Intellivision Amico Controllers
Image: Intellivision

The story of the Intellivision Amico has been a crazy ride, for sure. The console was announced in a blaze of hype way back in 2018, with the aim being to create a platform that – like the wildly popular Nintendo Wii – could be enjoyed by gamers of all ages. Delays and damaging leaks didn't help matters, and more recently the system has gained the reputation of being little more than vaporware, with no solid release window in sight.

Industry veteran Tommy Tallarico, the driving force behind the Amico project, stepped down earlier this year as Intellivision CEO and was replaced by Phil Adam. In March a fundraising campaign was closed early, and in June it was reported that the company had cut staff in order to get the console over the finishing line. In short, it's not looking particularly positive for the Amico project.

Keen to find out if those who have developed for the platform are any wiser about when it might actually arrive, we reached out to Stainless Games' co-founder Patrick Buckland. Established way back in 1994, Stainless is perhaps most famous for its controversial Carmageddon series, but it has also worked on two projects for the Amico: Missile Command and Liars' Dice, the latter of which remains unfinished at the time of writing.

Buckland was able to shed a little light on the current situation at Intellivision, as well as add context to the recent news that the company's offices were now closed:

In terms of what’s happening with Intellivision, I did actually talk to their CEO Phil Adam only last week. He confirmed that everything is still set to happen, despite all the setbacks and problems.

The rumours of them closing their offices were overblown – everybody was working from home anyway due to Covid, so Phil couldn’t see the point of paying for office space.

Phil’s a close friend so I trust him. The public message from Intellivision that they’re not dead and it’s still happening is genuinely what their intention is internally.

Buckland added that, despite assurances that a release is still going to happen, Stainless is very much adopting a 'wait and see' approach before committing any more resources to Amico projects:

We’d love to see Missile Command see the light of day as it’s a great game. We’d also like to finish Liars’ Dice. Obviously nothing is ongoing at the moment for the Amico as we need to see if Phil & co. manage to pull it off. If they do though, then yes, the intention is to do further work.