Chris, if your channel is "a failed business" then it is one of the best failed businesses. I really appreciate your content. I know many others do as well. Of course that might not pay your mortgage but I wanted to share it nonetheless.
@BigPhillip the company is in crazy amounts of debt and doesn't stand to even remotely profit of the consoles until they sell hundreds of thousands of units, which is highly unlikely... If the thing even releases at all.
I like when someone like you takes it apart, because you're very methodical. Makes a lot of sense that you were a lawyer/accountant. All the best, hopefully this boosts you up further, and less people get robbed.
Unfortunate might be pushing it; though that might just be the bitter apple taste of Nick Richards suggesting that the Amico we've seen so far isn't even the final production model and that they plan to try and do a cost reduction spin.
I’m sure Intellivision would love to be acquired at this point. Too bad they’ve drained all the value out of the old brand and squandered what little reputation it once had.
@@sensibleperson1979 I don't think it had any value. The vast majority of people do not remember it, unless they are in a specific narrow age range, or had kids at the time. Even among those people, very few cared about it. I was the right age, but I didn't know a single person at school who had an Intellivision (99% Atari, a couple ColecoVisions, maybe a rare person who had something else). Everybody knows what Atari was, Intellivision fans are a very niche group. And that was 40 years ago. Even if it had value, it didn't after that.
14:45 that's Twin Peaks actress Amy Shiels pretending to be a mom with an American accent. She's from Ireland and a friend of Tommy Tallarico. Remember, Intellivision claims that their ads don't have actors. Google it.
This is an excellent summary of this situation, well supported by observable facts, no guessing, and what I like most of all, no both-siderisms. Only Intellivision is asking for anyone's money, but they pretend as if they’re doing the world a favor and expect skeptics to bear the burden of proof.
Multi-classing as a Game Reviewer and Lawyer certainly gives you an edge. I do hope this is an avenue to explore. You are underrated and very good at your job(s).
Actually, as far as blast processing goes for the Mega Drive/Genesis, you are very much correct by stating it was a real thing. Since the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom debuted between 2 and 3 years later than Sega's 16 bit system (depending on the specific market you look at), most of the SNES's "out of the box" technical specs were quite superior. With one notable (somewhat baffling) exception: the CPU processing, or clock speed, of the Genesis/Mega Drive was noticeably faster than the Super Nintendo/Famicom. Sega's 16 bit CPU speed was 7.67 MHz, while estimates for the SNES CPU vary between 3.58 MHz, to as low as 1.79 MHz, with an average clock speed sitting at around 2.68 MHz. This difference in clock speed made games like Sonic the Hedgehog, whose whole conceit was a blue hedgehog in sneakers running like gangbusters from one end of a level to another, run much more competently on the Sega hardware. Similarly, genres like space shooters, or certain types of sports games, performed better on the Genesis. Advertisers at the time knew that 90s kids wouldn't give two hoots about "clock speed". But "blast processing"? Now you have something! Genesis does what Nintendont! (And I say this as an aging Super Nintendo nerd. :-).)
On Republic, it says "9,411 Investors in 2 campaigns" - given Republic was an extension of the Fig campaign, does the Republic $11m include the Fig $7m in its total? Also, the Fig money of $5.7m is reflected in the 2020 accounts under "Prepaid Development". However at least some of the 2021 actual debt (not the Fig money) is listed elsewhere in the filing and is about $4-5m when you look into it.
They made a _non-portable_ shitty android phone. That can run _conversions_ of Flash games that look like shovelware from the 2000s. Important distinction. :p
Intellivision probably did get $3 million from Fig/Republic, as that's the minimum guaranteed amount, as I recall. Anything beyond that is up to Fig/Republic completely, and I doubt they've recieved any.
Don't forget that Republic is probably already wary since Amico was what bankrupted Fig...plus there's the contractual obligation to deliver 100 demonstration units as SEC documents prove. I can't exactly imagine triple crossing them with two further campaigns has exactly made friends over there.
I love how there's so little photos that if you Google amico news. every article has the same thumbnail photos of the console but it's in different colors but it's all the same picture.....
What a fucking tragedy. I used to respect Tommy, and as someone almost old enough to remember the original Intellivision, I once thought that this might be the one Android box that could. Might could. You know what I mean. Anyway, it's clear that someone took a look at the Intellivision controller and said "hey, touch-screen this up, and it's a Switch killer!". They were extremely high. As exemplified by the fact that *someone* on that team unironically believed they could demand system exclusivity. Anyway, it'll be on the blockchain, like any products that most definitely are not scams, lmao. Poor Tommy. I almost hope you were conned, so I can still kinda respect you. That MDK score was really dope.
It's so much worse than this. Pretty much everything around Tommy is a lie. He even plays air guitar at VGL, and somenoe else pre-recorded the riffs for him.
@@Owlpunk Not even that one will tell the full picture, but it gives a good idea. Anyway, I am at the moment not convinced that Tommy has done anything legit ever other than being a goofy side character on a TV show.
Love your videos Chris, so glad you’re still making them! My dad still has his original Intellivision, and when I was really young we played it together. That retro tech is super cool. So it’s crazy to learn about how they’re trying to bring it back, and that it’s 100% a scam. “Tellerico claims that the games are also NFTs” LOL so they’re incorporating another scam into their own scam?
A scamception; they claim it's running on their own proprietary technology. Given the sort of _massive_ distributed computing network that it takes to _start_ a blockchain, much less _manage_ one, I can't imagine that they've gotten far with their rinkydink blade servers. Of course, that would imply there's a data centre somewhere.
They aren't trying to "bring it back", though. It's just a name. That nostalgic feeling is what they are trying to get money for, but they don't even want to have retro games.
