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“Our ability to begin manufacturing Amico consoles in volume requires securing additional investment,” says Intellivision.

There’s yet another twist in the long-running Intellivision Amico saga, as the company says it still needs more money before it can begin manufacturing the long-in-gestation console.

To get you up to speed, the saga began back in 2018, when videogame music composer Tommy Tallarico announced plans to relaunch the 1980s Intellivision console after buying the rights to the company the year previously. The newly redesigned console would be called the Intellivision Amico, and would feature wireless, touchscreen controllers, with a firm focus on family-friendly games.

The initial release date was set for October 2020, with the console priced at $249 for the black and white versions, and $279 for a woodgrain effect version. The company raised millions of dollars in crowdfunding through platforms like Fig. But then came the first of many delays, as the release date...

Intellivision Entertainment has hired Chuck Labella to lead its entertainment acquisition efforts, TheWrap has learned. Yes, the video gaming pioneer company is still around and has a new system coming called Amico — more on that below.

The vice president will work with marketing and business development and will be responsible for generating new intellectual property for Intellivision to develop into video games.

Think “E.T.” to Atari back in the day. Wait. Definitely Don’T think that.

“We are so honored and excited to welcome Chuck to our Intellivision family,” Tommy Tallarico, CEO of Intellivision Entertainment, told TheWrap. “His knowledge and experience will go a long way for adding even more incredible partnerships, licenses, influencers and relationships to our ever-growing line of products for Amico. And the best part… like me… he had an original Intellivision growing up!”

“I was one of the lucky ones who had the Original Mattel...

"You want the truth? I'll give you the truth." Crackle has released an official trailer for a documentary called Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story, which will debut streaming as a five-part series about the story behind video game giant Nintendo. The focus seems to be on the rise and prominence of Nintendo in America, not so much its origins in Japan, as told through interviews with many game industry veterans. We love Nintendo and good docs and can't help posting about this anyway. Via Nintendo Enthusiast, the film features interviews with "actor Wil Wheaton, actor Alison Haislip, Nintendo of America co-founder Ron Judy, Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, former Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske, former Nintendo CEO Reggie Fils-Aimé, and Xbox head Phil Spencer. But there are even more knowledgeable industry figures in the documentary where that came from, such as Digital Eclipse Editorial Director Chris Kohler, Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski,...

I have some fond memories of playing Earthworm Jim with my brothers on the Sega Genesis back in the 90s. That game was a blast! If you were also a fan of the game, you’ll be happy to learn that there’s a new game currently in development that is being created by the original team of the original game!

The game will be released exclusively for Intellivision’s new gaming console that is called the Intellivision Amico. This new console is scheduled to launch on October 10th, 2020. The announcement comes as Earthworm Jim celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Intellivision Entertainment’s CEO and president Tommy Tallarico who was the composer for the original 2 Earthworm Jim games, revealed the first details on the new game telling Variety:

“We have been talking about this moment for many years, it’s a dream come true to finally get the entire team back together.

Matthew Byrd May 1, 2019

There's a new Earthworm Jim game on the way, but it comes with some pretty big catches.

The good news is that the creators of the Earthworm Jim series are teaming up once more to develop a new entry in the franchise. The bad news is that you'll need to buy the upcoming Intellivision Amico in order to play it. 

Let's start with the (somewhat) good news. It sounds like many of the principal members of the Earthworm Jim development team are returning to work on this project. That possibly includes creator Doug TenNapel and composer Tommy Tallarico. That last name is quite significant in this instance as Tallarico is also the current boss of Intellivision. That first name is significant not just because he created Earthworm Jim, but because of TenNapel has attracted quite a bit of controversy in recent years over his radical political views and articles written for Breitbart.

Matthew Byrd Aug 23, 2019

Intellivision is getting back into the console game with the Intellivision Amico.

In celebration of Halloween, Intellivision has risen from the grave and will release a new console in 2020.

