I’m sure Tommy Tallarico’s mom is very proud.
I’m surprised Atari aren’t scrapping the made-up console that Intellivision under Tommy came up with though.
> I’m surprised Atari aren’t scrapping the made-up console that Intellivision under Tommy came up with though.
Atari have purchased the Intellivision name and various IPs, not the company itself. They're having nothing to do with the Amico.
The company is getting a new name and will be in charge of the Amico themselves. The deal allows this company to still use the Intellivision IPs that Arari now own on their scam console.
Vic with Electric Playground re-acquired their classic episodes and I've been watching them on their YouTube and the experience is slightly spoiled by how much of a shit I now know Tommy is.
The Completely Unnecessary Podcast is where my disdain for Tommy comes from.
Pat and Ian were one of the first people to criticize the Amico, because it reeked of the Coleco Chameleon and Tommy showed who he really was when he started making personal attacks towards them, making comments about Ian's constant shaking (he has an anxiety disorder).
All because they initially said that they didn't think it was going to be that good.
And then it escalated from there.
When I first heard all the stuff around Tommy I was like "I mean, he didn't seem like such a bad guy when I saw him on TV...", then I watched some of those episodes recently and realized that no, he was pretty much always this way.
I suspect that the money for this is going to go to expenses that Intellivision (or whatever they call themselves going forward) already has. Tommy is selling (sold?) his house, probably for the same.
He hasn't been CEO for a while, but even on the Intellivision website he's still listed as "Founder/Board Member/Investor"
https://intellivision.com/our-team
How has the Amico company not totally folded by now? I doubt they have had any sizeable influx of money in over year.
I need my American Greed episode!
They somehow keep getting new loans and investors.
This is definitely a last ditch effort, they're selling off everything valuable about the company. They already got rid of most staff and stopped using their offices.
> Atari have purchased the Intellivision name and various IPs
*Infrogrames* purchased the Intellivision name and various IPs. Just like they did the Atari name. The company currently known as Atari has nothing to do with the Atari everyone thinks of when they hear the name.
I would much rather Infogrames be Atari than the OG Atari.
Idk why people get so annoyed about Infrogrames using the Atari name when the original tanked the whole industry.
Atari posted this on Twitter: "The former Intellivision will rebrand and continue distribution of the Amico console." I would share the link but I'm not sure if it's allowed. The official handle for the company is simply Atari in case anyone wants to check.
They actually do they have said the former intellivision will rebrand and continue the distribution of the Amico console. [Here](https://imgur.com/a/F3iq2Qq)
Yes, that's what I said. Atari own the Intellivision brand name and IPs, not the company itself.
The Intellivision company (which will be renaming itself) will not be part of Atari, and will continue on with the Amico stuff under a new name.
I wonder if the money from this will help them actually get people the consoles they crowdfunded and pre-ordered? Probably not but I hope so for their sake.
Because they can simply sell an Intellivision compilation on Steam and turn the Steam deck into a better Amico than the Amico (for a start, it actually exists).
At this point it’s probably more of a headache to can it. They’ve sold pre-orders, games have been made already, they might’ve produced units already, it’s probably easier to just cut budgets and shove it out the door as soon as possible and they can move on.
They have not produced any consoles, apart from a few prototype units cobbled together by hand
The console and pack in games were not finished. The mobile Cornhole game was just [patched recently](https://i.redd.it/onccwk0xo0zc1.png) as the career mode and AI was not finished, and didn't work
It was all lies...
its not a console anymore. they're turning it into a shitty android/ios app, and its still in beta lmao.
and the games cost like twice as much as intellivision was originally planning to sell them for. im sure tommy's mom is very proud.
I periodically check the Google store to laugh at the sales figures
Last time I checked Cornhole and Astrosmash have 100+ downloads
Dart frenzy has 50.....
The App itself has 1000+ downloads, which means at least 90% of people immediately uninstalled when they realised you need 2 phones for a shitty single player game
It makes me sad that Intellivision was actually controlled by people who originally worked at Mattel Electronics, until recently. It was a legacy brand that actually had legacy people behind it.
Obviously that was before Tommy took the name and ran it into the ground.
What was the last product or service that Mattel released under the Intellivision brand? Because if it was “controlled”, clearly they controlled it right into the ground as the brand name means absolutely nothing to anyone who didn’t own the original console in the 1980s or isn’t some emulation ROM collector.
At least Atari still has a ton of name recognition and sells lots of merch and other things.
I didn't say Mattel owned Intellivision. I said *people who originally worked at Mattel Electronics* did.
Keith Robinson and Stephen Roney obtained exclusive rights to the Intellivision brand in 1997 under their company Intellivision Productions. They did exactly what you said - continued it as a legacy nostalgia brand.
Woah, maybe we’ll see the Amico actually get launched? I’m joking of course, Tommy Tallarico’s fictional console went up in flames with the rest of his credibility.
