Amico in Trouble?

General and high profile video game topics.
User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Amico in Trouble?

Postby VideoGameCritic » February 8th, 2022, 9:19 pm

Though I would have taken a much different approach (physical media) for the Intellivision Amico, I was quieting hoping they could at least stay afloat. Now I'm not even sure they can do that!

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/02/ ... comments=1

You know a company is desperate when they're throwing around the term NFT. I wonder how much of this was poor timing. I mean, with covid and the supply shortage it would be hard for any new company to get off the ground.

Robotrek
Posts: 638
Joined: June 6th, 2016, 9:24 pm

Re: Amico in Trouble?

Postby Robotrek » February 9th, 2022, 5:35 pm

Yeah, it's pretty much dead in the water.

Sure, you'll get the fanboys who sing the praises of our lord and savior Tommy Tallarico, but pretty much every sane individual knows this thing is done. I'll be amazed if they get it out the door!

User avatar
MSR1701
Posts: 1509
Joined: April 29th, 2019, 7:53 am

Re: Amico in Trouble?

Postby MSR1701 » February 10th, 2022, 10:09 am

It's not a bad product (at least it had an actual product designed, contrasted against the Coleco Chameleon and the ol' Phantam), though it was never something I was going to go right out and grab (especially once they confirmed the lack of true physical media).

When I got an email early this week asking for investors to sign up for 500.00/shot, that left a VERY bad taste in my mouth. Call me crazy, but sending out an email to all of your update subscribers asking for money is just short of ranking down there with the old Nigerian Banker Spam emails of ye olde days.

Evercade is having supply chain difficulties, but has always kept their communications professional and to the point. Tommy... well, I love his music compositions, not sure what business exec experiences he's had over the years.

Again, the ideas for the Amico were decent in concept, the execution of the system, the marketing and the bad press (be it exec comments, lack of disclosure or otherwise) just add up to a footnote in history, one that will be alongside such great system design dramas as the Coleco Chameleon and the Gizmondo...

Voor
Posts: 1555
Joined: April 14th, 2015, 8:08 pm

Re: Amico in Trouble?

Postby Voor » February 10th, 2022, 11:40 am

Bummer. It had its challenges, but reminded me of the “little console that could”. I was rooting for it to succeed, but I think the timing isn’t ideal and their marketing was a little off. Still, some commendable ideas that I hope come out in some way one day.

User avatar
ASalvaro
Posts: 745
Joined: May 24th, 2019, 11:51 pm

Re: Amico in Trouble?

Postby ASalvaro » February 10th, 2022, 12:39 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:Though I would have taken a much different approach (physical media) for the Intellivision Amico, I was quieting hoping they could at least stay afloat. Now I'm not even sure they can do that!

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/02/ ... comments=1

You know a company is desperate when they're throwing around the term NFT. I wonder how much of this was poor timing. I mean, with covid and the supply shortage it would be hard for any new company to get off the ground.

Phil Adam is a great guy and has been in the business 40 years now and if anyone can turn things around he can

Robotrek
Posts: 638
Joined: June 6th, 2016, 9:24 pm

Re: Amico in Trouble?

Postby Robotrek » February 10th, 2022, 1:00 pm

ASalvaro wrote:
VideoGameCritic wrote:Though I would have taken a much different approach (physical media) for the Intellivision Amico, I was quieting hoping they could at least stay afloat. Now I'm not even sure they can do that!

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/02/ ... comments=1

You know a company is desperate when they're throwing around the term NFT. I wonder how much of this was poor timing. I mean, with covid and the supply shortage it would be hard for any new company to get off the ground.

Phil Adam is a great guy and has been in the business 40 years now and if anyone can turn things around he can


I thought Tommy was an industry legend and had a "great vision".

By saying Phil can "Turn it around", you're inadvertently admitting Tommy dropped the ball and did an absolutely horrible job.

User avatar
MSR1701
Posts: 1509
Joined: April 29th, 2019, 7:53 am

Re: Amico in Trouble?

