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A Phantom Menace?
Broadband game machine faces long road

A small, VC funded company hopes their broadband-only gaming console can do battle with Sony and Microsoft. Infinium Labs quickly got eyes rolling with the announcement that they were joining the broadband gaming fray with a console they claimed would have 32,679 retail game titles available by 2003. A series of vague interviews and a well designed website caught the gaming industry's eye, but details on the gaming console remained scarce until recently. An over-produced video was recently released that did little to answer questions about what the console actually was.

The "How Stuff Works" website is one of the first outlets to look under the hood of the new gaming machine. As it turns out, the console is a Windows PC with a 2-3Ghz processor, 256-MB DDR RAM, and a 100+ Gigabyte hard drive. It differs from a PC in that it doesn't have a CD-rom drive (titles are downloaded and previewed via an ethernet jack). It has S-video, RCA, and component video ports, as well as built in wireless controller connectivity.

The problem is, the Phantom will hit the market as one of the most expensive consoles available. It also has to do battle with Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, two of which have a well established broadband gaming presence. At that price-point, the company is trying to squeeze into a narrow niche, with gaming consoles on the one-side, and inexpensive PC's (that do much more) on the other.

While the broadband ready-living room is a potent future market, low mainstream broadband adoption rates and strong competition from Microsoft and Sony will make the Phantom's success almost impossible.
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ehedoododododor
@198.254.x.x

-2 recommendations

ehedoododododor

Anon

first first

I'm first dudes! I pwn u!
buddasahn
join:2000-11-27
Brecksville, OH

buddasahn

Member

BUST!

Can we say....3DO.......Jaguar........Lynx???

The only difference is this thing will die a much quicker death than those 3.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

256mb ram?

thats it? if its a PC for games id run atleast a gigabyte.

pepperhead
join:2001-10-18
Bowling Green, KY

pepperhead to buddasahn

Member

to buddasahn

Re: BUST!

No CD-rom drive? Is it dead yet?;)

frankenfeet
934 is 10-8
Premium Member
join:2001-10-14
Smiths Grove, KY

frankenfeet

Premium Member

Why would anyone?

Why would anyone buy another PC if the one they have already plays games? Looks like this rocket won't ever launch.
Fqubed
join:2003-08-14
SPAIN

Fqubed

Member

dead.

Unless it has some extream, all of a sudden incredible option, its dead.

If they were to make it so you could play on it any game from PS2 and XBOX and PC and mabe even, dare I say it, MACs with this, then it might have some intrest (heck I would buy it if it did that) but otherwise.... comps rule online gameing (bar Halo)

F3

oh yea and that is horrible ram for a gaming station, my Labtop has 500... pfffft get the cofins out.

Maxeh
Woot?
Premium Member
join:2002-12-23
Chicago, IL

1 recommendation

Maxeh

Premium Member

w00t w00t?

this calls for:

»www.penny-arcade.com/ima ··· 820l.gif

Nightz0rd
Premium Member
join:2001-12-29
Vineland, NJ

Nightz0rd

Premium Member

pay 2 play on console

Ah, seems like console's (well not really) have found a way for pay 2 play now. This thing is like one of those mini machines you see in stores. Not worth it

reub2000
Premium Member
join:2001-12-28
Evanston, IL

reub2000 to Kearnstd

Premium Member

to Kearnstd

Re: 256mb ram?

said by Kearnstd:
thats it? if its a PC for games id run atleast a gigabyte.

Remember this is playing on a 440x480 tv screen.

lazarus_
join:2002-08-31
Resolute, NU

lazarus_

Member

I signed up for the beta testing..

If I get this device it will be interesting to see how it will be. If they have fast servers to download content off of then it might not be such a bad consol.. It would be awsome if someone hacked the system and turn it into an entertainment center that plays movies and emulator for old consols.

iRM
@adelphia.net

iRM

Anon

Pay for the console, then pay for the games, then pay a monthly fee? Umm, no...goodbye.