„Kids aren’t idiots“ Im gonna be a teacher soon and a colleague of mine recently told me a story about a bunch of boys that had PE lessons and were spraying so much of their deodorant into the air, while they were in the dressing room that they started to pass out. Their teacher came in to help them… and passed out as well. They ended up calling the fire department who got everyone out safely while wearing gas masks. So yeah, hearing the sentence „kids aren’t idiots“ kind of cracked me up lol
Kids are idiots in lots of ways, but they know how to control games with joypads, mouse and keyboards etc. Intellivision acting like this is some insurmountable hurdle for people is insulting, especially considering the state of their controller and how it's used in different games being wildly different every time.
"Beginning to feel like a scam" = ITS A SCAM TO STEAL YOUR MONEY. Just say it bro, I appreciate you calling this out as a money grab. It'd be awesome to hear u out dissect the game publishers scams that happen all the time. We all know microtransactions are never going away (unfortunately 😕) and anyone that promises that only has a bigger scam in mind.
I came to the channel for the insightful RPG retrospectives on games I love, but damn you really are in your element here. Pains me to see you call this channel a failed business while I'm busy updating my mental rolodex to make you an authority on several more topics. I wouldn't be mad at all if you transitioned to covering kickstarter scams and the like. You have the bona fides and unique charisma to add real input to such topics.
I just don't understand Tommy's motivation or plan here at all. It sound like it would've been way less trouble with far better odds to just start a games publisher based on the same boomer retro family-friendly nostalgia premise.
Well, when you have malignant NPD & are _probably_ a pathological liar, _go out of your way to pay random nobodies to give awards literally nobody cares about,_ and _you lie about working on one of the highest profile games for the Game Cube,_ I dunno. Maybe he thought the Amico could be his Magnum Opus. Instead of him being forgotten as a washed up nobody who composed for _Advent Rising_ and grifted _Oof_ from Joey Kuras.
Chris calling your content failed business isnt true, even if it doesnt make you a huge amount of money it seems like you enjoy making videos and you are genuinely one of the best video essayists when it comes to gaming.
"the very channel you're watching this on is a failed business" that hurt. I love your content. I hope you're doing well and will keep making content even though it doesn't pay enough. It's definitely apprechiated, I hope you know that :)
I seem to recall the price of the Amico was supposed to be like $180 originally, not $250. Also, in the history of Intellivision at the beginning of the video you missed the part where INTV Corp. bought the rights to the Intellivision from Mattel Electronics following the North American video game crash of 1983/1984 and then re-released the system and continued putting out new games until they went out of business in the late 80's or so.
wow, i really enjoyed this! this could be a really interesting type of series where you break down financial and/or legal aspects of games and devs. ps, any hint as to your what your next crpg is?
What's your take on Intellivision Entertainment LLC being suspended by the FTB? It coincides with the Delaware LLC formation. With its LLC suspended in California, doesn't that mean that even if Intellivision thought they had a case against Ark Electronics for the 1.2 million, they can't even sue them without first resolving their suspension?
Great summary! Nothing new, but interesting to hear your analysis! About lag - There are videos where frame counting has been performed. 10+ frames of lag has been confirmed.
@@pferreira1983 10+ frames is not non-existent. Then yes, there's a thing called firmware updates, but it's still scummy that Intellivision has been lying about the lag time and time again.
@@pferreira1983 You can't say "there's a tiny bit of lag" and then "it's non-existent". Make up your mind, bud. Also, firmware updates don't solve hardware issues. They're using an ESP32 board, apparently, which is slow. Great for IoT and such, and quite cheap, but slow for a game controller.
I've been following this since the beginning. This entire project has been one of the most insane things I've ever seen unravel. It didn't seem like a great idea from the start, but I never would have imagined it would have gone like this. It's been a very, VERY, bizarre dumpster fire to watch burn. The cultish vibe I get from the mega supporters is also weird to watch go down. It'll make for a good book/article to read when it's all said and done, that's for sure. Well done video bud.
Good video. Do you see Tommy and crew facing lawsuits after this implodes? They are 8 million in debt and haven't made 1 single functional, finished game. They also haven't manufactured a single console.
@@pferreira1983 Congratulations, the games aren't finished or Nick Richards is on a coke bender. Right in the very comments of the StartEngine comments, read and weep.
Popcorn time, this is going to be _good._ Your word has the potential to appear as authoritative, which might finally shake the investment rats out of their stupor. Addenum: Even since this video was posted, Nick Richards, the Intellivision CFO continues to say more coked up things. It's downright _fascinating_ how he hasn't been issued a keyboard muzzle/and or gag order.
16:40 - The Republic campaign umbrellaed the Fig campaign and inherited those funds, plus did another round of funding that raised around $4.5M, so combined they raised $11.59M (not $11.59M + $7.1M). Also Nick responded to a comment on Republic asking about funds and said: "Funds were distributed on a rolling basis as the assigned regulatory administrators signed off on the offering so funds are actively being deployed in the company, the majority of those funds being spent on engineering, testing, regulatory and manufacturing fixtures and process engineering such as inline testing/quality control fixtures."
