in the original crowdfunding campaign, one of the selling point was that the system *wouldn't* have patching
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PR: COLECO to release Chameleon, console that focuses on new cartridge games
- Thread starter Tripon
- Start date
in the original crowdfunding campaign, one of the selling point was that the system *wouldn't* have patching
GoldenEye 007
Member
Ah, good to know. I mean it would seem to be pretty nice if someone had some cartridges and maybe a dodgy Genesis system or something.
Yeah, Sega has been pretty liberal about licensing the Genesis brand since the 2000's, when they let Majesco make the Genesis 3.
The problem with the AtGames unit is the system on a chip they use is really poor quality. It feels, and most importantly sounds like poor emulation from the 1990's. Really terrible audio quality, even worse warble than the poorest genesis clone.
Actually, getting a Genesis 3 is an alright choice these days because TMEE created the crystal-clear audio mod that works with the Genesis 1, 2, and 3 that produces better sound than even the best quality Genesis 1.
Of course, if accuracy and clarity isn't important, these things do just fine.
ah, I guess this is something for collectors and collectors alone then.
NoFaceNico
Member
I don't blame them for running that headline, it's click-bait and that's exactly what the Retro VGS guys want. But don't worry though, these guys never learn and it'll all happen just like it did last time.
Ever wonder why stuff like Psychonauts 2, Schenmue 3, Occulus, OUYA and MST3K never have any lead up time? We don't get news that the makers plan to pitch a Kickstarter three months from now. The campaign just goes live the same day it's announced because the marketing wiz in on a project like that knows news outlets don't report the same news twice.
The Retro VGS guys have this demented idea that their product is so novel that news reports will go out every time they fart. So they've already shot their load. Just like last time they were making the podcasting rounds about 6 months leading up to their campaign. When the campaign finally launched no one wanted to report on it because that's not news. Everyone knew they were going to launch a campaign and reported on that already, there's no story to report on after the inevitable happens, there's no scoop there.
December fools!
Palmer Luckey announced his intent to do an Oculus Rift kickstarter 2 months before the kickstarter happened. Mainstream news didn't pick up on it because they had no idea it'd be such a big deal, but Vr sites like Meant to Be Seen did, and John Carmack spoke about it as well.
Here is Road to VR reporting the upcoming kickstarter 2 weeks before launch
Here is Palmer Luckey talking about the rift kickstarter 2 months before it went live
Yu Suzuki had been openly talking about a Shenmue kickstarter as far back as 2 years before the kickstarter launched. Here is an article from 2014 where Yu Suzuki says he is looking into Kickstarter to fund Shenmue 3
NoFaceNico
Member
I was wrong on Oculus and now I'm starting to think OUYA also had some headlines before going live too.
And as far as Yu Suzuki... was there ever a time when he wasn't talking about Shenmue 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11....
My point being- the media feeds on hype culture and it's extremely effective when it comes to crowdfunding. The Retro VGS guys are shooting themselves in the foot by breaking news so far in advance.
Yeah, you're right, it's literally just the Coleco name, all of the actual games released for it were just arcade reproductions, so there's no actual IP.
That being said, River West Brands does have a pretty strong track record with brand revitalization so far, but this is probably going to be its first major failure.
I agree with your point, and this thing clearly has no future. But I wanted to correct the notion that those kickstarters appeared out of the blue.
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
It was kind of telling that Robert Zeboyd on the board here (retro jrpg guy extraordinaire) has been notably not-on-board with the whole plan these guys have, and he would be the perfect target for them to get in their stable. This thing will struggle for support, the only way I could see it getting more is if it has a sleeper exclusive hit or something.
well, the perfect target would be someone who actually makes games for 16-bit/32-bit hardware, which makes Pier Solar a much better target, and watermelon was supposed to be on board.
But I don't think they are anymore.
Ghost_Messiah
Member
So a Kickstarter re-launch around January as the Coleco Chameleon with a price that will be "much less than $300" addressing their primary misstep from last time. I wonder whether they'll have a better shot this time. I think if they can secure some compelling games with a new and more attractive launch line-up they may have a better chance of success though part of me just thinks this is going to be flop again and flop hard. I just don't see the name change saving them. Guess we'll see how this plays out next month.
The working prototype and lower price should help but last time my interest plummeted to zero because of their launch line-up. Games are what's most important here.
