Intellivision Amico’s trademark changed to ‘abandoned’

[Matt_B]

Color a Dinosaur Escape is the crossover that has to happen.

[MrBeefy]

Just now, Razzie.P said:

<whoever created that Dinosaur game> is a close, personal friend of his, and they're already in talks to make it happen.  

 

or... Wouldn't That Be Something

They have a better version that tested OFF THE CHARTS with mothers. It is called MONEYBAGS ESCAPE.

 

Mom's find dinosaurs scary according to their DATA, but they love Tommy's charisma as he runs off with crowdfunding moneybags to go play backgammon while not work on making Amico happen.

[MrBeefy]

22 minutes ago, Matt_B said:

Color a Dinosaur Escape is the crossover that has to happen.

I mean I could hand Jr Beefy a crayon to color on the board.

 

I'm sure this isn't what you had in mind but here you go.

 

Edit: the video won't last. I don't want to sully the Beefy Bites channel.

Edited March 9, 2023 by MrBeefy

[MattPilz]

16 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

The whole swearing on his sister's grave there was no lag when ylthe naked eye could see it was extra cringe too.

When IGN Middle East played Amico in May 2021 (under guidance from Sumeet Aggarwal) they observed controller lag and issues. This was seven months after the first missed launch date. This was blamed on old firmware, which makes one wonder why they wouldn't had updated the controller firmware before allowing one of the only media outlets ever to test it in the first place. "According to the local representative, the controller featured an older version of firmware and because of it didn't feel quite as responsive to the touch."

 

Someone on Reddit asked Tommy if he was willing to apologize and admit fault, and he claimed the controller was 7 firmware builds behind and 3 on the console itself. Again, I find it strange they would let such an outdated build be tested by IGN.

 

Tommy on Reddit:

Quote

 

I'm still waiting for all the apologies about you lying about my career in hopes to get a few more dozen clicks on your YouTube channel.

 

I may as well post this here as well...

 

They were on an older version of the controller and they were playing an older build of Astrosmash. And after checking with Sumeet, they are 3 firmware builds behind on the hardware and 7 firmware builds behind on the controller.

 

As they stated in the article, they played 2 games. Astrosmash and Shark! Shark! and only felt lag on the touchscreen (which proves the point that what you have been saying about any disc lag is incorrect). Shark! Shark! doesn't use a touchscreen during gameplay and Astrosmash only uses the touchscreen for Hyperspace and to turn on/off Auto-Fire. Sometimes if the screen graphic and controller position isn't locked correctly (there are multiple versions of our controller firmware being updated weekly) then it could happen that if you touch the screen it doesn't react perfectly. This is something that is obviously already fixed. Moon Patrol is a perfect example where the jump button in the entire screen and it works beautifully and perfectly. Even Astrosmash has been played by many people who have reported zero screen lag.

 

So yes... that version of the game that is 6 month from release and controller firmware that isn't 100% complete caused the player to experience an issue with the controller and that particular build/version of the game. And for that moment in time... there was. Not a big deal. Has already been fixed and will be explained to the author of the article.

 

 

A couple other observations from his response. He attacks the poster for "lying about my career in hopes to get a few more dozen clicks" but given the many different realizations about Tommy's career since then as summarized in the HBomberguy video compilation (5.8M views), well... That attack didn't age well. Also the fact that two of their flagship games (Shark Shark! and Astrosmash) don't actually use the touch screen for anything other than an action button if that, really undersells what was once talked about as such an exclusive and important part of the controller.

 

Edited March 9, 2023 by MattPilz

[MrBeefy]

4 hours ago, MattPilz said:

When IGN Middle East played Amico in May 2021 (under guidance from Sumeet Aggarwal) they observed controller lag and issues. This was seven months after the first missed launch date. This was blamed on old firmware, which makes one wonder why they wouldn't had updated the controller firmware before allowing one of the only media outlets ever to test it in the first place. "According to the local representative, the controller featured an older version of firmware and because of it didn't feel quite as responsive to the touch."

 

Someone on Reddit asked Tommy if he was willing to apologize and admit fault, and he claimed the controller was 7 firmware builds behind and 3 on the console itself. Again, I find it strange they would let such an outdated build be tested by IGN.

 

Tommy on Reddit:

 

A couple other observations from his response. He attacks the poster for "lying about my career in hopes to get a few more dozen clicks" but given the many different realizations about Tommy's career since then as summarized in the HBomberguy video compilation (5.8M views), well... That attack didn't age well. Also the fact that two of their flagship games (Shark Shark! and Astrosmash) don't actually use the touch screen for anything other than an action button if that, really undersells what was once talked about as such an exclusive and important part of the controller.

