Intellivision Amico’s trademark changed to ‘abandoned’

[Steven Pendleton]

Almost every 2D game on the Saturn/ST-V, Neo Geo, Toaplan V1, Toaplan V2, or Taito F3 looks better than everything that's been shown on Amico.

[atarifan88]

On 2/14/2023 at 11:12 PM, Flojomojo said:

He’s a maverick! He doesn’t need rules! He’s doing things differently, shaking things up, the “gamer CEO” the Intellivision legacy deserves! I think some of the followers sincerely believed what he was saying, and thought he was the chosen one. 

 

It’s especially funny looking back at old Jay’s posts where he took shots at Retro VGS, Coleco Chameleon, and Atari VCS, which were just minor league versions of the Amico debacle. 

Tommy's business plan:

[SparkTR]

The issue with console projects like these is that good games, regardless if they're retro inspired or not, cost significant money to develop these days. And especially for retro inspired products, the market for them is on Steam/PSN/XBL/Switch. A new console will never attract marketshare comparable to these behemoths and thus never attract the development talent. And the truth is why should it? The current gen aforementioned platforms cover literally all the use cases a gamer could want these days, even lapsed older gamers nostalgic about the good old days will find them a million times more intuitive to use than whatever cheap experience these scam boxes will churn out.

Edited February 16, 2023 by SparkTR

[atarifan88]

On 2/15/2023 at 12:18 AM, Rev said:

Surely 2023 is the year Amico either releases or cancelled.  Cant see it being dragged out into 2024. 
 

2018-2023

 

Amico is already 5 years old. That is an entire video game generation. Another Guinness World Record. 
 

2024: Amico 2 announcement with 2019 cell phone tech.

It's funny when you look back at it. In five years Atari & Intellivision gave us some great games that we still love to play today. In five years Amico gave us... empty boxes and DRAMA!

Edited February 16, 2023 by atarifan88

[number6]

On 2/14/2023 at 11:32 AM, Flojomojo said:

Thanks for re-linking that post, I think you're absolutely right, what they DO is a lot more important than what they SAY. We know that the nonsense that Tallarico was spewing on here was worthless, but the official filings speak with a lot more clarity than he ever could. 

 

I do not need to tell you this, since you "get it". But with more recent events I'll have to say speculation based on facts is one thing. Speculation based on getting the "foundation" of facts wrong is not going to lead to any reasonable deduction or plausible theory.

So, for those reporting Intellivision Entertainment LLC is dissolved...please read current status. If you don't understand what that means, simply google the terms that are unknown to you. The LLC in question is suspended, not dissolved.

Quote

When a California LLC is suspended, the LLC has lost all its rights and privileges and cannot legally operate until the California LLC has been revived

As I stated prior, they can however defend themselves.

In addition please read about the new corporation in Delaware again and which LLC entered into agreement. Clue: It was -not- Intellivision Entertainment LLC.

 

Good luck everyone.

 

Reference repeat for corporate status of Intellivision Entertainment LLC

Repeat of link concerning who is dealing with Delaware

 

#6

[Tommy2D]

8 hours ago, brownie said:

So for me a dream console should be retro, but with a more elegant looking games, inspired by some indie games, or by some other universes (comic books, Ghibli films, vector design...)

Maybe another console will come along that fits your checklist but I doubt it.  Games like you describe are going to be on all platforms or exclusive to a major one (more so with Nintendo). Unless we're talking about specific features like: HDR, Ray Tracing or Dolby Atmos, etc., modern systems generally perform about the same.  We're past the era where certain games would fit better on a system because of its sound card or how many sprites it could handle.  

 

If a game is good, it's going to be multi-platform unless the console company owns the IP (or pays a ton of money to have an exclusive). 

 

If you want to get back into gaming, I'd suggest PC as the easiest way to find zillions of inexpensive or sometimes free games.  There's genuine competition between the PC-based gaming platforms (Steam, EPIC, Good old Games, etc.) and EPIC gives away a free game, every week.  It isn't all first-person shooters, either.  There are tons of retro-style games, some of them are very well made!

 

If you want a true "console" experience, then I'd check to see if any of the big 3 have exclusives that look good to you.  Then try out their controllers and see which one appeals to you.  Personally, I strongly prefer Sony's Dual Shock analog stick configuration over Xbox/Nintendo.  

 

Good Luck!

 

 

[MattPilz]

7 hours ago, SparkTR said:

A new console will never attract marketshare comparable to these behemoths and thus never attract the development talent.

The only real leverage Amico ever had was the original price point. $149-$179 for the console with two controllers, and $3-$8 for every game.

 

But now they would officially cost $340 for the base two-controller Amico. Or, alternatively:

 

• 2021 Xbox Series S 512GB - $259
• 2022 Xbox Series X Glided Hunter Bundle - $298
• Nintendo Switch with Blue/Red Joy-Con - $299
• Nintendo Switch OLED - $340 ($289 Used)
• PlayStation 4 500GB - $265 ($335 for 1TB)
• PlayStation 5 Digital Edition - $399

So it was rather disingenuous for Intellivision to suggest most modern consoles cost $500+ but it was the best they could do I guess to somehow make their own revised $300+ price point seem reasonable.

