Starring a guy wearing an Intellivision T shirt, the movie Gamers comes out on DVD today, May 6. While it's focus is dice-throwing role playing games, video game fans will certainly recognize these hilariously obsessive friends who still meet regularly in Mom and Dad's basement to continue a game of Demons, Nymphs and Dragons started 23 years earlier in high school.
Writer/Director Chris Folino, a huge Intellivision fan, asked permission to use Intellivision T shirts and posters in his film. As you can see from the trailer, we were happy to oblige.
The guy wearing the Intellivision T shirt, by the way, is star Kevin Kirkpatrick. The movie also features Beverly D'Angelo, John Heard, William Katt, and Kelly LeBrock.
You can get your own Intellivision T shirts and posters in our store. The Gamers DVD is available here on Amazon or wherever future cult classics are sold!
Return of a Lost Classic: Steamroller for ColecoVision
Sunday, 04 May 2008
Late in 1983, legendary game designer David Rolfe, programmer of the classic Intellivision cartridges Major League Baseball, Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack and Beamrider, was contracted by Activision to create a new Intellivision game: Steamroller. When Mattel Electronics stopped producing Intellivision games in early 1984, Activision had David target Steamroller for the ColecoVision console, instead. But by the time the game was finished, ColecoVision was dead, too. David delivered the game to Activision on July 24, 1984. And for over 15 years, that was it. The game lay forgotten in the magnetic media of an archived floppy.
In 2000, David asked Keith Robinson of the new Intellivision Productions, Inc., if he thought people would be interested in seeing this forgotten game. Yes, indeed! Keith got permission from Activision to produce and release a limited run of the ColecoVision cartridge for collectors. It was introduced at the July 2000 Classic Gaming Expo, where it was a huge hit. Digital Press named Steamroller the Classic Video Game of the Year.
In 2000, Intellivision sold about 100 copies of Steamroller. Since then it has been unavailable.
Now, by popular demand, we have produced a new limited run of 100 cartridges! If you have a working ColecoVision, this is your chance to get one of the most fun games ever produced for the console! Don't miss it!
The Steamroller cartridge is $39.95, plus shipping and handling. Limit two per customer. You'll find it in our store on Crazy Hal's page.
GetBack Media (getback.com) announced today the launch of a multi-media social networking destination that captures the most memorable pop-culture events of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s and revives them through a rich media and community experience. GetBack.com is a web portal that creates a virtual time-warp which enables users to travel through the decades, via a comprehensive web site that features dedicated channels packed with content, interactivity, community, and commerce.
Intellivision Productions, Inc. is one of the content providers for the new site, along with Getty Images, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, All Music Guide, Screenplay, ImageState, AP Stats and more, unearthing a digital time capsule of media content. GetBack.com has assembled one of the most extensive collections of music, movies, television, fashion, lifestyle and games and incorporated them into a themed site where people can experience the past and connect with others.
Visitors can play classic Intellivision games such as Astrosmash, Night Stalker, Snafu and River Raid online for free. The games look and play exactly as they did on the early 1980s Intellivision console. Controls are mapped to the computer keyboard.
The thief in the Lock ‘N Chase game is named Lupin after Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Thief, a French literary character popular in Japan where the original arcade version of the game was created. The name Lupin is used in the instructions on the arcade version but not in the Intellivision version.
The question I'm asked most frequently is "When is the DS version coming out?" Excellent question. It has been over three years since we first showed Intellivision Lives! for DS at the 2005 E3. Dozens of publishers have evaluated the product, and all have passed. The problem isn't the quality of the collection itself; we've received nothing but enthusiastic feedback. The problem is the bean counters for these publishers. In August, one company told us in an e-mail, "We intend to publish this game..." In September, they reversed themselves because "...the projected return did not justify the capital expenditure..." My frustration is that we have to find a licensed Nintendo publisher to get the DS version released; Nintendo does not have a path that would allow us to distribute Intellivision Lives! ourselves directly to the public.
That is changing soon. Nintendo is planning on releasing the successor to the DS, the DSi, in Spring 2009. The DSi will be able to upload complete games - including Intellivision Lives! - through a service similar to Wii Ware and Xbox Live Marketplace (which now carries our Xbox version). We are still trying to find a publisher for the current DS, but I am excited that even if that doesn't happen, you will all finally be able to play the DS version with the DSi.
Nintendo hasn't yet released details of how publishing to the DSi is going to work, so none of this is official; that's why I'm talking about it here in a blog instead of in the News column. But we have opened communication with Nintendo and I hope we can make an official announcement soon. Thanks for your patience; it looks like in 2009 it will be Springtime for Intellivision!
I'd like to thank all of the Intellivision fans who stopped by the National Cartoonists Society booth at Comic-Con to say Hello! It's always great to meet those of you who grew up with Intellivision and to hear the stories of playing the games under the Christmas tree with your brother or sister of dad, even if it does make me feel about 120 years old.
Here's a slideshow of photos from the booth... Write Comment
Earlier today, Tuesday, June 10, we posted a birthday greeting to Blue Sky Ranger John Sohl. John sent us an e-mail this afternoon thanking us for the birthday wishes and, by the way, pointing out that his birthday is actually June 20. Whoops. We've taken down the item and deleted the RSS link. They'll be back on the 20th.
I'm very sorry for the error. Luckily mistakes like this are extremely, extremely rare. Well, except for when we got Mike Minkoff's birthday wrong in the Intellivision Update e-mail last week. His birthday is May 30, not 15.
John says he is particularly looking forward to his birthday this year, as he'll be eligible for the 55+ meals at Denny's! Congrats, John (10 days early)!
Those of you who used to receive the Intellivision Newsletter should have received an “Intellivision Update” last weekend. (If not, please check your Spam folder and add us to your address book.)
If you want to sign up for the Updates, here's the form:
But, many of you have asked, Whatever happened to the Intellivision Newsletters? Here's the scoop...
Writer/Director Chris Folino, a huge Intellivision fan, asked permission to use Intellivision T shirts and posters in his film. As you can see from the trailer, we were happy to oblige.
In 2000, David asked Keith Robinson of the new Intellivision Productions, Inc., if he thought people would be interested in seeing this forgotten game. Yes, indeed! Keith got permission from Activision to produce and release a limited run of the ColecoVision cartridge for collectors. It was introduced at the July 2000 Classic Gaming Expo, where it was a huge hit. Digital Press named Steamroller the Classic Video Game of the Year.