Postby MSR1701 » February 10th, 2022, 1:06 pm

Robotrek wrote:
ASalvaro wrote:
VideoGameCritic wrote:Though I would have taken a much different approach (physical media) for the Intellivision Amico, I was quieting hoping they could at least stay afloat. Now I'm not even sure they can do that!

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/02/ ... comments=1

You know a company is desperate when they're throwing around the term NFT. I wonder how much of this was poor timing. I mean, with covid and the supply shortage it would be hard for any new company to get off the ground.

Phil Adam is a great guy and has been in the business 40 years now and if anyone can turn things around he can


I thought Tommy was an industry legend and had a "great vision".

By saying Phil can "Turn it around", you're inadvertently admitting Tommy dropped the ball and did an absolutely horrible job.


Tommy Tallarico is an Industry Legend - he is a Legendary music composer. Not sure what exec experience he had.

Never heard of Phil Adam, what has he worked in the past?

User avatar
ActRaiser
Posts: 1543
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 12:38 pm

Re: Amico in Trouble?

Postby ActRaiser » February 10th, 2022, 1:30 pm

MSR1701 wrote:
Robotrek wrote:
ASalvaro wrote:Phil Adam is a great guy and has been in the business 40 years now and if anyone can turn things around he can


I thought Tommy was an industry legend and had a "great vision".

By saying Phil can "Turn it around", you're inadvertently admitting Tommy dropped the ball and did an absolutely horrible job.


Tommy Tallarico is an Industry Legend - he is a Legendary music composer. Not sure what exec experience he had.

Never heard of Phil Adam, what has he worked in the past?


According their website, he's the second coming of Christ. <sarcasm>

Phil Adam, Chief Executive Officer
Phil has been involved with the Computer and Video Game Industry since 1981 and has served on several industry boards including Chairman of the Software Publishing Association. Phil was the Founder & President of Spectrum HoloByte from 1983 – 1990. Starting from 1990 Phil was the VP of Sales & Marketing for Interplay Productions before becoming VP of Business Development from 1993 – 2002. In 2002 Phil became the president & COO of Interplay and helped to take the company public. Phil has been involved in bringing over 350 Intellectual Properties to market including the biggest selling video game of all time…Tetris (original license with the then Soviet Union) at Spectrum HoloByte. Other recognizable accomplishments include bringing Silicon and Synapses’ (Blizzard Entertainment) first products to market. Phil also signed the first products with Bioware (Baldur’s Gate Series) as well as Parallax (Descent Series). He was also responsible for the AD & D and Star Trek license deals for Interplay. He was involved in the sale of Shiny Entertainment to Atari as well as the sale of significant assets to Universal/Vivendi. Phil also brought Naughty Dog to Universal, for their first products which included Crash Bandicoot.

User avatar
MSR1701
Posts: 1509
Joined: April 29th, 2019, 7:53 am

Re: Amico in Trouble?

Postby MSR1701 » February 10th, 2022, 1:48 pm

Wow, with that resume, there is a chance Amico could turn around.

Or it could fizzle out like the Jaguar and Dreamcast, only time will tell

User avatar
ActRaiser
Posts: 1543
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 12:38 pm

Re: Amico in Trouble?

Postby ActRaiser » February 10th, 2022, 2:04 pm

MSR1701 wrote:Wow, with that resume, there is a chance Amico could turn around.

Or it could fizzle out like the Jaguar and Dreamcast, only time will tell


lol - I took it the other way - he's really good at taking a turd, adding glitter, and unloading it on someone else.

If the analysis is right and that for every console sold one of the investors gets $100 royalty, they are screwed when they launch. Now, if they somehow convert all the IP and sell to someone else then maybe the other company can do something with it. No clue. They keep asking for money hand over fist, how much are these execs getting paid? It really shouldn't be difficult to release hardware akin to a cheapo phone, circa 2016.


Return to “Video Games General”