Are the people who run the Intellivision Revolution store on this site?

[alevin16]

Hey Everyone,  I wanted to talk to the people who run the Intellivision Revolution store about an order.  I am having trouble reaching them (I hope everything is ok).  If any of you are here and see this can we chat?  

 

Thanks!

[+DZ-Jay]

@Rev?  This one’s for you.

[+BBWW]

Yeah, Intellivision Revolution has been taking marketing lessons from Blah Blah Woof Woof Games. LOL

[MonsterSky]

I have trouble too to contacting them, sent many mails but no response. It's been 3 months since I ordered several games but I still have no news of the shipment. It's probably the last time I've bought from that store, I don't feel accustomed.

[+DZ-Jay]

The owner of the site is a nice guy and very responsible and trustworthy.  He is probably very busy right now, or there may be a problem on his end.  Either way, I would recommend to keep trying to reach him and to be patient.

 

   dZ.

[+Rev]

Hey everyone. Ill get online and respond to the emails. There was a delay in getting materials for 1 game, Raiders, but im starting to send orders out without that game and will have to send it alone and eat shipping costs. Its fine if anyone boycotts the store. Anyone that is unhappy resend me a message if they want refunded or anything. No one will be ripped off ever.  Thanks again. 

[Sinjinhawke]

I have bought from Rev in the past and will again in the future.  Does your order ship immediately after you place the order?  No.  But all orders get delivered without fail.  I am guilty of impatience myself a few years ago when I bought DK Jr.  I was new here and didn't realize Rev didn't have an Amazon like warehouse where Cmart was on a segway grabbing already fabricated products off a shelf for prompt shipping to customers.  Turns our Cmart is in his basement opening old cart shells, assembling manuals and folding and gluing new boxes together.

 

I think the lesson here is don't blame Rev.  Blame Cmart.  Pick up the pace dude.

[alevin16]

Thank you so much for the post. I messaged Rev directly but I wanted to also post here to say Rev has always come thru and I am happy to still buy from him!  Keep up the great work and I will wait patiently

[wolfy62]

9 hours ago, Rev said:

Hey everyone. Ill get online and respond to the emails. There was a delay in getting materials for 1 game, Raiders, but im starting to send orders out without that game and will have to send it alone and eat shipping costs. Its fine if anyone boycotts the store. Anyone that is unhappy resend me a message if they want refunded or anything. No one will be ripped off ever.  Thanks again. 

We all understand, as everyone knows those Ark pieces are EXTREMELY difficult to find!

[gunoz]

3 hours ago, wolfy62 said:

We all understand, as everyone knows those Ark pieces are EXTREMELY difficult to find!

True. Got mine, and there was nothing but sand inside.

[+fdr4prez]

I think Rev is looking in the wrong spot:

 

 

He needs one of these:

 

 

Indiana Jones Adventure Series Staff of Ra Headpiece – Hasbro Pulse

 

 

[Intymike]

6 hours ago, fdr4prez said:

I think Rev is looking in the wrong spot:

 

 

You can find it in Seattle. 

[MonsterSky]

If after several emails sent to customer support asking if everything is ok with an order and if there are forecasts for shipping no response is received, some complaint from the customer is right and legitimate, moreover after 3 months have passed since the order.

 

Answers like "if someone is dissatisfied they can ask for a refund" sound intimidating and a little over the top, instead of using that tone it would be enough to reply to the emails sent by customers saying that there is some delay in the supply of the material and that the shipment has suffered delays.

 

A customer is always a customer, it doesn't matter if he is a video game enthusiast or if he is buying a book, after-sales support must always be present and guaranteed by the store.

 

Selling items is a business, leave the passion to the hobbists.

[TrickyMoon]

I’m also looking for update on order of two games from February. Thanks!

[+Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog]

30 minutes ago, TrickyMoon said:

I’m also looking for update on order of two games from February. Thanks!

That could have been a pre-order.

 

The difference is on an order, the salesperson usually has the item in hand and is ready to ship.

A pre-order means that you are pre-paying for the item when it becomes available. They do this so they have funds to get the items made without using their own money. Its a common practice in video games. I only know of 1 producer that normally uses their own funds to make the games before they go on sale.

 

Dont feel so bad. I waited over 6 months to get my controllers. But they did arrive.

[TrickyMoon]

On 3/28/2023 at 6:32 PM, Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog said:

That could have been a pre-order.

 

The difference is on an order, the salesperson usually has the item in hand and is ready to ship.