 

If it was behind in firmware, that is just more evidence they had zero working backend. If their backend was working they could have pushed updates out to the consoles. From reports of how certain consoles were used on certain games at their get together, it is reasonable to assume that none of them were the same build.

 

Really all actual forward momentum of this console being developed halted at the end of 2019 to early 2020. Which is the time frame the investor pulled out.

 

I think they really started to try and cut corners the wrong way instead of running on a skeleton crew to get the actual thing working. Instead they added employees, offices, and started to use other platforms to get stuff to try and finish games.

 

They were telling people they'd give them $50 or $500 (drawing a blank as to which it was at the moment) bucks if they liked their music enough to use in an Amico game. Some people won it, but never got paid. I'd love to hear more about this from nurmix after his NDA is up. I know his name was on the emails that went out to those individuals. Basically that was Intellivision telling people they would pay them in exposure.

 

They blew stupid amounts of money on licenses and not making the console run for production. They added offices and dead weight when they needed specialized people making the console function. They spent money on licenses for games that probably hadn't been started, or blew $100,000 on mobile ports that were already done. Yet they tried cheaping out on composers for new games. Which the games could also be seen as a total waste of money since they had no working console (i.e. Bomb Squad). They spent money on employees to astroturf online instead of making the console work.

 

Tommy and Intellivision weren't Rocky. They were Creed taking on Drago, and much like that movie, no one on the team was smart enough to know to throw in the towel.

 

They got all Apollo Creed up in this bitch.

Edited March 10, 2023 by MrBeefy

[Matt_B]

If you're demonstrating software that's not the latest build, you're probably doing so in the knowledge that the newer versions introduced more bugs than they fixed. 😀

 

Also, seven builds isn't necessary a lot of extra development; I've pushed more than that in a day on some projects.

 

I suspect that Sumeet went rogue when he gave games journalists who weren't shills access to the system. That's something that definitely wasn't happening with their US and European operations.

[Creamhoven]

Reading this thread I understand there is alot of negativity around the amico. What could be done to clean up the image of the amico and give the discourse around the amico more positivity?

[Wayler]

[MrBeefy]

1 hour ago, Creamhoven said:

Reading this thread I understand there is alot of negativity around the amico. What could be done to clean up the image of the amico and give the discourse around the amico more positivity?

Stop lying.

Them be more competent.

Give back refunds.

 

Really they pissed away all goodwill they had and ruined the name. Only way I see the name being better is if they sell to someone who isn't an idiot who can do something with the old IPs like Atari is doing with theirs.

 

Amico being positive is a no go at this point. They would need to make the consoles. Which they won't do because even Phil has said they won't manufacture a small number. But even if they did produce some, they still wouldn't deliver on all the promises. It is an overpriced and underpowered android box plug n play.

 

It isn't negativity it is the reality of the situation they have put themselves in. Phil is spending time in Sweden enjoying retirement, and Tommy is traveling and playing backgammon. They aren't working on the console.

 

The only reason it isn't officially dead is that they still have idiots that will hold out until they die, thinking things are being done, AND there is zero benefit to them saying Amico is dead. If they announce that the project is dead they remove the last few sheep who might still be dumb enough to give them money for not producing what they promised.

[Creamhoven]

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

Stop lying.

Okay, yes. Tommy should be more honest in the future.

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

Them be more competent.

I agree there is alot of potential to do better.

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

Give back refunds.

Yes they should do that as well.

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

 

Really they pissed away all goodwill they had and ruined the name. Only way I see the name being better is if they sell to someone who isn't an idiot who can do something with the old IPs like Atari is doing with theirs.

Okay, but they have developed the console already. Do you think someone else could bring it to release? Maybe Shigero Miyamoto?

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

 

Amico being positive is a no go at this point. They would need to make the consoles. Which they won't do because even Phil has said they won't manufacture a small number. But even if they did produce some, they still wouldn't deliver on all the promises. It is an overpriced and underpowered android box plug n play.

Okay, but the amico is not about performance for cheap prices. It is a new approach to clean family fun, with innovative controls.

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

 

It isn't negativity it is the reality of the situation they have put themselves in. Phil is spending time in Sweden enjoying retirement, and Tommy is traveling and playing backgammon. They aren't working on the console.

Maybe it was very stressful for them the past years.