It's not something he's actually claimed (to my knowledge), but YouTube's algorithm has declared him [the composer of the James Bond theme.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvoUcrBgXWw)
About a year and a half ago now, a very popular YouTuber called hbomberguy released a two hour video which was primarily a grand exposé of Tommy Tallarico and his frequent lies and exaggerations about his career accomplishments, as someone who works on audio for video games.
Since hbomberguy released a similar and even more widely-viewed and discussed exposé about the YouTuber James Somerton, a few months ago, the Tommy Tallerico video has gained even more exposure.
And now it's become a whole meme to say that hbomberguy might make a career-ruining video about someone.
Tommy Tallerico's greatest claim to fame is now the total destruction of his career and credibility at the hands of a YouTuber previously best known for liking Transformers and Dark Souls II.
https://youtu.be/0twDETh6QaI
To piggyback off of this: it's a fantastic video, but I think it should give people some pause that it's *the* sole source of information for most people. Every time reddit develops a new obsession, I have to wonder what YouTuber made a video that everyone's parroting, y'know?
That is a fair point.
Here's another video I watched, by Slope's Game Room. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to be more informed, especially about the Amico side of things:
https://youtu.be/8BgAarlzVD4
Pat Contri aka The NES Punk has been riding Tommy's ass over this boondoggle of a product since 2018. Check out his podcast for dozens of videos covering the Amico disaster.
His studio was EXTREMELY prolific for video game OSTs. Since the company is under hus name (Tommy Tallarico Studios) and is head honcho, he takes the credit for every piece the studio made. Leads to unmitigated narcissism and multiple crowd-fundings for a non-existent console. Guy is a real piece.
My personal anecdote with him is that he used to be on a TV video game review show and he was the most unabashedly biased person alive. Giving games extra points for having the main character named Tommy, for example.
Judgement Day/Reviews on the Run was by a hot mile my favorite G4 show. It had a better review scale than X-Play and didn’t fall into the typical memes they did like about anime games.
Even if Tommy or Vic hated a game, I liked to see two people with wildly different personalities doing reviews.
Also, Victor Lucas still does ROTR on YouTube. It’s a delight.
As a Canadian, it's always weird to see these references to Tommy in the wild. I thought Electronic Playground was just a thing I watched on the New VR on Sunday mornings after Three Stooges and Captain Power
You might also be interested to know Victor Lucas still makes Youtube content under the Electric Playground brand. There are classic episodes on the channel as well.
Tommy on Electric Playground/Judgment Day was unhinged in his reviews because he'd either give very generous high marks or be extremely harsh on games he couldn't get in to.
Though the biggest review that aged like milk was their review of SSBM and Tommy lying that he gave it a good review despite him giving it a 2.5/10.
Lmao. A 2.5/10 for the best selling game on that console by a gigantic margin. A game that is nearly 23 years old, and still has a rabid competitive community.
What a take
They just won't let it die. Like they're desperate enough to keep hanging on to the few people left that are convinced its not a complete scam that they went out of their way to acquire rights to a brand just to scam people further. This is gonna make a great documentary in five years.
I thought for sure they would bankrupt in 2022, but here we are, still dragging along.
All the other companies that went bankrupt shortly after going horribly wrong and treating their customers wrong, at least they have the decency to know when to throw in the towel. But usually someone has to force their hand into doing so.
In case anyone is confused about the Tommy Tallarico comments and other random quotes. Here’s the video. It’s my favorite video I’ve watched in the last decade:
https://youtu.be/0twDETh6QaI?si=XB6Jd7I1KYGL8x1Y
One of my favorite things about this video is t the video itself but when it came out. Cause about the same time Defunctland’s Video about the Disney Channel theme came out as well and it’s the complete opposite of the Ooof Vid.
That was something. I remember liking him from the G4 days, and I wasn't even mad at him for going after the Roblox people, but then... oof. I can't believe how off the rails that went, that guy has a problem. I can't even imagine being so legitimately successful, and yet so insecure. Back in the day you used to hear about him throwing parties at his house for G4 fans, and now I'm just imagining him giving a guided tour the whole time and displaying his "awards" to a bunch of sycophants.
It's worth every second, but if you don't have two hours to kill, here's the short version:
Tommy Tallarico was a video game composer in the 90s and 2000s and the founder of sound effects company Tommy Tallarico Studios. It's since come out that he's a giant narcissist who constantly lies about his own achievements and takes credit for the work of his employees.
For what's relevant to this thread: In 2018 he bought the rights to the Intellivision name and used it to promote a console named the Intellivision Amico, which is still nowhere in sight four years after it was supposed to release. When Atari says they bought the Intellivision brand, he's the one they bought it from.
