Intellivision Amico’s trademark changed to ‘abandoned’

[Matt_B]

2 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

OMG I forget about the golden tickets. Wasn't there suppose to be months contests and such?

That always struck me as more Willy Wonka than Steve Jobs.

[jerseystyle]

50 minutes ago, digdugnate said:

Caveman always gets the girl!

[MrBeefy]

1 hour ago, MattPilz said:

Follow-Up

 

After 26 days of silence from Intellivision including 10 days after a formal PayPal dispute, PayPal sided with me and reversed the transaction. 

 

 

This was the expected outcome, but Intellivision's absolute lack of communication with its paying and long-supportive customers is eye-opening. I still feel bad for those who committed to this project too long ago for any recourse in getting refunds.

 

When John hinted that the quiet period would be over by June, and Phil sent out the update June 7 proclaiming progress was continuing with new test runs and partnerships weeks away, I anticipated hearing at least something more. Six weeks later that remains the only sign of communication with their supporters even after this alleged quiet period has come and gone, beyond informal chat by John in YouTube streams.

 

In Phil's last statement he said specifically: "To make sure we see your request, please submit to support@intellivision.com." But yet it seems not a single person is monitoring that account enough to even send an acknowledgment, or they just don't care. In light of the official support staffer being terminated, the email address should be set as a shared inbox on the remaining staff's phones and laptops to keep on top of correspondence. A personal message from Phil apologizing and detailing the status of refunds, backlogs and so on could've gone a long way in being respectful and transparent.

Many technology startups I've backed were one-man operations and they were handling everything from support tickets to production logistics and doing so much more efficiently than anything I've seen since 2019 on Intellivision's front.

 

Interesting side-note... The PayPal address used by Intellivision for transactions including pre-orders is actually still tied personally to Tommy, with an account name of @thomastallarico1... It is linked to paypal@intellivisionentertainment.com and there's a potential that only Tommy has access to some of this, possibly including PayPal dispute requests. Bad idea to ever tie important transactional components of a business to a single individual.

Glad to see they favored with you. Seems pretty crappy of them to give out one email yet not monitor it.

 

That or Tommy has literally disappeared with everyone's money. Does TT's bank account count as escrow? ?

[mr_me]

6 hours ago, rayik said:

I never understood this.  Why would people who play physical board games want to buy a $250 device and a digital version of a board game they are interested in. Or why would they rebuy a digital version of a game they already own.  If this was a market opportunity wouldn't publishers already have been doing this for other systems.

 

Also, for all their talk they had very little to show and it was public domain no license needed board games.  That is their competition?  Really?  Otherwise they need to license popular board game which will cost $.  And there is no way a game manufacturer would grant exclusivity for a start up unless they were willing to pay $$$.

 

The impression I got from IE was the focus of the console was retro themed games.  Raspberry Pi can run most of what they were showing.  Original games can run on emulators which are available for many devices.  Tough sell.

It's not that Amico has electronic versions of board games, although that is part of the plan.  It's that nearly their entire library, like popular board games, is designed for group play, short play sessions, that anyone can play.  There are advantages to having electronic versions of classic board games, from reducing clutter, no broken/missing pieces, to having the computer administer rules and take care of managing the game.  And many board games can't be played this way locally on other game systems because the controllers lack displays.  Arcade1up has a device for board games that costs about $1000.  

 

edit: And you could work smartphones as controllers on other systems but publishers typically develop for the default controller.

 

5 hours ago, digdugnate said:

The confusing part is then IE would turn right around and say 'oh, but this isn't for retro gamers.  family gaming!'  Their inconsistent messaging did them no favors, among multitudes of other missteps, in my opinion.

I think what they said is that it's not a retro machine, and this has been discussed here already.  Retro gamers do like old/classic/vintage videogames, so if that is what a person is looking for, they won't find it on the Amico, that's how it is.  However, some not all retro gamers might be interested in modern retro themed games, all of which have local multiplayer modes and single player modes.  And retro gamers, like anybody else, have families and non-gamer friends.

 

5 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

I do think he had an inflated ego of himself that he thought people in the industry would flock to put games on it and help it get out the door.

...

 

If they thought that they wouldn't have budgeted millions of dollars to fund the development of a library of games.  Third party publishers aren't going to make games for a new platform until it has a sizable install base.

 

5 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

I need to see when they started to give loans out. The Sudesh loan really cut them off at the knees with losing possible money made per console.

 

I can't remember if theystarted loaning money in 2020 or 2021. If it was 2020 it would make sense why they passed up the opportunity to get them made for around $150 per console. They wanted the markup to be higher to pay themselves back. If the Sudesh loan was there at that time then it makes even more sense as the console would net them zero profits.