 

[roots.genoa]

8 hours ago, atarifan88 said:

Tommy's business plan:

Tommy actually posted that GIF at least twice in the Q&A thread 🙂

[Hwlngmad]

1 hour ago, MattPilz said:

The only real leverage Amico ever had was the original price point. $149-$179 for the console with two controllers, and $3-$8 for every game.

 

Don't forget it was supposed to preloaded with a lot of the classic Intellivision games too in addition to the new games costing between $3 to $8.  TT and the Amico was why we never got a INTV Flashback 2 from AtGames.

[Rowsdower70]

54 minutes ago, Hwlngmad said:

 TT and the Amico was why we never got a INTV Flashback 2 from AtGames.

I think this has been debunked here before by someone with ties to AtGames, there was no INTV or Colecovision flashback 2 because they didn't sell well. 

[Flojomojo]

10 hours ago, atarifan88 said:

It's funny when you look back at it. In five years Atari & Intellivision gave us some great games that we still love to play today. In five years Amico gave us... empty boxes and DRAMA!

Very SLOW MOVING drama, at that! 

 

1 hour ago, Rowsdower70 said:

I think this has been debunked here before by someone with ties to AtGames, there was no INTV or Colecovision flashback 2 because they didn't sell well. 

It’s really a shame that the terrible NOAC plug-and-play Intellivision toys sold well enough to get multiple editions, but the better-than-average Intellivision Flashback had no legs.

[Rev]

MSN news, major news site. the real marketing has begun. 
 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/earthworm-jim-4-has-reportedly-been-cancelled/ar-AA17ilOa

[Pink]

4 hours ago, Rowsdower70 said:

I think this has been debunked here before by someone with ties to AtGames, there was no INTV or Colecovision flashback 2 because they didn't sell well. 

I remember talking about it earlier in this thread and the Flojomojo tagged Bill and asked him. I dug it up and found it and the old posts are below.

On 9/1/2022 at 7:46 PM, Flojomojo said:

That doesn’t make much sense to me. @Bill Loguidice can you share why there was never another Colecovision or Intellivision Flashback from AtGames? I thought it was because of lackluster sales of anything except for their Sega and Atari plug and plays. 

 

On 9/2/2022 at 9:31 AM, Bill Loguidice said:

There's a bit more to it than that that I really can't get into, but at its simplest, yes, they didn't sell in the way retailers expected. 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Pink

[rayik]

TT threatens to leave

 

...  jaybird apologizes

 

... and 5 posts later, TT is staying

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by rayik

[Tommy2D]

5 minutes ago, rayik said:

...  jaybird apologizes

 

I guess that Mods don't have any duty to be neutral, when it comes to expressing their enthusiasm for a project, but he really didn't hold anything back.

 

 

 

[roots.genoa]

4 hours ago, rayik said:

... and 5 posts later, TT is staying

Imagine what would have happened if he didn't stay. Wouldn't that be something™️?

[atarifan88]

16 hours ago, MattPilz said:

The only real leverage Amico ever had was the original price point. $149-$179 for the console with two controllers, and $3-$8 for every game.

 

But now they would officially cost $340 for the base two-controller Amico. Or, alternatively:

 

• 2021 Xbox Series S 512GB - $259
• 2022 Xbox Series X Glided Hunter Bundle - $298
• Nintendo Switch with Blue/Red Joy-Con - $299
• Nintendo Switch OLED - $340 ($289 Used)
• PlayStation 4 500GB - $265 ($335 for 1TB)
• PlayStation 5 Digital Edition - $399

So it was rather disingenuous for Intellivision to suggest most modern consoles cost $500+ but it was the best they could do I guess to somehow make their own revised $300+ price point seem reasonable.

 

So to them I say...

[atarifan88]

9 hours ago, rayik said:

TT threatens to leave

 

...  jaybird apologizes

 

... and 5 posts later, TT is staying

 

 

I didn't read all of that garbage, but I can summarize it in one picture...

[Rowsdower70]

12 hours ago, Rev said:

MSN news, major news site. the real marketing has begun. 
 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/earthworm-jim-4-has-reportedly-been-cancelled/ar-AA17ilOa

Vaporware?   How dare Microsoft!   Buncha gaming racist gatekeepers. 

[Flojomojo]

13 hours ago, Rev said:

MSN news, major news site. the real marketing has begun. 
 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/earthworm-jim-4-has-reportedly-been-cancelled/ar-AA17ilOa

That's funny -- even though it's the same Sean Murray story from "The Gamer," just syndicated through MSN. 

 

The dead video links are a bad look. Now that ordinary people are finally embracing reality and calling out Amico as vaporware, many of the enthusiastic shills are covering their tracks and pretending they weren't banging the drum for Tommy Tallarico and his Amazing Footbath. 