A pre-order means that you are pre-paying for the item when it becomes available. They do this so they have funds to get the items made without using their own money. Its a common practice in video games. I only know of 1 producer that normally uses their own funds to make the games before they go on sale.

 

Dont feel so bad. I waited over 6 months to get my controllers. But they did arrive.

They weren't listed as pre-orders Galaxian and Pitfall 2. Have sent few email follow ups but no reply yet.

[+Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog]

1 hour ago, TrickyMoon said:

They weren't listed as pre-orders Galaxian and Pitfall 2. Have sent few email follow ups but no reply yet.

I guess it just depends on how bad you want the games. I hate to say this, but honestly, weve all had to wait many times for these games. They are by all rights, on the rarer side. Not a whole lot will be made. I know it sucks, and i too wish some of the producers would wait until they have finished games in hand before taking orders... but thats not always the case (Some do though).

 If you can wait a little while, i am sure your games will come. If youve had enough, you can always cancel the order & contact Paypal (or however you paid) to start a refund process for an undelivered purchase.

 Even though most have to wait on the games, Rev has never "Not" sent purchased games, or refunded people that changed their minds to my knowledge. So, you wont get screwed either way. Just may have to wait a bit until the games are assembled.

[TrickyMoon]

1 hour ago, Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog said:

I guess it just depends on how bad you want the games. I hate to say this, but honestly, weve all had to wait many times for these games. They are by all rights, on the rarer side. Not a whole lot will be made. I know it sucks, and i too wish some of the producers would wait until they have finished games in hand before taking orders... but thats not always the case (Some do though).

 If you can wait a little while, i am sure your games will come. If youve had enough, you can always cancel the order & contact Paypal (or however you paid) to start a refund process for an undelivered purchase.

 Even though most have to wait on the games, Rev has never "Not" sent purchased games, or refunded people that changed their minds to my knowledge. So, you wont get screwed either way. Just may have to wait a bit until the games are assembled.

yeah I can wait... waited longer for other games and such. I've been away from AA for some time I more came here to check on status of Rev's site as I didn't receive communication back on my follow ups. Thanks for replies and insight!

Edited April 4 by TrickyMoon

[+DZ-Jay]

15 hours ago, TrickyMoon said:

They weren't listed as pre-orders Galaxian and Pitfall 2. Have sent few email follow ups but no reply yet.

 

12 hours ago, TrickyMoon said:

yeah I can wait... waited longer for other games and such. I've been away from AA for some time I more came here to check on status of Rev's site as I didn't receive communication back on my follow ups. Thanks for replies and insight!

There is a shortage of PCBs for game cartridges going around and publishers are scrambling to manage supply and demand in what is a very niche and (potentially) money losing operation.

 

In short:  there are too many games being created (good!), too many of those targeted at publication (very good!), but not enough materials to produce them (bad!), and not enough capital to work around the limited supplies or stay in business (very bad!).

 

This is why we’ve seen preorders popping back into existence after this community swore them off as the Devil’s Machinations:  if you have, say, three games in the pipeline, and your cash is sunk into their production to some capacity, but you can’t get them out because you don’t have enough boards to complete the product, and therefore cannot get actual sales revenue to pay the bills; how do you fulfill the orders of the (maybe) 50 units you have managed to complete?

 

It is a conundrum, and everyone is trying to do their best to navigate it.

 

Like with the 2020 supply chain problems the world experienced in general, this is a problem that will sort itself out … eventually.  It will take time to find alternative sources or production processes, but in the meantime there is going to be pain, and it is going to be ugly.

 

I am not excusing anybody.  People who paid for a product that hasn’t been delivered should receive proper communication from the publisher, and perhaps the option to back out and get a refund.  If they haven’t, well, they’ll have to re-assess their relationship to that publisher.

 

The same I would say to those who purchased in a pre-sale:  proper communication is key; else you may want to not support pre-sales in the future.

 

It’s a judgement call on each consumer.

 

This is a small community after all, so patience, understanding, and good faith is in order — from both consumers and publishers.

 

   dZ.

[+5-11under]

1 hour ago, DZ-Jay said:

There is a shortage of PCBs for game cartridges going around and publishers are scrambling to manage supply and demand in what is a very niche and (potentially) money losing operation.

There was a period of time (a year or two ago) where I required significant down-payment for Intellivision boards, only because of a period of high demand, and me having limited cash on hand to front all the costs involved (the cost for Intellivision boards is significantly higher compared to other same-generation consoles).