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

 

The only reason it isn't officially dead is that they still have idiots that will hold out until they die, thinking things are being done, AND there is zero benefit to them saying Amico is dead. If they announce that the project is dead they remove the last few sheep who might still be dumb enough to give them money for not producing what they promised.

But dont you agree, that this is a negaytive perspective, even if the facts are solid (which I believe to be the case).

[+5-11under]

26 minutes ago, Creamhoven said:

 

That's all well and good, except... ... ... it's dead.

[Flojomojo]

2 hours ago, Creamhoven said:

Okay, yes. Tommy should be more honest in the future.

I agree there is alot of potential to do better.

Yes they should do that as well.

Okay, but they have developed the console already. Do you think someone else could bring it to release? Maybe Shigero Miyamoto?

Okay, but the amico is not about performance for cheap prices. It is a new approach to clean family fun, with innovative controls.

Maybe it was very stressful for them the past years.

But dont you agree, that this is a negaytive perspective, even if the facts are solid (which I believe to be the case).

I'm going to respond to this as if you're just hopelessly out of the loop, not a troll looking for attention. 

 

"Okay, yes. Tommy should be more honest in the future."

No, it's far too late for that. Tommy Tallarico has given up on doing the right thing, and can't even pay the furniture rental bill he signed as a personal guarantor. 

 

"I agree there is alot of potential to do better."

Not really. This was always a "me-too" project, an unimaginative retread of 1979 Intellivision except with digital touchpads and a freely available Android operating system. Even if everything worked as promised, it would be nothing special. The Ouya from 10 years prior could do anything Amico could do. 

 

"Yes they should do that as well."

Yes, they should refund the preorder money they took, especially since Tallarico promised everyone it was fully refundable. If there are still people out there owed money, it's unconscionable. 

 

"Okay, but they have developed the console already. Do you think someone else could bring it to release? Maybe Shigero Miyamoto?"

They have not "developed" the console. There's no plan for mass production, software support, or technical support. And your comment about Miyamoto is just silly. Nintendo has their own hardware, and has no use for these amateurs. 

 

"Okay, but the amico is not about performance for cheap prices. It is a new approach to clean family fun, with innovative controls."

Show me something new about this clean family fun that hasn't been done by literally every video game console ever. What would that be? Missile Command? Moon Patrol?

 

"Maybe it was very stressful for them the past years."

Maybe so. But they had the benefit of 17 million dollars of other peoples's money, and many years of lead time. 

 

"But dont you agree, that this is a negaytive perspective, even if the facts are solid (which I believe to be the case)."

Mindless positivity is toxic. The situation is negative. Hopes and prayers aren't going to change the facts. 

 

Would you like a summary of why Intellivision Amico is a bad idea, poorly executed, and shamefully abandoned? I think there are people here who could tell the story. 

 

[Creamhoven]

5 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

I'm going to respond to this as if you're just hopelessly out of the loop, not a troll looking for attention. 

Thank you for adressing my points.

5 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

"Okay, yes. Tommy should be more honest in the future."

No, it's far too late for that. Tommy Tallarico has given up on doing the right thing, and can't even pay the furniture rental bill he signed as a personal guarantor. 

Okay, I understand that Tommy has left a very bad impression. But should we judge a man by his missteps or should we judge him by his willingness and ability to change his ways and do the right thing.

5 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

"I agree there is alot of potential to do better."

Not really. This was always a "me-too" project, an unimaginative retread of 1979 Intellivision except with digital touchpads and a freely available Android operating system. Even if everything worked as promised, it would be nothing special. The Ouya from 10 years prior could do anything Amico could do. 

Yes you are right. Technically speaking the Amico doesnt reinvent the wheel. But having a simple and clean console that gives a shot at a new take of a retro controller is certainly something and it was a deviation from the big players, even if the console itself doesnt bring innovation technically speaking.

5 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

 

"Yes they should do that as well."

Yes, they should refund the preorder money they took, especially since Tallarico promised everyone it was fully refundable. If there are still people out there owed money, it's unconscionable. 

I agree.

5 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

 

"Okay, but they have developed the console already. Do you think someone else could bring it to release? Maybe Shigero Miyamoto?"

They have not "developed" the console. There's no plan for mass production, software support, or technical support. And your comment about Miyamoto is just silly. Nintendo has their own hardware, and has no use for these amateurs. 

Okay, I am not an expert on these techincal questions.

5 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

"Okay, but the amico is not about performance for cheap prices. It is a new approach to clean family fun, with innovative controls."

Show me something new about this clean family fun that hasn't been done by literally every video game console ever. What would that be? Missile Command? Moon Patrol?

