that the 200 views these guys are getting is gonna make such a splash that it'll land a multi-million dollar sucker investor.   I don't think it was cheaper to mail these units to people than to chuck 'em in the dump for pickup.  

 

So what'd ya reckon is the plan?

 

 

To keep limping and hope for some miracle. No need to admit defeat when all the workers are gone and they can still sell/license IPs.

On 10/21/2022 at 10:51 AM, SteveTheColecoDude said:

I don't think they're legally able to officially say that the console isn't happening. The Republic contract stated that they had to produce 100 consoles alone just for them. Then there's the Bavarian grants that also contain similar conditions, that the final product that was funded with the grants must be demonstrated to them for evaluation once it's complete. 

 

Because of that, I don't think they're able to actually say that the console isn't happening. They probably have to keep pretending indefinitely that they're still going ahead, hence the recent DJC and Mike Mullis charade. TBH, after all the incompetence showed, they themselves probably still don't know what they're going to do in the end. 

 

Two-three years ago their planned endgame (fantasy) was that a billion dollar company would buy them, now the endgame will be to hope that they can slink away after everyone forgets about them.

Yup they owe Fig/Republic units. Saying we aren't going to make them will only hurt them and remove the remaining few magical thinkers who still think this will disrupt the industry.

On 10/21/2022 at 11:09 AM, Rowsdower70 said:

While the vast majority of the mouth work (lies) was Tommy, the entire company's mouth wrote a pile of checks and their asses couldn't cash a single one. 

Popcorn is standing by when Sudesh,  Republic/Fig, the German Government, etc etc come knocking. 

A lot of people kept letting him dig the hole. Many idiots ran by a very big idiot means a crap ton of idiocy.

On 10/21/2022 at 12:50 PM, Cebus Capucinis said:

Not to mention the FCC certs. 

HDMI licenses too.

23 hours ago, MattPilz said:

Two of the pillar selling points for Amico has been exclusivity and affordability. But if they will be porting their most anticipated IPs to platforms that already have hundreds of millions of users, and if their own console is now comparable in cost to the Switch, I'm not sure what the draw would be for any consumer to buy an Amico. I have not seen very much in terms of how Amico is "safer" than other consoles either, beyond having less games available. Switch has an entire app that parents can use to control precisely what games and content is accessible to users of the Switch (and includes analytics on how much time they spend on the Switch etc). PS5 has an entire family management section with parental controls and per-user access levels.

 

 

It's safer by having people take pictures of your kids and threaten other people that they will show them.

 

Amico: Love Use or We Will Stalk Your Kids

 

You can ask @Swami as he was probably one of the guys (or knows) threatening to show pictures of my kid to that SteamPowered guy on reddit because he thought it was me.

6 hours ago, Rev said:

Bomb Squad looked interesting I guess. 
 

You think it will be ported to Switch and Steam and how will the controls work?   Since it could only of worked on Amico…you know. 

I don't think it will stand out without the special controller. I'm not sure it would have with the controller but it was at least a game to justify that Homer cars existence.

 

You will probably just bring up a menu to read the manual and highlight the wires to cut and such.

2 hours ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

It certainly showcases all that "quirky" controller lag, that's for sure.

I love how they clipped all that footage to make it seem like it worked fine, yet it still had that lag.

[MrBeefy]

Good video with numbers.

 

[Razzie.P]

21 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

Ribbit

 

I don't get it.  Does the dude actually say "ribbit" during those?  Like a catchphrase or something?

[Flojomojo]

On 10/22/2022 at 11:39 AM, Cebus Capucinis said:

It certainly showcases all that "quirky" controller lag, that's for sure.

I like “Wollmilchsau” — a mythical animal that provides wool and milk and meat in a way that pleases everyone. Amico! 

https://www.heise.de/tests/Intellivision-Amico-ausprobiert-Die-Konsole-mit-dem-Wollmilchsau-Controller-6264423.html

[Flojomojo]

4 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

I don't get it.  Does the dude actually say "ribbit" during those?  Like a catchphrase or something?

No it’s because people say he sounds like Kermit the Frog. (Seriously!) 

[+GoldLeader]

4 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

I don't get it.  Does the dude actually say "ribbit" during those?  Like a catchphrase or something?

 

All I know is,,,Dude has Over 39 likes!  Probably well on his way to double digit subscribers,  man!

[MrBeefy]

3 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

No it’s because people say he sounds like Kermit the Frog. (Seriously!) 

