The script for the Coleco Chameleon KickStarter campaign video released by Brian Barnhart on March 1, 2016.
Late Tuesday Brian Thomas Barnhart of the YouTube series “The Jag Bar” took to YouTube to share his experiences with the Coleco Chameleon Kickstarter campaign video.
According to Barnhart, “The Jag Bar” was going to be used in the Coeco Chameleon Kickstarter. In December, Mike Kennedy appeared on “The Jag Bar” with Barnhart. After they finished recording the episode, Kennedy asked Barnhart to cut over 20 minutes of footage from the interview in which they discussed the Retro VGS console. According to Barnhart, Kennedy told him that there would be more news coming out soon. Barnhart had expressed interested in being involved with the Kickstarter, and Kennedy asked him to film the video.
Barnhart began to get things worked out and arranged some families to be actors for the video, but unfortunately that video never happened. According to Barnhart when it came time to shoot the video, there wasn’t a prototype. He was told that the prototype was being worked on due to having an “issue with the motherboard.” According to what Barnhart, Kennedy told him that “the tech guy blew out a component and we need to reorder a part,” and they cancelled filming
About a week before Toy Fair New York, Barnhart and Kennedy tried to fit in the shoot, but that shoot also never happened because “the tech guy was worried we would take the prototype, shoot the prototype, and one of the kids would break it and [they] wouldn’t have anything for the Toy Fair.”
Just before the Kickstarter campaign was supposed to go live, Kennedy contacted Barnhart and told him to not shoot the commercial with the kids anymore. Instead, Kennedy to shoot him giving his call to arms, and record voiceovers of what the system would be about. This is where Barnhart apparently became frustrated, concerned with the ongoing issues. Concerned that the voiceover recordings would be misused, Barnhart told Kennedy that instead of a Kickstarter video, he should come on “The Jag Bar” and “open this thing up, you need to plug it in, and tell the folks and show people that this thing works.” Kennedy was apparently not receptive to the idea, and continued insisting that they just do the voiceovers. Ultimately Barnhart refused to do the video, telling Kennedy that “if you don’t have a 100% working prototype, I’m not going to do it.”
In the video, Barnhart does on on to read through the entire script, which he later posted to the forums at atari.io.
You can check out Barnhart’s video, as well as a full copy of the script below.
[MIKE KENNEDY LEAD-IN] Hi everyone, I’m Mike Kennedy and we are very excited to introduce you to the Coleco Chameleon. The Coleco Chameleon is a new cartridge based video gaming console that is designed to play both a variety of classic games from the 80’s and 90’s and also new retro inspired games coming from today’s homebrew, indie and mainstream developers. We have spent the last few months creating a working prototype as well as seeking out launch games that will scratch that retro itch in all of you. We hope you will consider backing our campaign and help to spread the word of our campaign to your gaming friends and family.
[STUDIO SET KIDS PLAYING GAMES WITH FADE TO GAMEPLAY VIDEO MONTAGE-Montezuma’s Revenge, Pepper II, Astrosmash, Night Stalker]
Remember when video-games looked like video-games? When colorful, imaginative sprites popped off the screen and into your living room. When games were more than an impulsive download; they were highly prized, magical transports into a fantasy world all delivered inside plastic cartridges.
[GAMEPLAY VIDEO MONTAGE-Iron Commando, Dorke & YMP]
Remember when games were hard but you still couldn’t tear yourself away from playing? When they didn’t include lengthy tutorials or unlimited continues or saves? Remember when games came with instruction books that you actually wanted to read cover-to-cover?
[TRANSITION TO LIVING ROOM SET, KIDS ON COUCH PLAYING CHAMELEON]
Remember that feeling you had buying a game in the store and bringing it home and playing it for the first time with your friends and family, all in the same room? We want to bring those magical times back with the introduction of the COLECO Chameleon. The COLECO Chameleon is the first new home console in nearly 20 years that will play new games on cartridges and once again give today’s gamers something to buy, play, trade and collect for a lifetime.
[TRANSITION TO COLECO MONTAGE]
It also marks the return of the COLECO brand name, a brand synonymous with the history of electronic handheld games and video games. COLECO was a pioneer bringing some of the first PONG systems into the home in the 1970’s followed by the hugely successful Colecovision in the 1980’s, the first system to bring near arcade perfect graphics into over two million living rooms. And it was the company that made Nintendo a house-hold name when Donkey Kong was packed into every Colecovision retail box sold.
[TRANSITION TO CHAMELEON CONSOLE MANTAGE]
The COLECO Chameleon is designed to be the ultimate retro gaming system. It has the ability to accurately play a variety of your favorite classic video games, available as compilation cartridges, while also being an outlet for many all-new, classically inspired games being programmed by some of today’s best homebrew, indie and mainstream game developers. Now recognized as art form in of itself, retro gaming is once again a mainstay in today’s gaming landscape as developers are realizing classic graphics and gameplay mechanics are still entertaining even in this age of triple A, big budget cinematic titles. The COLECO Chameleon is the best way to experience this new wave of RETRO. Get ready to Play Again.
[MIKE KENNEDY CALL TO ACTION]
If you’re as excited as we are after viewing this, you have a chance to be one of the first gamers to have a Coleco Chameleon before it’s introduced commercially. Now, you can play the old games you loved when you were younger, help your friends and family make memories of their own, and enjoy the new games from our collection.
On behalf of my team at Retro Video Game Systems, Inc. and Coleco Holdings we ask for your consideration to help us bring the COLECO Chameleon into homes around the world. This is a product that needs grass roots support to grow as it is so completely opposite of where the video-game industry is heading. Help us change the future of gaming by bringing back the RETRO.
[TRANSITION TO FADE OUT OF LIVING ROOM. ADULTS 30’s NOW ON COUCH HAVING FUN PLAYING CHAMELEON]
[TRANSISTION FADE TO BLACK SCREEN. POP IN COLECO CHAMELEON LOGO + REMEMBER WHEN. PLAY AGAIN. TAGLINE]