Loans started in 2019, they had to fund the business obviously.  There are tax advantages to carrying debt vs taking equity investments.  Some loans from the founding partners can eventually convert to equity, the ones that don't have no interest.  The Sudesh manufacturing loan is the best loan you can imagine for the company; interest free and no money due until Amicos are shipped.

Edited July 18, 2022 by mr_me

[MrBeefy]

More timeline. CEO still worried about what people are posting in the non-Q&A thread. This is March 2020. They should have had their parts secured earlier (end of 2019 most likely), and didn't have their firmware done. It was the summer of 2020 they posted jobs for firmware engineers.

 

Priorities were not on making the console. Priorities were picking fights on AA and YT. Ask yourself why that is? ?

 

 

They knew 100% that they were not making 10/10/2020. Iirc they took a month off after one of the dates (November 2020).

 

I think it is very easy to conclude that intentions were not great at that time. If the loans were in 2019 then that could possibly change that. If Sudesh's loan was before they asked for a $100 deposit then I would say when they asked for money.

Edited July 18, 2022 by MrBeefy

[MrBeefy]

I forgot the VIPs order were so later. Late March and a pack in trailer had a Conhole misspelling. Also taking more money on a console they knew wouldn't come out on 10/10/2020.

 

Also much whining about what others say and not on working. Priorities are taking money, not making a product, and general junior high behavior.

[SegaSnatcher]

7 hours ago, rayik said:

I never understood this.  Why would people who play physical board games want to buy a $250 device and a digital version of a board game they are interested in. Or why would they rebuy a digital version of a game they already own.  If this was a market opportunity wouldn't publishers already have been doing this for other systems.

That's the thing, nobody would buy an Amico simply to play board games.  Not at $250 and most surely not at $339.99.  

We already know the market who is interested in the Amico and it hasn't changed since initial announcement. 

[ColecoGamer]

Tommy ‘The Drama Queen’ Tallarico.

[Matt_B]

Ah, if only they were as good at manufacturing consoles as drama.

[ashtonm]

If you look at the launch line-up, they could have done SO much better for the crowd they were going for.

 

1) No real puzzle games like Tetris, Bust a Move, Puyo Puyo, Zuma, Candy Crush, etc. Much of those could easily of had really cool multiplayer modes. Want to know what the majority of the 3 billion casuals play on their phones? Puzzle games.

2) games that benefit from the screen. Implementing a trivia game like the ones played in bars/Buffalo Wild Wings, etc...and could have implemented leader boards online for those. Bomb Squad may have been one game, but mostly they seemed to use the screen as a button. I will admit this is a limited thing that can be of use because looking up and down isn't good usually. A football game like Tecmo Bowl would be an obvious beneficial one. Card games were listed, but we didn't see a ton of this demonstrated (other than a few short trailers that were played over and over and were on the cell phone).

3) games that benefitted from the control disc. I never got to use the control disc, but I'd imagine it would be good for shooters (yes, the one good looking game Flying Tigers would have used it). Paddle like games may have worked well with it (4 player Warlords should have been a day one release). I never got enough information on how well the disc worked or didn't work. It sounded like it was OK from what I could tell. Still, was hard to tell because we didn't get enough feedback on it.

4) I still think they should have had an "adult" version of the system (or not limit it and have good parental controls). Reimagined beat em ups would have been a killer set of games. Really limited the genres possible. Also, I think Robotron 84 would have works with their control scheme. I suppose you could make a family friendly clone? Such a fun game.

 

I'm sure I could go on and on...but the lack of puzzle games really stood out for me as a big miss.

 

We have supporters talking about value. I say no...there is no value to what it became. Maybe at $149 with games 3-7$ that would have been a reality. But at $250 (now $339) and games around $10 it seemed. It was no longer a value. A switch with Clubhouse 51 by itself is value and has many of the same types of games. When that game came out, I was thinking...man. IE needs to change direction.

 

[Cebus Capucinis]

1 hour ago, SegaSnatcher said:

We already know the market who is interested in the Amico and it hasn't changed since initial announcement. 

Well, yes. It was 6 billion people then and it's STILL 6 billion people. It's always been the case that every single owner of a TV is guaranteed to buy an Amico (or maybe three!).

 

Why would that have changed? If it changed they would have SAID so.

[SegaSnatcher]

13 minutes ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

Well, yes. It was 6 billion people then and it's STILL 6 billion people. It's always been the case that every single owner of a TV is guaranteed to buy an Amico (or maybe three!).

 

Why would that have changed? If it changed they would have SAID so.

All those Grandparents in the world are losing their patience and want their Amicos now!  They ain't getting any younger, Intellivision!