The working prototype and lower price should help but last time my interest plummeted to zero because of their launch line-up. Games are what's most important here.
excaliburps
Press - MP1st.com
I'm actually interested in this, which I gather is the same for other "old" gamers, no? Hope they actually pull it off and make it affordable. But catridges, though? Man, games are going to cost a lot regardless of what they say. O_p
Terrible_Majesty
Member
If Coleco can do it, Sega should return to the console arena too.
what games will this play, old consoles' (NES, SMS, MD, SF) cartidges?
what games will this play, old consoles' (NES, SMS, MD, SF) cartidges?
The original plan was to release add-on's to allow older systems to be used. Before the limit was the modules developed by Kevtris I don't know where it is now that he is out of it.
IronicSonic
Member
Well, that is a good piece of information. Thanks
The guys behind the retrovgs aren't bad dudes, pun not intended. I think this is a step in the right direction business wise and I have way more confidence since CollectorVision games is supporting them and helping them move the business in the right direction.
John Lestor, aka Gamester81 on YT, is a great guy, massive fan and has business sense. He is part owner of CollectorVision and their 8plus bit games look great and they will be on this system at launch.
I had no faith in retrovgs even though I wanted to. I feel a coming to Jesus moment was had and they got down to brass tacks. Good move.
John Lestor, aka Gamester81 on YT, is a great guy, massive fan and has business sense. He is part owner of CollectorVision and their 8plus bit games look great and they will be on this system at launch.
I had no faith in retrovgs even though I wanted to. I feel a coming to Jesus moment was had and they got down to brass tacks. Good move.
Coleco aren't doing it.
And only one game confirmed (also confirmed for SNES and Wii U)
Dreamwriter
Member
Have you seen what people post on Facebook? They NEVER do research before reposting something.
Dreamwriter
Member
Well, some Kickstarters start months in advance to grow an audience and that works fine, the important thing is to have an audience, and if you don't have an audience to start, you need a big name of some sort to grab an audience quickly. Games like Shenmue or Mighty No. 9 had the names (developer and game names) so didn't need to grow an audience first.
Part of the RetroVGS problem was indeed that they announced everything long, long before they were ready, so many things they announced changed after they announced them, but I don't think this one is too early, assuming they get the Kickstarter up either during or shortly after the toy show where they first show it off.
NoFaceNico
Member
And what happens when you captured your audience's attention but have no place for them to spend their money?
In the internet era we all have extreme ADD. If someone shows us something cool but there's no way to buy it we'll just smile, give them a 'like' and move on to a sponsored article for something we can actually buy today.
User 479360
Banned
I like the name and look of it, especially the controller. I'd like to check it out, but doubt I'd ever buy it.
I'm not talking about posts...I'm talking about articles (ie: one website I like posted the story on their FB...by clicking that it shows similar stories...and they were all the same stories from different websites about how Coleco is coming back with a new system)
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
I'm afraid the "no patches" thing is something that can't be remedied with this new effort, can it? It's just a fundamental flaw from the get-go. The only way I can see it being feasible is if this system doesn't get games until they've been out long enough to have been patched to hell...which means older ports, not that attractive to people who want new releases right away.
Ghost_Messiah
Member
I think their strategy of "major announcement" and then "funding campaign two or three months later" is pretty much killing them here. The primary reason they failed last time was the massive delay between their announcement of the console and then the actual start of the funding campaign and they're repeating the exact same mistake again.
They keep waiting for the interest and press attention to plummet to zero and then they starting their funding campaign. That strategy is just going to fail.
They keep waiting for the interest and press attention to plummet to zero and then they starting their funding campaign. That strategy is just going to fail.
SomedayTheFire
Member
Nintendo fans are so defensive lol
Dreamwriter
Member
A couple months is fine, especially when they need to spread the word before the Kickstarter. Most successful Kickstarters announce some time before the launch of the campaign to get a good audience started. The only time you can get away with not doing that is if you have something huge that will spread like wildfire, like having an important personality behind the project or a big name.
Last time it was more like 9 months, and in that time their entire plan changed and the system became more expensive.
Ghost_Messiah
Member
Well yeah you're probably on to something there. The price killed them last time more than anything. I remember seeing the overwhelming positivity and support on their Facebook page rapidly turning to fire and criticism when they announced the price would be in the region of $400 which was almost triple what they promised. The main thing that turned me off from this system last time was the launch line-up. Overpriced also-ran games you could get for a fraction of the price on Steam, only Gunlord as a precious gem of a "kind of" exclusive and then Tiny Knight?