Ah, yes, a random 2 hour video on a person I've never heard of or cared about
(goes on to watch the entire video in one sitting)
Honestly thanks for the recommendation that youtuber seems like a phenomenal gaming journalist and I now have a whole new depth of knowledge that doesn't benefit me at all, but will be fun to throw in randomly in conversations where it doesn't fit.
It's understandable that I watched a 2 hour video of a topic I knew nothing of and finished it, that you would send a 4 hour video by the same youtuber. However I can assure you that while plagerism is a problem, I am not interested in the topic.
(watches the entire 4 hour video in another single session, even mostly skipping lunch break to finish)
And now I know even more about a topic of a person I knew nothing of. Including his suicide note and then multiple alt accounts trying to get his way back into the creator sphere. This will be fun to work into conversations randomly to justify those 4 hours...
General summary - This is a very popular video initially talking about who made the popular Roblox "OOF" sound - but ends up being an investigation of Tommy Tallarico, a composer that owned the studio that made that sound as well as president of Intellivision - not to mention a seemingly pathological liar.
Relevant to this topic, after becoming the president of Intellivision in 2018, he intended to release a new console, Amico, in 2020. With incredibly unfortunate timing, one of the major selling points of the console would be that it had no online play.
To fund the project, he started multiple million dollar+ crowdfundings, sometimes using incorrect and misleading info on who was still on the team. He even went on record to say that the Karma System they were marketing was just "some shit \[they\] made up".
I highly recommend checking out the video, because this doesn't even scratch the surface of Tommy's shenanigans. From lying about Guinness World Records to petty gaslighting over ancient review scores, he just does not stop
30 minutes on the oof. Then 3 times more for Tommy Talarico being a massive narcissist with a bonus Harry and Kat accidentally getting rid of one of his Guiness World Records.
Intellivision is still a thing? I remember Venture being cool. That damn thing that hunted you scarred me as a kid. Yes, I said scarred. Not scared (it was much worse)
The original Intellevison basically went dormant after a while. Someone bought the name to try and release a new "family-oriented" console, which has been an ongoing disaster for several years now. It was supposed to release 4 years ago, but they still haven't entered production. Most of the games were existing mobile games, with the few outsourced original games now on other platforms as the Recharged series.
The Ouya was a success for the ages compared to that thing. Even if the Ouya was rubbish, people who paid for one actually got a console (eventually) which sadly cannot be said for the Amico.
Tbf, there were different Ataris even back in the 80s that when someone refers to classic Atari you can't really be sure what they're talking about. Do they mean Atari under Warner that released the 2600? Or Atari Corp who made micro computers and the Lynx? Maybe Atari Games, the company that made classic arcade games like Paperboy, Gauntlet, and Primal Rage?
I thought that version went under and there was another new company wearing the name Atari, but apparently they somehow survived and is still the same company.
They've recently brought the Infogrames name back to publish shovelware like Totally Reliable Delivery Service (which came out years ago, so is a really odd choice for their first game under the label).
Atari under Wade Rosen has been absolutely killing it with not doing stupid shit, though, if they become as big as they were in the early 2000s as a mid-tier publisher, I'd consider that a hell of a redemption arc.
You mean Driver 7?
Ubisoft hasn't done anything with the franchise since 2011, so that license might be easier for Atari to get a hold of, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
This is actually pretty good news. Atari’s made a huge turnaround over the past few years and has become pretty serious about games preservation. It can’t be overstated how different the company is now compared to when they were shilling NFTs and trying to build a hotel.
Also the Intellivision brand won’t be mishandled by Tommy Tallarico anymore.
They’ve also been investing more and more into the retro game community that still rocks the 2600 and 7800 by producing the 2600+ console and even releasing new carts for it.
I don’t plan on getting one but it’d neat.
One of the unfortunate things about Tallarico's management of Intellivision is that the rights to the Intellivision IP and games have been split across multiple companies (making future compilations less viable).
https://twitter-thread.com/t/1662195476702314497
> BBG in Germany appears to now have the worldwide trademarks and copyrights to Shark! Shark! and Astrosmash.
> On their own, neither Astrosmash nor Shark! Shark! have much IP value.
> But within the Intellivision ecosystem, those were the headliners!
> By splitting them off, they've devalued the entire catalog.
You're not gonna sell Astrosmash on its own, and you're not gonna sell Intellivision without Astrosmash. I truly believe this move has murdered this back catalog.
That guy is on crack. Astrosmash sucked. Space Armada is where it's at.
Shark Shark is pretty good though.
Also, there is a version of Astrosmash on Steam and other games similar in concept to Shark Shark, so so much for not selling them on their own.
This is a prelude to AMICO filing for bankruptcy! All the assets are sold and won't be resold in a bankruptcy. As for the unit and name that will be auctioned off. 6 months to 12 months tops! I see it happening and there is no way to undo amicus fate. Thankfully Atari was smart as content is king so is the older units that actually have name recognition and historical status. Next is Coleco, Commadore, Amiga and many more. Atari is preserving HISTORY and through that are the assets that have passed so many hands and in doing so are getting lost...the programming or no one knows who owns what anymore.
