Faced with a global shortage of semiconductor chips, Intellivision has delayed launch of his retro Amico console for the third time.

The console was recently scheduled to debut in October, and now it will be delayed until the end of the year. But there is no exact launch date, according to the company’s announcement Friday night.

In a message to GamesBeat, CEO Tommy Tallarico said the company will try to ship its pre-orders by the end of the year, but acknowledged that “the component crisis and shipping are extremely difficult.”

The global semiconductor shortage has affected all electronics companies, and the auto industry is expected to lose $ 100 billion in sales in 2021 due to the chip shortage, according to professional services firm KPMG.

“Despite our best efforts, and now faced with new and unprecedented international challenges of component supply and logistics beyond our control, we apologize as we are forced to push back the desired launch date once again,” said Tallarico said in a statement.

He said it will give the company more time to optimize its operating system for future game development. He said the company will keep all parties informed of its progress.

Tallarico originally planned to launch the console in October 2020, before Sony and Microsoft shipped their next-gen consoles. But the pandemic disrupted those plans and the Intellivision had to postpone its launch date to April 2021. Then Tallarico pushed it back again to October 2021, and now it has been rescheduled again.

In the meantime, Tallarico said the company has more than 60 employees and said the games are fun.

The Amico plan

Above: Intellivision has a great big controller that looks like it’s from the 1980s.

Image Credit: Intellivision

The original Intellivision is a gaming console from Mattel that gave Atari a run for its money in the early 1980s. It was more advanced than the Atari 2600, with better graphics, and it even had simple vocals in it. some games.

Tallarico has been in the video game industry for 32 years and he created the “oof” sound that has become the signature sound of Roblox games. Tallarico, who created the Video Games Live concert series, announced in 2018 that it had acquired the rights to the console and its original games and planned to relaunch Intellivision as a retro brand.

It brought together many creators of original Intellivision games. They are remaking some of the original games for the old Intellivision, like Breakout, but with modern designs.