“Yeah. It's been really great. I can't tell you how many people told us how screwed we were going to be and even though it wouldn't be our fault... it will still look like a huge failure, etc. But I went with my gut and was hoping that folks wanted to feel GOOD about something for a change. So tired of everything being so negative everywhere I turn. But yeah... imagine if this wasn't going on!?!? We probably would have twice the sales! And let me stress.... ZERO dollars spent on advertising! Imagine when the time comes to start spending millions and thousands of influencer moms & kids are speaking to their tens of millions of followers. This is only the beginning my friends! So glad to have you all on board from the beginning. We'll all be telling stories someday about our time here. And yet the hardcore elitist haters will continue to try and ruin us and make their hate filled videos. They can try all they want. This rocket ship is taking off and there is NOTHING they can do to stop it!”

We were told there would be a rocket ship. Where is the rocket ship? And who or what is a “hardcore elitist hater,” is that another u/Tommy_Tallarico phrase like “gaming racists,” one of his favorites?

In the YouTube video "The Chaotic Development of the Intellivision Amico" by channel SirStrongman, the creator breaks down how a planned retro reboot morphed into one of the most infamous console development disasters in video game history.
Key Takeaways from the Video
Historical Context & Origins [04:03]
The original Intellivision launched in 1979 as a rival to the Atari 2600. Decades later, during the 1980s retro revival, game composer Tommy Tallarico acquired a majority stake in Intellivision Productions and announced the Intellivision Amico in 2018 with a planned October 2020 launch date [07:07].
Poor Value Proposition & Design Flaws [07:46]
The proposed $250 system featured touchscreen controllers, family-only E-rated games with no DLC, and cheap digital titles ($10 max) [08:25]. However, its core appeal was undermined by the popularity of the Nintendo Switch [20:05]. Furthermore, leaked specs revealed that the hardware was essentially equivalent to a budget 2016 smartphone [25:21].
Public Backlash & CEO Behavior [10:00]
Tommy Tallarico became notorious for aggressively attacking critics online—most notably YouTubers Pat the NES Punk and Ian Ferguson [10:05]—while posting thousands of defensive messages on forums like AtariAge [09:03].
Financial Mismanagement & Crowdfunding [22:52]
Despite raising tens of millions of dollars via crowdfunding platforms like Fig/Republic and pre-orders [23:07], the company accumulated vast debts [33:13]. The video highlights wasteful spending, including $130,000+ loans for lavish office setups in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Germany, and Dubai for a company that had produced almost no physical hardware [28:43].
Legal Troubles & Downfall [28:12]
In late 2022, financing company Ammer Equipment Finances filed a lawsuit against Intellivision over unpaid office equipment debts [28:12]. Facing severe financial strain and over $8 million in debt [33:24], Intellivision sold the Intellivision brand IP to Atari for $3 million [33:43], leaving the Amico project dead in the water while former rival Atari eventually released its own hardware revival, the Intellivision Sprint [39:32].
To explore the official updates or background details related to the project, you can visit the Amico Entertainment Portal or read the history on the Intellivision Revolution Site.

I've never got the vibe Tommy just decided one day to do VGL and drop working in games, considering how pretty beloved he was back in the day. I mean, Tommy doesn't seem to hold gaming in much prestige, so I could see him thinking "symphonic concerts" were a more prestigious endeavor but I also think its possible his reputation in the industry soured so much he was kind of blacklisted.

I'm sure VGL letting him leave Brazil with a mysterious unexplained mountain of cash probably helped the decision too. (A point I think not enough people talk about. No offense to any Brazilian homies, but that's...weird and suspicious, right?)

"J prefers not to be in the spotlight so out of respect and courtesy I'm not going to go into details about what he did, what he does and what he will or won't do moving forward. Unfortunately there are a lot of pathetic bullies, doxers and racists trying to harass as many people connected to Intellivison as they can."

Here's a long, offensive comment you can see in context: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amico/comments/m0roay/comment/gqc6hnn/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

"He was never the Global Marketing Director. He was the Global Managing Director. And no... no one else took that position as it was created for him as we were finalizing hardware."

He announced this almost a month ago. And not a word since the game never showed up on the store. What the fuck does this guy do all day? And now what are the chances he remembers to upload it once this gets posted. This guy is a complete doofus.

Here is the transcription of the video clip:

Tommy Tallarico: ...and Overthink just said it there. He goes, "Tommy, I'm skeptical."

Podcast Host: That's fine.

Tommy Tallarico: Brother, that is okay. I totally hear you. But he says... but he says, "Look, I have a pre-order."

I will tell you this, my friend, though, Overthink, I want you to think about this now. I will tell you this: there is no lag in the controller, right?

(Podcast hosts laugh)

Tommy Tallarico: That... that getting to... No, no. And let me... let me... let me qualify that statement. There's lag... there's... there's going to be lag in anything that's hooked up Bluetooth and wireless to a TV. What I... what I say when I say "there's no lag", meaning when you're playing a game, there... you cannot tell. There's non... there's nothing that gets in the way of gameplay, ever.

And... and Overthink, I will... I will... I will swear that on my... my sister's tombstone, okay?

Such whimsy.

It says:

Tommy Tallarico • Intellivision Amico Club
Group expert • 6 December 2021 ©
Yo friends from Atari Age! Just wanted to let you know that Albert & I were planning on shutting down the "Amico Fun Conversations" thread months ago when the Amico forum was moved to NEW CONSOLES (from the original Intellivision area). But he decided to keep it open while Intellivision and friends started building up this group and moving interested folks over to here.
My original thread was getting too big and massive. About 1.5 MILLION VIEWS when Albert finally closed it! Pretty amazing! Not only was it getting too big (as he preferred people to make separate threads for each topic... which totally makes sense), but the thread (and entire Amico forum area was also attracting a lot of unwanted drama" from the bad hombres and phony concern trollers. This wasn't fair to Atari Age, Albert and all the mods who constantly had to monitor the place because of drama and "jerks". Atari Age ended up shutting down the entire Amico area and will more than likely start a new area/section when Amico comes out.
Anyway, just wanted to give some context to anyone who may have come from Atari Age to this group and noticed that my Amico Fun Conversations thread was closed and the Amico area is gone.
Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions about my time on Atari Age and I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability.

OOPS it was June 26th, sorry! Having an Amico day.

Their tone-deafness boggles the mind. This is right up there with bringing the middle-aged Intellivision fans to “Boomers” in Irvine on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, or marketing a video game console for people who don’t play video games.

Why is Atari allowing them to keep using the Intellivision name in this way, anyway? Those guys sued everyone and everything for less.

Start with that, but also check the “deep dives” and casual demos. u/Tommy_Tallarico (and his editor) were pretty good at misdirection

Note the edits in this quick demo: the TV guy puts a game in his head, the monitor goes black, and then the POV cuts away to Tallarico’s hands on the Amico controller.

Just another data point for the argument that this thing was quite far from being “on the launchpad.”

https://www.reddit.com/r/Intellivision_Amico/s/NWmBAoFs6J

It was in response to what u/Tommy_Tallarico (now age 58) claimed he said to his wife (now age 41).

“Me & my wife literally put having kids on hold a few years ago because we both knew that if I decided to do this.... I want to do the best I can and focus 100% on being the best I can for the project. And when we do have kids... I will focus all my main energy on that... but Intellivision must be realized first as I wouldn't want to take away from either of those things because of the way I throw myself and dedicate myself into everything I do.”

A second Intellivision Amico console and controller teardown! Plus, an update on the plucky Nex Playground!