Yup. I think DJC was also calling him a macaroni muppet at one point.

 

So does anyone think all this "testing" going on will find something to yet excuse a delay in the Amico?

 

Beyond the lack of money, certs, licenses, and possible EOL parts, of course.

[mr_me]

They've been in an indefinite delay for a while now.  They've only talked about doing the pilot production run of test units.  From the investor disclosure they shared earlier this year, financing mass production was a question mark.

[Rev]

12 hours ago, mr_me said:

They've been in an indefinite delay for a while now.  They've only talked about doing the pilot production run of test units.  From the investor disclosure they shared earlier this year, financing mass production was a question mark.

Where is the official communication/source that Amico is in “indefinite delay”?

 

The last official newsletter made no mention of indefinite delay. As far as I can tell from this email, Amico is on the launch pad. 

 

 

 

 

Greetings,   This is Phil Adam, CEO of Intellivision. I had planned to respond sooner with the company status, but the team has been working through some production pipeline bugs that have delayed this update. As I've stated previously, updates from myself will be made when material facts are available and relevant. That being said, here are a few updates. 1. One of the primary goals for the small pilot run was to uncover any issues in the production pipeline before starting a larger production run. Fortunately, we did catch one significant problem. Diagnosing this issue and implementing a solution was a significant effort and caused a delay. The symptoms pointed to a bug in the controller firmware, but that was not the case. The problem was an order-of-operations issue when provisioning the console on the production line with its unique identifiers and security keys. The error manifested on the next reboot in a way that looked like a controller bug.  With that resolved, the path is clear to finish the pilot run in the next few weeks. 2. We signed a licensing deal with BBG Entertainment GmbH, the details of which will be announced later. Here is a quote from Stephan Berendsen, Managing Director: "We are very pleased to have licensed four Amico games and the original game versions from Intellivision. For the past three years we have been working with Intellivision on the development of our games DYNABLASTER and BRAINDUEL for Amico. We are excited about Amico and hope that customers will be as well. We are looking forward to offering the four licensed Amico games and original Intellivision versions on other platforms soon.” 3. We have another partnership deal that will ensure that 2 of our most anticipated IPs will be available across multiple platforms as well as Amico. The details of that relationship will be announced at a later time. The target for these IPs is simultaneously (or later) with the Amico release.   Given that we will have a limited number of Amico units initially, these partnerships will get the games into more hands who have been waiting to play while helping get the word out to a larger audience. As stated above, we are doing everything we can to make sure that we have a stable system before starting production. That is a key milestone in moving forward. I would like to thank you again for your support, and thank you to our internal team and external developers that work tirelessly to create a family gaming experience on Amico that brings people of different ages and skills together in group play.   Phil Adam, CEO

[mr_me]

As I said, in the company's investor disclosure shared earlier this year it was shared that they did not have the financing in place for mass production.  The updates since then, like the example above, only talks about doing the pilot production run.

[+GoldLeader]

I do find it interesting.

 

On this board, I would say across the board (heh),  we describe the Amico as   DEAD,  STALLED,  or (shout out to mr_me) on INDEFINITE DELAY.

 

These are 3 ways,  with perhaps different levels of optimism,  of saying the same thing.  There are other words;  On Hiatus, Postoned, ...  m a y b e  On the launchpad (but not going anywhere)...

 

Yet,

 

The CEO Only talks in terms of making a stable system, "before starting production".

 

While I couldn't tell you whether this is a calculated move or simply a stalling tactic...and (personally) I doubt the money necessary will appear,  but given that the other things being mentioned are game releases and licensing of IPs...

 

I wonder if they will make a last ditch effort to take any profits,  from game releases and licensing deals, etc.,  to Fund actual Production?*

 

 

 

*Or at least make good on their promise of refunds "available at any time"

 

 

 

[jerseystyle]

1 hour ago, GoldLeader said:

I do find it interesting.

 

On this board, I would say across the board (heh),  we describe the Amico as   DEAD,  STALLED,  or (shout out to mr_me) on INDEFINITE DELAY.

 

These are 3 ways,  with perhaps different levels of optimism,  of saying the same thing.  There are other words;  On Hiatus, Postoned, ...  m a y b e  On the launchpad (but not going anywhere)...

 

Yet,

 

The CEO Only talks in terms of making a stable system, "before starting production".

 

While I couldn't tell you whether this is a calculated move or simply a stalling tactic...and (personally) I doubt the money necessary will appear,  but given that the other things being mentioned are game releases and licensing of IPs...