I think the idea of bringing clean entertainment into homes in this day and age is quite radical.

5 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

"Maybe it was very stressful for them the past years."

Maybe so. But they had the benefit of 17 million dollars of other peoples's money, and many years of lead time. 

Yes, they could have done better.

5 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

"But dont you agree, that this is a negaytive perspective, even if the facts are solid (which I believe to be the case)."

Mindless positivity is toxic. The situation is negative. Hopes and prayers aren't going to change the facts. 

They are not going to change the facts, but I think in the state the current popular culture finds itself it is important to be more open towards things that are different, even if the struggle in the starting phase is strong.

5 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Would you like a summary of why Intellivision Amico is a bad idea, poorly executed, and shamefully abandoned? I think there are people here who could tell the story. 

I would be willing to listen to it for sure, but in the grand picture I am interested in how we can make popular culture more diverse and high quality. I understand that there is alot of negativity around the amico, but at least they came with a positive proposal.

 

Thanks again for your input.

5 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

 

 

[+5-11under]

59 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

I'm going to respond to this as if you're just hopelessly out of the loop, not a troll looking for attention.

Bot?

[+x=usr(1536)]

Today, and to great fanfare, the cage peripheral for the Amico was announced.

 

[Razzie.P]

2 hours ago, Creamhoven said:

Okay, I understand that Tommy has left a very bad impression. But should we judge a man by his missteps or should we judge him by his willingness and ability to change his ways and do the right thing.

 

 

Show me some examples of "his willingness and ability to change his ways and do the right thing" so we can be properly informed in our judging.   

 

[MrBeefy]

5 hours ago, Creamhoven said:

1)Okay, yes. Tommy should be more honest in the future.

 

2) I agree there is alot of potential to do better.

 

3) Yes they should do that as well.

 

4) Okay, but they have developed the console already. Do you think someone else could bring it to release? Maybe Shigero Miyamoto?

 

5) Okay, but the amico is not about performance for cheap prices. It is a new approach to clean family fun, with innovative controls.

 

6) Maybe it was very stressful for them the past years.

 

7) But dont you agree, that this is a negaytive perspective, even if the facts are solid (which I believe to be the case).

1) There is no future for Tommy. He has been pushed out and is currently playing backgammon and not working on the console. He should have stopped lying the first interview/mention/AA post. He didn't amd when people would see it he would double down. This was the voice box of Intellivision and that same sentiment has continued with the new CEO.

 

2&3) their lack of giving refunds shows they do not have the potential to do better. They've made the wrong steps continually. They haven't shown they are capable of growth. In fact they've shown the opposite.

 

4) No why would someone be dumb enough to waste money on a failed product.

 

5) You forgot the A in SAFE is affordable. It offers none of the things you mentioned for more affordability, or even done as well as other consoles. The Switch is the lower powered device that caters to that family friendly, and it's similar price, and it can also do higher performing games. The Amico struggled with running Farkle.

 

6) their drinking otj office parties suggest otherwise. As does the frequent interviews, time wasting on AA by the CEO. They weren't stressed out. They were floundering because they had no real plan. IF they were stressed out it was only due to their own actions of not doing the work. Which goes back to their own incompetence and being dumb about not throwing in the towel.

 

7) Can I have someone pee on you and I tell you it's raining? It would make it sound flowery but would changed that you would be soaked in someone else' piss. So, no I don't agree with you. Somethings are just plain bad and it has nothing to do with negativity or positivity. Next time you know of someone who lost a family member, go up to them and say, "Hey think of the bright side. Now you have one less mouth to feed! You can save more money now!" See how well that "positivity" goes over with those people...

 

🙄

[MrBeefy]

1 hour ago, 5-11under said:

Bot?

Beep...boop. I've noticed one bot not posting as much.

[zapzapzac]

15 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Beep...boop. I've noticed one bot not posting as much.

Sounds like the community was successful in making one Tommy cultist feel generally unwelcome. If only that happened before page 200 of this thread.

[MrBeefy]

2 hours ago, zapzapzac said:

Sounds like the community was successful in making one Tommy cultist feel generally unwelcome. If only that happened before page 200 of this thread.

Well to be fair this new contender is Poes Law. It is just as likely a troll as someone blissfully unaware of the Amico situation.

 

That's the positive way to put it. 🤣

[MrBeefy]

I always like a good Goose video.