Nick also said recently: "The vast majority of all funds raised have been spent on product, whether it be hardware, firmware, software, game development, art/animation as well as a host of back-end systems to support operations. The initial cost of developing an entirely new gaming console is considerable. As we approach launch we do need to raise additional funds to continue to fund engineering, particularly in the area of the back-end systems"
Hi Chris, I don't know who described Blast-processing to you but you got it wrong. The phrase Blast-Processing was coined specifically for the Genesis in the USA and just means that the Motorola 68000 CPU in the Genesis/Megadrive runs faster than the Ricoh processor in the Super Nintendo. Nothing else. You might be getting it confused with DMA (Direct Memory Access) which allows the CPU to continue running while other chips in the console perform independent processing based on memory data, but that should never be confused with the term Blast Processing. In England, we never heard the term Blast-Processing officially, which I can only assume was either because market research in USA identified that using the term would help in Sega's "war" against Nintendo whereas the market research in Europe found that it would harm the brand to use it over here, or maybe it didn't even occur to Sega Europe to take that route in advertising for whatever reason. I will say that as a marketing strategy, arming people with false terminology disrespects customers and cheapens the company. I must admit that when I first heard the term Blast-Processing, I thought it was idiotic, childish and a term I would never use myself in conversation. Well, other than explaining its history to people. With all of that said, I wouldn't describe the Karma engine as disrespecting customers, so maybe Tommy should consider not comparing the 'Karma engine' to 'Blast Processing'. Maybe it should be called the 'Karma system' instead of 'Karma engine' since using the word 'engine' implies that it is a computer program, but that is splitting hairs and doesn't really matter. My point is that all Amico games are designed so that complete newbies can have fun playing with experienced players, which is a great idea and this is bound to work differently for every game. Giving the design philosophy a name like Karma is a good idea I think, because it genuinely does describe a specific gameplay focus, and I think it should help Amico achieve its goal of being fun for all the family
I really appriciate this video. I have been watching the Amico since the beginning. The longer it goes on the more of a spectacle it is. But I truly appreciate the professional breakdown of this rather than some random person talk about their gut instinct or get swayed by the cult of personality. I have always believed in this saying: "Never deal with a man who deals in absolutes." The greatest, the best, the most,.... Tommy does that. thanks again.
I think problems started within the first year of the announcement. In the second year is when the carrot was being dangled seeming close at times but but always out of reach as for now there's more holes and loose ends in the whole process it will simply never happen. I got my money back a few weeks ago from my Founders & VIP Preorders and am glad to out at this point before the point of no return.
It was really interesting hearing about this from someone who knows what resources to look for and pull. I had no idea about your background, and it made for a really interesting perspective.
This...was really interesting. I appreciate the take by someone who's obviously had experience in the legal field. I was especially intrigued by the mind-boggling loan they agreed to. What did that meeting look like?
There are many types of lawyers. His title says former lawyer. What kind? He could have done real estate, Personal injury or many other unrelated jobs. Don't make the lawyer title make you think his opinion is even valid.
@@boscofreeman8321His opinion's pretty valid though. Lawyer or not. I don't care what field he's a lawyer in if I agree with his opinion regardless. And I don't think anyone immediately started nodding and agreeing as soon as they saw the title all because they saw the word'Lawyer',I do think they agreed on his opinion about it being a dumpster fire however
A great summary, I'd be curious about your thoughts now we know the latest crowd funding campaign has failed and also that it seems they sold at least 2 "physical" games, despite them not being finished (Moon Patrol) and likely never will be as the developer went out of business before they sold them
It did. They were trying market a family friendly only console to the mainstream or retro market which doesn't make the slightest sense business wise. The people behind Amico could have easily just use an existing or start their own online digital platform and entice developers from there instead. Developing and releasing your own console takes significant amount of time, resources and not to mention hiring the necessary talents like hardware and software engineers all of whom in no way going to be cheap. The entire thing about the Amico was already DOA since day one.
Oh gods, I was not aware of that giga boomer marketing. Oh my oh my. I'm truly not sure if I should chuckle at it or just cringe so hard that my teeth shatter. What were they thinking
Not sure why anybody would buy an Amico when they could get a Switch for around the same amount and it is pretty much THE "family-friendly" game console with most of the indie games Amico will get and quality first-party family-friendly Nintendo games. I don't see the appeal/market beyond a tiny niche of aging gamers with Intellivision Nostalgia (whose children very well could be entering college anyway). Seems to be a product desperately looking for a market that doesn't exist/is already served by other devices. Also, judging by the pretty atrocious performance in a lot of these gameplay demos, I would say the $100 production cost sounds about right. Probably using a bottom-of-the-barrel SoC to decrease costs.
Any smart phone released within the last 8 years kills their entire value proposition. Absolutely delusional for anyone to think the console is worth paying $350 USD for.
It most definitely is. You cannot collect money on pre orders when you have no patents legally filed. Have units being in a factory being made as we have a speak. They do not even have a physical address. This to me is flat out embezzling.
I know you consider your UA-cam channel a failed business but as someone generally your age, I enjoy the deep dive into Video Game topics that lean on your accountant and business background. Please continue to do work. Even if it means partnering with content creators in some meaningful way!
Been watching you for a while and it is always nice when someone calls out The Quartering. It blows my mind that people like that nazi sympathizer. Anyway, cool to see you do something different. Would love to see more vids that deviate from your normal content, even though I eat that stuff up too. Cheers!
Another hilarious aspect of the Amico: Tommy Tallywhacker had planned for it to tour all the big shows nobody cares about: Ellen, Oprah, and several other now long irrelevant daytime glurge shows.
Intellivision was MY system in the day, when I had to constantly defend it the console all my Atari 2600 "Toy" players. To this day (well, yesterday) I play several of the games with my 32 year old son. Tallerico was right about playing more simple games within the family, but the old version of SNAFU suits us just fine. I have bought several original consoles from eBay (as well as a retro console from Toys-r-us) that I have had to repair myself, but it was still cheaper than the new "improved" (bastardized) versions of Intellivision classic games on the Amico, (whatever price it will be IF it EVENTUALLY comes out). It's just so sad that the name of Intellivision is being shit on by this con man. George Plimpton must be spinning like a lathe.
I thought Tallarico was out of touch when he was reviewing games on Reviews on the Run and Electric Playground. Looks like its gotten way worse over the past 15 years. Had no idea he was such a fan of right wing grifters though; guess he really is crazy.
Even IF this console releases the support will be pulled overnight considering it wouldn’t sell because of how badly they’ve handled this and all the bad press and lies that have come with it.
what confusaes me excuses about chip shortages etc. But this was due out 2 years ago and well they havent got a OS or actuall games. Looking at the games and looking at some indie games released on every format made by one person WTF have they been doing except begging for money. As for the german thing. I live on swiss german border and trust me a lot of germans put english people to shame with their english.