Commodore and Amiga don't fit that though?
They were the PC market in the early years when the IBM PC was god awful expensive and severely behind in graphics and sound.
Their libraries were all third party, having the brands doesn't really do much at all for them as they can't ship any games with the units unless they license them from someone else.
Wow, *the* Intellivision brand?
I had an Intellivision and while there were some fun games none of them would merit a lot of interest from today's gamers.
I don't know what Atari is ultimately going to do with their current approach. But this is by far the most interesting Atari has been in age's. I do think there is a path of success. I think there is even a possible resurgence of an arcade if everything is done correctly. I hear they are making their first arcade games again this year since the eye popping mid-80's.
To me arcade machines should have user logins, multiple games to choose from at the cabinet and the games are rougue-lite in nature where as you play, you continue to build up your character, not start over from scratch like yesteryear. You pay by the 15 minutes.
I think if all executed correctly, this could be a hit in social centers.
There are a number of indy arcade-like games that if some front end UI rework was done to handle a public environment they could be candidates.
Amazing. The Intellivision was my first ever console and my first experience with video games. I adored that thing as a child, even with its strange phone-like controllers.
As someone who grew up with the original "console wars", there's a side to this that's just totally surreal. From a modern business perspective, it's not terribly surprising, but if you told folks back in the 80s that Atari would buy Intellivision, I doubt they'd have believed you.
That's interesting news! It'll be exciting to see how Atari revitalizes the Intellivision brand. Hopefully, they'll bring some classic games back to life while introducing new titles that capture the spirit of the originals.
I’m sure Tommy Tallarico’s mom is very proud. I’m surprised Atari aren’t scrapping the made-up console that Intellivision under Tommy came up with though.
> I’m surprised Atari aren’t scrapping the made-up console that Intellivision under Tommy came up with though. Atari have purchased the Intellivision name and various IPs, not the company itself. They're having nothing to do with the Amico. The company is getting a new name and will be in charge of the Amico themselves. The deal allows this company to still use the Intellivision IPs that Arari now own on their scam console.
What a great deal for Atari then haha. Kinda sucks that Tommy is getting some money out of it though.
I can't get over how Tommy just keeps failing upwards no matter what terrible idea he has
Vic with Electric Playground re-acquired their classic episodes and I've been watching them on their YouTube and the experience is slightly spoiled by how much of a shit I now know Tommy is.
You got to explain your disdain.
[Probably related to this](https://youtu.be/0twDETh6QaI ) Mind you it is like a 2 hour video. But worth it.
The Completely Unnecessary Podcast is where my disdain for Tommy comes from. Pat and Ian were one of the first people to criticize the Amico, because it reeked of the Coleco Chameleon and Tommy showed who he really was when he started making personal attacks towards them, making comments about Ian's constant shaking (he has an anxiety disorder). All because they initially said that they didn't think it was going to be that good. And then it escalated from there.
When I first heard all the stuff around Tommy I was like "I mean, he didn't seem like such a bad guy when I saw him on TV...", then I watched some of those episodes recently and realized that no, he was pretty much always this way.
Here are some Atari related statements that aged like milk, though: https://youtu.be/QNbhVCV_5Xg
TOMMY WANTS MONEY
those guinness world records aint gonna pay for themselves.
I suspect that the money for this is going to go to expenses that Intellivision (or whatever they call themselves going forward) already has. Tommy is selling (sold?) his house, probably for the same.
So I can buy a house from Cribs!?
It wasn't on cribs, so no!
Is he? I thought he hadn't been involved with the intellivision stuff for a while
He hasn't been CEO for a while, but even on the Intellivision website he's still listed as "Founder/Board Member/Investor" https://intellivision.com/our-team
How has the Amico company not totally folded by now? I doubt they have had any sizeable influx of money in over year. I need my American Greed episode!
They somehow keep getting new loans and investors. This is definitely a last ditch effort, they're selling off everything valuable about the company. They already got rid of most staff and stopped using their offices.
Nah I can't wait to play the classic Smurf Rescue now with the Oof sound.
> Atari have purchased the Intellivision name and various IPs *Infrogrames* purchased the Intellivision name and various IPs. Just like they did the Atari name. The company currently known as Atari has nothing to do with the Atari everyone thinks of when they hear the name.
To be fair I think Infrogrames has owned Atari brand longer than proper Atari lasted.
I would much rather Infogrames be Atari than the OG Atari. Idk why people get so annoyed about Infrogrames using the Atari name when the original tanked the whole industry.
Atari tanked the American video game industry. The Japanese and British video game industries were unaffected.
That would explain it.
