Intellivision Amico’s trademark changed to ‘abandoned’

[Matt_B]

1 hour ago, Wayler said:

I'm fascinated to hear your explanation as to how other FPGA consoles run their cartridge games without this magical copyrighted exec firmware. 

There's no secret to it. They just load a dumped copy of the Exec ROM into memory along with the game. Once you're getting the latter from (ahem) unofficial sources, it's no big deal to pick up a copy of the former.

 

There are a few systems I can think of where open source versions of the firmware have been written to get around this issue but the Intellivsion isn't one of them. If the need was there, I'm sure it could be done - we are after all talking about 5K of binary that could be easily disassembled and with known entry points - but it'd probably be cheaper to just license the official version. It's not like they're in a particularly good bargaining position at the moment.

 

 

[mr_me]

1 hour ago, Wayler said:

I'm fascinated to hear your explanation as to how other FPGA consoles run their cartridge games without this magical copyrighted exec firmware. 

The two Intellivision FPGA implementations I know of, Kevtris' and Mister, both require the user supply a copy of the Exec.  Magic is not a bad way to describe the Exec.  It is the main game program for many of the early cartridges while the cartridge mostly provides data to the running Exec program. In 1978 memory was very expensive so the Intellivision was designed to put much of the game program in the system so they can save cost on cartridges.  Other game systems didn't do this so much especially with memory coming down in price in the 1980s. So the firmware on other systems is much simpler to duplicate function without infringing.

[Wayler]

6 hours ago, mr_me said:

Magic is not a bad way to describe the Exec.  It is the main game program for many of the early cartridges while the cartridge mostly provides data to the running Exec program. In 1978 memory was very expensive so the Intellivision was designed to put much of the game program in the system so they can save cost on cartridges.  Other game systems didn't do this so much especially with memory coming down in price in the 1980s. So the firmware on other systems is much simpler to duplicate function without infringing.

I'm genuinely surprised that I learned something new from a clear and precise answer from you, thanks for that. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself as my world has been shattered somewhat.

 

But still, that sounds like something you could just reverse engineer to your FPGA, with the previous mentioned effort.

[mr_me]

8 hours ago, Wayler said:

...

But still, that sounds like something you could just reverse engineer to your FPGA, with the previous mentioned effort.

It is possible, but even if you re-created the sound effects without looking at the code you'd be infringing copyright.  You'd have to replace those sound effects with different ones, affecting dozens of different cartridges, which might not go over so well.

[Flojomojo]

9 minutes ago, mr_me said:

It is possible, but even if you re-created the sound effects without looking at the code you'd be infringing copyright.  You'd have to replace those sound effects with different ones, affecting dozens of different cartridges, which might not go over so well.

Hm that's an interesting idea. They'd have to be different enough so as to not be confusing. Like FreeDOOM vs the commercial version. Great Value brand Intellivision EXEC

 

It would be off-putting for people nostalgic for the originals, but it wouldn't be any worse than the nintendo-on-a-chip reprogrammed games sold by Intellivision Productions for a few years. 

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/132809-doom-vs-freedoom-enemies/

 

[kevtris]

the sounds are simple and generic enough that you could most likely keep them in, IMO.  the only really recognizable one is the "crowd noise" I think, and it wouldn't be too hard to come up with something else fairly close but different.  the others are just beeps and bloops (literally) which are not copyrightable at all, just being a tone of fixed frequency and possibly length.  I wouldn't mind someone replacing that annoying as hell BZZZZ sound when you hit the wrong button like on i.e. bomb squad.  way too loud and obnoxious.

[Flojomojo]

Is “Running Man” in there, the way the little men are in the Odyssey 2 bios?

[mr_me]

1 hour ago, kevtris said:

the sounds are simple and generic enough that you could most likely keep them in, IMO.  the only really recognizable one is the "crowd noise" I think, and it wouldn't be too hard to come up with something else fairly close but different.  the others are just beeps and bloops (literally) which are not copyrightable at all, just being a tone of fixed frequency and possibly length.  I wouldn't mind someone replacing that annoying as hell BZZZZ sound when you hit the wrong button like on i.e. bomb squad.  way too loud and obnoxious.

They did replace the razz sound in the flashbacks.  It was one of the complaints.

 

17 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Is “Running Man” in there, the way the little men are in the Odyssey 2 bios?

No.  The running man graphics are different in each cartridge.

Edited August 4, 2023 by mr_me

[roots.genoa]

5 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/132809-doom-vs-freedoom-enemies/

Why did they use fugly filters for their comparisons?? 🤢

[MrBeefy]

2 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

Why did they use fugly filters for their comparisons?? 🤢

That's the exclusive Amico feature.

[MrBeefy]

The movie theaters have become GAMING RACISTS!!!!!!! This played while we are waiting for TMNT to start!

Junior Beefy did not ask about if we would see a boring blocky man running.

 

Cowabunga!!!!

[Razzie.P]

1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

The movie theaters have become GAMING RACISTS!!!!!!! This played while we are waiting for TMNT to start!