The chip shortage, like many things was an absurd lie or an act of wilful incompetence. Most companies have this strange thing called a "backup plan" if their first manufacturing plan faults.
Thanks so much for such an interesting video. I appreciate the variety of content on your channel. If I was at all curious about this "game console" then I'd be 100% done with that idea after all this information xD
I could be wrong, but I feel it was due to poor management than a genuine attempt to defraud. Costs careened out of control, their funds weren't properly managed/disbursed and now their debt (north of $8 million) is insurmountable. Thanks for the video my friend, good stuff!
I think you're mistaken about blast processing. When the SNES was released, it was superior in every way except one: the megadrive/genesis has a better scroll speed. It's why a "fast" game like sonic is more feasible. Sega recognized this one small technical difference, and called it "blast processing".
Excellent vid, as usual. I know you've talked about quitting yt in previous videos, and I wish you good fortune and happiness whatever you decide. But the platform, and - more importantly - my feed, will be worse off without you.
"from day one it was aimed at families" This actually isn't true, its another Tommy weird pivot. The initial pitch documents don't mention families or family entertainment or even the safe acronym. They only mention a retro audience and Tommy's "celebrity" among retro gamers. Then when every retro gaming channel said "I'm not sure this will work? It's never worked before when this has been tried" Tommy suddenly said "uh actually it's for families" It seems like it was actually a much later decision than he tries to make out. It doesn't show up in any of the early materials. I suspect that's why it's been a mess from day one, so much of its madness is just reacting to people rather than sticking to any kind of plan
That 3 billion number… my god. Who is falling for this crap? That’s nearly half the population on the planet. Why hasn’t Nintendo sold 3 billion Switches? Guess they’re just a bunch of dummies, eh?
Sorry but soon as I heard the games are an NFT. Eh Fuck that 🙈😅 From what I understand, minting/creating an NFT essentially uses more electricity than a small island or city....just to make 1 NFT essentially. It is preposterous
I somehow ignored this video of yours, but watched it after hbomberguy released his Roblox video. You give a lot of interesting details on why this system didn't have a lot going for it, leaving aside all the scummyness of Tallarico. What a narcissistic liar this guy is - in SO many ways.
I do take issue with the idea that The Quartering is an "actual racist"... because he's not. I'm not even a fan of the guy but he's certainly not a racist. Of all the things Tommy has said and done, even just on Twitter, following The Quartering is the least of his issues. Heck, Doug TenNapel is a bigger issue himself and he _works_ for the company... Otherwise, the critique is pretty good. NFTs aren't all a scam, to be fair, though I wouldn't buy them anyway because I hate them.
Meh. No one yet has convinced me that Intellivision deserves anything more than people respectfully proceeding with cancelling their preorders. Do it and walk away. Then continue to use your XBox and Windows PC, products developed and owned by the most unethical software company on the planet. Morals--gotta love 'em!
Chris, if your channel is "a failed business" then it is one of the best failed businesses. I really appreciate your content. I know many others do as well. Of course that might not pay your mortgage but I wanted to share it nonetheless.
Loved the retrospectives on game genres and would gladly watch more.
Yea, it may have monetarily failed but was a smashing success delivering quality content.
@BigPhillip the company is in crazy amounts of debt and doesn't stand to even remotely profit of the consoles until they sell hundreds of thousands of units, which is highly unlikely... If the thing even releases at all.
If he stops making videos I will be sad. I love his analysis and honesty.
A failed business I love to visit indeed.
Sadly the history of lies section could of been three times as long and you would still be able to find more lies that could be added into it.
I like when someone like you takes it apart, because you're very methodical. Makes a lot of sense that you were a lawyer/accountant. All the best, hopefully this boosts you up further, and less people get robbed.
There’s certainly no way forward that doesn’t include acquisition or bankruptcy. It’s an unfortunate disaster in its current state.
Unfortunate might be pushing it; though that might just be the bitter apple taste of Nick Richards suggesting that the Amico we've seen so far isn't even the final production model and that they plan to try and do a cost reduction spin.
At this point, the brand name is poison.
I’m sure Intellivision would love to be acquired at this point. Too bad they’ve drained all the value out of the old brand and squandered what little reputation it once had.
@@sensibleperson1979 Yeah. They've made the name "Intellivision" radioactive.
@@sensibleperson1979 I don't think it had any value. The vast majority of people do not remember it, unless they are in a specific narrow age range, or had kids at the time. Even among those people, very few cared about it. I was the right age, but I didn't know a single person at school who had an Intellivision (99% Atari, a couple ColecoVisions, maybe a rare person who had something else). Everybody knows what Atari was, Intellivision fans are a very niche group. And that was 40 years ago. Even if it had value, it didn't after that.
They only seem incompetent until you realize they took in 17 million and get to walk away scot-free.
Clay Davis: sheeeeiiiit
14:45 that's Twin Peaks actress Amy Shiels pretending to be a mom with an American accent. She's from Ireland and a friend of Tommy Tallarico. Remember, Intellivision claims that their ads don't have actors. Google it.
They never marketed the console to customers. They marketed the idea of the console to investors.
SmashJT asked 'What was I even playing' - perhaps a Pi board (they have an ex-VP of Colecoretro running the show now)
That's what I was thinking when Chris said their marketing was made for boomers.
Well sure, that's because they don't have a console to sell.
@@culwin a mystery as to why not do indiegogo - no prototype needs to be shown... that may have brought in 100,000 too late now obv.
This is an excellent summary of this situation, well supported by observable facts, no guessing, and what I like most of all, no both-siderisms. Only Intellivision is asking for anyone's money, but they pretend as if they’re doing the world a favor and expect skeptics to bear the burden of proof.
Multi-classing as a Game Reviewer and Lawyer certainly gives you an edge. I do hope this is an avenue to explore. You are underrated and very good at your job(s).