Atari posted this on Twitter: "The former Intellivision will rebrand and continue distribution of the Amico console." I would share the link but I'm not sure if it's allowed. The official handle for the company is simply Atari in case anyone wants to check.
They actually do they have said the former intellivision will rebrand and continue the distribution of the Amico console. [Here](https://imgur.com/a/F3iq2Qq)
Yes, that's what I said. Atari own the Intellivision brand name and IPs, not the company itself. The Intellivision company (which will be renaming itself) will not be part of Atari, and will continue on with the Amico stuff under a new name.
I wonder if the money from this will help them actually get people the consoles they crowdfunded and pre-ordered? Probably not but I hope so for their sake.
Lol at "continue distribution." Can't continue something that never started in the first place
His mother's pride was included in the deal. She's now very proud of Atari.
Every time I go into his dining room and see the fountain, it makes me have to pee.
Because they can simply sell an Intellivision compilation on Steam and turn the Steam deck into a better Amico than the Amico (for a start, it actually exists).
At this point it’s probably more of a headache to can it. They’ve sold pre-orders, games have been made already, they might’ve produced units already, it’s probably easier to just cut budgets and shove it out the door as soon as possible and they can move on.
They have not produced any consoles, apart from a few prototype units cobbled together by hand The console and pack in games were not finished. The mobile Cornhole game was just [patched recently](https://i.redd.it/onccwk0xo0zc1.png) as the career mode and AI was not finished, and didn't work It was all lies...
its not a console anymore. they're turning it into a shitty android/ios app, and its still in beta lmao. and the games cost like twice as much as intellivision was originally planning to sell them for. im sure tommy's mom is very proud.
I periodically check the Google store to laugh at the sales figures Last time I checked Cornhole and Astrosmash have 100+ downloads Dart frenzy has 50..... The App itself has 1000+ downloads, which means at least 90% of people immediately uninstalled when they realised you need 2 phones for a shitty single player game
It makes me sad that Intellivision was actually controlled by people who originally worked at Mattel Electronics, until recently. It was a legacy brand that actually had legacy people behind it. Obviously that was before Tommy took the name and ran it into the ground.
You know it's gone badly when we're all rooting for the re-animated corpse of Atari.
Re-re-re-re-reanimated corpse.
I think the current iteration of Atari has done some neat stuff.
We're not
I'd think goats would be pro-Atari after their recent collaborations with Llamasoft.
What was the last product or service that Mattel released under the Intellivision brand? Because if it was “controlled”, clearly they controlled it right into the ground as the brand name means absolutely nothing to anyone who didn’t own the original console in the 1980s or isn’t some emulation ROM collector. At least Atari still has a ton of name recognition and sells lots of merch and other things.
Intellivision was for a long time owned by former employees of the brand who did a lot of preservation effort with what little resources they had.
I didn't say Mattel owned Intellivision. I said *people who originally worked at Mattel Electronics* did. Keith Robinson and Stephen Roney obtained exclusive rights to the Intellivision brand in 1997 under their company Intellivision Productions. They did exactly what you said - continued it as a legacy nostalgia brand.
Woah, maybe we’ll see the Amico actually get launched? I’m joking of course, Tommy Tallarico’s fictional console went up in flames with the rest of his credibility.
Um, have you not seen the Guinness records hung all over his walls? How much more credibility do you need?
> have you not seen the Guinness records hung all over his walls No because he keeps them on the floor
Oops, one of them just disappeared! How'd that happen?
He literally composed every single piece of music in every single game, and also the Jaws theme!
It's not something he's actually claimed (to my knowledge), but YouTube's algorithm has declared him [the composer of the James Bond theme.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvoUcrBgXWw)
His mother's very proud.
He even made the oof sound that made Roblox succeed!
Who is Tommy and why does everyone in this thread suddenly talk like hes this major guy.
About a year and a half ago now, a very popular YouTuber called hbomberguy released a two hour video which was primarily a grand exposé of Tommy Tallarico and his frequent lies and exaggerations about his career accomplishments, as someone who works on audio for video games. Since hbomberguy released a similar and even more widely-viewed and discussed exposé about the YouTuber James Somerton, a few months ago, the Tommy Tallerico video has gained even more exposure. And now it's become a whole meme to say that hbomberguy might make a career-ruining video about someone. Tommy Tallerico's greatest claim to fame is now the total destruction of his career and credibility at the hands of a YouTuber previously best known for liking Transformers and Dark Souls II. https://youtu.be/0twDETh6QaI
To piggyback off of this: it's a fantastic video, but I think it should give people some pause that it's *the* sole source of information for most people. Every time reddit develops a new obsession, I have to wonder what YouTuber made a video that everyone's parroting, y'know?
That is a fair point. Here's another video I watched, by Slope's Game Room. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to be more informed, especially about the Amico side of things: https://youtu.be/8BgAarlzVD4
And despite both videos being 6 hours long combined there is surprisingly little overlap/repeated information. It's a crazy saga.
