Retro VGS Game Console

[lukester]

Companies just need to make more mid budget games.

Once the Wii died, AAA went into full swing.

Ubisoft has done a good job with their UbiArt games, like Rayman Legends and Valiant Hearts.

[sunteam_paul]

Mike has posted on the AA forum.

I said I was not going to come back into this thread, but as you all can agree, AtariAge and this thread are a hard habit to break.  Anyway, I wanted to chime back in on a few things in light of our current situation.  Unlike the So Cal Mike from the past, I will try and be a bit more concise:

 

1)  As you have heard (and discussed) in our most recent team interview there was discord among the team.  Since bringing John on board this product started becoming incredibly expensive.  It was actually up to $450-$500 (selling price at one point).  Obviously, that was NEVER going to fly so Steve and I did what we could to try and work with John to understand why the cost and selling price became to excessive.  Once we decided to eliminate the need for RVGS to "handle" Neo Geo size cores/games (coming through the FPGA), the price then lowered a bit, but not nearly enough.  We then went back and forth amongst the team to include or not include an FPGA big enough to handle the existing 8-Bit cores thinking without it the price would come down even more, but at the expense of losing the magic of the FPGA.  But even after removing the FPGA or using a small one for other "housekeeping" applications (John's words) the price just never came down to a price point Steve and I were comfortable with (it bottomed out at the $299-$350 you saw on the IGG campaign).

 

2)  Regarding Kevtris (and PIKO too).  Honestly, since we had been waffling on whether or not to include the FPGA leading up to a crowdfunding campaign, I didn't want to waste any more of their time.  In the end, Kevin did understand that we would contract with him to license his existing 8-bit cores and also help finance his creation of 16-bit cores for our use and the community's use ONLY if we had a successfully funded campaign that included a capable FPGA.  We didn't toss him out in any way, shape or form and I apologize to Kevin for how I handled his comments, which took our team by surprise and were a bit out of the blue.  And, should RVGS have a successful ending, I hope we can work with him to license his cores in the future.  In the end, I do believe our products will be two completely different kinds of machines and can exist together if the two of us are able to make our machines a reality.

 

3)  Regarding PiperCub (Scott Schreiber).  Yes, he was a confidant, friend and podcast co-host with me for years when I came to him with my idea to create a new cartridge based console.  I valued his input and advice and he also knew Curt Vendel, someone who I initially wanted to design the hardware.  Scott hooked us up and Curt and I discussed this very early on and he indicated he didn't have the time (and was also battling for his life) so he had to bow out of the running as lead engineer.  I then moved on to two other very capable hardware guys who worked with Steve and I in the beginning, even to the point of having an operating prototype.  This was all before Steve had the idea of integrating an FPGA (and also before a few other additions like the various output methods and 9-Pin controller ports (all things we are striving to include should it not break the bank).

 

4)  Fast forward to the present.  Yes, we pulled the IGG campaign and agree it should have NEVER been turned on in the first place.  Prior to pulling the campaign John took it upon himself to light up his famous table prototype video (without any heads up to Steve or myself).  At first, Steve and I were taken by surprise, but his attempt at showing a prototype did garner some positive sentiment among the natives so I thought we dodged a bullet there.  In the end, I think it did more harm than good and wish it never got posted.  But John is a very good guy and very capable engineer.  But somehow this product grew into a three headed monster with him at the hardware helm.  And I am not saying this was all his fault.  John did his best to engineer the machine Steve and I had envisioned from the start.  It just got completely out of hand on many accounts and we all take the blame for that.

 

5)  Steve Woita.  Steve is awesome ( I hope you can all agree with that) and he and I are on great terms and want to see RVGS to a positive end, whether that means a successfully funded campaign with a cool product you all might want OR if it dies out gracefully after given a true chance to succeed.  Only time will tell where this story will end.

 

6)  Back to #3.  So we have begun folding back in part of the team we were working with between Curt Vendel and John Carlsen.  They have obviously been following this downward spiral and contacted us to help remind us (mainly me) about my original vision for this system and that the time and work spent with us early on was not wasted.  The good news is that we all still agree that having the FPGA in its fullest form is a good thing and are doing what we can to continue to include that bit of hardware in the design.  Our "new" hardware team is working hard to complete the prototype that was begun early on in this venture and I am trying to stay out of the hardware side of things at this point so they can do their job and engineer some cool tech that doesn't cost you all an arm and a leg.  That was never our intention with RVGS.  If and when you hear from us again it will be with a playable prototype in hand.

 

7) Apologies.  Hey, I think we can all agree this thread had both constructive criticism, which my team and I welcomed and also personal attacks which we didn't.  I didn't mean to group everyone into any negative comments I made with regards to AA or its members.  But there were a few comments that really rubbed me the wrong way and I let my emotions get the best of me.  For what it's worth, I am sorry and certainly didn't mean any ill will toward the majority of the people here or on any other forum (or on Facebook) for that matter.  Much of the criticism was valuable and I think we now know how to bring a viable product to market with a price point that most will agree with.  But again, it's a balancing act trying to please as many people as possible while also trying to keep the price affordable.

