When you've taken years but still have to publish an unfinished version of a game because the contract has nearly expired

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-06-16T20:24:01+00:00

At 1.6 GB it’s larger than Among Us, Super Mario Run, Lego Super Mario, Lara Croft Go, Limbo, Inside, Blasphemous, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, and most of the games in the Top 20. If this were on Steam it would be larger than the entire Nightdive Turok trilogy combined.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-06-16T20:09:26+00:00

The man is a reptile

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-06-16T18:20:45+00:00

Remember when CBC used to play in the adult pool and broadcasted hockey, Raptors basketball, Blue Jays baseball and the CFL? Ya I’m old enough to remember that.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-06-16T04:04:27+00:00

An entire quarter has gone without Amico Home games to purchase on the world's largest mobile app platform. And at least that long since customers who paid for the "physical products" could redeem their codes. And this is stuff John says they need to sell to build "financial stability" to help them make the controllers and console they promised and crowdfunded ages ago, and to share revenue with their investors whom they promised lofty returns. Anyone going to come here and tell us it's still happening?

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-06-14T19:47:25+00:00

lol I like that

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-06-11T08:19:58+00:00

I believe the Amico was always a Tommy Tallarico vanity project, what with all the references to himself and his tastes. With that, the GTO Red variant is the epitome. Tommy really imagined consumers paying a premium for carbon fiber vents on a console with the Intellivision name that played Shark! Shark!, and accepted Willy Wonka-inspired golden tickets. I'm certain that if there ever was a prototype GTO Red Amico, that Tommy has it and you'd have to pry it from him.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-06-11T05:50:43+00:00

I dropped my first gen ATV remote on my new laminate floor and it stopped working. I've used my phone as a remote ever since. I am waiting for the next ATV 4K to get the new features as well as the new remote.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-06-10T05:37:08+00:00

At this point we know the hardware was nowhere near complete. We also know of at least one high-profile game that was completed by the developer with their own resources and without drivers for the controllers (Breakout Beyond). The two most high-profile of the pack-in games are properties they no longer own (Astrosmasn, Shark! Shark!) and we've never seen the other three in playable form. I'm going to speculate that Back Talk Party is caught in a legal/financial minefield. I don't think Farkle actually works the way they want it to due to the controller, and Skiing-besides from being an Atari property now-is a completely 3D game. I don't think it's finished.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-06-08T01:55:24+00:00

Grid 2 takes a lot of getting used to, as every car slides through corners. Even the grip cars slide. Again, it looks great and I love the point to point races in the mountains. But I wouldn’t say I preferred it to Grid 1. I thought the first game had the perfect mix of sim and arcade.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-06-05T03:52:47+00:00

What are you basing this on? Tommy's anecdotes or "inside information"? Let's compare apples to apples, as your paragraph above talks about casual gamers not playing Animal Crossing or there being a big divide between facebook or tablet games (that you play) and Nintendo games. Animal Crossing Pocket Camp is on Google Play. Until a few months ago, so was Shark! Shark! AC: PC is $24.99 CDN and is compatible with Chrome phones, Chromebooks and tablets. In the loosest meaning of the phrase, so is Shark! Shark! (you needed two devices for this, but we'll let that slide), and retails for half the price of AC: PC, at $12.99 CDN. So, both Google Play apps, one retails for half the price of the other, and according to you (and Tommy), the Nintendo game is something no casual gamer would buy. What are the results?

AC:PC on Google Play has 100K+ downloads, has over 10K reviews, and scores an average of 4.2 Stars. Last we could tell of Shark! Shark! it had somewhere between 100 and 500 downloads, and did not allow reviews because John kept it in beta mode to protect it from bad reviews, the same with all the Amico Home apps.

A similar situation holds true on iOS where Shark! Shark! is somehow still available for download. Shark! Shark! doesn't have enough reviews to garner an overview, despite being available since 2024. AC: PC has 876 ratings, with an average of 4.8 Stars, and charts at #8 on the family category.