Junior Beefy did not ask about if we would see a boring blocky man running.

 

Cowabunga!!!!

He will once Amico launches and changes the industry!  

 

 

 

[MattPilz]

I gave the demo of Dynablaster a spin this evening. The BBG side of development was from a small team of three and I presume they did the vast majority of this work outside of Intellivision's involvement since they also had worked on Dynablaster long before their Intellivision connection. The full version was supposed to release at the start of July but so far only the demo exists. (The build metadata indicates this version is 1.5.0 built with Unity 2021.3.11f1, compiled last October. They list the typical play time as 5-10 minutes.)

 

I noticed a potential in-game purchase feature for character customization, with a shopping cart basket and 'lock' symbol next to more than 35 of them with required coins ranging from 500 up to 10,000 for a single item. This hopefully will all be unlockable just from battling; if it includes a component that allows for any monetary exchanges for virtual items or coins, it would go against the grain of Intellivision/Amico's vision and promise.

 

 

(P.S., The very similar and more familiar Super Bomberman R2 by Konami is also slated for release on Steam next month - "with new adventures and game modes, it has the largest content volume in the series' history!")

 

The full credits within the game's About section include the following. Tommy's name appears five times, albeit the actual music scores and soundtrack are from a distinctly separate sound studio and crew not Tommy Tallarico Studios. Many others listed in the Intellivision section were only active for a short timespan, and no later than Mar-Apr 2022.

Dynablaster 2023

BBG-Entertainment Credits

• Executive Producer: Stephan Berendsen, Vaclav Jakubek
• Programming: Jan Andrle
• Art: Vaclav Jakubek

Intellivision Entertainment Credits

• Executive Producer: Tommy Tallarico, Hans Ippisch
• Product Manager, Europe: Therese Svensson
• Additional Game Design: Tommy Tallarico
• Art Direction: Mike Dietz
• Software Technical Director: John Alvarado
• Audio Director & Music Supervisor: Tommy Tallarico

Audio Produced by Moonwalk Audio

• Music: Adam Gubman (Moonwalk Audio), Joris Hoogsteder (Moonwalk Audio), Nomi Abadi, Cain German
• Sound Design: Alex Cox (Moonwalk Audio), Tommy Tallarico
• Voices: Tommy Tallarico, Nick Richards, Sydney Richards, Adam Gubman (Moonwalk Audio)
• Quality Assurance Manager: Sam Curnow
• Quality Assurance: Sterling Magleby, Jason Freston, Mike Wilson

 

[+Stephen]

7 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

13 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/132809-doom-vs-freedoom-enemies/

Why did they use fugly filters for their comparisons?? 🤢

Holy shit - I got a good laugh out of that thread.

[MrBeefy]

10 hours ago, MattPilz said:

I gave the demo of Dynablaster a spin this evening. The BBG side of development was from a small team of three and I presume they did the vast majority of this work outside of Intellivision's involvement since they also had worked on Dynablaster long before their Intellivision connection. The full version was supposed to release at the start of July but so far only the demo exists. (The build metadata indicates this version is 1.5.0 built with Unity 2021.3.11f1, compiled last October. They list the typical play time as 5-10 minutes.)

 

I noticed a potential in-game purchase feature for character customization, with a shopping cart basket and 'lock' symbol next to more than 35 of them with required coins ranging from 500 up to 10,000 for a single item. This hopefully will all be unlockable just from battling; if it includes a component that allows for any monetary exchanges for virtual items or coins, it would go against the grain of Intellivision/Amico's vision and promise.

 

 

(P.S., The very similar and more familiar Super Bomberman R2 by Konami is also slated for release on Steam next month - "with new adventures and game modes, it has the largest content volume in the series' history!")

 

The full credits within the game's About section include the following. Tommy's name appears five times, albeit the actual music scores and soundtrack are from a distinctly separate sound studio and crew not Tommy Tallarico Studios. Many others listed in the Intellivision section were only active for a short timespan, and no later than Mar-Apr 2022.

Dynablaster 2023

BBG-Entertainment Credits

• Executive Producer: Stephan Berendsen, Vaclav Jakubek
• Programming: Jan Andrle
• Art: Vaclav Jakubek

Intellivision Entertainment Credits

• Executive Producer: Tommy Tallarico, Hans Ippisch
• Product Manager, Europe: Therese Svensson
• Additional Game Design: Tommy Tallarico
• Art Direction: Mike Dietz
• Software Technical Director: John Alvarado
• Audio Director & Music Supervisor: Tommy Tallarico

Audio Produced by Moonwalk Audio

• Music: Adam Gubman (Moonwalk Audio), Joris Hoogsteder (Moonwalk Audio), Nomi Abadi, Cain German
• Sound Design: Alex Cox (Moonwalk Audio), Tommy Tallarico
• Voices: Tommy Tallarico, Nick Richards, Sydney Richards, Adam Gubman (Moonwalk Audio)
• Quality Assurance Manager: Sam Curnow
• Quality Assurance: Sterling Magleby, Jason Freston, Mike Wilson

 

Are we taking bets as to if Tommy paid himself for each credit? Need a way to milk that money dry.

