On May 30, Intellivision Entertainment, which is by Tommy Tallarico, announced their plans to release a brand new Intellivision console that would focus on being “simple, affordable, family, and fun”. While the company won’t officially unveil the console until October 1, a recent interview with IGN revealed a ton of new details on the system’s controller, the games the will be allowed on the platform, and more.
When it comes to games, this console will focus on simple, family friendly titles will be easy for non-gamers to get the hang of, like many games did for the Wii. He also hinted that Intellivision will be dipping into classic Intellivision games like Shark! Shark! and update them for the modern audiences:
“Shark! Shark! is a really simple, fun game that people get into … You’re a small fish. You can eat smaller fish to grow bigger and a shark comes out and you want to grow bigger so you can keep eating more fish. That’s a concept that’s simple, but we need to update the graphics, you need to update the sounds…
If it’s] violent, if it’s not E for Everyone, then no it’s not going on the console… If you can’t explain the game in 10 seconds, or if it needs a manual, it’s not on our system… here’s not going to be any 3D. We’re not trying to compete with Nintendo. We’re not trying to build the next Zelda…. We’re not going to be creating 3D worlds.”
One thing Tommy Tallarico really thinks makes the system stand out is its controller. It is inspired by the original system, with a disc taking the place of a d-pad. While the original controller had number pad with graphical overlays, the new Intellivision console will have touch screen in its place. He thinks this design is less intimidating than the controller of a console like the PS4:
“Intellivision was 16-position disc. So that is something that you can hand somebody a disc and they don’t need to know anything… So we’re going to bring the disc forward, but without the ridge. It’s going to be more of a floating type of disc.
Imagine the kind of gameplay, different capabilities — because that’s very simple… A disc and a phone-type thing, but a phone that [is] a little bit more rounded, buttons that [are] a little more tactile… It’s flat and it’s beautiful, and it’s pretty to look at… It’s not aggressive and black.
So when you put a PlayStation controller into a non-gamer’s hands, it’s instant panic, it’s aggressive-looking, there’s so many buttons… [The Intellivision controller] is something that’s friendly, that somebody can understand immediately. It’s what’s going to differentiate us from everything out there.”
When asked about pre-orders or possible crowdfunding, Tommy Tallarico said that “I’m not going to ask anyone to invest money into this until they play it,” which sets it apart from the Atari VCS, another retro-inspired console that is currently being crowdfunded. While much about this console still remains a mystery, we can expect to hear more about this new Intellivision console on October 1.