This is Niche Gamer Tech. In this column, we regularly cover tech and things related to the tech industry. Please leave feedback and let us know if there’s tech or a story you want us to cover!
It seems like everyone is doing throwback hardware re-releases these days, with the likes of Nintendo, Sega, SNK, and even possibly Sony with their own classic hardware re-release. Atari is launching their own reboot of sorts with the Atari VCS, which today had pre-orders go live on Indiegogo. Their old competitor, Intellivision, has announced they’re making a comeback as well.
While details are currently scant, the entire project is being headed by industry veteran and composer Tommy Tallarico, and it won’t be simply a re-release of classic hardware. The press release provided to Niche Gamer says the new console will be “simple, affordable” with a focus on “family and fun.”
“The new Intellivision system (name TBA) will carry on the company tradition of ‘firsts’ with its new concept, design and approach to gaming,” reads the presser. Tallarico will be joined by original members of the old Intellivision team as the company president, under the new company dubbed Intellivision Entertainment.
“I see a huge gaping hole in the market now with families in the home. We will be focused. We will not try to compete with Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. That would be insane, and we would need $1 billion,” Tallarico said in an interview with VentureBeat.
Clearly, the new Intellivision will be focused on affordability and not bleeding edge graphics, nor streaming like Netflix. There will be reportedly 10 games ready at launch, however the console will run an emulator to play additional games.
Further details will be announced on October 1st of this year, to which you can subscribe to get updates over on the console’s official website.
The Atari vs. Intellivision console war took play in the early 1980s, so our more older and sophisticated readers are more familiar with this era of gaming. If you had a chance playing either platform, which did you prefer? Sound off in the comments below!