It's not his job anymore. He said as much. Even though I wish it was not the case.
Minor correction: original retail price was stated as $140 - $180. The $250 price came later.
Actually, as far as blast processing goes for the Mega Drive/Genesis, you are very much correct by stating it was a real thing. Since the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom debuted between 2 and 3 years later than Sega's 16 bit system (depending on the specific market you look at), most of the SNES's "out of the box" technical specs were quite superior. With one notable (somewhat baffling) exception: the CPU processing, or clock speed, of the Genesis/Mega Drive was noticeably faster than the Super Nintendo/Famicom. Sega's 16 bit CPU speed was 7.67 MHz, while estimates for the SNES CPU vary between 3.58 MHz, to as low as 1.79 MHz, with an average clock speed sitting at around 2.68 MHz.
This difference in clock speed made games like Sonic the Hedgehog, whose whole conceit was a blue hedgehog in sneakers running like gangbusters from one end of a level to another, run much more competently on the Sega hardware. Similarly, genres like space shooters, or certain types of sports games, performed better on the Genesis. Advertisers at the time knew that 90s kids wouldn't give two hoots about "clock speed". But "blast processing"? Now you have something! Genesis does what Nintendont!
(And I say this as an aging Super Nintendo nerd. :-).)
This video has aged remarkably well, this situation has only become an even bigger dumpster fire.
Good to see someone who clearly knows his stuff calling this out for what it is and has been for a long time now. Great video.
Tommy, Tommy, Tommy. Always trying to stay in the lime light, whether it's a bad , good, or just plainly stupid.
At this point, are there any independent voices that think that investing in this is a good idea, or that it even has a reasonable chance to succeed?
It depends; do you mean _"Independent"_ or Independent? Neil Patel may not have a directly greased palm, but you know. ;)
It will succeed if we all just work together to get it out
@@higherfurtherfaster90 who is we
There never were.
@@Feasco We, as in the fans of Amico. The people that want Intellivision to succeed
It was honestly a shock seeing tommy pop up because all I ever knew him from was the electric playground
On Republic, it says "9,411 Investors in 2 campaigns" - given Republic was an extension of the Fig campaign, does the Republic $11m include the Fig $7m in its total?
Also, the Fig money of $5.7m is reflected in the 2020 accounts under "Prepaid Development". However at least some of the 2021 actual debt (not the Fig money) is listed elsewhere in the filing and is about $4-5m when you look into it.
They made a shitty android phone that can run flash games. Wow.
They made a _non-portable_ shitty android phone.
That can run _conversions_ of Flash games that look like shovelware from the 2000s. Important distinction. :p
Intellivision probably did get $3 million from Fig/Republic, as that's the minimum guaranteed amount, as I recall. Anything beyond that is up to Fig/Republic completely, and I doubt they've recieved any.
Don't forget that Republic is probably already wary since Amico was what bankrupted Fig...plus there's the contractual obligation to deliver 100 demonstration units as SEC documents prove.
I can't exactly imagine triple crossing them with two further campaigns has exactly made friends over there.
I love how there's so little photos that if you Google amico news. every article has the same thumbnail photos of the console but it's in different colors but it's all the same picture.....
"the very channel you are watching this on is failed business but not a scam"
hahahahah. nicely done. Got me to subscribe.
Lol. The games look like the ones you got in Kelloggs packages in the early 2000s
What a fucking tragedy. I used to respect Tommy, and as someone almost old enough to remember the original Intellivision, I once thought that this might be the one Android box that could. Might could. You know what I mean.
Anyway, it's clear that someone took a look at the Intellivision controller and said "hey, touch-screen this up, and it's a Switch killer!". They were extremely high. As exemplified by the fact that *someone* on that team unironically believed they could demand system exclusivity.
Anyway, it'll be on the blockchain, like any products that most definitely are not scams, lmao.
Poor Tommy. I almost hope you were conned, so I can still kinda respect you. That MDK score was really dope.
It's so much worse than this. Pretty much everything around Tommy is a lie. He even plays air guitar at VGL, and somenoe else pre-recorded the riffs for him.
@@midimusicforever Yeah I know, I've seen the hbomb video, too :D
@@Owlpunk Not even that one will tell the full picture, but it gives a good idea.
Anyway, I am at the moment not convinced that Tommy has done anything legit ever other than being a goofy side character on a TV show.
My favorite lie was the fake gameplay video when the internet detectives found that Tommy’s control inputs didn’t match the gameplay on the screen.
Love your videos Chris, so glad you’re still making them!
My dad still has his original Intellivision, and when I was really young we played it together. That retro tech is super cool. So it’s crazy to learn about how they’re trying to bring it back, and that it’s 100% a scam.
“Tellerico claims that the games are also NFTs” LOL so they’re incorporating another scam into their own scam?
A scamception; they claim it's running on their own proprietary technology.
Given the sort of _massive_ distributed computing network that it takes to _start_ a blockchain, much less _manage_ one, I can't imagine that they've gotten far with their rinkydink blade servers.
Of course, that would imply there's a data centre somewhere.
They aren't trying to "bring it back", though. It's just a name. That nostalgic feeling is what they are trying to get money for, but they don't even want to have retro games.
@@culwin oh definitely
„Kids aren’t idiots“
Im gonna be a teacher soon and a colleague of mine recently told me a story about a bunch of boys that had PE lessons and were spraying so much of their deodorant into the air, while they were in the dressing room that they started to pass out. Their teacher came in to help them… and passed out as well. They ended up calling the fire department who got everyone out safely while wearing gas masks.
So yeah, hearing the sentence „kids aren’t idiots“ kind of cracked me up lol
Kids are idiots in lots of ways, but they know how to control games with joypads, mouse and keyboards etc. Intellivision acting like this is some insurmountable hurdle for people is insulting, especially considering the state of their controller and how it's used in different games being wildly different every time.
