RIP RetroVGS/Coleco Chameleon: Retro Console Epic Disaster (2015-2016)

[Pikointeractive]

Hey Guys,

I think I have a few things to point out.

First of all, I think this time around they have a better chance to make the console happen with the Coleco Brand and the slash of costs.

Anyways, Mike has approached to us again, first time he wanted game from us and then after he never posted them on the indiegogo (thank God actually)
He reached out again, and we are going to give him another chance as we believe the project, if successful, could be cool.

I think they want to target more the general audience that appreciates retro games. But who knows who is going to respond more this time around. It seems that the retro gaming scene feels very speculative which there is nothing wrong with that.

Anyways, I've decided to go to NY for the Toy show and actually see the hardware; I've orally agreed to some stuff for the Coleco, but will not give final yes until we have it all signed in paper. I've seen their contract and is solid.

I will report back with pictures and my insights after the NY trip. I already have the passes for the Tradeshow, just need to get my flight and hotel room.

@Retrotainment, My advice is to always be open to ANY deals. As and Indie developer you want to acquire as much funds back from your game as possible. Just be careful, and try to haggle the deal to your favor as much as possible. Remember this is pure business so every party will be trying to tip the deal to their advantage. Remeber Cash talks and 1 dollar today is worth more than 10 tomorrow, So try to get the most money on your pocket as quickly as possible. You are an IP owner now and you can do a lot of things with IPs .
In another note, I'm interested in producing (physically) your game; I think we can help you bring down costs for carts, as well as CIB versions while keeping the same overhead

For what I've heard from Mike, if they follow the plan they have, it would be very likely to be successful on the Kickstarter scale. After that of course, Content will rule; No new/exclusive content, will eventually kill the console. So they really will need to lure developers and offer them very good deals + cash to have them develop.

[Greg2600]

Awesome, thanks for checking in here Piko! I feel like if Coleco can get this system into retail, it has something of a chance.

[FieryReign]

What has Coleco done in recent years to make people think this thing has a chance? This whole thing gets sillier by the minute. A Coleco Jaguar with those sorry 3rd party Wii controller pros for $300? Sounds like an early April Fools joke.

[stardust4ever]

What has Coleco done in recent years to make people think this thing has a chance? This whole thing gets sillier by the minute. A Coleco Jaguar with those sorry 3rd party Wii controller pros for $300? Sounds like an early April Fools joke.

You obviously haven't been following much. The $300 is terribly outdated. 3rd party controller, Jag shells, and Coleco branding, not so much.

[Greg2600]

As Piko said, this system (in some form) will be at the Toy Fair in NYC. Should retail buyers like what they see, they could make orders.

[FieryReign]

You obviously haven't been following much. The $300 is terribly outdated. 3rd party controller, Jag shells, and Coleco branding, not so much.

What is terribly outdated to you? 2 months? Enlighten us, Mr. Up-to-date.

[JSoup]

What is terribly outdated to you? 2 months?

To be fair, 2 months in internet time is like 8 years in reality.

[Emperor Megas]

I'm over 40 so I only process things in real time now. I don't use 'new math' either.

[Gameguy]

What has Coleco done in recent years to make people think this thing has a chance?

They made that Coleco Head to Head plug and play system that nobody remembers or cares about. Does that count?

http://www.amazon.com/Coleco-60501-H.../dp/B000VS6G7W

[stardust4ever]

As Piko said, this system (in some form) will be at the Toy Fair in NYC. Should retail buyers like what they see, they could make orders.

I am curious to know if anyone bites (ie places order) at the toy fair. They had better have a finished product on display.

[Tanooki]

They made that Coleco Head to Head plug and play system that nobody remembers or cares about. Does that count?

http://www.amazon.com/Coleco-60501-H.../dp/B000VS6G7W

I remember seeing it at Walgreens and even when cleared out for like $10 I thought it wasn't worth it. Before they did this around the same time or a little before partnered with Sega to do a handheld that ran SMS and Game Gear games on it, the core is super similar to the one ATGames uses for their SMS/GG released handheld (and tv plug n play) does too. Maybe Sega owned the emulator and just gave it to ATGames since it's not flawed like their Firecore Genesis emulator.

