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Ami-compromises? --

What the heck's an Intellivision Amico? Console's leaky dev portal
offers hints

Creators compare the $250 crowdfunded console's power to a chip from
a $100 2016 smartphone.

Sam Machkovech - Jun 29, 2021 5:00 pm UTC

The latest render of the upcoming Intellivision Amico console, with
our own question marks placed in each controller's embedded touch
screen. A dev portal leak has helped us answer some, but not all, of
the questions that remain ahead of the product's current announced
release date of October 10, 2021, for $249.
Enlarge / The latest render of the upcoming Intellivision Amico
console, with our own question marks placed in each controller's
embedded touch screen. A dev portal leak has helped us answer some,
but not all, of the questions that remain ahead of the product's
current announced release date of October 10, 2021, for $249.
Intellivision / Sam Machkovech

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Since its announcement as a crowdfunded game console in 2018, the
Intellivision Amico has had a weird public image. There have been
many YouTube pronouncements about its family-friendliness, yet there
are few concrete details that have convinced us it will stand out in
an increasingly crowded home-gaming market. And this year, public
scrutiny about the $250 system (currently open for $100 preorder
"down payments" or full-price preorders, which include two
controllers and six pack-in games) has grown, particularly after
Intellivision joined the 2021 virtual E3-showcase fray--and did so
with a resounding thud.

Thus far, the Amico has used video presentations to show what the
company hopes will set this handheld apart from the pack. Those
videos mostly originate from Intellivision and a few hand-picked fan
YouTube channels. Until we can go hands on with live hardware
ourselves, these videos leave us with question marks about dev kits
and other potentially inauthentic presentations. Leaks from an
Intellivision developer portal this week will have to suffice for
now, as it's a great opportunity to finally take a closer look at
what the heck an Intellivision Amico actually is.

"Exactly what stock photos are meant for"

I began closely watching the Amico once I noticed that its E3 2021
presentation video included unclear footage of how the device
actually works. These "live gameplay" videos hint at Amico's central
gimmick: gameplay happens primarily on a TV screen, but the device
can also integrate content on an LCD screen embedded in every
controller (controllers resemble Nintendo's Wii U, albeit with
smaller gamepads). However, the E3 video cuts and pans so much that
we can't tell if the Amico controllers are legitimately interacting
with the nearby TV set. Older Amico videos have shown apparent lag
between controller input and TV display--when those videos haven't
hidden the controller from view altogether, that is. This recent E3
presentation did nothing to reduce concern on that front.

*
An image from Amico's E3 2021 presentation.
*
A similar image found by running a Google Image Search. Image
used solely for the sake of comparison.
*
An image from Amico's E3 2021 presentation.
*
A similar image found by running a Google Image Search. Image
used solely for the sake of comparison.

The E3 presentation included multiple stock images of happy families
playing with Amico, and Intellivision CEO Tommy Tallarico later
confirmed those images were doctored--DualShock-like controllers were
digitally replaced with Amico's touchscreen-filled pads. Tallarico
defended the promotional choice on Twitter by saying, "That is
exactly what stock photos are meant for and why they exist."

Next to the stock photos was direct-feed footage of apparent Amico
gameplay that looked simplistic and sometimes stuttering. It didn't
inspire confidence in a price category that includes competent $200
to $300 options like the Nintendo Switch and Apple TV 4K. To picture
it, imagine an online Flash gaming portal full of mostly flat, 2D
game designs with a few 3D twists and visual flourishes, and you get
some idea of Amico's visual aesthetic.

Perhaps a different sizzle-reel approach would have done a better job
selling the Amico concept, and I don't envy any marketing department
dealing with a pandemic-related expo drought where a physical demo
might fill in these gaps. But for a console that revolves around the
lukewarm Wii U concept of "gameplay on TV, extra screen in your
hand," whose last announced launch date was October 10, 2021, it sure
seems like time to release more details. This is especially true for
a new, unproven hardware maker, since the Intellivision brand name
was acquired in 2018 by an entirely new team.

"Smart Display 200" doesn't sound as cute as "Amico"

Intellivision has been frank that Amico was built with budget-priced
gaming in mind. Its official "specs" page makes that clear, with
performance numbers that resemble lower-powered Android smartphones.
But this recent leak from Intellivision's online "developer" portal
provided concrete specifics about how much hardware power this $250
system and its controllers will eventually deliver.

The Intellivision developer portal was recently publicly available
online, no password needed, for long enough to have the details saved
at archive.org earlier this month, which we have reviewed. Sources
with knowledge about Amico have confirmed to Ars Technica that the
leaked specs we've seen were legitimate. While the specs were live as
recently as June 14 and line up with Amico's own official specs page,
they could still change between now and the system's launch.

The Intellivision developer portal includes precise specs for various
system elements in order to help game makers begin building Amico
software before they receive official dev kits. Before listing all of
its specs, Intellivision's own comparison makes the point more
simply:

We've found the ZTE ZMax Pro Z981 (Snapdragon 617, Adreno 405) is
a good benchmark test and runs just a little slower than the
Amico hardware.

This model of ZTE smartphone debuted in 2016 at a budget price point
of $100 unlocked--and that included a 13 MP camera sensor, a 6-inch,
1080p display, and a 3,400 mAh battery. In comparison, Amico works as
a set-top box for your TV while embedding a 3.2-inch, 240p capacitive
touchscreen into each of its controllers (two will be included in the
box). Other comparable phones listed in Amico's portal include the
Honor 8C, Xiamoi Redmi Y3, and Motorola Moto G7.

The developer portal calls out Qualcomm's Smart Display 200 platform
as Amico's retail hardware target--and specifies its "APQ8053-Lite"
model, which includes a 1.8GHz Snapdragon 624, an Adreno 506 GPU,
16GB of Flash storage, 2GB of LPDDR3 DRAM, and built-in controllers
for interfaces like HDMI, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth (but not Ethernet).
While prices on bulk-manufactured SoC motherboards can vary for many
reasons, this one appears to be available in bulk orders at rates
near $38 per board (though that one includes a camera sensor, which
Amico will not have in either its primary box or its controllers).

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Sam Machkovech Sam has written about the combined worlds of arts and
tech since his first syndicated column launched in 1996. He can
regularly be found wearing a mask in Seattle, WA. Email
sam.machkovech@arstechnica.com // Twitter @samred
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