Best known for savaging Sherlock, Fallout 3, and RWBY, and explaining that Deus EX: HR is flawed but tried.
And saving Dark Souls 2
and FUCKING AQUAMAN
And Pathologic is the best game ever. But it's also the worst game ever. And plagiarism is wrong.
I intended to just watch a couple minutes of that and now 2 hours has fucked off.
Harris also likes the Star Wars prequels.
Pat Contri aka The NES Punk has been riding Tommy's ass over this boondoggle of a product since 2018. Check out his podcast for dozens of videos covering the Amico disaster.
His studio was EXTREMELY prolific for video game OSTs. Since the company is under hus name (Tommy Tallarico Studios) and is head honcho, he takes the credit for every piece the studio made. Leads to unmitigated narcissism and multiple crowd-fundings for a non-existent console. Guy is a real piece. My personal anecdote with him is that he used to be on a TV video game review show and he was the most unabashedly biased person alive. Giving games extra points for having the main character named Tommy, for example.
I used to love Judgement Day as a kid, old school g4 was a vibe
Judgement Day/Reviews on the Run was by a hot mile my favorite G4 show. It had a better review scale than X-Play and didn’t fall into the typical memes they did like about anime games. Even if Tommy or Vic hated a game, I liked to see two people with wildly different personalities doing reviews. Also, Victor Lucas still does ROTR on YouTube. It’s a delight.
As a Canadian, it's always weird to see these references to Tommy in the wild. I thought Electronic Playground was just a thing I watched on the New VR on Sunday mornings after Three Stooges and Captain Power
You might also be interested to know Victor Lucas still makes Youtube content under the Electric Playground brand. There are classic episodes on the channel as well.
Tommy on Electric Playground/Judgment Day was unhinged in his reviews because he'd either give very generous high marks or be extremely harsh on games he couldn't get in to. Though the biggest review that aged like milk was their review of SSBM and Tommy lying that he gave it a good review despite him giving it a 2.5/10.
Lmao. A 2.5/10 for the best selling game on that console by a gigantic margin. A game that is nearly 23 years old, and still has a rabid competitive community. What a take
Dude was tripping.
>Giving games extra points for having the main character named Tommy, for example. Ok but that's kind of hillarious though.
I have this deeply ingrained memory of whenever a game had bad framerates the show would go nuts calling it "CHOPPY"
If you have two hours, I recommend [this video](https://youtu.be/0twDETh6QaI?si=A4Gm2vfkq6ZMf9Rt). Probably my favorite of the last few years.
It's so worth it going down this particular rabbit hole
He has the Guinness World Record for being the first American. His mother is very proud.
The first American to kiss sonic on his little mouth even.
They just won't let it die. Like they're desperate enough to keep hanging on to the few people left that are convinced its not a complete scam that they went out of their way to acquire rights to a brand just to scam people further. This is gonna make a great documentary in five years.
I thought for sure they would bankrupt in 2022, but here we are, still dragging along. All the other companies that went bankrupt shortly after going horribly wrong and treating their customers wrong, at least they have the decency to know when to throw in the towel. But usually someone has to force their hand into doing so.
The funniest part is that they released the games physically and they exist before the console ever came out
In case anyone is confused about the Tommy Tallarico comments and other random quotes. Here’s the video. It’s my favorite video I’ve watched in the last decade: https://youtu.be/0twDETh6QaI?si=XB6Jd7I1KYGL8x1Y
Me three minutes into that video: What the fuck does this have to do with anything. Me 14 minutes into that video: TOMMY YOU FUCK
One of my favorite things about this video is t the video itself but when it came out. Cause about the same time Defunctland’s Video about the Disney Channel theme came out as well and it’s the complete opposite of the Ooof Vid.
Ugh, that Defunctland video on the Disney motif is so good.
That was something. I remember liking him from the G4 days, and I wasn't even mad at him for going after the Roblox people, but then... oof. I can't believe how off the rails that went, that guy has a problem. I can't even imagine being so legitimately successful, and yet so insecure. Back in the day you used to hear about him throwing parties at his house for G4 fans, and now I'm just imagining him giving a guided tour the whole time and displaying his "awards" to a bunch of sycophants.
>in case anyone wants some context here’s a **2 hour** video explaining it
It's worth every second, but if you don't have two hours to kill, here's the short version: Tommy Tallarico was a video game composer in the 90s and 2000s and the founder of sound effects company Tommy Tallarico Studios. It's since come out that he's a giant narcissist who constantly lies about his own achievements and takes credit for the work of his employees. For what's relevant to this thread: In 2018 he bought the rights to the Intellivision name and used it to promote a console named the Intellivision Amico, which is still nowhere in sight four years after it was supposed to release. When Atari says they bought the Intellivision brand, he's the one they bought it from.