The Intellivision Amico is described as a family-friendly console that is primarily designed to appeal to younger gamers. Every game will be rated E in North America (or your local equivalent of that rating) and it seems that it will feature exclusive games. However, it's not clear at this time where these games will be coming from. We imagine that major developers won't bother to port a game or two to this console (maybe), but it seems like the vast majority of titles will come from indie developers.

The good news is that it seems like most of the games for this console will cost somewhere between $5-$8. At present, it doesn't seem like any of these games...

80s video game lovers rejoice as the Intellivision console is making a comeback. Tommy Tallarico, a veteran video game developer and musician, is spearheading the relaunch of the Intellivision brand. The company is now called Intellivision Entertainment and they are currently working on a brand new Intellivision console. While it won't be a re-issue of the original, in the way that Nintendo has capitalized with the Nes Classic, this is certainly exciting news for retro gamers. Here's what Tallarico had to say about it.

"Our target is the non-gamer, the family. We want simplicity. There is no system where young and old and non-gamers can play together in the home. People play on mobile, but it is still a very solitary experience."

Tommy Tallarico, head of Video Games Live, a concert company that travels the world and plays orchestral music from video games before live audiences, says, "We will be focused.

Nintendo Quest is a new documentary launching today that shows what happens when two fans go on the hunt to track down and purchase all 678 games for the Nes console. If you're a gamer or collector, this may be worth checking out. Come inside to learn more.

This should be an interesting documentary not only for gamers, but retrogaming collectors. While I used to collect a lot of retro stuff, I gave it up a while back. Even so, I still feel a certain passion for it, and this sounds like the type of documentary that's right up my alley.

Nintendo Quest from Vision Films on Vimeo.

Vision Films is set to release adventure-filled documentary Nintendo Quest with an exclusive worldwide premiere on Vimeo On Demand on October 1st. It will then be released on all other major digital platforms and DVD in North America on December 1st 2015.

The documentary follows two gaming enthusiasts,...

Nintendo Quest follows two gaming enthusiasts, director Robert McCallum and life-long friend Jay Bartlett, as they hit the open road in hope of buying all 678 official retail licensed Nintendo games in just 30 days, with no online purchases.

One man. 30 days, 678 games. No online purchases. It’s the premise that launched a film over 10,000 miles in the making and showcases the adventure of video game rock star, Jay Bartlett, a fanatic collector in pursuit of his dream to own a complete official North American Nes library. Along the way, filmmaker Rob McCallum examines the enduring legacy of the Nes and Nintendo while talking to the enthusiastic community of retro gamers and game collectors.

Nintendo Quest features exclusive interviews with well-known names in the game industry including ‘greatest arcade player of all time’ Billy Mitchell, ‘Twin Galaxies’ founder Walter Day, and gaming personality Patrick Scott Patterson, as well as legendary game designers Warren Davis and Tommy Tallarico.

Feature Ryan Lambie 30 Aug 2013 - 06:56

This week's selection of crowdfunding projects includes an extended cut of Ghostbusters 2, and a great-looking anime art magazine...

In the brave new world of crowdfunding, a great  pitch is one of the keys to success. After all, if you really want people to open their wallets and support your dream project, you have to not only get them onside, but also give them a clear idea of what it is you're attempting to do.

This week's collection of projects all do this in their own individual ways. Some of them may be asking for a lot of money, but in return, they've explained exactly what it is they want to achieve in a way that's clear and, in many cases, quite entertaining. On the flip side of this, take a look at the Kickstarter pitch recently put up by infamous film director Uwe Boll.

by Matt Hawkins

There have been countless individuals who have long tried to evangelize the artistry of video game music, though few have been as high profile and successful as Tommy Tallarico.

A game musician himself, Tallarico is perhaps best known as the man behind Video Games Live, a concert series that travels the globe and highlights music from games, new and old, in a (mostly) orchestrated format.

