Intellivision's Amico just can't catch a break. Originally announced back in 2018, development on the system has been troubled, at best, with leadership changes and extensive delays leading many to question whether the system will ever be released. Although the company showcased an unboxing of a working Amico system back in March, it seems Intellivision has hit yet another roadblock, and this one seems pretty severe.
According to a report by VGC, Intellivision's CEO Phil Adam has sent an email out to customers who have pre-ordered the system with a rather damning update on the console's development.
Here's what he had to say:
"We have dramatically reined in operating costs, which unfortunately required a significant reduction in staff. Our resources are focused on engineering and testing to ensure we have a quality system, as we cannot succeed by producing anything less.”
Adam also stated that the company is currently in the process of licensing out its IP to other developers, claiming that such deals will help further fund development of the Amico while simultaneously raising awareness of Intellivision and its IP.
In other, perhaps more disappointing news, Intellivision's response to customers looking to receive refunds for their pre-orders has been delayed due to the aforementioned reduction in staff:
“We are slowly processing refund requests. The public’s uncertainty of our status in the last few months have understandably led to an influx of pre-order refund requests. Because of reduced staff and financing requirements for continued operation, our responses to and processing of these requests has been delayed. Rest assured that our intention is to honor all refund requests. We will allocate a portion of all new funding and staff time to winding down the refund queue, while our primary focus is funding and completing a quality product ready for manufacturing.”
Nevertheless, Intellivision reportedly hopes to start shipping production units at some point this year, with Adam stating that "it is critically important to show to our current/future investors, partners, and customers that we have built a sound platform that delivers on the in-home family experience".
Whether Intellivision actually follows through on its promises remains to be seen, but it's clear that consumer confidence in its validity is fading with each subsequent delay.
What do you make of Intellivision's latest update on the Amico? Are you confident we'll see the system launch this year? Let us know with a comment.
This article was originally published by nintendolife.com on Wed 8th June, 2022.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 61
The audacity of this main guy lashing out at people who dare question his methods reminded me of Phil Fish and Fez in a lot of ways. Some people are just not made for the internet.
Nice way of saying "This ship is sinking guys, our priority is my job , not you as a consumer and your rights"
Why is NintendoLife even reporting about this? No one cares about Intellivision and their stupid Amico.
I dunno guys, you cared enough to click on it, so...
@Luminous117,
Or why this was even being discussed on a Nintendo games site in the first place, then again we do get those ultra fancy portable P.C console articles... so why not.
Hey I DO care about new consoles releasing out, at least to have something to read. Chill people, it’s just a click.
Why won't someone just kill this thing already? It's just cruel at this point.
@Olliemar28,
We know all this is just for clicks, but you have got me hooked.
I'm honestly surprised why they are still sailing with this notion that the console will be out when everyone already knew the system is dead in the water. Tommy Tallarico is gone, Hans Ippisch left the company, and John Alvarado is the only person that got a system which doesn't even work. At this point just cancelled the system, file for bankruptcy, and give the brand a good burial. When the guy who once work on the Coleco Chameleon is the only person left in the company, that's not a good sign. There's no console, no games, and no devs or partnership of any kind at Intellivision now, even Earthworm Jim 4 was cancelled and that's just a ten seconds walking animation demo. Compare this year to 2018-2019 and you can see the difference in the company. At one point this console would had been something special but that ship had sail a long time ago and it never reach our shore. Just cancelled and let it died.
@Olliemar28 Seems a bit off for you to question people, don't you remove comments for not being on topic!
There's not a chance in heck this company will survive, even if they do manage to launch the Amico. Regardless, I'm thinking of getting one.
A bit offtopic, but I wish to thank the team not only for great articles on topics I wouldn't find otherwise, but also for the "Ignore" button on comments. With that, every discussion here is wholesome and positive, and basically that's the main reason I keep returning to this website.
And yeah, I don't plan to buy Intellivision, but its story gets more interesting with each announcement. Please keep them documented
I can't wait for the documentary about this.
@Serpenterror has Tallarico left completely? Last I knew, he stepped down from being CEO to President.
@Luminous117 For clicks.
See: the comment directly below yours.
@johnvboy Well mostly because this system has lost all its relevancy. I loved the article about the Evercade. But this thing is just a dumpster fire and I don't think it needs more attention than it already got. That's all
@Zverik,
Not so sure we were ever on topic, or this should have been a topic in the first place.
@Gryffin He's going on tour and doing his own thing now. A good company president wouldn't had let his product be in development hell for this long. Even the people he's close with like SmashJT, Cyrus Martin, the Atari Creep, RetroBro, and Bret Weiss all lose faith in the guy, the company, and the product. I think Phil Adam is just hanging on to receive his final salary pay, once he got that he'll leave too. Let's face it, the Intellivision Amico is dead.
@Pillowpants,
Some none Nintendo console news is interesting, this is not, and has never been.
@johnvboy On that we can both agree!
@Luminous117
The Drama is entertaining
It's not dead, it's resting. Beautiful plumage, the Intellivision.
"Because of reduced staff and financing requirements for continued operation, our responses to and processing of these requests has been delayed. Rest assured that our intention is to honor all refund requests. We will allocate a portion of all new funding and staff time to winding down the refund queue, while our primary focus is funding and completing a quality product ready for manufacturing.”