[MrBeefy]

41 minutes ago, Matt_B said:

Ah, if only they were as good at manufacturing consoles as drama.

?

Ah found it. ? I ate all my Cheerios two years ago.

 

[MrBeefy]

44 minutes ago, ashtonm said:

We have supporters talking about value. I say no...there is no value to what it became. Maybe at $149 with games 3-7$ that would have been a reality. But at $250 (now $339) and games around $10 it seemed. It was no longer a value. A switch with Clubhouse 51 by itself is value and has many of the same types of games. When that game came out, I was thinking...man. IE needs to change direction.

 

And technically the $10 cap is strictly for the launch titles. But you are right the games do not match the message. Like at all. Farkle won't cut it.

[MrBeefy]

25 minutes ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

Well, yes. It was 6 billion people then and it's STILL 6 billion people. It's always been the case that every single owner of a TV is guaranteed to buy an Amico (or maybe three!).

 

Why would that have changed? If it changed they would have SAID so.

Market = Not for you

[Cebus Capucinis]

Just now, MrBeefy said:

Market = Not for you

Okay FINE, I give in, I'll admit that it's not for me. 5.99999 billion potential market.

[MrBeefy]

1 minute ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

Okay FINE, I give in, I'll admit that it's not for me. 5.99999 billion potential market.

[number6]

@MrBeefy

 

2020. Did they perhaps think they were further along than they were?

Unless the news reports are wrong, we know the role of J. Allard based on his history and skill right?

Quote

Former Microsoft exec will oversee launch of upcoming Intellivision Amico console 

How and why would you be brought in to be in charge of a console launch if there was no console near ready for launch?

Is it just me or does this not sound strange?

 

#6

Edited July 18, 2022 by number6
hopefully clarified

[MrBeefy]

28 minutes ago, number6 said:

@MrBeefy

 

2020. Did they perhaps think they were further along than they were?

Unless the news reports are wrong, we know the role of J. Allard based on his history and skill right?

How and why would you be brought in to be in charge of a console launch if there was no console near ready for launch?

Is it just me or does this not sound strange?

 

#6

Not a good fit. ?

 

Honestly, no. They didn't have the parts and from what I know they would have probably needed to have those ordered in late 2019 or early 2020. Summer of 2020 don't remember date currently they had open positions for firmware people. That to me screams absolutely not. No finished OS (as posted by Fundable at a later time) no manufacturing. That would need to be buttoned up before they make anything.

 

Also FCC compliance. I highly doubt they ever passed. That isn't an in house type thing to do and it would be on their website if it was. Zero reason to not do FCC unless you can't complete it. This wasn't some fancy tech needed to be hidden. It's a 2016 phone.

[number6]

11 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Not a good fit. ?

 

Honestly, no. They didn't have the parts and from what I know they would have probably needed to have those ordered in late 2019 or early 2020. Summer of 2020 don't remember date currently they had open positions for firmware people. That to me screams absolutely not. No finished OS (as posted by Fundable at a later time) no manufacturing. That would need to be buttoned up before they make anything.

 

Also FCC compliance. I highly doubt they ever passed. That isn't an in house type thing to do and it would be on their website if it was. Zero reason to not do FCC unless you can't complete it. This wasn't some fancy tech needed to be hidden. It's a 2016 phone.

Thanks. And please accept my humbling offer of 1 lol for your "not a good fit" comment. heh.

Apparently my attempt to look at events logically has been an epic fail.

 

#6

[MrBeefy]

2 minutes ago, number6 said:

Thanks. And please accept my humbling offer of 1 lol for your "not a good fit" comment. heh.

Apparently my attempt to look at events logically has been an epic fail.

 

#6

Hey nothing wrong with looking at things logically. Some of us (me) are silly about most of it. Honestly, with looking at the history and where we are J probably saw this as a headache. Not for being tired coming out of retirement, but because it wasn't looking good. J didn't need to work with them nor in ested money. Smart choice was to nope out. Why climb into a dumpster fire willingly?

 

CUPodcast recorded this on June 30 2020. Jobs are: Mechanical Engineer, Mechanical Production Engineer, Senior Game Firmware Engineer, Embedded Android Software Developer.

 

 

 

[number6]

23 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Hey nothing wrong with looking at things logically. Some of us (me) are silly about most of it. Honestly, with looking at the history and where we are J probably saw this as a headache. Not for being tired coming out of retirement, but because it wasn't looking good. J didn't need to work with them nor in ested money. Smart choice was to nope out. Why climb into a dumpster fire willingly?

 

CUPodcast recorded this on June 30 2020. Jobs are: Mechanical Engineer, Mechanical Production Engineer, Senior Game Firmware Engineer, Embedded Android Software Developer.

