Amico preorders quietly cancelled by retailer as mystery continues

Are we witnessing the beginning of the end? Well, it’s tough to say. See, in ordfor one to witness the end, there needs to have been a beginning. A middle too, preferably (if we are adhering to the traditional three-act structure) but a beginning is an absolute necessity. And as far as the Intellivision Amico, an independent console banking on the nostalgia for a brand few people really remember, is concerned, there’s been very little of anything resembling… well, a start. Or any momentum whatsoever, to be frank. The thing might not even exist beyond a bizarrely staged unboxing video, likely put out by Intellivision to assuage investor fears, which we covered last month. In fact, we’ve been keeping a pretty weather eye on the whole Amico situation; what started as an innocuous-enough Kickstarter has snowballed into one of the most fascinating tyre-fires in recent memory. Delays, part shortages, funding cuts – the whole shebang. And I’ve never even seen half a shebang, so that’s quite the feat.

Amico, no…

Now, as Video Games Chronicle reports, the writing may at last be on the wall after months of false starts. GameStop, everyone’s favorite stock market-tanking retailer, have apparently received instructions from Intellivision themselves to begin cancelling any pre-orders still remaining for the Amico. You know, for any rats yet to bail from the rapidly submerging ship. A number of Twitter users “have been posting screenshots of emails they’ve been receiving from GameStop,” which illustrate this claim. “Dear [customer name],” the email reads. “Due to vendor cancellation, we will be unable to fulfil your order number [number]. We will be cancelling your order and you will not be charged.” Sounds rather generic and robotized, but still, can’t be good.

In case you thought this was an issue isolated to the ever-troubled GameStop, allow me to viciously burst that particular bubble: members of the so-called “private Intellivision Amico Club,” the demographic for which I imagine to be tremendously niche, have reportedly had their pre-orders canned too. Even more apocalyptically, one member transcribed a voicemail they received, which said: “I’m just calling regarding your reservation for an Intellivision Amico galaxy purple GameStop exclusive. I just want to let you know that [they] have just alerted us that they will no longer be releasing the product, and it has been completely cancelled.”

Last month, tech analyst Sam Machkovech declared that he believed all the woes of the Amico were “about as bright and red a flag as it gets in the world of unreleased tech hardware.” Honestly, I can do naught but concur. “My guesses [are that Intellivision] realized investment momentum had frozen, [that] they get the money sooner if they conclude ASAP [and that] claiming and spending this money is the last step before bankruptcy filing,” Machkovech said.

If only they’d had the intelligence, or indeed the vision, to see all of this trouble coming. Facetiousness aside, it’s possibly a sad end to what could have been a unique blast from the past, and a nasty blow to punters who have been waiting for years on end now for their investment to come to fruition. Are you among them? What’s your take on all this? Let us know!

Via, Video Games Chronicle.