Intellivision E3 2021 Presentation Summary

After a fairly long hiatus, Intellivision has come back to the console front, with “Amico.” Using the Italian word for friend, they are pitching it as a simpler gaming console. With a number of useful and share-friendly features, it definitely is posed to reintroduce a more casual game console. It will be as simple as the Switch, if not more so, to set up. No price was announced for the console itself, but they did announce the at-launch games pricing. Making this presentation was Tommy Tallarico. He holds the Guinness World Record for having worked on the most video games.

 

The games are focused on the casual audience. It was reiterated through the whole of the presentation that the games were built around “fun and simplicity.” The console set-up reflects this as well. It has a Memory expansion port, a HDMI out, and a power connection. That's it. The controller is also available as an App download via the App Store and Google Play. This will allow up to 8 players to connect to the console (in addition to the 2 console controllers as well). The Amico will come with 6 pack-in games: Cornhole, Packle, and 4 others.

 

This is built around simple concepts. The wireless bluetooth controller can be used to help share the games that everyone has. It is meant to be brought to a friend's place, where you can simply put it in the dock and the controller will share the games that are loaded on it. Physical games will still require the game cartridge to be played. The digital content will be made freely available for as long as the visiting controller is docked.

 

The controllers are designed to recharge and connect wirelessly. Each has a a vibrant touch screen on it and a wheel style controller that supports 64 unique directional inputs. The touch screen is set to be pressure sensitive as well. This does mean, for once, that REALLY pressing hard on the screen will do more.

 

The console will be part of the show as well it seems. It has interactive LED lighting. So, it will be doing a bit of a show with particular games. Hopefully not all of them and there are console settings to limit it for those who are photo sensitive or just don't want it. It will have a built-in RFID reader. The physical gift cards for the system can simply be tapped to the console to load its activated value directly into the main user's account. That's a lot better than what's presently been happening with the complex unique codes that we've been having to type in. The Amico will not offer paid DLC, in-game ads, or loot boxes. What they will be offering is an online leaderboard.

 

The digital games will be $9.99 and the physical games will be $19.99 at launch. That last part, “At launch” seems crucial. It does mean that they can make something that can sell at a notably lower price point than PS5 and the the Series X (since both of those are generally selling around $70). These prices can fluctuate based on region and country. It does at least mean it is meant to be a very accessible console for people get. With a launch prince of $249, it is on the lower price point

 

All the games on the console are set to be either exclusive or to contain exclusive content. A number of classic games will be coming forward being retouched and updated to the modern. This is their “Retro re-imagined library. They will be getting new audio and graphics, adding in multi-player and couch co-op to them. From the Atari line-up, he announce they got Break Out, Asteroids, Tempest, and Missile Command.They also manged to get Burger Time as well as Bump 'n Jump. They will also be bringing back a number of the best Intellivision games as well. This includes the likes of Cloudly Mountain and Nightstalker. This treatment isn't going to be limited to classic games either. There are some modern games coming to the system as well. These will be getting exclusive Co-op modes added to them: Rigid Force Redux Enhanced and Dynablaster.

 

To help reach parents and less traditional people interested in gaming, they will also have a number of Edutainment games. These are targeted at an audience of children 7 and under. This will be featuring the likes of Sesame Street and Care Bears. With the low at-launch pricing of games, this is likely going to be someone first gaming console.

 

There will be sports games on this little console. This is an important get for the console. If they can give a competitive experience to at least something akin to the major consoles, the Amico could gain a foothold. They have announced MLB and Soccer titles for the console. There was some early prototype gameplay footage shown. It looked like something resembling titles within the last generation of gaming at least.

 

There were 2 games that stood out. Both date back to the Genesis (aka Megadrive) era. Intellivision got together 2 legendary teams. The first is the team behind Ecco the Dolphin. They have a new game coming out for this console called Dolphin Quest. If the footage shown is anything resembling the game, it does look look to be a much more vibrant game than Ecco the Dolphin.

New Earthworm Jim game coming exclusively to this new system. Intellivision was able to get the original team to come back together to work on it. They are running a different sort of contest for it. All someone needs to do to enter is e-mail Cow@Intellivision.com, subject line “Groovy!” From everyone that enters, there will be 3 winners selected to get get exclusive prints signed by the team. The print has Earthworm Jim, Princess What's Her Name, and Peter Puppy in both his forms.

 

Final thoughts:

There were a lot of renders on the console, so its present design as a base with 2 controllers should not be regarded as final. The Amico looks to be an inexpensive console that will be getting a fair amount of support. With the partnerships that have been announced, it should at least get through the starting gate. This does look to fill the niche that the Nintendo Wii initially carved out. It is a system meant to be very user friend with minimal accessories. The fact they have an app store download for the controller does make the muiltiplayer friendly seem much more feasible. This does make it as accessible as the Jackbox game series, which is good. But the low price point for the games does remind me soundly of the Wii days. For every 1 good game there, there are 30 shovelware games. With a launch price of $249 for a console with 2 controllers and 6 built-in games, it does offer something.

 

There was significantly more information on their website, https://intellivision.com/


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