 

 

 

I understand what you're saying, but I'm really thinking prior to him even being there and therefore no conflict would have taken place.

I'm saying if I need a plumber, I don't hire an electrician.

I can't understand why you would hire someone with the specific skillset to "launch" unless you had at least a slight notion you might be able to "employ" that skillset for its purpose.

You're telling me there were multiple multiple issues indicating they were not ready to employ his skills because the console is not ready to launch at this point.

So again, for me this absolutely makes no sense.

 

#6

[MrBeefy]

11 minutes ago, number6 said:

I understand what you're saying, but I'm really thinking prior to him even being there and therefore no conflict would have taken place.

I'm saying if I need a plumber, I don't hire an electrician.

I can't understand why you would hire someone with the specific skillset to "launch" unless you had at least a slight notion you might be able to "employ" that skillset for its purpose.

You're telling me there were multiple multiple issues indicating they were not ready to employ his skills because the console is not ready to launch at this point.

So again, for me this absolutely makes no sense.

 

#6

I think you are battling against extreme incompetence shown by the CEO. Why did they have huge offices? Customer reps (when have no product), what the hell were marketing people doing (HASN'T STARTED YET!), and the list is endless.

 

The logical explanation is a mixture of they were in shit and hoped someone with knowledge could wipe their buttons for them, and for appearances. Evernhear stories about how the CEO would wear gaudy clothes and hire an entourage to make a spectacle? This was the same thing but on a grander scale.

 

Allard initially joining makes sense when you read this. 

 

J like many of us were either an Intv fan and/or liked the idea. Maybe he saw the dire straights of the company and knew he would be twittling his thumbs because no console was coming in near future. He didn't need the paycheck so why deal with it?

 

Notice the response from the CEO? Completely impulsive. Pat and Ian claim to have an insider that said within the company there was a pro and anti TT camp. There was an anti camp for a reason, and it was probably due to bonehead moves.

 

Different from the J discussion is they started to make loans to the company in late 2019. They were already in trouble and didn't secure parts. Notice they then took money for founders in January and again in March for VIPs.

 

As I said in late 2021 they had the opportunity to get consoles made. Sudesh made his manufacturing loan in August of 2021. They didn't want to lose money on each console AND pay Sudesh $100 per console on top of that. Parts are available and have been. They just don't want to pay for them.

[MrBeefy]

This was the article I posted in the Q&A thread that made TT mad and got me banned from the Q&A thread. I also posted the link to where you could order on Fig. He was pretty mad about it and this was mid April 2020.

 

When looking back on it I can see why he got so mad about it. It was because it outed Intellivision in needing crowdfunding.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/venturebeat.com/2020/04/17/you-can-invest-in-the-intellivision-amico-through-fig/amp/

 

It wasn't complete and they needed money. Once again it was a big show. At this point Smash dropped $10,000 in and started to push Amico hard. This IMO is when the small YT channels got really bad with being mouthpieces for the company. To fluff IE up and give the appearances that things were fine.

 

They weren't. They needed more money and needed new investors and also needed people to not ask for refunds.

 

[number6]

13 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

I think you are battling against extreme incompetence shown by the CEO. Why did they have huge offices? Customer reps (when have no product), what the hell were marketing people doing (HASN'T STARTED YET!), and the list is endless.

 

The logical explanation is a mixture of they were in shit and hoped someone with knowledge could wipe their buttons for them, and for appearances. Evernhear stories about how the CEO would wear gaudy clothes and hire an entourage to make a spectacle? This was the same thing but on a grander scale.

 

Allard initially joining makes sense when you read this. 

 

J like many of us were either an Intv fan and/or liked the idea. Maybe he saw the dire straights of the company and knew he would be twittling his thumbs because no console was coming in near future. He didn't need the paycheck so why deal with it?

 

Notice the response from the CEO? Completely impulsive. Pat and Ian claim to have an insider that said within the company there was a pro and anti TT camp. There was an anti camp for a reason, and it was probably due to bonehead moves.

 

Different from the J discussion is they started to make loans to the company in late 2019. They were already in trouble and didn't secure parts. Notice they then took money for founders in January and again in March for VIPs.

 

As I said in late 2021 they had the opportunity to get consoles made. Sudesh made his manufacturing loan in August of 2021. They didn't want to lose money on each console AND pay Sudesh $100 per console on top of that. Parts are available and have been. They just don't want to pay for them.

Thanks. I understand the passion. In the podcast I referred to earlier it was clear how they all felt. I mentioned "cohesion". The interviewer even mentioning "smiles" to further accentuate this friendship and unity.

And it seems to explain why he joined. Your opening lines might be on target then.

 

#6 

 

#6