Intellivision Entertainment began teasing its new console back in May, but we finally received more concrete information about the system during a keynote presentation at Portland Retro Gaming Expo. While the official trailer and press release will be coming on Monday, DualShockers Staff Writer Steven Santana attended the presentation and was able to confirm several details about this new system. Most importantly, we now know it’s called the Intellivision Amico and will be releasing on October 10, 2020.
The name Intellivision Amico was settled on because amico means friend in Italian and highlights the fact that it is a family-friendly system. Elaborating on what had previously been discussed, Tommy Tallarico confirmed that the Intellivision Amico will only allow 2D games with a rating of E10+ or less and a price between $2.99 and $7.99. The system features a special chip made in-house to push 2D games to their limits, and supposedly be able to produce 2D graphics that are better than what’s possible on PS4 and Xbox One.
As for the games themselves, all will be exclusive and Intellivision-developed games will mainly be remakes of older titles. They plan on remaking many of the classic titles from not just the original Intellivision, but classic Atari and iMagic titles as well. Some specific titles mentioned were Moon Control, Burgertime, Lode Runner, ToeJam and Earl, Spelunker, and Pong. While we didn’t see any gameplay for ourselves, these remakes will supposedly feature better graphics and audio than the original, as well as new levels and online support.
Intellivision is focusing on quality over quantity when it comes to games in the system, and will only let games on the system that they believe will score a 7/10 or better. That being said, they are still hoping that third party developers and publishers will make games for the system. The Intellivision Amico will also feature in-depth leaderboards for most games that will let players view their rank in both their region and within a certain measure of time. Most games will be digital only, though some special physical releases are planned.
We also got brief looks at the console and it’s controller. While the livestream for the reveal was of low quality, as it was filmed vertically and didn’t even showing those viewing the trailer, you can check out the image of the console we were able to snag at the botttom of the article. The system features a somewhat slick design reminiscent of Mac computers, and has a place for the controllers to rest and charge on the top of the system. Tommy Tallarico also confirmed that the system will have wi-fi support as all games are digital, and will use HDMI.
As for the bluetooth controller, it features a control stick that’s a mix of the original Intellivision’s and the 3DS’ circle pad as well as a touch screen. The controllers are about 80% complete in terms of design, but he was able to confirm that they will feature gyro support, accelerometer vibration, a mic, and a 3 and a 1/2 inch color touchscreen. The Intellivision Amico will be able to support up to eight controllers, and a phone app will be put out that features most of the same functionality.
Tommy Tallarico also revealed that the Invellivision Amico will cost between $149 and $179, with a more firm price to come out closer to release. While DualShockers will let you know when more official information and the reveal trailer come out on Monday, we can currently tell you that the Intellivision Amico will be arriving on October 10, 2020.