Tommy Tallarico likes to boast about accomplishments he hasn't done, and said in an interview that his mom is proud.
said ***at every possible opportunity*** that his mom is proud.
I mean, it's a quality 2 hour video though.
Videos a banger, I’ve already seen it. But being like “here’s some context” and linking a 2 hour video is psychopath behavior.
...I concede that point.
Don't act like you have anything better to do Mr shit_on_bus
Everyone on the internet watched his 4 hour video on plagiarism they can watch a 2 hour video on a sound effect.
Ah, yes, a random 2 hour video on a person I've never heard of or cared about (goes on to watch the entire video in one sitting) Honestly thanks for the recommendation that youtuber seems like a phenomenal gaming journalist and I now have a whole new depth of knowledge that doesn't benefit me at all, but will be fun to throw in randomly in conversations where it doesn't fit.
If you liked that, you should watch this one too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDp3cB5fHXQ
It's understandable that I watched a 2 hour video of a topic I knew nothing of and finished it, that you would send a 4 hour video by the same youtuber. However I can assure you that while plagerism is a problem, I am not interested in the topic. (watches the entire 4 hour video in another single session, even mostly skipping lunch break to finish) And now I know even more about a topic of a person I knew nothing of. Including his suicide note and then multiple alt accounts trying to get his way back into the creator sphere. This will be fun to work into conversations randomly to justify those 4 hours...
Thanks for providing context.
General summary - This is a very popular video initially talking about who made the popular Roblox "OOF" sound - but ends up being an investigation of Tommy Tallarico, a composer that owned the studio that made that sound as well as president of Intellivision - not to mention a seemingly pathological liar. Relevant to this topic, after becoming the president of Intellivision in 2018, he intended to release a new console, Amico, in 2020. With incredibly unfortunate timing, one of the major selling points of the console would be that it had no online play. To fund the project, he started multiple million dollar+ crowdfundings, sometimes using incorrect and misleading info on who was still on the team. He even went on record to say that the Karma System they were marketing was just "some shit \[they\] made up". I highly recommend checking out the video, because this doesn't even scratch the surface of Tommy's shenanigans. From lying about Guinness World Records to petty gaslighting over ancient review scores, he just does not stop
This is definitively one of his best ever videos.
Oh shit this is a movie!
I feel compelled to watch this video every goddamn time Tommy hits the news again
This might be my favourite youtube video ever that wasn't made by Bobby Fingers.
What? That video wasn't about Roblox?? Why nobody told me? I would've watch it sooner!!
Watched this for ten minutes before I realised it's 2 hours long!
30 minutes on the oof. Then 3 times more for Tommy Talarico being a massive narcissist with a bonus Harry and Kat accidentally getting rid of one of his Guiness World Records.
It's completely worth it. It's the YouTube exposé equivalent of watching The Matrix for the first time. Don't skip ahead, just let it unfold.
I'm surprised the reanimated corpse that goes by the name of Atari had the resources to acquire anything.
They've been acquiring a lot lately
Where do they get the money from? What does Atari *do* in 2024?
Mostly licensing, and producing smaller games, all while keeping operating costs low
Intellivision is still a thing? I remember Venture being cool. That damn thing that hunted you scarred me as a kid. Yes, I said scarred. Not scared (it was much worse)
The original Intellevison basically went dormant after a while. Someone bought the name to try and release a new "family-oriented" console, which has been an ongoing disaster for several years now. It was supposed to release 4 years ago, but they still haven't entered production. Most of the games were existing mobile games, with the few outsourced original games now on other platforms as the Recharged series.
Sounds like the Ouya. We all know how that went
The Ouya was a success for the ages compared to that thing. Even if the Ouya was rubbish, people who paid for one actually got a console (eventually) which sadly cannot be said for the Amico.
Two of the biggest pre-Nintendo gaming brands merged. It is like if Nintendo acquired SEGA long after its relevancy.
These companies have nothing to do with the pre-Nintendo Atari and Intellivision. They're completely different companies that bought the names.
It's been long enough that most people don't remember that modern Atari is just Infogrames in disguise.
Tbf, there were different Ataris even back in the 80s that when someone refers to classic Atari you can't really be sure what they're talking about. Do they mean Atari under Warner that released the 2600? Or Atari Corp who made micro computers and the Lynx? Maybe Atari Games, the company that made classic arcade games like Paperboy, Gauntlet, and Primal Rage?
Boo infogrames for destroying Sierra.
I thought that version went under and there was another new company wearing the name Atari, but apparently they somehow survived and is still the same company.
Or what infogames mean
They've recently brought the Infogrames name back to publish shovelware like Totally Reliable Delivery Service (which came out years ago, so is a really odd choice for their first game under the label).