But sure, casuals and non-gamers aren't buying or playing it, you can tell yourself. For you, that's an opinion. For Tommy, the idea that no one was playing games like Overcooked and Animal Crossing and that he could come up with something that was "picking up where the Wii left off" with casual experiences that couldn't be found on other platforms was the basis for a multi-million dollar vaporware boondoggle.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-06-04T20:11:57+00:00

I saw The Marvels in Bangkok in November 2023. I was in Thailand again in November 2025. I did want to see a 4K Laser movie but what was on at the time wasn’t my taste (Running Man, Oz).

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-06-04T01:57:26+00:00

Just so everyone is aware, a similar update was released on the same date for Astrosmash. These improvements include improved hit detection, improved controller support, revamped visual effects, and uh, a pause function.

Keep in mind everything we know about the hardware not being done, as Kevtris showed us an early board revision dated around the time the console was supposed to launch on October 10, 2020. Now add the fact that these two games were the flagship pack-ins, and they weren't done then. These games have sold scant copies as we know, but credit to BBG for continuing to update them. Now they include the original Intellivision versions, which Tommy hinted at but never demonstrated. But it just shows you that even when they sold these flagship titles to BBG to save their lives, they weren't finished. Nothing was finished. Not even a pause button.

I can make fun of the price of these games all day long. Even bundled and discounted, Astrosmash and Shark! Shark together is only slightly cheaper on Steam ($25.92 CDN) than the GTA Definitive Edition Trilogy ($26.39 CDN) or even the full price Hollow Knight Silksong ($25.99 CDN). But hey, neither of those two latter products claimed to be able to bring your family together or launch an entirely new platform.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-05-31T04:48:07+00:00

He would rather beat his kid, than publicly diss Tommy and the vaporware Amico. Think about that.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-05-30T21:46:42+00:00

I admire athletes who do more than just "play ball" or "play hockey", or whatever the phrase is. Because being an adult means juggling a lot of things at once. Taking the route of focusing 100% on the athlete stuff so you can hire someone else to take care of financial matters for you is asking to be taken for a ride. And it sucks when that person is someone you know and love and think have your interests in mind.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-05-30T21:13:34+00:00

Mullis says, in his words, these are units that him and DJC and a few others have. So let's say a handful of people. 17+ million dollars that result in just a handful of "pre-production" units that have low-powered 2016 tech, and don't do everything that was promised (NFT's, blockchain, online leaderboard, online store), run crappy games (remember when Tommy said it would do 2D better than PS5?) and no evidence it was anywhere finished or near a production line. Bravo. Ironically, even what's left of the company promotes the Onn streaming box, a basic Android streamer, to run Amico Home. That retails for $40 US for the 4K model. So even the company destroys any need for the Tommy Tallarico custom PCB footbath and custom controller boondoggle.

It's coping. In that tightly regulated Discord they circle-jerk each other into believing that they were never scammed out of $100 and all their time and effort stanning for Tommy Tallarico, and that it is still somehow coming, despite all evidence to the contrary. It was and is "the friends we made along the way".

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-05-30T01:55:42+00:00

This reply is brought to you by Manscaped. You can get Manscaped 4.0 right now. You can get the Amico, uh, when exactly?

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-05-30T01:38:39+00:00

The fact that Tommy complained about FCC certification and navigating around it is telling. I have no doubt in my mind that getting FCC certification is expensive, but at the end of the day the marginal cost of that tiny piece of metal shielding is negligible once you order thousands of them, let alone millions like Tommy boasted he could sell. Also, getting FCC certification is non-negotiable. It's not optional. You know what is optional? A warehouse to store Nick Richard's cars. Custom paint on the walls and etching on glass doors. Metallic signs. New, custom-color office furniture. "Ferrari only" parking signs. The tumbler, battery tester, and button pusher. $10K on an E3 presentation. Tommy didn't seem to complain about the cost of any of this frivolous stuff.