Darkflight
Stitch 626 LTE
join:2001-03-03
Rowland Heights, CA

Darkflight

Member

Can someone define the differnce between the Phantom and the mutant spawn of 3D0 meets WebTv???

I wouldn't mind playing... but I see the word DOOMED written all over it...

Of course I'm sure Doom and Doom II will be one of the FIRST titles we get to play on it!!! (D/L game on request, please standby. With your current connection, download will take approximately 22hours, 15 mins and 5 secs...) [/sarcasm]

Phoenix2088
join:2002-12-04
Strongsville, OH

Phoenix2088

Member

hmm

I got a PC already and seeing as this thing plays PC games, its going downhill. Thanks for the laugh though Infinium Labs, it was needed .

[text was edited by author 2003-08-30 13:42:28]

Glaice
Brutal Video Vault
Premium Member
join:2002-10-01
North Babylon, NY

Glaice to Darkflight

Premium Member

to Darkflight

Re: I signed up for the beta testing..

heh, if you already own doom/doom2, get the source ports and go to »www.doomconnector.com (blatent ad plug, hehe)

Anyways, the Phantom will die a miserable death. With the hardware used above, it will probably be over $300 USD.

Hahaha, just watched the video. "Pay per play"? Give me a break Infinium, you aren't gonna make much money by charging gamers for each time to play games. This'll flop just as bad as the E.T. for Atari did.

»www.furnation.com/chrisd ··· port.htm

Oh yes, my AMD PC's specs outperforms your 2ghz intel CPU, Infinium
[text was edited by author 2003-08-30 13:52:44]

HybridDemon
join:2002-01-18
Miami, FL

HybridDemon

Member

Music's Prety cool

I want the music to that video...

sorne guy
@dsl.milwwi.ameritech

sorne guy to iRM

Anon

to iRM

Re: I signed up for the beta testing..

don't forget pay for the broadband too, and hope your isp allows the amount of b/w for downloading the games and then playing them online

devrandom
I got a pot, full of random stuff here
Premium Member
join:2003-06-28

devrandom

Premium Member

DOA?

I hope that this isn't DOA on delivery. Because it would be a shame to see a independent effort (aside from companies who have already established a name in the household) go to waste. There have been many other consoles that have went the way of the east, after not being able to outgun the larger guys.

But you know, the whole 'no cd-rom' thing kinda scares me. I don't think I would even look at it.

Anyway, to make a long story short, this is probably going to become some sort of enthusiast box like the X-Box Linux Project, after being hacked over like 10,000 later on..

Snoy did the right thing..try to make money off of being hax0r3d into They sold a complete kit (and still do today!) for converting the little PS2s into Linux machines

The thing costs like $150 or something to convert it though..
drunk3npanda
join:2002-12-08

drunk3npanda

Member

you dont need a gig of ram for games..

i have 512 ram and it runs every game fine
i guess its cuz i have a 9500 (tweaked to 9700) i get 4500 3dmarks on vers. 2003

paintref
Look, I see stars
join:2003-02-21
Houston, TX

paintref

Member

Would I buy one? No!

I am happy with my current PC setup. I already have a broadband connection, and it runs most of the games I want to play. Upgrading the PC would probably be cheaper all around than what it would cost to buy this console.

Also, I would buy one of the mainstream consoles (X-Box, PS2 or Gamecube before buying this console. A 100 GB HD? Thats nothing, I have an 80 GB HD and yet I have already used half of it.

Well anyway, I could go on and on...but I will stop here with my $0.02 worth.
andreo
join:2001-03-30
Des Moines, IA

andreo

Member

The Divx player has been reborn

I was all for this console and planed on getting one until now. I liked the idea of using my HDTV to play PC games from the comfort of my couch. However, that doesn't seem to be the case here. Any games that I already own won't be usable on this "console". I was so looking forward to playing Star Wars Galaxies on this. But looks like its not to be.
Also it seems that games that you do download can only be played through the Phantom network. So unless my friends buy a Phantom I won't be able to play on-line with them. It also seems that when there's no more support for the console then it becomes a door stop. Being a Venture Capital company, funding for this could disappear in no time leaving people who purchased it high and dry.