I did a peek, came out back in 2006: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco_Sonic and amazon helps too with reviews --> http://www.amazon.com/Coleco-Sonic-H.../dp/B000IO6LEC

I looked at game lists and the Coleco has 20, the ATGames has 30, but they both share the same 20 games and they behave 100% the same, so it appears maybe ATGames took the old core from Sega and added 10 more games to it, good stuff like Ristar for instance. Coleco at least in the last 10 years did put out one thing worthwhile.

[badinsults]

You have to remember that the Coleco branded company that put out those units is not the same as the Coleco brand they are using now. The "Coleco" brand was purchased by some random guy back in November, and he is the one putting the funding behind this. Said person has no prior experience in the video game industry, but he has apparently put out a couple of rap albums.

The Retro VGS people have a lot to prove if they want this thing to be successful. They have burned so many bridges amongst the target audience that I think it is unlikely that it will be possible.

[FieryReign]

Oh shit. Coleco is basically one lame-ass white rapper? J Fontaine? Never heard of em.

Why does every rapper think they can be an entrepreneur without even making a name for themselves or payin any dues first?

This shit ain't happenin.

[Emperor Megas]

Oh shit. Coleco is basically one lame-ass white rapper? J Fontaine?

I almost spit coffee across the screen! THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME!

[Tanooki]

Holy c(rap). Ugh... this I didn't know about the new owner only from November. Thought they might have had it for awhile as Coleco has been lingering in hell ever since Cabbage Patch Kids kind of went towards just being an irrelevant random kids toy from the crack house binge buying frenzy of the 80s they had. So much for the hopes they had some clue what to do given that decent Sega handheld I owned they made as I enjoyed that thing. Hopefully the guys music ability translates in a media/sellability experience thing needed to drive this new old style console or they're boned.

[Gameguy]

You have to remember that the Coleco branded company that put out those units is not the same as the Coleco brand they are using now. The "Coleco" brand was purchased by some random guy back in November, and he is the one putting the funding behind this. Said person has no prior experience in the video game industry, but he has apparently put out a couple of rap albums.

That doesn't help things, the name was already worthless with the prior owner unless you're talking about anything made back in the 80's. That's all people care about when hearing about Coleco, it's the same with the Atari name now.

Oh shit. Coleco is basically one lame-ass white rapper? J Fontaine? Never heard of em.

Why does every rapper think they can be an entrepreneur without even making a name for themselves or payin any dues first?

This shit ain't happenin.

It actually gets better if you look into it further. There's a music group that goes by the name ColeCo, and it's frequently written as Coleco. One of their albums is titled "Thrillhouse Forever".

http://nuwavepony.com/2013/09/06/col...d-deborah-cox/

Of course when we hear Thrillhouse we all think of something else. There's no way to look at this Coleco branding without lols.

[Gentlegamer]

It keeps getting funnier!

[Az]

Oh shit. Coleco is basically one lame-ass white rapper?

If he was black we should take this Coleco product or his music more seriously?

[stardust4ever]

Oh shit. Coleco is basically one lame-ass white rapper? J Fontaine? Never heard of em.

Why does every rapper think they can be an entrepreneur without even making a name for themselves or payin any dues first?

This shit ain't happenin.

They've got so much money they don't know what to do with, so they make bad investments that no venture capitalist on Earth would back.

[Greg2600]

You have to remember that the Coleco branded company that put out those units is not the same as the Coleco brand they are using now. The "Coleco" brand was purchased by some random guy back in November, and he is the one putting the funding behind this. Said person has no prior experience in the video game industry, but he has apparently put out a couple of rap albums.

The Retro VGS people have a lot to prove if they want this thing to be successful. They have burned so many bridges amongst the target audience that I think it is unlikely that it will be possible.

Nice try. I suppose ColeCo is a musician but has nothing to do with this.

As has been the case for at least a decade, Coleco is owned by River Brands West through it's Coleco Holdings LLC subsidiary in Chicago. Mark Thomann of River Brands has already been interviewed about the Chameleon.



It's the same group that licensed the At Games console, as well as reproduction Coleco hand helds. There was no change in ownership.