I realised I'd only be buying the system out of curiosity for Tiny Knight and that was about it. I think the price torpedoed their campaign last time as it locked out everyone on the basis of affordability in tandem with extreme scepticism over long-term development support. Nothing on their page last time was convincing that this machine would get games produced for it over the long-term. I still think the concept at its core is sound. I just wish more capable hands were in charge of it. We'll see what they come up for their second shot.
Dreamwriter
Member
NoFaceNico
Member
haha, I wonder if they took inspiration for that title from a comment I left on US Gamer's article a few days ago.
Ghost_Messiah
Member
Thanks for posting this. Pretty great article. So a $150 target price point and 300K funding campaign complete with a working prototype, new Coleco re-branding and a promise to learn from their mistakes from last time? Sounds quite promising actually. Hearing them talk about it a little has made me warm up to the idea more now. They should smash a 300K funding target at that price point. Hell, I think they would have reached their original 2 million IndieGoGo objective had they launched with a machine available for $150. Starting to think they might actually do much better next time. They seem to be addressing every criticism that was levelled at them from last time. Good on them for correcting their mistakes and trying again stronger than before.
Most would have just expected them to abandon ship. I respect that they're course correcting themselves and trying again.
WickedLaharl
Member
I can't wait for "Give Me Your Money Suckers: Round 2" on whatever crowd funding site they use lol.
NoFaceNico
Member
Oh shit! I didn't even realize that article has a link to one of my videos! Awesome!!!
Wowfunhappy
Member
$150 still seems like too much for something like this. I feel like the absolute maximum it could be is $100, and it really should be more like $60.
Dreamwriter
Member
Interesting...
Retro Video Game Systems said:
Ghost_Messiah
Member
Wow that is interesting. Thanks for posting this here. Double Fine's the most notable developer that has been interested in this so far and a retail chain being interested implies they may succeed with mass distribution. Guess this might actually have a shot now?
jhmtehgamr20xx
Banned
Reading the Ars article, I'm willing to give these guys another chance. Technical details still need to be addressed (it sounds like it'll be focused on original games, not playing Genesis/SNES etc. carts up there), particularly what their processor and RAM setup is going to be, b/c if carts are only going to be up to 100MB in size that already cuts out a bunch of seemingly simple indie games and mid-tier indie titles.
What they could do is compensate with a small SSD into the unit for additional storage of game assets for games requiring it, but this would also require them to renege on the "no online connectivity" feature which, honestly, they should. Why cut out options like, say, competitive multiplayer w/ a Mario Kart or Street Fighter sort of game in this day and age?
I hope these guys are able to assist indies using bloated non-direct programs like Game Maker and RPG Maker in porting their efforts to the new system, even if it means doing it Sega style and reprogramming the game themselves on license for their machine. And most importantly, they need to have some damn good (genuine) exclusive games lined up internally.
What they could do is compensate with a small SSD into the unit for additional storage of game assets for games requiring it, but this would also require them to renege on the "no online connectivity" feature which, honestly, they should. Why cut out options like, say, competitive multiplayer w/ a Mario Kart or Street Fighter sort of game in this day and age?
I hope these guys are able to assist indies using bloated non-direct programs like Game Maker and RPG Maker in porting their efforts to the new system, even if it means doing it Sega style and reprogramming the game themselves on license for their machine. And most importantly, they need to have some damn good (genuine) exclusive games lined up internally.
$150 is perfectly fine.
NoFaceNico
Member
Very interesting. But I'll be waiting to hear the full story. Things can't be too rosy when at the same time devs are being told to stop talking to the press.
When it comes to the Retro VGS nothing is ever as it seems. And because of that it's fun to watch.
Did you guys know they met with Mattel and Konami back in their first attempt? I don't mean over the phone or via email, I mean actual in person meetings.
Ghost_Messiah
Member
Demanding their third party developers to stop talking to the press? That's a worrying and unnecessarily fearful move. I understand there was a practical shitstorm last time when this thing floundered in the run-up to IndieGoGo but it strikes me as unwise to demand radio silence from their third party support because of unfounded fear in the process of executing their second attempt. What could they be particularly afraid of? CollectorVision are responsible for Tiny Knight correct? Their pack-in game? And they've been told to not talk to the press? CollectorVision are their primary third party developer so it does seem odd they'd be explicitly told to decrease press attention when their funding campaign requires all the positive press support it can get.
Sounds like because Mike was burned last time he's being extra careful when there's no need to do so. The Retro VGS saga continues.