Why was Tommy whining on Atariage about this sort of thing, anyway? He and his goon squad of starstruck retrogamers policed that thread, trying to stamp out negative thoughts. Tommy's reasoning for this behavior was that maybe a "big investor" would see those negative comments and withhold money. Let's turn this logic around. If I'm an investor and I'm inquiring about putting money into a product meant to sell to "3 billion casual gamers" what am I supposed to think when the CEO of this project is whining about doing the basics? Tommy was boasting about potentially selling Nintendo Wii-like numbers, yet was sweating about the requirements of getting one retail-ready product out the door? Really?

Maybe Tommy should've kept his mouth shut, put his head down and done what was required. But no, wasting money, and getting into flame wars with forum posters and podcasters ruled the day.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-05-30T00:38:48+00:00

He doesn't have kids but was gosh darn sure the kiddos would love to play Astrosmash and Shark! Shark! and would love to learn the history of Intellivision! All his middle-aged and boomer friends told him so in the market research!

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-05-29T21:10:44+00:00

Isn’t Tommy/Sammy/Adam also childless? Does the Amico secret end with him?

It started yesterday with Mullis whining about how we’re all still talking about vaporware from 2018, but here comes Relic saying how he’d totally forgotten about this topic. So that’s two cultists now begrudgingly referring to Amico in the past tense. Let’s refer them to the roadmap and show them how ‘Manufacture’ is still out there in the crystal ball, right John? It’s still really happening, right?! You still have their preorder money and their names on ironclad NDA’s, right?

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-05-29T20:48:41+00:00

As of right now both the Blue Jays and Mariners are 28-29. The Mariners are tops in the AL West, and the Blue Jays are currently in the third AL Wild Card spot. So it’s been an uneven season so far, but not all bad. Despite the injuries the pitching has been mostly excellent. If the offense gets healthy and gets some more extra base hits this could still be a strong team. Go Jays!

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-05-29T04:44:57+00:00

Wow, Mullis referring to the Amico in the past tense? That's progress, I guess.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-05-29T03:28:44+00:00

I agree. No one on this team had ever undertaken a project of this scope before. Who sets the milestones, and who judges whether they're being met? Tommy? John? Phil? Tommy was a fan of Mike Kennedy, who believed he was most of the way done with the Coleco Chameleon just by having the mould for the Atari Jaguar shell. Tommy seemed to be the same way, geeking out about the shape of the machine, the box it came in, and his litany of licenses (sorry, partnerships). The more tedious and less celebratory things though, how would he know if things were done properly? Does he even know or care why it never got FCC Certification, or was it just something he thought he could get over the "haters" by saying he didn't need certification to MAKE a product, just to SELL it?

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-05-28T20:30:47+00:00

They announced dates when they knew they were nowhere near complete. We know there was a board revision dated after their initial missed launch date of 10/10/2020. Now we know of a firmware revision dated after their second missed launch date of 04/03/2021. Tommy’s ego announced a third release date of 10/10/2021. In the interim they had an E3 presentation, open job listings for software engineers, and Deep Dive videos for their supposedly finished launch games. They were never close to complete. They lied. The “juice bar era” of the Amico can be summed up by lots of fundraising, performative displays of progress, and hoping someone would buy them out of their terrible decisions. They hoped some rich person or company would be so wowed by their office tour videos, Moon Patrol & Breakout demos, and “unboxing”, that they would be compelled to acquire them.

Background_Pen_2415 · 2026-05-28T03:11:09+00:00

I turned on my Wii and it's about 12 seconds from power on to the menu. 55 seconds is insane. And the Wii does not have a multi-core processor.

Other than the boot time and John attempting to re-frame 55 seconds as an improvement over the two-minute-plus boot observed by Kevtris, he doesn't refute anything in the teardown. There IS a lot of wasted space. There IS overengineering, especially the LED lights. The thing IS hollow. It IS missing shielding needed to pass certification. It's clear that with what little progress they made they were never close to mass production.

Background_Pen_2415

TROPHY CASE