We are finally back on from the Toy Fair where the Coleco Chameleon was going to be demo-ing a working console. It was a very cool and exciting trip where we got to meet several individuals which are passionate about retro gaming and are very hopeful to make the Coleco Chameleon a Success. I was happy to see that the Coleco brand owners are actually interested in this project and have very cool Ideas for future releases on the console (like a 16bit remake of Coleco classics; did I just leaked something? wups!)
I was hoping to see the intestines of the console, however I was not able to see the insides to confirm or deny the console rumors flowing on the internet the very first day of the show. I tried as much as possible to gather information about the insides of the console. My overall impression of the team was that Mike Kennedy has put all his 110% trust on his hardware guy; I knew from the beginning that Mike was not a hardware engineer and had just basic knowledge of how the console was going to be working and what things were going to do what. So I requested to have a call with the person responsible of all the techno talk (I will keep anonymous until the day of the Kickstarter; although I only got a very common shortname from him). I asked him to debunk the rumors and he assured me that the console was not a SNES mini inside a Jag shell. At this moment I am putting 100% of my trust Coleco Chameleon’s Hardware developer and hope to see the final specs and PCB reveal (as everybody else) the date of the Kickstarter; at the end of the day, I believe that he is the one that should have all the weight on his shoulders and be responsible on what Mike or the CCH team say and show when it comes to the system/proto. I requested a couple of times to see the Proto board of the console, if they wanted my confirmation or statement on record regarding the rumors, but I was told that the proto was put together by hand and even using scrap parts to get something working for the show, so it was not safe to open the case as we could break something (I witnessed the console acting up several times actually).
The Hardware developer then revealed what it seemed to be spec details on the console which I will keep undisclosed until the KS is launched out of pure honor, ethics, respect, whatever you call it. These details, if correct and part of the final and commercial version of the console, would make a heck of a good system! If what we were playing on at the Toy Show was indeed a FGPA powered system, then we are coming into exciting times on the retro gaming scene as well as the game developers/hobbyist scene (he told me other details that involve developers, and If what understood was correct, the console will be sooooo coooool!).
We will still give our support to the project from a game publisher/developer standpoint and will keep our announced games available for the system; and who knows, we might bring new exclusive developments depending how the KS is progressing.
In a not-so-business stand point, It seems like Piko is a child in the middle of a messy divorce where the parents are the Coleco Chameleon vs the Community. So may be, we can all relax for a week and a half and come back on the KS launch day and see what they have been cooking behind the scenes.
After the KS campaign is launched, I will make a 2.0 post about this with a bit more details and information, impressions and criticism that I choose to retain until then. We will hang in tight until the full reveal on the KS campaign and hope for the best for every party involved.
Eli