 

I wonder if they will make a last ditch effort to take any profits,  from game releases and licensing deals, etc.,  to Fund actual Production?*

 

 

 

*Or at least make good on their promise of refunds "available at any time"

 

 

 

[SteveTheColecoDude]

It's all stalling. The next time Phil speaks in a few months, he'll say that the "testing" that DJC and Mike Mullis did produced some great feedback, and they will use that to make the system even better. He'll probably also say that some bugs were found during this "testing", and that's why they still are unable to manufacturer any yet. He'll then say they are aiming to release the initial units by the end of the year, and this Groundhog Day tedium will continue.

[jerseystyle]

On 10/22/2022 at 4:45 AM, PlaysWithWolves said:

 

Yeah, I've often thought it could've been a showcase game for the Amico.  It had potential to use all of the quirky, expensive and seemingly-unneeded aspects of the console like the LED lights and a controller screen used more than just a button.  Maybe even the 64-point controller disc, if they put enough thought into the game design.

But really, they needed more than just a single game showing off those features and it probably should've been a pack-in.  Imagine getting the NES Deluxe kit with the light gun and R.O.B. and having to buy Duck Hunt and Gyromite separately.

Yeah except in that demo it looked like GARBAGE. What a let down. 

[Matt_B]

7 hours ago, mr_me said:

As I said, in the company's investor disclosure shared earlier this year it was shared that they did not have the financing in place for mass production.  The updates since then, like the example above, only talks about doing the pilot production run.

Let's not forget that that disclosure also stated that they needed another $5 million to keep operating for the rest of the year.

 

Seeing as they didn't get a cent of that, it'd seem reasonable that they're no longer operating. They're just another business running out of someone's garage now, with the added problem of financial liabilities that are going to come knocking sooner or later.

[mr_me]

It did say $5M would operate the company for seven to nine months, it also said it was looking for $10M total that round, and they already raised $1.6M of that.  In an update later that summer they said: "We have dramatically reined in operating costs, which unfortunately required a significant reduction in staff. Our resources are focused on engineering and testing to ensure we have a quality system, as we cannot succeed by producing anything less."  

 

While much of their loans are from their own board members, all of whom also have equity in the company, there are some external loans due at the end of this year.  So we'll see what happens then.

 

 

 

 

[MrBeefy]

3 hours ago, GoldLeader said:

I do find it interesting.

 

On this board, I would say across the board (heh),  we describe the Amico as   DEAD,  STALLED,  or (shout out to mr_me) on INDEFINITE DELAY.

 

These are 3 ways,  with perhaps different levels of optimism,  of saying the same thing.  There are other words;  On Hiatus, Postoned, ...  m a y b e  On the launchpad (but not going anywhere)...

 

Yet,

 

The CEO Only talks in terms of making a stable system, "before starting production".

 

While I couldn't tell you whether this is a calculated move or simply a stalling tactic...and (personally) I doubt the money necessary will appear,  but given that the other things being mentioned are game releases and licensing of IPs...

 

I wonder if they will make a last ditch effort to take any profits,  from game releases and licensing deals, etc.,  to Fund actual Production?*

 

 

 

*Or at least make good on their promise of refunds "available at any time"

 

 

 

Really it's either DOA or DIINA (dead if it never arrives). Same long term result. This will have no impact in gaming and will not be a success. It was an iffy idea at best, ran by an incompetent group.

2 hours ago, SteveTheColecoDude said:

It's all stalling. The next time Phil speaks in a few months, he'll say that the "testing" that DJC and Mike Mullis did produced some great feedback, and they will use that to make the system even better. He'll probably also say that some bugs were found during this "testing", and that's why they still are unable to manufacturer any yet. He'll then say they are aiming to release the initial units by the end of the year, and this Groundhog Day tedium will continue.

I think they have been stalling for a long time and will continue to do so. I think they will continue to try and get enough units made to keep them out of any potential legal issues. They will use some of the licensing money to make some units.

 

Once they hit that comfy zone of not thinking they are in the clear then they may kill the project officially.

 

There are still people saying they haven't received their completely 100% refundable at anytime preorder money.

1 hour ago, jerseystyle said:

Yeah except in that demo it looked like GARBAGE. What a let down. 

I think the footage of the gameplay was quite funny. You could hear the frustration from the dev as to how much of a POS the controller was. It was a busted piece of junk that didn't work. That controller is the albatross of the project. Not every console is going to ship with a Tommy to fix the controller orientation.