There's been two live recordings thus far, and there might be a third, provided the just launched Kickstarter is a success.

Given the success of the concerts and albums thus far, why is Tallarico turning to crowd sourced funding. Because, as difficult is it is to finance a video game, it's just as tricky to produce a CD in this mp3 driven world:

There are numerous selling points in Tallarico's pitch, including how the third album will contain compositions that one usually doesn't find in similar endeavors,...

Welcome back to our weekly look at the new podcasts available at our “partners in podcast crime” the GeekCast Radio Network. Each week we bring you the highlights from Gcrn, with descriptions and links to each and every episode. But first a word from Gcrn’s TFG1MIke:

TFG1Mike checking in with the Blogomatic3000 fans. We have a Brand Spankin’ New site design! The GeekCast Radio Network Version 3.0 launched September 1, 2011. The site has a brand new layout while retaining the old color scheme. We also have streamlined content. Say you are looking for podcasts on cartoons well there is a tab for just that. Head on over to GeekCast Radio Network v3.0 to leave your thoughts on the new site and see what Steve/Megatron has to say about it. Any and all comments are appreciated. We also announced 2 new podcast projects for 2012 see what they are below.

Attf v2.0 – Episode 13 – Brainiac!

I've always loved instrumental music but there's something particularly special about video game music. My personal theory is that it's different from other species of earworms, because it's soaking into your neurons while your cognitive faculties are flexing to solve some gameplay riddle or another.

With the Grammy powers-that-be reorganizing categories to recognize music appearing in video games, my first thought was "It's about damn time!" Once my indignation cooled, I wondered about game music that would've won Grammys if the new openness had been in place since the earliest days of the medium. Here's a quick list of killer tracks that I've loved over the years.

1. "Creation - The State of Art"

"A Gamer's Guide to Rez"

Ken Ishii

"Rez" creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi took his inspiration from the rave music scene so the whole soundtrack vibrates with glowstick energy. (An official CD release came out years ago and has...

Welcome back to our weekly look at the new podcasts available at our “partners in podcast crime” the GeekCast Radio Network. Each week we bring you the highlights from Gcrn, with descriptions and links to each and every episode. But first a word from Gcrn co-creator Mike:

TFG1Mike checking in and before we get to this weeks update I want to take a moment here. Have you looked at The Geek Cast Radio Network’s Featured Guest Page? If not you are severely missing out. We have interviews with twelve voice actors/actresses, five television/animation writers, and two musicans. I will say that the musicans are The Stan Bush and Jess Harnell who is the lead singer of Rock Sugar as well as the voice of Wakko Warner. So stop reading this and click on the link!

Gcrn Featured Guests: http://www.geekcastradio.com/?page_id=2429

GeekCast Radio...

Organized by Tommy Tallarico, a video game lover and music composer in the industry, Video Games Live: Level 2 is a loving tribute concert to some of the greatest and most iconic music to come out of the business. Unfortunately, not all games are created equal when it comes to musical accompaniment. Now, depending on which video games you grew up on and spent countless hours completing in the privacy of a dark room with your eyes and ears fixed on the glowing screen in front of you, you’ll have different songs ingrained in your memory as being “classic”. Video Games Live: Level 2 makes a fun little jab at the idea pointing out that the earliest gamers have less a soundtrack than they do a signature set of beeps, boops, and bloops. You don’t begrudge early games their simplistic soundscapes, but similarly you can’t deny that...

DVD Playhouse—November 2010

By Allen Gardner

Paths Of Glory (Criterion) Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 antiwar classic put him on the map as a major filmmaker. Kirk Douglas stars in a true story about a French officer in Ww I who locks horns with the military’s top brass after his men are court-martialed for failing to carry out an obvious suicide mission. A perfect film, across the board, with fine support from George Macready as one of the most despicable martinet’s ever captured on film, Ralph Meeker, and Adolphe Menjou, all oily charm as a conniving General. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Audio commentary by critic Gary Giddins; Excerpt from 1966 audio interview with Kubrick; 1979 interview with Douglas; New interviews with Jan Harlan, Christiane Kubrick, and producer James B. Harris; French television documentary on real-life case which inspired the film; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 1.0 mono.

