| S.Peelman said: Did the Atari actually sell anything? I think this will do even worse, because I assume the Atari name even though it isn’t actually the same company anymore still means more to people than Intellivision does. |
The Atari VCS was backed on Indiegogo, so it sold to at least that many people. I think it was somewhere between 11,000-12,000 backers. The project changed over time from what was originally supposed to be a console, to what ended up as a Linux based PC with sandbox mode. Therefore, no exclusive games or any other reason to buy it over any other hobbyist PC outside of the fact that it looked vaguely reminiscent of the original Atari 2600. And so, it was backed by hardcore Atari fans who now have to pretend to be excited over playing games like "Sigi - A Fart for Melusina" which they probably would not have given the time of day otherwise, even though it on XBox One, PS4, and Switch as well.
As for the Amico, the pricepoint is WAY too high for want it wants to be. A family friendly console with casual games appeal and a budget game software library. Just like the VCS situation, you've got these hardcore Intellivision fans raving about how awesome the Evil Knievel game looks on the Amico, when it's a game that came out 6 years ago on ios. I guarantee you none of these people were excited about this game on their mobile phones in 2015, but now it's suddenly a system seller in 2021. If they follow through with remakes of Intellivision classics like they are talking about, those games would be cool for a retro enthusiast like myself. But again, I think the pricepoint is going to be a barrier that keeps the console from gaining any impulse buy traction whenever it does actually release. Also troubling is the fact that the Amico will have no physical games. All the games are digital downloads, and even the physical releases will just be RFID cards with some trinkets (a lenticular card and collector coin) in a box to activate the downloads. This means that if the Amico does go belly up, and the servers for the online store eventually get shutdown, there will be no way to download the games at that point. So, it won't even have value as a collector console down the road. It will be another $50 doorstop on eBay like the Ouya is now.