 

Now all I ask is that you give my team a fair shot to win back your trust with our second effort that will go long way to address the concerns from the final weeks leading up to the IGG campaign.  We will have a playable prototype and it will be on Kickstarter.  Will there be some changes to the game lineup?  Sure, we will be working on fleshing out the initial game launch list once we have all agreed on the hardware and the price point.

 

Carry on . . . . .

 

- Mike

 

EDIT:  Oh, one other thing.  I've discussed with our campaign rep at IGG about ending the campaign and they said they would look into it but for now it's still live.  If you happen to still have your money tied up there, please go in and demand a refund asap.  Here is a link discussing how and where to request this:  https://support.indi...t-my-money-back-

[Bloufo]

He's putting it all on Carlsen. That's mostly what I'm seeing here.

Something like "I apologize but it really wasn't my fault".

[GohanX]

As Geese Howard would say, "Predictabow!"

[NightWolve]

Now all I ask is that you give my team a fair shot to win back your trust with our second effort that will go long way to address the concerns from the final weeks leading up to the IGG campaign.  We will have a playable prototype and it will be on Kickstarter.  Will there be some changes to the game lineup?  Sure, we will be working on fleshing out the initial game launch list once we have all agreed on the hardware and the price point.

[SignOfZeta]

He's putting it all on Carlsen. That's mostly what I'm seeing here.

Something like "I apologize but it really wasn't my fault".

Disgusting. After a flop this huge he still can't see reality...and selling out Carlsen is bullshit. The reason he couldn't deliver a workable spec is because there is no design directive. This dick STILL doesn't know WTF he wants. STILL!

Amazing.

[Gentlegamer]

I wonder how many times Mike Kennedy has watched

[Bloufo]

He's putting it all on Carlsen. That's mostly what I'm seeing here.

Something like "I apologize but it really wasn't my fault".

Disgusting. After a flop this huge he still can't see reality...and selling out Carlsen is bullshit. The reason he couldn't deliver a workable spec is because there is no design directive. This dick STILL doesn't know WTF he wants. STILL!

Amazing.

I don't know him, and previous to this whole RVGS thing I didn't know of him. So maybe it's just me but I'm thinking this Kennedy guy would make for a great used car salesman.

But yeah I agree, he seems to have no problem in dishing out backhanded comments in that "apology", and throwing the Carlsen dude under the bus.
From what I've read, he did a similar thing to that Kevtris guy.

Is this a person to trust with your money? I'll take a flyer here and go with "No"

[esteban]

He's putting it all on Carlsen. That's mostly what I'm seeing here.

Something like "I apologize but it really wasn't my fault".

Disgusting. After a flop this huge he still can't see reality...and selling out Carlsen is bullshit. The reason he couldn't deliver a workable spec is because there is no design directive. This dick STILL doesn't know WTF he wants. STILL!

Amazing.

I don't know him, and previous to this whole RVGS thing I didn't know of him. So maybe it's just me but I'm thinking this Kennedy guy would make for a great used car salesman.

But yeah I agree, he seems to have no problem in dishing out backhanded comments in that "apology", and throwing the Carlsen dude under the bus.
From what I've read, he did a similar thing to that Kevtris guy.

Is this a person to trust with your money? I'll take a flyer here and go with "No"

I read the whole thing and he was trying to do damage control with Kevtris...hoping to work with him. It seems too little, too late (he didn't outright apologize, and he clearly did not communicate clearly with Kevtris...)

I never heard of Kennedy prior to this, but I knew of gamegavel.com...so....

[elmer]

The gift that keeps on giving ...

RVGS parts are in and a "breadboard" is coming together, which means we are getting closer to having a playable prototype.

Hahahaha ... that was quick! 

The IGG campaign was only "killed" 16 days ago (and still has another 20 days to run).

I wonder what direction they're going in this time. 

[SignOfZeta]

Hopefully in the direction of professional help.

[NightWolve]

The gift that keeps on giving ...

RVGS parts are in and a "breadboard" is coming together, which means we are getting closer to having a playable prototype.

Hahahaha ... that was quick! 

The IGG campaign was only "killed" 16 days ago (and still has another 20 days to run).

I wonder what direction they're going in this time. 

Hah, parts no doubt collected from Cracker Jack boxes...

[SignOfZeta]

Do people actually breadboard something as complicated as a game system? I genuinely don't know the answer to this.

[Punch]

Do people actually breadboard something as complicated as a game system? I genuinely don't know the answer to this.

At least 30 years ago they did. That's an Apple ][ Apple 1 proto.

http://www.cpmuseum.com/Exhibit.aspx?address=7603

[NightWolve]