It's now 2023, and the Intellivision Amico still hasn't made its way into the hands of those who pre-ordered it an eternity ago, but don't worry – you'll soon be able to play two of its 'exclusive' games on your Switch, thanks to a deal between Intellivision and BBG Entertainment.
As was previously reported, Intellivision has been looking into licencing deals in order to generate revenue and keep the lights on, and Shark! Shark! and Astrosmash are two Amico titles which will be getting releases on rival systems, including Switch, Xbox, Mac and PC. Both games are updates of existing Intellivision titles from the 1980s.
According to BBG's official site, it has purchased the rights to both games for release on these platforms:
"BBG Entertainment announced on May 24th, 2023 the acquisition of the ASTROSMASH and SHARK! SHARK! intellectual properties with all rights pertaining thereto, from Intellivision Entertainment, LLC. Under this new ownership arrangement, Intellivision Entertainment, LLC will retain any preexisting activations of the original versions of ASTROSMASH and SHARK! SHARK! as well as any versions for future platforms from Intellivision."
In addition to these titles, Dynablaster, which BBG was developing for the Amico, is also coming to other systems.
Furthermore, our friend Daniel Ibbertson of Slope's Game Room has actually managed to play the PC build of Shark! Shark!, and he came away rather impressed, given the 'pack-in' origins of the title:
The Amico saga began in 2018, with the system taking to crowdfunding in 2020 to raise the cash required for production and development. Its release has been delayed more than once, and the last we heard, Intellivision CEO Phil Adam – who took over from Tommy Tallarico at the start of 2022 – said he was "working on" an announcement relating to the system's long-overdue release.
Meanwhile, other Amico developers have made cautious sounds about its chances of launch, but it has been confirmed that Earthworm Jim 4 – a key exclusive for the platform – is almost certainly dead.
Will you be checking out Shark! Shark! and Astrosmash when they launch on Switch? Let us know with a comment.