As for the pay per play. Didn't Circuit City try this with the DIVX players? I wonder how many people are sitting around with those players and the movies but can't watch them since the service is dead.

I now think I will pass on this one. However, I'll pick one up at a bargin price in a couple of years and put in on the "video game flops" shelf with the rest of my collection.

anon_5224
join:2001-10-23
united state
Asus RT-AC66

anon_5224

Member

actually i can see this player being modded (after becoming a bargain-bin clearance item as it's intended purpose) to play DivX movies, and anything else one would want to watch on a bigger screen. as long as you can load the codec and it has a 10/100 (or 10) connection, it'll do. i'd buy that for a dollar! well, i'd go as high as $100 actually if it can be modded.

lazarus_
join:2002-08-31
Resolute, NU

lazarus_ to Glaice

Member

to Glaice

Re: I signed up for the beta testing..

said by Glaice:
heh, if you already own doom/doom2, get the source ports and go to »www.doomconnector.com (blatent ad plug, hehe)

Anyways, the Phantom will die a miserable death. With the hardware used above, it will probably be over $300 USD.

Hahaha, just watched the video. "Pay per play"? Give me a break Infinium, you aren't gonna make much money by charging gamers for each time to play games. This'll flop just as bad as the E.T. for Atari did.

»www.furnation.com/chrisd ··· port.htm

Oh yes, my AMD PC's specs outperforms your 2ghz intel CPU, Infinium
[text was edited by author 2003-08-30 13:52:44]

Why is it that Xbox and now infinium are using Intel Celerons? They could go AMD and get way better performance.. I guess AMD is unable to produce enough or special make the CPU's to fit the consols needs :/

If I get the beta I probably wont be impressed enough to buy the consol and "pay to play" and download the games.. My Gamecube and PS2 are enough for now.

paintref
Look, I see stars
join:2003-02-21
Houston, TX

paintref

Member

Developers, what about Developers?

Any idea on who is going to develop the games for this console?

Is it gonna be in-house or are there going to be developers from the console/PC market?

MrTangent
join:2001-12-28
Earth

MrTangent

Member

Did someone say developers?
MrTangent

1 recommendation

MrTangent to ehedoododododor

Member

to ehedoododododor

Re: first first

Jesus. When did the whole slashdot "first post" stuff infect broadbandreports? I notice a lot of these moronic "first posts" here lately.
MrTangent

1 recommendation

MrTangent

Member

El Vapor

Vaporware.

I'd be VERY surprised if this thing ever comes out. And if it does it will bomb so spectacularly as to make every other product bomb look pale in comparison.

It's a bad idea from the start.

I wish them luck though, they'll need it.
gnubeest
Gnu
join:2001-10-28
Nashville, TN

gnubeest to lazarus_

Member

to lazarus_

Re: I signed up for the beta testing..

said by lazarus_:
Why is it that Xbox and now infinium are using Intel Celerons?
Xbox uses Mobile Celeron, which is better suited for surface-mounting, puts out less heat, and consumes less power. It's also more economical, since chip cache isn't that vital when you're running a dedicated console with no multithreading.

dubge
Premium Member
join:2003-04-11
Peabody, MA

dubge to MrTangent

Premium Member

to MrTangent

Re: Developers, what about Developers?

hahaha the developer thing was funny!

Aladrin
Code Junkie
join:2001-01-25
Orlando, FL

Aladrin to reub2000

Member

to reub2000

Re: 256mb ram?

'Only 256mb?' was exactly the first thing I thought when I saw that... As for only using a '440x480 tv screen', I don't see how this affects the need for more memory in larger, more complicated games. Most system RAM isn't used for video output, but rather textures, meshes, game data, etc. Video RAM is important to the size of the output screen, and this doesn't tell us how much video RAM it has. I think that's quite an important thing to know on a 'pc' gaming rig.
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