Repainting the past
How the Intellivision Amico is picking tips from the 80s
The upcoming Intellivision Amico games console treads the fine line between being a modern platform and a retro revival.
“We don’t want to be perceived as a retro console,” says art director Mike Dietz. The hardware picks up design notes from the 1980’s console, including a woodgrain version. But it’s the vintage box art we love. “I really wanted to not make it entirely retro, but I wanted to kind of tip my hat to the old designs,” comments Mike.
“As soon as we started talking about what we wanted these illustrations to look like, we knew we wanted them to have a little bit of a nod towards that 1970s illustration style,” he confirms. Mike explains that the cover illustrations are created from a mix of traditional media in brush pen, inks and watercolour, as well as digitally in Photoshop.
“It’s a very fine line to hit,” says Mike as he reflects on achieving the tone with the vintage-looking art. “You know, I think having lived through the 1970s I’m a little bit more sensitive to what’s right and what’s not.”
Creating the art, like the console, was a balancing act between creating illustrations that recalled the era of plaid shirts, Space Invaders and wood-panelled everything without feeling like a simple reproduction.
Mike explains: “We want to do something new that hasn’t been done before, but with an eye on our past.” We get it, and you can too very soon. Get a closer look at the Intellivision Amico console at intellivision.com.