12 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

He will once Amico launches and changes the industry!  

 

THE MARKETING HASN'T STARTED!

[SteveTheColecoDude]

Lmao, in the Dynablaster trailer it says "One of the best BOMBER GAMES ever" and I assumed it was a generous quote from a review or something, but it's actually just them saying it about their own game.

 

They must follow Tommy's George Costanza's "it's not a lie if you believe it" philosophy.

[Rowsdower70]

At this point advertising anything video game related by using Tommy Tallarico's name in your credits is like trying to market a movie with Ezra Miller. 

[MrBeefy]

1 hour ago, SteveTheColecoDude said:

Lmao, in the Dynablaster trailer it says "One of the best BOMBER GAMES ever" and I assumed it was a generous quote from a review or something, but it's actually just them saying it about their own game.

 

They must follow Tommy's George Costanza's "it's not a lie if you believe it" philosophy.

Tbf a lot of things do that type of crap. I don't like the looks of Dynablaster but I also don't get excited over Bomberman.

 

It looks like a competent game, minus the time Cyrus showed it off with lag while claiming NO LAG! 🤣 That was probably a hardware issue and not the fault of the game. 

[roots.genoa]

And even a real quote can be misleading... For instance if the press said "It's not bad but it's very, very far from being a masterpiece", the quote can be "a masterpiece" followed by five 'decorative' stars. 🤫

[number6]

On 7/19/2023 at 4:54 PM, number6 said:

@thread

 

Those of you who follow this thread carefully regarding the legal paperwork required to be filed might recall this:

IE was given 3 months to either (1)give a valid address for their business or (2)file an extension (only 1 allowed in this case) to delay filing this valid required business address for an additional 3 months. Failure to file/comply would have resulted in abandonment of IE's trademark for "Intellivision Amico".

 

You'll all be thrilled to know that IE's new attorney did, in fact, file on time and also received a response.

 

Response to office action (IE to uspto)

and the reply

Amendment & Mail Processing Complete

 

Any questions?

 

#6

I found this interesting regarding the "Intellivision Amico" trademark information above.

It seems that "because" they had no physical address for their business, IE has had to start all over again with the trademark process for a "3rd" time. 

Notice of publication (which is the earliest step in the process after initial filing)

This means the "Intellivision Amico" mark is only scheduled for publication again. This again (if published) is followed by another period for objection by other parties. 

This (if it survives the objection period) then receives a "notice of allowance" and another 3 years of 6 month periods to file extensions and still show no use of the "Intellivision Amico" mark.

 

You do realize this may never end, right?

 

#6

Edited August 7, 2023 by number6
clarified extension time

[MrBeefy]

10 minutes ago, number6 said:

I found this interesting regarding the "Intellivision Amico" trademark information above.

It seems that "because" they had no physical address for their business, IE has had to start all over again with the trademark process for a "3rd" time. 

Notice of publication (which is the earliest step in the process after initial filing)

This means the "Intellivision Amico" mark is only scheduled for publication again. This again (if published) is followed by another period for objection by other parties. 

This (if it survives the objection period) then receives a "notice of allowance" and another 3 years of 6 month periods to file extensions and still show no use of the "Intellivision Amico" mark.

 

You do realize this may never end, right?

 

#6

Oh totally. The goal is to stretch it out if they can't sell.

 

There is zero upside for them to say, hey Amico is done. They would gain only more people mad asking for money back.

 

I'd find it hilarious if BBG's announced-non-announced console makes it to market before IE calls it quits. I'd still like to see Amico release but I think that's the longest of shots. There isn't a reason that Amico Home shouldn't be ready to go.

 

Unless games and such aren't finished. 😅

 

Maybe BBG will wear them down over time and just buy the rest of it. That way at least all the classic games can stay under the same roof.

 

I want my SHARK SHARK!

[roots.genoa]

4 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

Unless games and such aren't finished. 😅

[MrBeefy]

2 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

I'm seriously asking, what is the holdup on them releasing the Amico Home app? Their UI was always a basic android apk. The games are supposedly done.

 

It doesn't even require them get those FCC certs which have been so elusive!!!

 

Unless they don't want to release it of course.

[Matt_B]

I'd assume that all the people who did the work will have long left the company and their their staff is now down to a handful of part-timers with barely any technical skills between them.

 

I'm not waiting up.

[rayik]

2 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

I'm seriously asking, what is the holdup on them releasing the Amico Home app? Their UI was always a basic android apk. The games are supposedly done.

 

It doesn't even require them get those FCC certs which have been so elusive!!!

 

Unless they don't want to release it of course.

 

Sometimes the simple answer is the correct answer.  Games are not released on Amico Home because the games are not done.  This simple answer makes sense when the released videos are just short takes.