 

 

 

[mr_me]

On 3/9/2023 at 2:56 PM, MattPilz said:

When IGN Middle East played Amico in May 2021 (under guidance from Sumeet Aggarwal) they observed controller lag and issues. This was seven months after the first missed launch date. This was blamed on old firmware, which makes one wonder why they wouldn't had updated the controller firmware before allowing one of the only media outlets ever to test it in the first place. "According to the local representative, the controller featured an older version of firmware and because of it didn't feel quite as responsive to the touch."

 

Someone on Reddit asked Tommy if he was willing to apologize and admit fault, and he claimed the controller was 7 firmware builds behind and 3 on the console itself. Again, I find it strange they would let such an outdated build be tested by IGN.

To clarify, the lag was specific to the controller display and not controller input for gameplay on the TV.  That IGN article had a video showing the issue.  There is a delay when the controller display user interface in Amico Shark Shark transitioned from page to page.  Within a page it was fine.  A simple solution would be to give the user some feedback so they know a new page is loading. 

 

In May 2021, the firmware in both the controller and the system were likely still under development.  Their firmware engineers would have been targeting a Q4 release.  I wouldn't expect the latest builds to be on a demo system.  It should have a stable build.

 

Amico Shark Shark is game that uses no buttons at all.  The controller display is used to give a specific player, and not other players, a clue as to where the next power up is coming.

Edited March 11, 2023 by mr_me

[Cebus Capucinis]

Who said Candyman three times? Fess up.

[MrBeefy]

32 minutes ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

Who said Candyman three times? Fess up.

I have typed the word, dumb, exactly three times on this page before this one. Sorry. I will try to break out then thesaurus for the next page.

 

Have the fabled FCC certs been found?

 

Beep bop.

[Creamhoven]

10 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

Show me some examples of "his willingness and ability to change his ways and do the right thing" so we can be properly informed in our judging.   

 

Well Tommy put in the effort to get enough funds for the Amico that he claimed his share for the profits that were made by his famous 'Oof' sounfd.

9 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

1) There is no future for Tommy.

That sounds a bit harsh. I think you may be suprised how resilient he is. Maybe he is recording an album right now that will win over the hearts of every potential Amico fan and suck up all the negativity.

9 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

He has been pushed out and is currently playing backgammon and not working on the console.

Okay, but do we know he is playing backgammon for sure, or is this speculation?

9 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

 

He should have stopped lying the first interview/mention/AA post. He didn't amd when people would see it he would double down. This was the voice box of Intellivision and that same sentiment has continued with the new CEO.

Yes, Tommy is not the ideaguy for the position and it is unfortunate thst his successor isn't that much better. Who do you think would be good for the position?

9 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

 

2&3) their lack of giving refunds shows they do not have the potential to do better. They've made the wrong steps continually. They haven't shown they are capable of growth. In fact they've shown the opposite.

Yes, I understand that mistakes were made, but I think dismissing the idea that they could ever improve is just negative thinking.

9 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

 

4) No why would someone be dumb enough to waste money on a failed product.

What about meta? I see people doing this on large scale all the time.

9 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

 

5) You forgot the A in SAFE is affordable. It offers none of the things you mentioned for more affordability, or even done as well as other consoles. The Switch is the lower powered device that caters to that family friendly, and it's similar price, and it can also do higher performing games. The Amico struggled with running Farkle.

The switch has alot of nastyness on its platform.

9 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

 

6) their drinking otj office parties suggest otherwise. As does the frequent interviews, time wasting on AA by the CEO. They weren't stressed out. They were floundering because they had no real plan. IF they were stressed out it was only due to their own actions of not doing the work. Which goes back to their own incompetence and being dumb about not throwing in the towel.

I understand that mistakes were being made, but they are just human in the end of the day. I think the reaction to the amico can in part be explained that they are a smaller company and have a more human side to them than the inhuman supersized cooperations with professional press savy personell. It is just very different if you are a small player.

9 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

 

7) Can I have someone pee on you and I tell you it's raining? It would make it sound flowery but would changed that you would be soaked in someone else' piss. So, no I don't agree with you. Somethings are just plain bad and it has nothing to do with negativity or positivity. Next time you know of someone who lost a family member, go up to them and say, "Hey think of the bright side. Now you have one less mouth to feed! You can save more money now!" See how well that "positivity" goes over with those people...

 

🙄

Okay, I understand that there mistakes were made and there is no indication for serious change yet. The picture you are painting is however negative even with taking all the facts into account, which is fine, my perspective isnt neutral as well, mine is optimistic and positive. I like the idea amnd hope someone will make it work. Sony and Microsoft are more professional, dont make certain mistakes and are better in communcating with their audiance, but they put out alot of nastyness in my view.