Translation: there is no money for refunds, the company will wind down soon.
This really is the Fyre Festival of consoles.
Never thought I'd see a modern console flop harder than the Ouya...
@Zverik Yeah without articles like this I would probably just be ignored or laughed at for even trying to casually bring up the topic of the Intellivison Amico. Now we can discuss it, in all it's doomed glory!
"Rest assured that our intention is to honor all refund requests." 🤔🤔
And just wait till they run out of money to pay those back. I'm expecting a lawsuit to show up sooner or later.
This company seems to have Kanye’s product manager controlling the infrastructure
Aaah, intentions. Those always work out great!
oh my god, someone PLEASE just kill the amico already!
this guys should be calling Mayday because they are crashing hard
So many haters… sad…
We can’t pay the internet bill and our credit card processor has dropped us due to delinquency, so we will be mailing refund checks.
Support our kickstarter so we can buy stamps…
Intellivision could raise a LOT of money for this fast if they’d just re-release the Intellivision Lives! compilation for Switch that they released for Nintendo DS several years ago. It could be retooled for the wide Switch touch screen by having the controller overlay on the right 1/3 of the screen, and then the actual gameplay screen on the remaining 2/3 of the screen. These games were classics that I greatly enjoyed in the early 80s when I was learning game programming myself. I understand many of the young people on NintendoLife probably never played these gems, but the fact that the Atari Classic set came out and sold a generous number of copies in the switch early days before the older gamers jumped on the switch bandwagon is a testament to how popular these Intellivision games would be. As a side note, there were some games on the Atari set that are nearly identical to the Intellivision Lives set, and since the Atari one is out of print, it would be even more desirable to have these Intellivision ones now.
They've been saying the Amico is "ready for manufacturing" for at least the last 3 years.
Waiting with bated breath for Tommy Tallarico to file for bankruptcy
@Pillowpants I care in the sense that it's one of gaming's biggest scams that everyone should know about. What I don't get is why Nintendo Life always gives them the benefit of the doubt, even at this point in the game. Like, what does the staff here get out of it? Maybe the clicks from people who get angry about it, I dunno...
Man, I would so love this thing to actually be good - and actually real - but it clearly isn't, which is too bad. The project has been mismanaged from the start.
The concept is just not as interesting as it would have been during the Wii era or earlier. Who really needs this many mediocre games when you can just play a round of Mario Kart when the familiy gets together? Plenty of other better and probably even cheaper options out there that render this thing pointless.
They've already pledged to refund everyone!
Tommy Tallarico's dog stepped on a bee.
@Duffman92 It could have been done better, and much simpler than they did by using a modern SoC, some of them run modern games on low-medium setting and run at maybe 15-30watts. That would have made the system cost maybe $200 without the controllers, then you sell a version with controllers for $300.
At the end of the day the company was mismanaged and poorly planned.
Hmm, I'd assumed it had already sunk. Hopefully everyone gets refunded.
Intellivision stayed in business for decades and then Tommy got involved…
The sooner this lot go bankrupt the better but sadly I doubt they'll be the ones to lose their money, just those they managed to convince that this was going to be a success
I don't know why Nintendo Life insists on reporting on the Intellivision Amico.
Sure, the Intellivision has its place in console gaming history and Tommy Tallarico was a prominent video game composer in the 90's but even those aren't really good reasons to keep bringing this vaporware up.
Besides, any fool like Tallarico that goes around saying, "If you want to play games with r@pe in them, then play Nintendo Switch!", has immediately lost any credibility.
Other words this is DEAD in the water...
@johnvboy The Amico saga is like watching a Netflix doc about a con gone wrong in real time.
This is the reason you use credit cards to purchase things like this. Easy to chargeback if companies start playing games….
Look at Atari's graphics. Now, look at Intellivison's. Oh wait- We have no graphics. Or a system.
@Muddy_4_Ever,
Yes it's always looked a little suspect to me, a Wii type device in the wrong decade.
Just put this thing out of its misery. Go back to the early 80’s, Intellivision.
This thing is never coming out. Adios, Amico.
It was painful to watch this unfold. Even worse than the Atari. I guess Atari actually did launch, tho I really don’t see much purpose in it. And, it was really unclear to me what this system even was to me
@Luminous117 they want a free one to ‘review’ when the time comes hence the needless reporting on something that has nothing to do with the site’s namesake.
While I'm glad the console looks to have a shot at seeing the light of day, it stinks that a lot of folx had to be let go in the process.
I have my old Intellivision and I'm still happy playing it. If nothing else I can still enjoy the classics
@johnvboy The controller has 1MB of memory to use for whatever software it displays on its screen. I don't even understand how that's possible.
@John_Koshiro I think it's an entertaining story, I just wish the reporting hadn't been so fawning.
@TryToBeHopeful,
Not too sure either, guess that had a plan with it, or perhaps the thing was doomed to fail from the beginning.
I could've told this guy from the very beginning this whole thing wasn't going to work out.
AmicoLife
Seriously though i enjoy the articles about this, so keep them coming. Its a shame, I would genuinely be interested in this system. I hope it gets released one day...
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