Winter’S Bone (Lionsgate) After her deadbeat father disappears,...

In the final part of my talk with game composer Tommy Tallarico, we chat about the Japanese and U.S. game music markets, and the beginnings of the Video Games Live tour. (See parts one and two.)

In Japan, there's a long tradition of soundtrack albums for video games that seem to sell well. Why do you think that hasn't happened here?

I would love nothing more than to say that, "Oh yeah, it's such a big business over there." But the reality is that it's actually somewhat of a myth. You can find soundtracks for every single anime that's probably ever come out, right? I mean, there's thousands of them over there. Here in America, there is about 70 to 100 video game soundtrack albums released every year, and some of them are selling in the hundreds of thousands of units. Some of them -- most of them -- the average video game soundtrack does better,...

The chat with the maestro of Video Games Live includes comparison between the games and films differ in their treatment of music. Tommy Tallarico also offers up thoughts on why video game music is specially situated to make lasting impression on players. (See part one.)

Have there been times when you've been playing a game and it has been like, "Okay, this music works. I want it?"

One of the segments we just added in is a game that no one really ever bought. It's a recent game that wasn't really popular. "Afrika," I don't if you played that one.

I didn't play it.

Some people didn't like it -- it's a photojournalist kind of thing, but I loved the game. And the music is just incredible; that's in our show now. In fact, in San Diego, we did the world premiere of "End of Nations," which is this big military Rts game,...

Tommy Tallarico's riding high. Fresh off his third consecutive annual Comic-Con concert, the 42-year-old musician will be seeing a PBS special of his Video Games Live concert tour airing through the summer. The eight-year-old extravaganza delivers orchestral renditions of video game music, touching on everything from back-in-the-day favorites like "The Legend of Zelda" to new classics like "Halo."

Tallarico himself holds the world record for having worked on the most commercially-released video games, mostly as a composer. He's done soundtracks for, by his count, nearly 300 games. But his most high-profile gig of late has been as the driving force behind Video Games Live. As the PBS special starts airing across the nation, Tallarico took my phone call to discuss the soundtrack of the button-mashing generation. Expect more from our talk as the week goes on.

People identify so strongly with the soundtracks in certain video games, but don't often...

Familiar video game footage appeared on three large screens, while an orchestra sat below, at the ready. The video game: Pong. The footage began to play and so too did the orchestra. What began as a series of bleeps and bloops became a full-on orchestral arrangement. This was no longer Pong, the video game . rather, it was Pong, the experience. Such was the feeling throughout the San Diego Civic Center, as a crowd of thousands sat and experienced their favorite video game music. Tommy Tallarico, veteran video game composer and co-founder of Video Games Live, emceed the event, introducing special guests throughout the night and also joining in on the fun by rocking out on a slew of amazing...

For all the geeks who are headed to San Diego Comic-Con this year, there is an added attraction: Gam3rCon.

Hosted at the 10th Avenue Theater, two blocks from San Diego's Convention Center, the brand new five-day gaming convention will feature 17 performances of the hit one-man play GAM3RS, as well as special screenings, video game demos, web series premieres, gaming lounges, celebrity appearances and a brand new RPG.

GAM3RS has played to positive reviews at the New York International Fringe Festival and other venues and on June 20 it closed a seven-week run in San Diego.

The play, written by Brian Bielawski and Walter G. Meyer, has been called a one-man tour-de-force. Bielawski plays Steve Smolinski, a harried and hilarious tech support operator who has to juggle phone calls, an irate girlfriend, an angry mother, a micromanaging boss, and a smelly cubicle-mate while trying to save the world from...