One of the oldest video game brands of all time is Intellivision. Dating back to the late 1970s, it was one of the first home console producers alongside rival company Atari. The console was one of the first 16-bit consoles, which had a long shelf life from 1979 to 1991 with 3 million units sold. Much noise was raised in 2020 with the introduction of the Intellivision Amico, a successor to the retro console that hoped to appeal to a more casual audience. The Amico console was revealed by then Intellivision CEO Tommy Tallarico, who commented on the aim of the console being a more "family-focused" entertainment system.
Despite a lot of the publicity and good word that Tallarico was putting behind this brand-new console, fans weren't as impressed. The console was originally set to launch in October 2020 but was then pushed back to April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More clouds of doubt surrounded the console when it was pushed back indefinitely, which was further scrutinized with the Amico's rather underwhelming display at E3 2021. After a troubled history and reshuffling of Intellivision itself, the elusive Amico console seems to no longer be in development.
The console was to come in a variety of finishes, such as black, white, wooden, and even GameStop was getting an exclusive purple color. However, multiple users on Twitter have received emails from GameStop, which notified them that their pre-order of the Intellivision Amico console has been canceled. These emails state that the reason for the cancellation was requested by the vendor and that they would be refunded for any deposits that have been made for the pre-order. Members of the private Intellivision Amico Club reported their pre-orders of the console through GameStop have also been canceled.
It's currently unknown if these pre-orders for the Amico have been canceled everywhere or if it's just at GameStop at this time. Some people saw warning signs of the Amico's cancellation not only when Tallarico stepped down as Intellivision's CEO, but also when an investment campaign didn't reach its $5 million goal by exactly $58,001 because it was cut short by the company.
This was further exasperated with the Intellivision's library of games being sold before Amico had a release date, with ones that were in development such as Earthworm Jim 4 not impressing fans much either. While the company tried to cast doubts aside with an unboxing video of the Amico, it seems like this wasn't enough to maintain people's interest in the console, especially with the Nintendo Switch dominating the family-oriented market.
Source: VGC