@@dennett316 Plus, the lack of face buttons really only is going to make things more confusing, since there's never going to be a "Press B to attack".
The earthworm jim running to the "boomer" line......
All your previous videos where you've offhandedly mentioned "I'm a lawyer" as part of a joke or aside were foreshadowing for this video.
"Beginning to feel like a scam" = ITS A SCAM TO STEAL YOUR MONEY. Just say it bro, I appreciate you calling this out as a money grab. It'd be awesome to hear u out dissect the game publishers scams that happen all the time. We all know microtransactions are never going away (unfortunately 😕) and anyone that promises that only has a bigger scam in mind.
He's a lawyer, he knows to be careful with his words lol
I came to the channel for the insightful RPG retrospectives on games I love, but damn you really are in your element here. Pains me to see you call this channel a failed business while I'm busy updating my mental rolodex to make you an authority on several more topics. I wouldn't be mad at all if you transitioned to covering kickstarter scams and the like. You have the bona fides and unique charisma to add real input to such topics.
I just don't understand Tommy's motivation or plan here at all. It sound like it would've been way less trouble with far better odds to just start a games publisher based on the same boomer retro family-friendly nostalgia premise.
Well, when you have malignant NPD & are _probably_ a pathological liar, _go out of your way to pay random nobodies to give awards literally nobody cares about,_ and _you lie about working on one of the highest profile games for the Game Cube,_ I dunno. Maybe he thought the Amico could be his Magnum Opus.
Instead of him being forgotten as a washed up nobody who composed for _Advent Rising_ and grifted _Oof_ from Joey Kuras.
@@XanthinZarda the only good thing about Advent Rising was that rock throwing line.
Great video, that tank battle game looks like it's running at 15 FPS at best.
Scam or not, it's definitely a joke.
tommy = 🤡
Chris calling your content failed business isnt true, even if it doesnt make you a huge amount of money it seems like you enjoy making videos and you are genuinely one of the best video essayists when it comes to gaming.
"the very channel you're watching this on is a failed business" that hurt. I love your content. I hope you're doing well and will keep making content even though it doesn't pay enough. It's definitely apprechiated, I hope you know that :)
Would love more stuff like this, everything you do is great, but this was really special.
I seem to recall the price of the Amico was supposed to be like $180 originally, not $250.
Also, in the history of Intellivision at the beginning of the video you missed the part where INTV Corp. bought the rights to the Intellivision from Mattel Electronics following the North American video game crash of 1983/1984 and then re-released the system and continued putting out new games until they went out of business in the late 80's or so.
wow, i really enjoyed this! this could be a really interesting type of series where you break down financial and/or legal aspects of games and devs. ps, any hint as to your what your next crpg is?
What's your take on Intellivision Entertainment LLC being suspended by the FTB? It coincides with the Delaware LLC formation. With its LLC suspended in California, doesn't that mean that even if Intellivision thought they had a case against Ark Electronics for the 1.2 million, they can't even sue them without first resolving their suspension?
Great summary! Nothing new, but interesting to hear your analysis!
About lag - There are videos where frame counting has been performed. 10+ frames of lag has been confirmed.
This is complete rubbish. The lag is non-existent. Please just stop. 😆
@@pferreira1983
Your comment is rubbish. The lag is proven.
@@midimusicforever Proven false. Sure there's a tiny bit of lag but it's non-existent and there's this thing called 'firmware updates'. 😉
@@pferreira1983
10+ frames is not non-existent.
Then yes, there's a thing called firmware updates, but it's still scummy that Intellivision has been lying about the lag time and time again.
@@pferreira1983 You can't say "there's a tiny bit of lag" and then "it's non-existent". Make up your mind, bud.
Also, firmware updates don't solve hardware issues. They're using an ESP32 board, apparently, which is slow. Great for IoT and such, and quite cheap, but slow for a game controller.
I've been following this since the beginning. This entire project has been one of the most insane things I've ever seen unravel. It didn't seem like a great idea from the start, but I never would have imagined it would have gone like this. It's been a very, VERY, bizarre dumpster fire to watch burn. The cultish vibe I get from the mega supporters is also weird to watch go down. It'll make for a good book/article to read when it's all said and done, that's for sure. Well done video bud.
Good video. Do you see Tommy and crew facing lawsuits after this implodes? They are 8 million in debt and haven't made 1 single functional, finished game. They also haven't manufactured a single console.
Games are finished. Where are you getting your info from? Pat and Ian? 🤦♂
@@pferreira1983 how do you know that? the console has yet to be released.
@@pferreira1983 Congratulations, the games aren't finished or Nick Richards is on a coke bender. Right in the very comments of the StartEngine comments, read and weep.
@@pferreira1983 Source: "Trust me bro!"
@@Feasco It's the cult mentality. Tallarico has done a fine job washing their brains.
Of course it would swing around to NFT's. How long before the next portal shows up and we can slide out of of the Dumb Timeline?
Popcorn time, this is going to be _good._
Your word has the potential to appear as authoritative, which might finally shake the investment rats out of their stupor.
Addenum: Even since this video was posted, Nick Richards, the Intellivision CFO continues to say more coked up things. It's downright _fascinating_ how he hasn't been issued a keyboard muzzle/and or gag order.
Love this video, Chris you have a knack for this kind of documentation, and would love to see more.
thank you for posting! hope you're doing well!
16:40 - The Republic campaign umbrellaed the Fig campaign and inherited those funds, plus did another round of funding that raised around $4.5M, so combined they raised $11.59M (not $11.59M + $7.1M). Also Nick responded to a comment on Republic asking about funds and said: "Funds were distributed on a rolling basis as the assigned regulatory administrators signed off on the offering so funds are actively being deployed in the company, the majority of those funds being spent on engineering, testing, regulatory and manufacturing fixtures and process engineering such as inline testing/quality control fixtures."
