Intellivision Amico

[Kane99]

I had no idea they were making a new Intellivision system. They are calling it the Amico, and I guess it was supposed to come out this April, but is has been delayed until October 10th, 2021. This thing looks sexy though, my goodness. 😍 

It's supposed to come with 6 pre-loaded games at launch, with new games releasing for around $2.99 - $9.99. As well, all games are rated E for everyone, and the games supposedly learn your skill level as you play. Not sure if this thing will have longevity, but I want one.

 

[Shole]

Seems interesting but what exactly is it I watched the whole interview and didn't get what it is about? Is it something tv or just a new conosole?

[Empire]

Was hoping for the october release, no way we want to play indoor video games when spring and summer come in, and just in time to come indoors, last beach day here is usually late september. though this year we made it to mid ocotober!

[Kane99]

It was delayed back in August until sometime in 2022. They say it was because of the pandemic and how PC parts were hard to come by, which makes sense. You can read more on why at the link below. 

https://comicyears.com/gaming/intellivision-amico-delayed-again-to-2022/

On top of this though, I guess there's been some problems with this console and some people don't, like the controllers not working properly, phone connectivity was spotty and I hear there was other issues. As well, the games on the console are a bit lacking from what I have seen, just seems to be a cheap, overpriced console with mobile games. 

I'm not very hopeful for this project to be honest. I have a feeling it won't come out, of if it does, it will fail miserably. 

[Aniekwe]

On 12/2/2021 at 4:49 AM, Kane99 said:

It was delayed back in August until sometime in 2022. They say it was because of the pandemic and how PC parts were hard to come by, which makes sense. You can read more on why at the link below. 

https://comicyears.com/gaming/intellivision-amico-delayed-again-to-2022/

On top of this though, I guess there's been some problems with this console and some people don't, like the controllers not working properly, phone connectivity was spotty and I hear there was other issues. As well, the games on the console are a bit lacking from what I have seen, just seems to be a cheap, overpriced console with mobile games. 

I'm not very hopeful for this project to be honest. I have a feeling it won't come out, of if it does, it will fail miserably. 

The sooner they address all the flaws it comes with very early, would be the only thing that's going to give a lifeline to its survival in the market because gamers can be very picky when it comes to choosing what they invest their money and time on. If they want it to fail, it's very easy for them to achieve that. 

[Kane99]

Not much news to share on the Intellivision  Amico, aside from the fact that it looks like the project has been abandoned or isn't going to happen. There was a whole lot of crazy stuff going on with the production, from the team allegedly lying about the consoles abilities, how the controllers worked and so on. 

Do you guys think this console could still release? And even if it did, would it even succeed with what we already have on the market? 

This article below discusses what's been going on. Doesn't seem like much is happening, especially since one of the leaders behind it, Tommy Tallarico peaced out from the project back in 2021, and that's where it mostly stopped. 

You can read more about this here - https://thegamebutler.com/2023/01/25/so-is-the-intellivision-amico-dead-or-what/

Do you think it's safe to say this console is never going to be on store shelves? 

[Ravenfreak]

At first I was really invested in this project, I didn't give them any money but I was keeping an eye out on the project. I was also watching Madlittlepixel's videos on the console too. At this point I think it's safe to say that it's dead. It's a shame though, I'm a Earthworm Jim fan and really wanted to see Earthworm Jim 4 come out. I guess even if the Amico was to be released, I don't see it fairing well against other platforms.

[Kane99]

On 2/26/2023 at 2:05 PM, Ravenfreak said:

At first I was really invested in this project, I didn't give them any money but I was keeping an eye out on the project. I was also watching Madlittlepixel's videos on the console too. At this point I think it's safe to say that it's dead. It's a shame though, I'm a Earthworm Jim fan and really wanted to see Earthworm Jim 4 come out. I guess even if the Amico was to be released, I don't see it fairing well against other platforms.

I don't think even if it had released this console would have sold. It's a nostalgia bait console, for those who want to revisit their childhood but in a modern way. 

The sad truth is that they really didn't have anything going for them. Their controllers seemed more like a gimmick and an attempt to be different than actually useful, and the game selection looked awfully a lot like shovelware and flash style games. 

I think Earthworm Jim 4 will release on other platforms, so we should still see it I hope. Unless it can't come out until the Amico comes out, in which case, RIP I guess. :( 

[killamch89]

Honestly, I had no idea that this platform (Intellivision) even existed. When did it come out? How long was it around for? How popular was it?

Edited March 14, 2023 by killamch89

[Shagger]

6 minutes ago, killamch89 said:

Honestly, I had no idea that this platform (Intellivision) even existed. When did it come out? How long was it around for? How popular was it?

 

 

The (original) Intellivision was developed by Mattel and built to compete with the Atari 2600 and actually started development the same year as the Atari's release in 1977 to then be released in 1980 after being test marketed in 1979. There would be a revised model in 1983 called the Intellivision 2 with an upgraded CPU and a more compact design that was cheaper to make.

 

 

Aside the slight technical upgrade, both were pretty much the same. Call it the comparable to the relationship between the PS4 and the PS4 Pro and you get the idea. It's a late 70's/early 80's video game system, so graphics and sound are pretty much what you expect, even though the Intellevision tended to have better graphics than the 2600.

 

This is an image from Advance Dungeons and Dragons, one of the classic games from the system.

 

But enough about the games, this is about the system. First, the controllers. As you can see they had numeric keypads with two buttons on each side and a disc at the bottom that rotates and also serves as a button when you press it in, kind of like how you might push the control stick on a modern game controller. So that's a total of 17 buttons. Compare that to a Dualshock 4, that has 14 buttons plus a D-Pad, and I'd say that seams a little excessive for the kind of games that they had back then. This was the early days of home console gaming, the the ergonomics f the controllers weren't great either when they really needed to be for a more complex controller. As was common in the 80's, the games often came with overlayers for the keypad to help indicate what buttons that game used and what thier functions were.

 

 

Unlike the Atari 2600, the Intellevision was modular and had a number add-ons including the Intellevoice that, when used with a compatible game, added synthesized human voices to the game's audio, and ambitious thing for the time;

 

 

 

And a keyboard component that tuned the Intellevision into a modular home computer. This keyboard component even had it's own 8-bit processor that worked with the hardware on the console, turning it into a dual-processor computer, so that was also pretty cool for the time.

 

 

So this was a good system for its time, but like so many other systems at the time, the video game crash of 1983 hurt it badly. By the time it was discontinued in 1990, it had sold a bit over 3 millions units, which isn't bad for a system at the time, but doesn't look good compared to system it was meant to compete with, the Atari 2600, that sold around 10 times more. Coming out later than the Atari, having a smaller library of mostly clones of the same games and being around $100 (And that's $100 in 1980, remember.) more expensive meant it was never going to compete.