 

Besides that, I've always had at least some boards in stock, and if I didn't have enough at the moment, I'd have more built up within 3-5 weeks, approximately. The same is true now.

 

Joe's JLP boards have been in short supply over the past while, although there has been some availability. Any others, I'm not aware of (or they're more recent, with obviously less historical comparison).

[+DZ-Jay]

35 minutes ago, 5-11under said:

There was a period of time (a year or two ago) where I required significant down-payment for Intellivision boards, only because of a period of high demand, and me having limited cash on hand to front all the costs involved (the cost for Intellivision boards is significantly higher compared to other same-generation consoles).

 

Besides that, I've always had at least some boards in stock, and if I didn't have enough at the moment, I'd have more built up within 3-5 weeks, approximately. The same is true now.

 

Joe's JLP boards have been in short supply over the past while, although there has been some availability. Any others, I'm not aware of (or they're more recent, with obviously less historical comparison).

Of course, that’s part of the problem:  costs have gone up for everyone involved, and some games have been implemented to rely on JLP features, which severely limits their availability.

 

That is something that programmers and publishers will also have to consider in the future:  the feasibility of sourcing materials and practicalities of distribution — including not only availability, but cost.  It helps nobody — not the publisher, programmer, supplier, nor customer — if a game is perfectly produced and brilliantly published at a cost high enough to make it inaccessible (or justifiable) to the market.

 

   dZ.

[+5-11under]

12 minutes ago, DZ-Jay said:

Of course, that’s part of the problem:  costs have gone up for everyone involved, and some games have been implemented to rely on JLP features, which severely limits their availability.

 

That is something that programmers and publishers will also have to consider in the future:  the feasibility of sourcing materials and practicalities of distribution — including not only availability, but cost.  It helps nobody — not the publisher, programmer, supplier, nor customer — if a game is perfectly produced and brilliantly published at a cost high enough to make it inaccessible (or justifiable) to the market.

 

   dZ.

I did a quick investigation. My prices have gone up about the same as the inflation rate over the past 4 years or so. Before that thing that started around 2020, though, I was able to usually keep prices constant (at the same dollar level, regardless of inflation), through various board improvements and part selection. Since 2020, though, that's not been do-able.

[+DZ-Jay]

49 minutes ago, 5-11under said:

I did a quick investigation. My prices have gone up about the same as the inflation rate over the past 4 years or so. Before that thing that started around 2020, though, I was able to usually keep prices constant (at the same dollar level, regardless of inflation), through various board improvements and part selection. Since 2020, though, that's not been do-able.

I completely understand.  I want to make sure that my comments are not interpreted in any way that suggests I think anybody is taking advantage of anybody else.  On the contrary:  my point is that we have a combination of problems related to inflation, sourcing, manufacturing, demand, and supply; which is causing these bottlenecks we have been experiencing -- and that people are free to make value judgments with regards to their relationships with publishers just as long as they consider that everyone is in the same boat:  if a publisher cannot publish, he cannot sell, which means he won't have capital to source materials, which affects the supplier and the developer, which impacts on supply of materials and games, and on it goes.

 

Pre-sales are merely a reaction to this.  I don't particularly like them, but it is one way to gather capital to address at least some of the factors mentioned above.

I'm happy know that you have ample supply of boards.  That's a very positive thing.  Unfortunately, as with your own, the cost of all materials has gone up, at the same time that the number of games developed keeps growing.  It means games will get more expensive, which probably will lead to decreased sales, which may result in less publications, etc.

 

Hopefully this will sort itself out at some point in the future, but in the meantime, it is the reality.

 

Thanks for being so transparent.

 

    dZ.

[+Rev]

18 hours ago, TrickyMoon said:

yeah I can wait... waited longer for other games and such. I've been away from AA for some time I more came here to check on status of Rev's site as I didn't receive communication back on my follow ups. Thanks for replies and insight!

Hey. Send me a PM here.  I get so many spam emails from my own website it isnt even funny.  From the auto fill-in email form for ‘contact us’ and the database forms.  I may just delete those and link the store ‘contact us’ only.  
 

Here is a slice of the pie below…..These emails are all spam. No way in the world i can check all these. Every day spam emails. 
 

This will mean im no longer accepting entries for the serial number databases etc etc etc.  

[+Rev]

I think this a large part why im missing emails.  I open some emails that look legit from a customer and get this over and over.