Nick also said recently: "The vast majority of all funds raised have been spent on product, whether it be hardware, firmware, software, game development, art/animation as well as a host of back-end systems to support operations. The initial cost of developing an entirely new gaming console is considerable. As we approach launch we do need to raise additional funds to continue to fund engineering, particularly in the area of the back-end systems"
Glad to see you never quit! I know this may not be your main thing, but your contribution to UA-cam is big enough to hope it sticks around.
Hi Chris, I don't know who described Blast-processing to you but you got it wrong. The phrase Blast-Processing was coined specifically for the Genesis in the USA and just means that the Motorola 68000 CPU in the Genesis/Megadrive runs faster than the Ricoh processor in the Super Nintendo. Nothing else. You might be getting it confused with DMA (Direct Memory Access) which allows the CPU to continue running while other chips in the console perform independent processing based on memory data, but that should never be confused with the term Blast Processing. In England, we never heard the term Blast-Processing officially, which I can only assume was either because market research in USA identified that using the term would help in Sega's "war" against Nintendo whereas the market research in Europe found that it would harm the brand to use it over here, or maybe it didn't even occur to Sega Europe to take that route in advertising for whatever reason. I will say that as a marketing strategy, arming people with false terminology disrespects customers and cheapens the company. I must admit that when I first heard the term Blast-Processing, I thought it was idiotic, childish and a term I would never use myself in conversation. Well, other than explaining its history to people. With all of that said, I wouldn't describe the Karma engine as disrespecting customers, so maybe Tommy should consider not comparing the 'Karma engine' to 'Blast Processing'. Maybe it should be called the 'Karma system' instead of 'Karma engine' since using the word 'engine' implies that it is a computer program, but that is splitting hairs and doesn't really matter. My point is that all Amico games are designed so that complete newbies can have fun playing with experienced players, which is a great idea and this is bound to work differently for every game. Giving the design philosophy a name like Karma is a good idea I think, because it genuinely does describe a specific gameplay focus, and I think it should help Amico achieve its goal of being fun for all the family
"Brimming with boomer energy" :D
I really appriciate this video. I have been watching the Amico since the beginning. The longer it goes on the more of a spectacle it is. But I truly appreciate the professional breakdown of this rather than some random person talk about their gut instinct or get swayed by the cult of personality.
I have always believed in this saying: "Never deal with a man who deals in absolutes." The greatest, the best, the most,.... Tommy does that.
thanks again.
this is an interesting pivot for this channel's content, one that i'm a BIG fan of
So happy to see another upload from you. I love your videos and appreciate all the effort you put into them despite the views. You do great work!
Very well put together video, sir. Thanks for your effort
I think problems started within the first year of the announcement. In the second year is when the carrot was being dangled seeming close at times but but always out of reach as for now there's more holes and loose ends in the whole process it will simply never happen. I got my money back a few weeks ago from my Founders & VIP Preorders and am glad to out at this point before the point of no return.
It was really interesting hearing about this from someone who knows what resources to look for and pull. I had no idea about your background, and it made for a really interesting perspective.
Comments for the comment god.
Engagement for his throne!
Lol
Oops, Fig is too legit for Intellivision
This...was really interesting. I appreciate the take by someone who's obviously had experience in the legal field. I was especially intrigued by the mind-boggling loan they agreed to. What did that meeting look like?
There are many types of lawyers. His title says former lawyer. What kind? He could have done real estate, Personal injury or many other unrelated jobs. Don't make the lawyer title make you think his opinion is even valid.
@@boscofreeman8321His opinion's pretty valid though. Lawyer or not. I don't care what field he's a lawyer in if I agree with his opinion regardless. And I don't think anyone immediately started nodding and agreeing as soon as they saw the title all because they saw the word'Lawyer',I do think they agreed on his opinion about it being a dumpster fire however
A great summary, I'd be curious about your thoughts now we know the latest crowd funding campaign has failed and also that it seems they sold at least 2 "physical" games, despite them not being finished (Moon Patrol) and likely never will be as the developer went out of business before they sold them
Didn't it just die today?
It did. They were trying market a family friendly only console to the mainstream or retro market which doesn't make the slightest sense business wise. The people behind Amico could have easily just use an existing or start their own online digital platform and entice developers from there instead. Developing and releasing your own console takes significant amount of time, resources and not to mention hiring the necessary talents like hardware and software engineers all of whom in no way going to be cheap. The entire thing about the Amico was already DOA since day one.
Oh gods, I was not aware of that giga boomer marketing. Oh my oh my. I'm truly not sure if I should chuckle at it or just cringe so hard that my teeth shatter. What were they thinking
Tommy really is the Oof that keeps on giving, isn't he? Really enjoyed seeing your perspective and take on this!
Not sure why anybody would buy an Amico when they could get a Switch for around the same amount and it is pretty much THE "family-friendly" game console with most of the indie games Amico will get and quality first-party family-friendly Nintendo games. I don't see the appeal/market beyond a tiny niche of aging gamers with Intellivision Nostalgia (whose children very well could be entering college anyway). Seems to be a product desperately looking for a market that doesn't exist/is already served by other devices. Also, judging by the pretty atrocious performance in a lot of these gameplay demos, I would say the $100 production cost sounds about right. Probably using a bottom-of-the-barrel SoC to decrease costs.
This was a great video, I’d love to see more content like this!
Xbox Series S + Game pass kills their entire (initial) value proposition.
Any smart phone released within the last 8 years kills their entire value proposition. Absolutely delusional for anyone to think the console is worth paying $350 USD for.
It most definitely is. You cannot collect money on pre orders when you have no patents legally filed. Have units being in a factory being made as we have a speak. They do not even have a physical address. This to me is flat out embezzling.
I know you consider your UA-cam channel a failed business but as someone generally your age, I enjoy the deep dive into Video Game topics that lean on your accountant and business background.
Please continue to do work.
