Recap: You might have missed it in amongst the AAA titles and studio acquisitions, just Intellivision's presentation during E3 showed off the upcoming Amico as a very Nintendo-similar "family unit panel." It looks pretty interesting, if unusual, for something shown off at E3.

Nestled in-between Microsoft handing out new Xbox Game Laissez passer titles similar candy and Nintendo'due south fourth dimension-tweaking Jiff of the Wild sequel, this year's all-digital E3 managed to discover 10 minutes to talk about the Intellivision Amico, a home console featuring by and large 2D and 2.5D arcade-like games and seemingly aimed at the family-friendly market that has been the dwelling turf of Nintendo'due south consoles for decades.

Read: Intellivision: Gone But Non Forgotten

Possibly the most interesting feature of the Amico are the controllers; the console comes with two of them, styled after those of the original Intellivision panel, albeit with a minor touchscreen replacing the numerical keypad, and with the presentation emphasizing the uses of each actor having their ain separate screen.

The controllers are too equipped with motion controls alike to those of the Wii remote and Switch Joy-Cons, and the console can link smartphones to get more players involved.

At that place's not much to say most the console itself, beyond its indent at the superlative for holding and charging its controllers, although its RFID capability was pointed to as a selling point for contactless-payment-like loading of gift cards. Beyond that, in that location'southward likewise the inclusion of interactive lights in both the base panel and controllers, a petty puzzling given the focus on the family unit market place; the Amico'due south likely to go to children or grandparents, rather than the core gamer audience that tend to appreciate flashy LEDs in their peripherals the most.

The Amico'due south tentpole games are Earthworm Jim four and a spiritual successor to Ecco the Dolphin, both names budgeted their 30th birthday. Intellivision painted haptic feedback and drop-in multiplayer every bit a headline feature, decrying loot boxes and paid DLC before putting forward an online leaderboard as a substitute -- i that that offers emailed certificates for doing well in.

Company president Tommy Tallarico opened citing his voicing of the Roblox "OOF!" amongst his lifetime achievements in the gaming industry, and concluded it with a giveaway for 3 signed Earthworm Jim prints that you lot could enter by sending in the word "Great!", once once again via electronic mail. The unabridged matter felt a piffling surreal.

That's not to say that the marketplace for a family panel doesn't exist. Subsequently all, Nintendo accept fabricated it their domicile ever since they quit competing with Sony and Microsoft in raw graphical prowess in the early 2000s, but Intellivision seems to have taken that to hateful that their titles should all play like refreshed versions of 80s arcade games. In some cases, that's what they are.

Similarly, in a globe where the Jackbox Political party Packs and Amid Us have seen explosive success, showing off digitized versions of Cornhole and Spades as the Amico's social games feels a petty behind-the-times, and very discrete from some of the console's genuinely interesting features similar being able to bring games across to other consoles with your own controller.

It would be great to see something to milkshake up the more casual, family-oriented end of the gaming market, and Intellivision $10 games (or $20 for physical copies) might be easier to sell than the pricey software and services from the other large names.

But the panel itself is still going to be priced at a cool $249, not far off the Switch and its extensive library of household names, and this odd, dated-feeling presentation may not have been the well-nigh disarming to prospective buyers.

We'll have to wait until October 10 for the release of the Amico to see how it all pans out.