 

 

It's fine to make a mistake, and I think people should be allowed to be forgotten, but some of these Amico shills were very aggressive and vocal, not only in their support, but in the way they put down and attacked anyone with a skeptical opinion about the thing. 

[Bill Loguidice]

15 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

Very SLOW MOVING drama, at that! 

 

It’s really a shame that the terrible NOAC plug-and-play Intellivision toys sold well enough to get multiple editions, but the better-than-average Intellivision Flashback had no legs.

We have to also consider the time when these things were released and the price points. Now, there's a vanishingly small market for most plug and plays, but when those weird Intellivision NOACs were released, circa 2003, it was heading into one of the high points. Timing, as they say, is everything. I suspect the only plug and play that can ever have big time success again, meaning available widely at retail stores and actually purchased outside of clearance, would be something from Nintendo. And considering how they're pushing first party emulation for all of their past platforms (OK, most) on Switch, they may not bother going that route again with something like a plug and play N64.

 

We also have to consider that as much as we have nostalgia for and love classic Intellivision and ColecoVision stuff, for the average person, those two platforms are at best a fleeting memory. Intellivison has fared a bit better in that regard because the rights holders have done a better job of keeping the brand and its games as much in the spotlight as possible over the years (within their extremely modest means), but it's still telling that the Amico, as much as people and the company behind it wanted to associate it with Intellivision, there actually was surprisingly little direct purposeful connections made. In other words, the branding was more Amico and other things (family first, etc.) than Intellivision. Contrast that to something like the modern VCS and Atari riding the Atari name, branding, association, etc., hard. It didn't work out for them either, but again, it says something about the relative power of the names how one would take that approach and the other wouldn't. It just wouldn't have worked for the Amico.

 

That's actually something I had to learn myself quite a number of years ago as well. Basically, the things I'm fond of pop culture wise or have knowledge of or interest in may not translate in any way to what others are fond of or have knowledge of. I know I've been approached multiple times about a 3DO plug and play, and I know others have tried to push the idea of a Jaguar plug and play, but in both cases, even with the novelty factor of "failed" consoles and platform notoriety with a certain population, there's zero wider interest, particularly since there wouldn't be enough cornerstone games to license to anchor either product. Of course, either product could be realized in the same way that The64 and The500 have been realized, i.e., in reasonable numbers and targeted to a very specific audience that would guarantee sufficient sales, but that's rarely the plan behind these pipe dreams.

[Flojomojo]

26 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said:

We have to also consider the time when these things were released and the price points. Now, there's a vanishingly small market for most plug and plays, but when those weird Intellivision NOACs were released, circa 2003, it was heading into one of the high points. Timing, as they say, is everything.

Very true. Just to add a little more detail: I remember the "2nd edition" (red and black version), which I bought for $12.99 direct from Intellivision Productions, and it took a long time for them to fulfill the order. When it finally arrived, it had audio and video technical problems, so it wasn't even worth the modest price. This was Fall 2006, a year before the first iPhone, two years before the App Store, and many years before the age of cheap smartphones, tablets. 

 

The Nintendo DS release of "Intellivision Lives" was interesting at the time, but like you say, it was a long time ago, and targeted to a tiny niche audience. 

 

Found this in my email. Both Keith and Curt are missed. 

 

[Flojomojo]

BTW Intellivision Lives for Nintendo DS wouldn't see a commercial release until Fall 2010. Some small companies move slowly. 

 

https://www.nintendolife.com/games/ds/intellivision_lives

[Rev]

3 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

Very true. Just to add a little more detail: I remember the "2nd edition" (red and black version), which I bought for $12.99 direct from Intellivision Productions, and it took a long time for them to fulfill the order. When it finally arrived, it had audio and video technical problems, so it wasn't even worth the modest price. This was Fall 2006, a year before the first iPhone, two years before the App Store, and many years before the age of cheap smartphones, tablets. 

 

The Nintendo DS release of "Intellivision Lives" was interesting at the time, but like you say, it was a long time ago, and targeted to a tiny niche audience. 

 

Found this in my email. Both Keith and Curt are missed. 

 

From what I have seen Keith was always polite, non combative, not a liar, charismatic, not a charlatan, etc etc.    A good man. 
 

Unlike the management team of Intellivision the past few years running the Good name of Intellivision into the ground. 
 

I look forward to possible redemption long after the Amico is over. But alot of changes likely have to occur. 
 

1. Up Front honesty.

2. No more crowdfunding.

3. An official heart felt apology. 
4. Bare minimum refund the fans preorder deposits.
5. A clear stated vision for the future of the Intellivision brand (if there even is one)

6. No more social media, video apps, forums with crazed rants filled with name calling and correcting “misinformation” a.k.a peoples opinions. 
 

[roots.genoa]

6 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

BTW Intellivision Lives for Nintendo DS wouldn't see a commercial release until Fall 2010. Some small companies move slowly. 

 

https://www.nintendolife.com/games/ds/intellivision_lives

And it was never released outside the US, unfortunately