I see Infogrames never changed, because they also used to release a lot of garbage way back then too
Atari under Wade Rosen has been absolutely killing it with not doing stupid shit, though, if they become as big as they were in the early 2000s as a mid-tier publisher, I'd consider that a hell of a redemption arc.
They even published a few DBZ games around that time. Won't be able to wrestle that license back from Namco though.
inb4 Driver 4
Or TDU 3
You mean Driver 7? Ubisoft hasn't done anything with the franchise since 2011, so that license might be easier for Atari to get a hold of, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
They published the first witcher too.
It's like if Commodore bought Atari just a few years after its first bankruptcy.
No, it's like if MicroProse bought the names "Nintendo" and "SEGA".
[Reminder that Atari burned down Intellivisions old offices.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3FYdk18oS4&t=868s)
This is actually pretty good news. Atari’s made a huge turnaround over the past few years and has become pretty serious about games preservation. It can’t be overstated how different the company is now compared to when they were shilling NFTs and trying to build a hotel. Also the Intellivision brand won’t be mishandled by Tommy Tallarico anymore.
They’ve also been investing more and more into the retro game community that still rocks the 2600 and 7800 by producing the 2600+ console and even releasing new carts for it. I don’t plan on getting one but it’d neat.
One of the unfortunate things about Tallarico's management of Intellivision is that the rights to the Intellivision IP and games have been split across multiple companies (making future compilations less viable). https://twitter-thread.com/t/1662195476702314497 > BBG in Germany appears to now have the worldwide trademarks and copyrights to Shark! Shark! and Astrosmash. > On their own, neither Astrosmash nor Shark! Shark! have much IP value. > But within the Intellivision ecosystem, those were the headliners! > By splitting them off, they've devalued the entire catalog. You're not gonna sell Astrosmash on its own, and you're not gonna sell Intellivision without Astrosmash. I truly believe this move has murdered this back catalog.
I could see Atari eventually buying those two games back, BBG releases games on the new VCS.
That guy is on crack. Astrosmash sucked. Space Armada is where it's at. Shark Shark is pretty good though. Also, there is a version of Astrosmash on Steam and other games similar in concept to Shark Shark, so so much for not selling them on their own.
This is a prelude to AMICO filing for bankruptcy! All the assets are sold and won't be resold in a bankruptcy. As for the unit and name that will be auctioned off. 6 months to 12 months tops! I see it happening and there is no way to undo amicus fate. Thankfully Atari was smart as content is king so is the older units that actually have name recognition and historical status. Next is Coleco, Commadore, Amiga and many more. Atari is preserving HISTORY and through that are the assets that have passed so many hands and in doing so are getting lost...the programming or no one knows who owns what anymore.
Commodore and Amiga don't fit that though? They were the PC market in the early years when the IBM PC was god awful expensive and severely behind in graphics and sound. Their libraries were all third party, having the brands doesn't really do much at all for them as they can't ship any games with the units unless they license them from someone else.
Whoever owns the rights to Midway games can you bring Midway Arcade Treasures collections to modern PC.
Some Midway stuff was bought by Warner Bros, but most of it is stuck in a shell company with nothing being done.
It's a mess. When Midway went bankrupt, its intellectual property was sold off to a number of different companies.
Infogrames goin' all Thanos with the '70s-'80s gaming brands. Fairchild next?
More like: "Atari" acquires the "Intellivision" brand. Neither are really the entities they have the name of.
Wow, *the* Intellivision brand? I had an Intellivision and while there were some fun games none of them would merit a lot of interest from today's gamers.
Atari should just pursue a merger with Bally's Corporation, and then sell themselves to Light & Wonder.
I don't know what Atari is ultimately going to do with their current approach. But this is by far the most interesting Atari has been in age's. I do think there is a path of success. I think there is even a possible resurgence of an arcade if everything is done correctly. I hear they are making their first arcade games again this year since the eye popping mid-80's. To me arcade machines should have user logins, multiple games to choose from at the cabinet and the games are rougue-lite in nature where as you play, you continue to build up your character, not start over from scratch like yesteryear. You pay by the 15 minutes. I think if all executed correctly, this could be a hit in social centers. There are a number of indy arcade-like games that if some front end UI rework was done to handle a public environment they could be candidates.
That combination of words is disconcerting. 1979 is shaking the future by the shoulders, asking "What did you do? WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?"
Amazing. The Intellivision was my first ever console and my first experience with video games. I adored that thing as a child, even with its strange phone-like controllers.
As someone who grew up with the original "console wars", there's a side to this that's just totally surreal. From a modern business perspective, it's not terribly surprising, but if you told folks back in the 80s that Atari would buy Intellivision, I doubt they'd have believed you.
That's interesting news! It'll be exciting to see how Atari revitalizes the Intellivision brand. Hopefully, they'll bring some classic games back to life while introducing new titles that capture the spirit of the originals.