19 minutes ago, Matt_B said:

Let's not forget that that disclosure also stated that they needed another $5 million to keep operating for the rest of the year.

 

Seeing as they didn't get a cent of that, it'd seem reasonable that they're no longer operating. They're just another business running out of someone's garage now, with the added problem of financial liabilities that are going to come knocking sooner or later.

Stop with the MISINFORMATION. I have it on good authority that they operate out of a really nice UPS store.

 

The company is a joke. There are still some employees talking about haters which shows their lack of self awareness. The only people to blame is themselves and their hubris, blind devotion, and incompetence.

 

There have never been haters. Just a company trying to distract anyone from noticing they are incompetent.

 

[rayik]

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

There have never been haters. Just a company trying to distract anyone from noticing they are incompetent.

 

 

Well said !!

[MattPilz]

I keep going back to this blurb from their August 6, 2021 update:

Quote

In spite of these supply hurdles hampering our ability to fill all orders, we are focused and determined to deliver pre-ordered units by the end of the year. This will also allow us more time to optimize our operating system for future game development. We want to ensure that those who have anticipated the Amico for so long, get a chance to enjoy it as soon as possible. Of course, we will keep all of our customers and interested parties informed and updated on our continued progress. 

By the way that was written, the delay was purely a chip shortage matter and they were going to use the extra time to enhance and optimize their otherwise completed product. They said the shortage would prevent them from getting all orders out in 2021 but were determined to at least ship the pre-order units during 2021. Months later Tommy told a Best Buy rep (blogged here) that he'd anticipate units would be available in retailers like Best Buy by Q1 2022. So even in Oct-Nov 2021 it was still being marketed as a fully completed product just awaiting some hardware for manufacturing for mass production.

 

This is why I'm not following how an entire year later it is now just being sent out for some pre-prod testing to very few select users. If I had one question to ask Intellivision it'd be what their progress and setbacks were between June 2021 and June 2022 that precluded them from getting any units out. In my opinion it was not nearly as far as long in 2021 as what was promoted in the media.

[Wayler]

8 hours ago, SteveTheColecoDude said:

It's all stalling. The next time Phil speaks in a few months, he'll say that the "testing" that DJC and Mike Mullis did produced some great feedback, and they will use that to make the system even better. He'll probably also say that some bugs were found during this "testing", and that's why they still are unable to manufacturer any yet. He'll then say they are aiming to release the initial units by the end of the year, and this Groundhog Day tedium will continue.

If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, it's a few more weeks till Amico!

 

[mr_me]

4 hours ago, MattPilz said:

I keep going back to this blurb from their August 6, 2021 update:

By the way that was written, the delay was purely a chip shortage matter and they were going to use the extra time to enhance and optimize their otherwise completed product. They said the shortage would prevent them from getting all orders out in 2021 but were determined to at least ship the pre-order units during 2021. Months later Tommy told a Best Buy rep (blogged here) that he'd anticipate units would be available in retailers like Best Buy by Q1 2022. So even in Oct-Nov 2021 it was still being marketed as a fully completed product just awaiting some hardware for manufacturing for mass production.

 

This is why I'm not following how an entire year later it is now just being sent out for some pre-prod testing to very few select users. If I had one question to ask Intellivision it'd be what their progress and setbacks were between June 2021 and June 2022 that precluded them from getting any units out. In my opinion it was not nearly as far as long in 2021 as what was promoted in the media.

A couple of things that we know.  The CEO changed after that. The manufacturing loan they received late last year would have been enough for two or three thousand units, maybe more. They did not have financing in place to supply retailers, they were working on it. The former CEO may have been prepared to ship a small number of units without worrying about profit/loss. The new CEO talked about production costs being high.  Chip shortages were not just about supply, it had an impact on their costs. The new CEO also said they don't just want to get a few units out and not be able to address retail.

[Wayler]

1 hour ago, mr_me said:

A couple of things that we know.  The CEO changed after that. The manufacturing loan they received late last year would have been enough for two or three thousand units, maybe more. They did not have financing in place to supply retailers, they were working on it. The former CEO may have been prepared to ship a small number of units without worrying about profit/loss. The new CEO talked about production costs being high.  Chip shortages were not just about supply, it had an impact on their costs. The new CEO also said they don't just want to get a few units out and not be able to address retail.

That is about the most roundabout way of saying the former CEO was full of excrement but I'm glad you finally reached that conclusion.