Even if it means partnering with content creators in some meaningful way!
Been watching you for a while and it is always nice when someone calls out The Quartering. It blows my mind that people like that nazi sympathizer. Anyway, cool to see you do something different. Would love to see more vids that deviate from your normal content, even though I eat that stuff up too. Cheers!
Yeah that was great
“He was following actual racists on twitter”
I watch the quartering can u send me link's of him being racist I never new this
Hadn't even heard of this new intellivision but thank you for the insight in the situation
Another hilarious aspect of the Amico: Tommy Tallywhacker had planned for it to tour all the big shows nobody cares about: Ellen, Oprah, and several other now long irrelevant daytime glurge shows.
Intellivision was MY system in the day, when I had to constantly defend it the console all my Atari 2600 "Toy" players. To this day (well, yesterday) I play several of the games with my 32 year old son. Tallerico was right about playing more simple games within the family, but the old version of SNAFU suits us just fine. I have bought several original consoles from eBay (as well as a retro console from Toys-r-us) that I have had to repair myself, but it was still cheaper than the new "improved" (bastardized) versions of Intellivision classic games on the Amico, (whatever price it will be IF it EVENTUALLY comes out).
It's just so sad that the name of Intellivision is being shit on by this con man.
George Plimpton must be spinning like a lathe.
I thought Tallarico was out of touch when he was reviewing games on Reviews on the Run and Electric Playground. Looks like its gotten way worse over the past 15 years. Had no idea he was such a fan of right wing grifters though; guess he really is crazy.
Another Ding-A-Ling who is MISINFORMED!
@@eastcoastitalian6179 we know it's you Tommy
Even IF this console releases the support will be pulled overnight considering it wouldn’t sell because of how badly they’ve handled this and all the bad press and lies that have come with it.
what confusaes me excuses about chip shortages etc. But this was due out 2 years ago and well they havent got a OS or actuall games. Looking at the games and looking at some indie games released on every format made by one person WTF have they been doing except begging for money. As for the german thing. I live on swiss german border and trust me a lot of germans put english people to shame with their english.
The chip shortage, like many things was an absurd lie or an act of wilful incompetence. Most companies have this strange thing called a "backup plan" if their first manufacturing plan faults.
Loololol they shit their pants and are walking around awkwardly
Thanks so much for such an interesting video. I appreciate the variety of content on your channel. If I was at all curious about this "game console" then I'd be 100% done with that idea after all this information xD
I could be wrong, but I feel it was due to poor management than a genuine attempt to defraud. Costs careened out of control, their funds weren't properly managed/disbursed and now their debt (north of $8 million) is insurmountable. Thanks for the video my friend, good stuff!
A wannabe console developer jumping on the NFT train? Now if that doesn't mean it's definitely not a scam, then nothing does.
I am commenting to increase engagement on this excellent video
I think you're mistaken about blast processing. When the SNES was released, it was superior in every way except one: the megadrive/genesis has a better scroll speed. It's why a "fast" game like sonic is more feasible. Sega recognized this one small technical difference, and called it "blast processing".
Very nice dive into this subject. I hope to see more like this. 👍
Good bit of journalism, ty!
this was a great video. i first heard of this console from that earthworm jim game. glad to know that i have no reason to buy it now!
12:31 *_TO THE MOOOOOOOOooooonnn!!!_*
__/O\__ [thud]
Excellent vid, as usual. I know you've talked about quitting yt in previous videos, and I wish you good fortune and happiness whatever you decide. But the platform, and - more importantly - my feed, will be worse off without you.
"from day one it was aimed at families"
This actually isn't true, its another Tommy weird pivot. The initial pitch documents don't mention families or family entertainment or even the safe acronym. They only mention a retro audience and Tommy's "celebrity" among retro gamers.
Then when every retro gaming channel said "I'm not sure this will work? It's never worked before when this has been tried" Tommy suddenly said "uh actually it's for families"
It seems like it was actually a much later decision than he tries to make out. It doesn't show up in any of the early materials. I suspect that's why it's been a mess from day one, so much of its madness is just reacting to people rather than sticking to any kind of plan
Turns out it was even worse: ua-cam.com/video/0twDETh6QaI/v-deo.html
That 3 billion number… my god. Who is falling for this crap? That’s nearly half the population on the planet. Why hasn’t Nintendo sold 3 billion Switches? Guess they’re just a bunch of dummies, eh?
interesting video Chris!
Yay Chris is back! I'm sorry to hear you view your UA-cam channel is a failed business :(
Sorry but soon as I heard the games are an NFT. Eh Fuck that 🙈😅
From what I understand, minting/creating an NFT essentially uses more electricity than a small island or city....just to make 1 NFT essentially. It is preposterous
Mobile gaming is much preferable to this. At least you can get some quality games on your phone.
3:54 they could also afford a swoled for the same price, too
Great content!! Thanks!
I somehow ignored this video of yours, but watched it after hbomberguy released his Roblox video. You give a lot of interesting details on why this system didn't have a lot going for it, leaving aside all the scummyness of Tallarico. What a narcissistic liar this guy is - in SO many ways.
I do take issue with the idea that The Quartering is an "actual racist"... because he's not. I'm not even a fan of the guy but he's certainly not a racist.
Of all the things Tommy has said and done, even just on Twitter, following The Quartering is the least of his issues. Heck, Doug TenNapel is a bigger issue himself and he _works_ for the company...
Otherwise, the critique is pretty good. NFTs aren't all a scam, to be fair, though I wouldn't buy them anyway because I hate them.
Sharp commentary
ifitsnotanenginewhycallitanengine
Meh. No one yet has convinced me that Intellivision deserves anything more than people respectfully proceeding with cancelling their preorders. Do it and walk away. Then continue to use your XBox and Windows PC, products developed and owned by the most unethical software company on the planet. Morals--gotta love 'em!
this sounds like a scam